fearfully and wonderfully made

20↑, she/they - polish queer catholic | PL/EN🆗| i honk for WOKE MARXIST POPES

[janepaulina]

[reclaiming-god]

gotta admit one of the most difficult parts of the spiritual life for me is periods of burnout where i don’t wanna do anything at all, where even prayer feels like a struggle. i’m trying to run away from God but He’s chasing me :////

[reclaiming-god]

okay well He caught up to me and He’s forcing me to unpack my baggage

[sacredheart-stigmata]

Jesus Christ, the Great Physician, have Mercy upon us (icons by Andrei Bodko)

[reclaiming-god]

gotta admit one of the most difficult parts of the spiritual life for me is periods of burnout where i don’t wanna do anything at all, where even prayer feels like a struggle. i’m trying to run away from God but He’s chasing me :////

[ominouspositivity-or-else]

ecce homo. ecce rex. ecce agnus.

ecce Deus.

[ohholydyke]

Once I saw someone call Christ in the robe and crown of thorns “Christ the bridegroom,” and I vaguely remember hearing once that a lot of it resembles marriage rites of the era (for instance, a flower crown) though I don’t recall my source for that (W from St Anthony’s Tongue, perhaps). Anyway that’s all I think of when I see him like this: that’s my husband fr

[sacredheart-stigmata]

Our Lady, Mother of Ferguson and All Those Killed by Gun Violence

Our Lady, Mother of Ferguson and All Those Killed by Gun Violence, often shortened to 'Our Lady of Ferguson', was created in 2015 by Black iconographer Mark Doox, after being commissioned by Rev. Dr. Mark Francisco Bozzuti-Jones for the Trinity Church in New York City. The icon was made to honor Michael Brown, a Black teen murdered at the hands of Darren Wilson, a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer, in 2014. While Black Lives Matter and similar groups had already established their presence in the United States following the murder of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown's brutal murder brought all eyes across the United States onto the movement and forced the reality of police brutality onto the TV screens and twitter feeds of white usamericans who refused to acknowledge that reality.

Rev. Bozzuti-Jones, a Jamaican priest at Trinity Church, an Episcopal church in Manhattan, commissioned the icon to honor Michael Brown and all other African Americans taken by police violence. Rev. Bozzuti-Jones, who is known for his racial activism and writings in the Episcopal church, chose Mark Doox for his bold, unflinching combination of Blackness and religion. Influenced by Byzantine iconography and Dadaism, Doox describes his art as such:

Blending narrative elements, historical references, and spiritual iconography in his Byz Dada style, Mark aims to create works that challenge viewers to confront sometimes uncomfortable truths about race, Identity, and power in American history. His commitment to addressing these existential themes head-on aims to explore deep cultural and historical issues while inviting reflection, conversation, and healing.

Doox continues to create icons for the Episcopal and African-Orthodox churches, and recently published "The N–Word of God", a graphic novel and art book. You can purchase it here

[eesirachs]

how to look into the catholic church, if you feel the tug of it—

look for communities near you to visit; morning masses have nice women who love to greet new neighbors. this is a book on how to visit, and this is my guide on it. the task is copying those near you. you need to find ethical relationship—going out is important. if you can't, though, try virtual masses (like those in my city through catholictv). follow the mass with a lectionary, the usccb daily readings, or the ordo

visit adoration, quiet times of reflection in front of the body. in various communities there are hours of this, or, it never ends

learn to pray chaplets or the rosary. visit churches half an hour before mass to recite the rosary with others. you can count on your fingers until you get one yourself

learn the nicene creed, which outlines the catholic faith in its gist

read vatican encyclicals like pope francis' delixit nos (he likens faith to his grandmother's cookies) or pope leo's recent magnifica humanitas (the rhetoric here is of loving the neighbor ethically, lornfully)

reach out to other catholics, like me 𐔌՞. .՞𐦯, pilgrim yourself to shrines, or visit festivals or feast days near you, (like the north end's st anthony's feast)

remain both generous and critical in one breath. name the violence of this church

lastly, look into ocia or rcia, rites of initiation guided by deacons or fathers to come home to the church

[eesirachs]

reading the old testament/hebrew bible/tanakh for the first time?

read it in nrsv(ue) with a commentary, like this one ed. coogan, or online on biblegateway

read it with an introductory textbook, like this one by collins

rely on hebrew lexicons, like sefaria or the bdb

or, teach yourself hebrew with books like those by seow or lambdin

use critical theory resources, like these recs

keep a timeline, like this tumblr one, by you

here is more on languages, software like accordance, or oxford handbpoks

[bobdylanyaoi]

“Subverting” Catholic art? Oh, okay. I see, you think this has nothing to do with you. You log onto the internet and you post about how “Wound of Christ” from Psalter and Prayer Book of Bonne de Luxembourg, attributed to Jean le Noir, c.1349, for instance, looks like a vulva because you're trying to tell the world that you enjoy Catholic art and imagery in an alternative, queer, risqué way that challenges Christian beliefs. But what you don't know is that that stigma isn’t just a vulva. It's not just a mandorla. It's not just yonic. It's actually intentionally erotic. And you're also blithely unaware of the fact that around 1297, Saint Angela of Foligno experienced a vision of Christ himself, who called her to put her mouth to the wound in his side and lick the freshly flowing blood. And then I think it was Saint Catherine of Siena who drank blood and a clear liquid from the wound before receiving a ring made from Christ’s foreskin? And then graphically erotic encounters with the side wound of Christ quickly showed up in the writings of eight different mystics. And then the yonic interpretation of the stigmata filtered down through the illuminated manuscripts and then trickled on down into some pseudo-intellectual corner of the internet…where you, no doubt, fished it out of some Pinterest board. However, that interpretation represents hundreds of years and countless visions of religious ecstasy. And it's sort of comical how you think that you've come up with an idea that exempts you from Christian theology when, in fact…you're posting an image that was sexualized for you by the very Medieval saints you think you’re so different than…from “subverted” Catholic art.

[stkateri-deactivated20260526]

[jadeseadragon]

Miguel Cabrera, The Divine Spouse (El Divino Esposo), c. 1750, Fundación Cultural Daniel Liebsohn, A.C., Mexico City, photo © Museum Associates / LACMA / Fomento Cultural Banamex, A.C., by Rafael Doniz  [source]

“Painted in Mexico opens at LACMA on November 19. … After its Los Angeles presentation, the exhibition will travel to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it will be on view April 24–July 22, 2018.”

[sakurabreeze]

Merab Abramishvili (Georgian, 1957-2006)

Archangel Gabriel

[unicorn-lore]

ig - this is just a reminder that you don’t need a new iphone. and if you do, refurbished tech is cheaper, reduces demand for mined minerals, and helps the planet.

[reclaiming-god]

hyper-specific catholic girl instagram reels niche: "when i was younger i wanted to be a nun and dedicate myself to christ but then i met richard dickinson the third and i realized my true calling was to be a wife and mother and now we have 3 bajillion children under the age of 10"

[cparti-mkiki]

[cparti-mkiki]

[dyke-for-christ]

St. Isidore the Farmer

A pious farmer who was married to Bl. Maria de la Cabeza in Madrid, Spain. Their only son died in young. The couple were convinced that it was God's Will that they should not be parents and lived chastely together for the rest of their lives.

Isidore was accused by his fellow laborers of not working to go to Mass and praying. He stated that he had no choice but to follow a higher Master. One legend regarding Isidore tells that one morning, his master came to chastise him for not working, but he found angels plowing the fields in Isidore's place.

Maria died in 1175 and Isidore died in 1130.

Patronage: against the death of children, agricultural workers, day laborers, farmers and farm workers, field hands, rain, husbandmen, livestock, ranchers, and rural communities