Furthermore…

I was fortunate enough to tune into EWTN at the time there was an interview with two people from a foundation devoted to furthering sacred art. One of them was a lady convert devoted to fine art and its place in the Church. I was pleased to  learn of their current mounting of an art exhibit devoted to works concerned with the Rosary.  The gentleman in his portion of the interview spoke interestingly about religious music.

Catching this program greatly pleased me in connection with my interest in finding some way to bring into reality  music that might enhance the experience of praying and meditating on the Rosary by contributing to creating moods and feelings consistent with the content of the Rosary Mysteries, as discussed in a March 22, 2009 post here.

I’m calling a design conception I am hoping to realize in cooperation with a computer art wizard the “Divine Family Cross” because it includes both the Holy Trinity and the Holy Family. It can only be seen on a computer or other electronic medium. As I conceive it, it is ornate and golden. The vertical bar has an image of God the Father at the top, an image of Jesus at the center nexus, and of the Holy Spirit below. The cross piece has Mary depicted at the left end and St. Joseph at the right end with Jesus, again, in the center. The image of Jesus is serial, going through a series of His depictions, from Babe, Child, Young Man to Teacher, Crucified, Resurected and Ascending to Heaven, back to Babe, etc. At the foot of the cross is a sampling of humanity.

The ‘Catholic Friends’ group on the Multiply social network that I visit has a large contingent of members from the Philippines. Just today I read an intriguing account of one of their devotions, which annually draws millions of the faithful for a traditional procession honoring as central figure a dark-colored figure of Jesus, the ‘Black Nazarene’.
Earlier, last year year, as I leafed through a gorgeous oversize book filled with photographs of Our Lady’s Shrines in Europe, I was surprised to notice how many of the beloved statues and portraits had flesh of an ebony appearance, for example, the Black Madonnas.
I’m wondering what lies behind this frequent use of dark or black material for Catholic statues, whether it be easier to work with, visually striking, liturgically meaningful, or just a traditional practice the origins of which are lost in the mists of history.