Beauty will save the world

Beauty has been on my mind recently, and in particular sacred art. I went to a fantastic series of workshops during the summer on the meaning of art and looking in depth at a few examples of sacred art. I'm now reading John Saward's "The Beauty of Holiness and the Holiness of Beauty" which is a (sorry, I really can't resist) beautiful book.

I'm convinced that it's by showing the beauty of faith that we will really draw people to Christ, which is one of the reasons why I love the new Evangelium course. Actually, looking at the site, I've just realised that the course is endorsed by Fr Tim of Hermeneutic of Continuity fame who says “I think the course is absolutely excellent” and Fr John Saward: “an excellent project”. It's a small world...

In my own rather humbler way, I've been talking about the beauty of marriage, love and sexuality with sixth formers. I use a powerpoint presentation that I put together with a friend in the summer. I use things like Rembrandt's portrait of a young couple (I'm not convinced by the "Jewish Bride" attribution) to illustrate the four pillars of Catholic Marriage.


I also use a few photos to talk about real beauty. Here are a couple that I show side by side: