St. Brigid

Our February artist, Anna Pierlot, is a student at Campion University in Australia. Her free time is consumed by art, writing, and a philosophy club that she began with her friends. Below are selections from an interview; read more at catholicinsight.com.

What is this piece about?

This piece depicts St. Brigid, patron of Ireland (along with St. Patrick). She is often shown holding a reed cross, a crozier of the sort used by abbots, along with some source of fire or light. Fire is a central image connected with St. Brigid; nuns at her monastery are said to have kept burning a sacred eternal flame. She is said to have had the power to multiply such things as butter, bacon, and milk; she is shown here brewing beer.

When did you start painting?

I have been practising art since I was about three years old, and am so far self-taught. Nature, stories, beauty, imagination all cause me to keep drawing, pushing me to capture God’s creation in some small way. My art is the dreams of my soul pushed through the clumsy filter of my hands.

What do you do with your pieces? Are they ever shown? Are they for sale?

I have done commissions for various people, and often draw to create gifts for people. Due to a lack of time, I have not been able to pursue art as a career, but continue in it for practice and leisure. I am, however, extremely open to commission and freelance work.

How would you define beauty?

There are many and comprehensive definitions of beauty given by the Church, but I often look at it as simply God in His creation: His goodness, His truth, His unity and order, shining in all He has made, like a light f rom within a bottle. The more He shines through, the more brilliant the beauty.

What is the purpose of art?

The purpose of art is to speak truth, to reflect God in His goodness, truth, and beauty. God is THE truth, and art is another “word” to speak it.

Do you have any other thoughts about art?

There is a huge amount of art in the world, and each piece is like a soul filtered onto a page. Much like writing, art tells stories and holds power to change and inspire, but also to harm and destroy. Whether the instrument is a sword, a pen, or a paintbrush, responsibility is needed to wield tools capable of producing such varied results.

Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress

This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→

Remembering Father Alphonse de Valk

(Today marks the sixth anniversary of the death of Father Alphonse de Valk, C.S.B., a faithful, courageous and indefatigable Basilian priest, pro-life-and-family apostle, and the founder of Catholic Insight magazine. Here is what we wrote those on his entering into eternity five years ago, as we continue to remember him in our prayers and thoughts)[…]Continue reading→

My Name is Bernadette

April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, who founded Catholic Insight in its print form decades ago, and the commemoration of the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today we also recall Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at[…]Continue reading→

Canonizing Sister Faustina and Divine Mercy

HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER  MASS IN ST PETER’S SQUARE FOR THE CANONIZATION OF SR MARY FAUSTINA KOWALSKA Sunday, 30 April 2000   1. “Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius”; “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever” (Ps 118: 1). So the Church sings on the Octave of[…]Continue reading→

Divine Mercy Sunday – An Echo of Every Mass

Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe’…  ‘My Lord and my God!’ (Jn. 20:18)). Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, and as we celebrate the end of the Easter Octave, we contemplate the wounded side of our Saviour, the Church’s source of life. On Good Friday in the[…]Continue reading→

First Holy Communion: Sermon from May 16, 1943

 Here is a sermon from the good old days by +Rev. Msgr. Vincent Nicholas Foy (August 14, 1915 – March 13, 2017), from 1943. Readers may recall that Pope Saint Pius X, by the decree Quam Singulari in 1910, lowered the customary age of reception of Holy Communion – after the rigours of the plague[…]Continue reading→

In the Glorious Light of Easter, Alleluia!

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory (Col. 3:3-4). The Resurrection of Our Lord and Saviour[…]Continue reading→

An Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday

The time between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is one of waiting, in silence, as the world wonders – anticipates – what will happen, after the death of Christ. We re-live this time each year in the anamnesis of our liturgy, and in turn look forward to the glorious re-creation of all things at the[…]Continue reading→

Europe’s Long Descent

(As we meditate on this day on Christ’s burial, and His descent into hell, it is fitting to ponder here with contributor Peter Marcus how the world seems to be heading there as well. The difference is that, although God cannot ‘redeem’ hell, nor those therein, He can and did redeem the world. There is[…]Continue reading→

Pope Saint John Paul II’s First Good Friday Homily

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS AT THE COLOSSEUM Good Friday, 13 April 1979   When we make the Way of the Cross from one station to the next, in spirit we are always at the spot wherethis journey had its “historical” place: where it[…]Continue reading→