15 - 18 February 2025

Celebration of Artists

SPIRITUAL REFLECTION

In preparation for the Jubilee for Artists, set within a year-long renewal of Christian hope, we recall the words of St. John Paul II in his Letter to Artists (LA): Artists of every age, captivated by the hidden power of sounds and words, colours and shapes, you have admired the work of your inspiration, sensing in it some echo of the mystery of creation with which God, the sole creator of all things, has wished in some way to associate you. (Letter to Artists, no. 1).

God is the divine artist. The beauty of the natural world, the beauty of artistic works made by human hands, and the beauty of each human life finds it source in God, the divine artist. And it is God who gives to artists—poets, writers, painters, sculptors, architects, musicians, actors, craftsmen and many others—a special vocation to beauty in the gift of artistic creativity. The work of artists is invaluable for society and for the Church since artistic creativity is an act of hope. A creative person can be a powerful agent of hope in the world. To encounter and to be transformed by art on the “way of beauty” guides one to the path of hope. For as St. Paul VI once said, “this world in which we live needs beauty in order not to sink into despair. It is beauty, like truth, which brings joy to the human heart and is that precious fruit which resists the wear and tear of time, which unites generations and makes them share things in admiration. And all of this is through your hands.” (Message to Artists, Sistine Chapel, 1964). Similarly, Pope Francis notes that, “artists remind us that the dimension in which we move, even unconsciously, is always that of the Spirit. Your art is like a sail swelling with the wind of the Spirit and propelling us forward.” (Address to Artists, June 23, 2023) Human beings are created with the unique capacity to create and to enjoy works of art. We delight in the order, harmony, and radiant beauty of the natural world, in masterpieces of artistic creativity, or the beauty of each human person, made in God’s image and likeness. We alone are created for beauty that stills the soul and enlightens hope in each human heart. Artists imitate the creator God, the divine artist, in creating artistic works that give hope by lifting the spirit to transcendent realities. “The creativity of the artist” says Pope Francis, “can thus be said to share in God’s own passion for creation. You are sharers in God’s dream!” While God creates out of nothing, ex nihilo, the artist is privileged to imitate God, the creator of all that exists. By taking up words, sounds, paint, stone, marble, and glass the artist and the craftsman creates works of beauty capable of lifting 2 the soul to God. Folk artists take up local materials and inherited artistic traditions to enculturate their faith. In giving aesthetic forms to ideas conceived in the mind and feelings evoked in the depths of the heart, artists and craftsmen engage in a “spirituality of artistic service which contributes in its way to the life and renewal of a people.” (LA, no. 4). In his Address to Artists (2023) Pope Francis noted that, “As artists, you can help us to make room for the Spirit. When we see the work of the Spirit, which creates harmony from differences without destroying or standardizing them but bringing them into harmony, we come to understand what beauty really is. Beauty is that work of the Spirit which creates harmony.” Pope Francis also reminded artists that “Neither art nor faith can leave things simply as they are: they change, transform, move and convert them.” And he encouraged them by saying, “I consider you allies in so many things that are dear to me, like the defence of human life, social justice, concern for the poor, care for our common home, universal human fraternity.” The Jubilee for Artists is a special opportunity for artists from diverse communities and cultures to discover or re-discover a common “spirituality of artistic service” that you offer to your community, society, and the Church. As St. John Paul II prayed, “may your art help to affirm that true beauty, which as a glimmer of the Spirit of God, will transfigure matter, and open the human soul to the sense of the eternal.” (LA, no. 16) Over two thousand years, the Christian faith has found artistic expression in a vast treasury of artistic masterpieces. For centuries, the Catholic Church was the principal patron of the arts, a cultural role that is greatly diminished today. We know from history that many of the world’s most admired and treasured artistic masterpieces, including enculturated forms of folk art, are Christian in theme, origin, provenance, and location. Recall, for instance, the biblical frescoes of the ancient Roman catacombs or Giotto’s Madonna and Child, Fra Angelico’s Annunciation or Michelangelo’s Piéta, Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper or Caravaggio’s Incredulity of St. Thomas, Juan de Juanes’ Last Supper or Henry Ossawa Tanner’s Annunciation, to name only a few celebrated masterpieces. It is a historical fact that there has never been a time when sacred art has not flourished in the Catholic tradition. From the ancient art of the Christian catacombs to majestic Byzantine basilicas, from the surging Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages to the creative flood of the Renaissance, and from the mysticism of the Baroque down to the present day, the truth and goodness of Christian faith has taken the form of the beautiful in an immense treasury of masterpieces of art. This vast treasury of art opens to transcendence and becomes a permanent witness to faith within the evangelizing mission of the Church. As the Directory for Catechesis notes, “the way of evangelization is the way of beauty, and therefore every form of beauty is a source of catechesis.” (DC, no. 109)

Pilgrims to Europe and the eternal city of Rome encounter many of these artistic masterpieces in churches and chapels that are privileged storehouses of the beauty of Christian faith. As millions of visitors marvel at masterpieces of sacred art in these pilgrim places their encounters with beauty can serve as a “pre-sacrament” that prepares the soil of the heart and mind for God. For as Pope Francis notes, “every expression of true beauty can thus be acknowledged as a path leading to an encounter with the Lord Jesus.” (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, no. 167).

The Jubilee for Artists also offers an opportunity to draw close to the Blessed Virgin Mary who is praised in an ancient hymn as tota pulchra es Maria, “you are the most beautiful, Mary.” The Mother of God, Mary, is the most beautiful of all creatures since God preserved her from the stain of Original Sin. Mary’s beauty radiated from her faith in God’s word, her “yes” to God’s plan revealed by the Archangel Gabriel at the Annunciation, and her witness to discipleship that hears and lives God’s word. Finally, while not all are called and gifted with artistic talents, Scripture reminds us that “all men and women are entrusted with the task of crafting their own life: in a certain sense, they are to make of it a work of art, a masterpiece.” (St. John Paul II, Letter to Artists, no. 2). The Jubilee for Artists is an opportunity for all the faithful to join with artists for a renewed encounter with Jesus Christ as pilgrims on the “way of beauty.”

PARTICULAR SAINTS WHO ARE PILGRIM COMPANIONS OF ARTISTS:

St. Luke (feast day October 18), patron of artists, is believed, from legends, to have painted the first icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary. One of the four Evangelists, St. Luke paints with words his Gospel portrait of Mary’s role in salvation history and God’s preferential option for the poor.

Blessed Fra Angelico (feast day February 18), patron of artists, gifted Dominican friar painter known for his sublime depictions of the Trinity, Christ, biblical scenes and figures, and the lives of the saints.

Blessed Carlo Acutis (feast day October 12) is known for his skill as a computer programmer and web designer, and his musical talent in playing the saxophone.

Venerable Zeinab Alif (1845-1926) was kidnapped from Sudan and sold into slavery. After her ransom from slavery she became a Poor Clare nun after her ransom from slavery and was known as a gifted singer and organist.

St. Thomas Aquinas, (feast day January 28), Italian Dominican friar and Doctor of the Church. Prominent theologian and philosopher who forged a lasting synthesis between Aristotelian philosophy and biblical revelation. Among his voluminous and influential theological works is his well-known Summa Theologica. Also known as a composer of several beautiful hymns centred on the Eucharist.

St. Catherine of Bologna (feast day March 9) was an abbess of a community of Poor Clares in Italy. She was a gifted painter, poet and musician who played the viola, till the end of her life.

St. Cecilia (feast day November 22), patroness of music and musicians, and early Christian martyr known for singing to God in her heart during her arranged marriage to a pagan nobleman.

St. Peter Claver (feast day September 9) was a Spanish Jesuit priest who ministered with enslaved people in Colombia. He formed a choir of Africans whose liturgical music moved the Spaniards and evangelized many people.

Servant of God Antonio Cuipa (d. 1704) was an Apalachee chief who evangelized his community through music, playing the flute and the guitar along with his preaching of the Gospel.

St. John Damascene, (feast day December 4), defender of images, one of the Fathers of the Eastern Orthodox Church and a Doctor of the Church. An Arab Christian monk, composer of hymns, theologian and apologist. Best known for his treatise On the Divine Images whose defence against the iconoclasts of the eighth century was confirmed by the Second Council of Nicea in 787 AD.

St. Ephrem the Syrian (feast day June 9) was a deacon who wrote over 400 hymns and used his hymns to evangelize and catechize the faithful.

St. Francis of Assisi (feast day October 4) praised the beauty of creation in his Canticle of Creatures.

St. Gregory the Great (feast day September 3), early seventh century pope who compiled the Antiphonarium that set the stage for the development of sacred music that takes its name from him, namely Gregorian chant.

Blessed Ezequiel Huerta Gutiérrez (feast day April 3) was a Mexican husband and father of 10, a gifted pianist, church organist, choir director, and classically trained tenor who was martyred in the Cristeros War.

St. Hildegard of Bingen (feast day September 17), doctor of the Church, was a German Benedictine prioress, mystic, poet, herbalist, and celebrated composer of hymns and antiphons for the liturgy.

St. Andrew Kaggwa (feast day June 3) was martyred with St. Charles Lwanga. He was the master drummer of the king of Buganda and director of the entire royal band.

Blessed Volodymir Pryjma (feast day April 2) was a Ukrainian Greek Catholic, a husband and father, and a gifted cantor and church choir director who was martyred by the Communists.

Servant of God Cyprien Rugamba, husband and father of 11 children was a composer and choreographer whose artistic works highlighted Rwandan folk culture. He and his wife Daphrose were martyred in the Rwandan Genocide.

St. John Wang Rui (feast day July 4) was a Chinese seminarian and martyr who is remembered for his gifted singing voice.

Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodriguez Santiago (feast day May 4) was a Puerto Rican layman who was devoted to the Eucharist and played the organ at Mass.

King David, composer of the psalms that constitute the Old Testament hymn book of the people of Israel. The psalms are an essential part of the public prayer of the Church in the Mass and in the Liturgy of the Hours.

PRAYER

“Artists of the world, may your many different paths all lead to that infinite Ocean of beauty 10 where wonder becomes awe, exhilaration, unspeakable joy. May you be guided and inspired by the mystery of the Risen Christ, whom the Church in these days contemplates with joy.

May the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always: she is the “tota pulchra” portrayed by countless artists, whom Dante contemplates among the splendours of Paradise as “beauty that was joy in the eyes of all the other saints.” ...

May your art help to affirm that true beauty which, as a glimmer of the Spirit of God, will transfigure matter, opening the human soul to the sense of the eternal.” Amen.

(St. John Paul II, Letter to Artists, 1999)