Today the Church honors Blessed Fra Angelico, the patron of artists. In his "Lives of the Painters," Giorgio Vasari quotes the saintly friar: "chi fa cose di Cristo, con Cristo deve stare sempre:" he who is engaged in the things of Christ, must always abide with Christ.In his unpretentiously sublime frescoes for the Convent of San Marco in Florence, Blessed Angelico brought the scenes of the Gospel into the daily lives of his confreres. His crucifixion scenes often depict Saint Dominic embracing the cross of the Savior, as if to tell the friars: "one enters here through the love of the Crucified, in the spirit of our holy founder, Dominic."Lenten blessings.

Crucixion

Robert P. Imbelli, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, is a longtime Commonweal contributor.

Also by this author
© 2024 Commonweal Magazine. All rights reserved. Design by Point Five. Site by Deck Fifty.