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AS049 Ask Sister – no desire for a vocation, saints and symbols, two Saint Theresas, exercise habits, putting the holy in holiday
AS049 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on November 19, 2010. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include: no desire for a vocation, saints and symbols, Therese of Lisieux and Teresa of Avila, exercise habits, putting the holy in holiday, and more!
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Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!
Here are some of the questions we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:
- Can you be called by God to a vocation that you don’t really want? NOTE: The article mentioned in the conversation is 4 Steps for Discernment and Decision-Making
- In art and on holy cards, why are saints pictured with symbols?
- Two Saint Theresa’s? How are they different?
- Can nuns go swimming with their habit on? Horseback riding?
- How do you put the “holy” in “holiday”?
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Ooh, Ooh! Can I answer the saint symbol question? It’s one of my favorite topics!
In the days when literacy was only for the rich, sacred art was used as a sort of catechism. People could look at the images, interpret the symbols, and know who the person was or what Bible scene was being represented.
There are obvious symbols, like palm branches for martyrs or lilies for virgins. Other symbols are more specific to the saint, such as St. Therese of Lisieux’s cross with roses, or St. Lucy’s eyes on a dish, or St. Maxamillian Kolbe wearing Nazi concentration camp prisoner’s garb. Doctors of the church are shown with a sort of black hat, like a priest’s biretta (Even St. Teresa of Avila!) One glance will tell you who these heros of the faith the image represents.
Icons are supposed to be a window into heaven, a place where the believer encounters God. As explained to me by a Greek Orthodox catechist, even the colors have meanings. In their tradition, blue denotes divinity and red is humanity. That is why Jesus is shown wearing blue robes with a red cloak, because his divinity was hidden in his humanity, whereas Mary is shown wearing red robes and a blue cloak because she was a human who was touched by the divine. (Examples of this are OL of Czestochowa. OL of Perpetual Help, and OL of Guadalupe (She’s wearing shades of red and blue.))
Christian art has been with us from at least the time of the catacombs. There are images there that depict Jesus as a young man carrying a lamb on his shoulders. People viewing this can recognize the Good Shepherd.
Even though literacy is much more common, sacred art is still in demand. In today’s world, where attention spans have been pared down to sound bytes and subliminal images, sacred art can still teach with a glance, once you know what the symbols depict.
PS–Sister Julie, did you know that the symbol for Julian of Norwich is a cat? Thought you’d like to know. (=^)
Nice, Sister Julie, CSSF! Glad to have your insight on this! Will share on the air. Love Julian of Norwich!
Any chance you could play the song “Ring out Bells of Norwich” tonight, Sr. Julie? It’s one of my favorites, especially at this time of year.
Let me see what I can rustle up from ye old convent juke box.
Another Sister Julie, that was a great read and since I missed the podcast, thanks for that! I tend to give out St Gerard medals to people I know who are expecting a child. I give them out regardless of religious preference and have never had anyone not take one. I always let them know, though, why I give them. But one recipient was a little freaked out at the skull on the medal. She never wore it but she did hang it in her kitchen window and every day she looked at it and would touch it and think about what I had told her about St. Gerard. But I never could answer the question about the skull being there and what the skull depicts or means, so if you could help me out with that it’d be great.
I will also tell you that she had never been able to carry a baby full term and all of her countless pregnancies ended with miscarriage so I felt the strong need to give her the medal. She carried that baby full term and she is the only child my friends have after many, many years of trying.
Coinky-dink? You decide.