miniZibaldone

"Art is the language of the human being. It is the language of that being, who, before being himself in the multiplicity of things or allowing himself to be absorbed by countless activities that give us the illusion of living intensely, has the capacity for wonder." Wonder, and the poetry that arises from its purpose, is for that which does not pass away. . . . Of the things of this world, only two remain, two alone: poetry and goodness, and nothing else. . . . That which is beautiful is not that what pleases today or has pleased but what should please; just as what is good is not what gives the most pleasure but what makes us better. Artist: the torrent of beauty flows through you, but you are not beauty.   Those who know how to suffer lives from vision and silence. Desire leads us to live paschally.   Beauty is mercy. —Stanislaw Grygiel

Sean Scully 3.24.89'  8' Africa Coyote Fort #2' Four Days Home Maesta London White Door     Pink Dark Triptych The Fall' Without

  The Annunciation  (Giotto)     The Annunciation  (William Congdon)     The Annunciation  (da Vinci) The Annunciation  (Henry Ossawa Tanner)

"Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first." The Disciples Running to the Sepulchre (Eugenè Burnand) The Last Judgment (Michelangelo)

San Pietro Penitente (Guido Reni) Pieta  (Michelangelo)  

Being struck and overcome by the beauty of Christ is a more real, more profound knowledge than mere rational deduction. [...] Of course, this is not just, or principally, a theological problem, but a problem of pastoral life, that has to foster the human person's encounter with the beauty of faith. All too often arguments fall on deaf ears because in our world too many contradictory arguments compete with one another, so much so that we are spontaneously reminded of the medieval theologians' description of reason, that it "has a wax nose': in other words, it can be pointed in any direction, if one is clever enough. Everything makes sense, is so convincing, whom should we trust? The encounter with the beautiful can become the wound of the arrow that strikes the heart and in this way opens our eyes... — Joseph Ratzinger Paintings for Holy Week Christ Washing the Apostle's Feet (Dirck van Baburen)   Last Supper (Leonardo da Vinci)   The Last S...

Ermes Ronchi: The Pope's 2016 Lenten Retreat Master The Church must not shine the spotlight on herself but instead on Christ, and She still has some work to do in this regard. Christ is not giving lessons or suggesting replies based on what other people say about Him, but rather urges His Apostles to look into their own hearts.  Think of the beauty of a Church that does not shine the spotlight on herself but instead on Christ... [link] Some people are so hungry that for them God cannot but have the form of a loaf of bread. Life – he said – begins with hunger; to be alive is to be hungry. And if you take that a step further one must consider the hunger of millions of people in the world: the siege of the poor, millions of outstretched hands asking for something to eat does not – he said –  ask for a religious definition. How does the Church respond? Jesus has a very practical approach when he tells the disciples to sum up what they have in hand. He said that all ...

Paintings of William Congdon Canal Venice Glicine Il pioppo Lo sguardo urgente Naples afternoon Piazza San Marco St. Alban's Abbey Subiaco Vulture and Dove Vergine Regina