Art/Music/Culture

The Catholic Church has a long and glorious history of sacred art. From the earliest etchings of Christian symbols on the walls of the catacombs to the exuberant works of the Baroque era, from the shared patrimony of iconography that links East with West to the monastic revival of the nineteenth century that gave us the St. Benedict medal, Catholic art is astonishing in its variety and diversity of styles.

But for too many, Catholic art is viewed as something largely in the past. This collection emphatically says, "Not so!"

This bound volume of eighteen works of sacred art by Catholic artists will convince you that the great artistic tradition of the Church is alive and well. Each work in this collection is printed on an 8" x 10" detachable page, so that the work may be removed and easily framed in your home.

The nine artists represented here are Matthew Alderman, Neilson Carlin, Bernadette Carstensen, Matthew Conner, Gwyneth Thompson-Briggs, James Janknegt, Timothy Jones, Michael D. O'Brien, and Elizabeth Zelasko.

Kiely walks through important scenes of the Gospels, pausing with great painters to consider Jesus, how he looks, how he stands or sits, how he interacts with other figures and the viewer, how his actions and teachings are interpreted and translated by artists more concerned with design than analysis, more in forms than words. Painters and their paintings are the guides--beguiling, challenging, consoling, instructive--displaying colors, skill, and perspective while beckoning the viewer back to scripture and to the Jesus "who accepted to be seen."

God fashioned the universe as a seamless fabric, a marvelous, unified, orderly creation. But man's sin tore it asunder, disrupting its great cosmic harmonies. Only Christ could make the symphony ring out again. And through a dazzling array of literature, music, sculpture, art, theater, and dance, men and women of faith, too, can work with Christ to mend the tear in the universe.

According to the late Professor Thomas Howard, the poet and the prophet both speak a loud voice against the tide of secularism and eventual destruction. Yet how does this work? How does myth convey truth? How does architecture reflect eternal verities? How does the written word humanize and sanctify us? What treasure and stability does an ancient faith hold for the unsettled modern mind?

Howard spent his life answering these questions. Christians of all walks of life will appreciate his witty, devout, and cutting observations on faith, art, and the incarnation of Christ. In this volume, readers will also encounter beloved teachers, writers, and friends who influenced Howard's theological imagination, including C. S. Lewis and T. S. Eliot.

Home is where we are nurtured, where we live, and where we love. The language of Home is universal. It is where we find the eternal in the everyday.

But the Home has been neglected. To millions of women today, there is nothing worse than being a "homemaker." If only they knew the supreme value (and reward) of giving loved ones a place to call Home.

Written by two wives and mothers, Theology of Home is a simple guide to help reorient all of us toward our true home, allowing us to think purposefully about how to make our own homes on earth better equipped to get all those living in them to the Father's house. Featuring more than 100 beautiful (and inspiring) photographs from homes around the country, profound words from the saints and other literary figures, and in-depth commentary on the theological and spiritual underpinnings of our love for Home, Theology of Home offers readers a tour of both the Home and the human heart.

Whether you live in a sprawling estate or a humble dwelling, whether alone or with a crowd, this is far more than a book of beautiful photos and great décor ideas. You will also learn how to create a deeper sense of the divine through: