The Power of Religious Art

As a young Catholic I always wondered why the Catholic Church didn’t sell its artwork to feed the poor.  Recently, in my Monday night bible study class a mom was sharing that her son, who has fallen away from the church, asked her the same question.  I think when one has been outside the church for awhile it does seem like a reasonable thought, that selling the art pieces will provide income to help the less fortunate.  Yet, religious art has a greater value than monetary.  Many people have come to know Christ through artwork.  I remember a priest sharing that, he had once gone to a retreat high as a kite because he was a drug addict.  When he woke up from his slumber during one of the sessions the first thing he saw, was an image being projected on the wall of Jesus holding a man.  The image was so powerful that he felt immediately sober and being called by Jesus.  This image was his arrow towards a conversion of life and eventually a journey into the priesthood.  He claims that through the image he knew that God loved him, even in the state that he was in and that God’s mercy was so great that it allowed him to see a different life for himself away from drugs, he felt an instant healing and a repulsion towards drugs after that.  Now a fully ordained priest he has the gift of healing.

A couple years ago, I had a student in my Rite of Christian Initiation classes, who has studying art at university.  She said the first time she saw The Pieta by Michelangelo she felt God in such a powerful way.  She detailly described how each movement in the clothing and the expressions on Mary and Jesus transported her to heaven for a moment.  I remember she was in front of the class sharing what she saw in the sculpture and it really translated to the beauty of God drawing her in.  Though, her encounter was through a photograph of The Pieta, she said one day she hoped to be able to see it in person.

When I first entered Rome, during one of my pilgrimages I remember entering Vatican City and seeing the sculptures of the disciples and Jesus up high on the rooftop.  These huge bigger-than-life-three-dimensional representations of Jesus and his apostles brought  me to tears- my heart felt so full.  This powerful feeling of being in the presence of greatness of being surrounded by holy men covered my skin in goosebumps and for a moment I felt like time stopped working and I was in the presence of Jesus in heaven with our Church fathers… Lately, I have been using art to pray with and I have to say that images can transport and activate the imagination to bring us closer to God in a way only art can do so. 

Where are you in the storm?

I know our Church understands the power of art and that’s why it’s so intent on conserving and protecting it.  Its beauty leads us to God.  And while selling pieces to the highest bidder can perhaps feed the poor momentarily - Man does not live on bread alone.  We are fed by more than just the food that goes in our stomachs, and that’s why people travel to religious sites so often to have these encounters with God through the beauty of religious artwork.