Jesus and sacred art

Sacred art

Catholic contributions·Statues of Christ·Cathedrals and shrines

• St. Michael the ArchangelWhose name means Who is like God? The Church’s warrior, the weigher of souls, the one Leo XIII saw standing over a wounded Church. He has a cave in Gargano, a castle in Rome, a rock in the sea, and — if a Marine’s letter is true — a sword in the Korean snow.
• The Blessed Virgin MaryMother of God, and therefore mother of anyone the Son will not disown. She does not replace him. She points, as at Cana: Do whatever he tells you. The apparitions in this archive are her extra sentences. The Gospel is her first.
• St. JosephThe man who said nothing in the Gospel and did everything that needed doing: took the Child, took the mother, took the road to Egypt, took a trade. Patron of a good death, of workers, of the Church.
• Jesus ChristThe miracle the Church is required to believe. Not a later wonder. The Resurrection. Every bleeding Host, every shroud, every face in the bread is a footnote to that.
• St. Bernadette SoubirousThe girl who saw a lady in a dump, who said I am the Immaculate Conception, who then spent the rest of her life trying not to be famous. She was not healed. She was made a saint. Her body still lies at Nevers.
• St. Juan DiegoA widower walking to Mass who was asked to build a house for a lady. His tilma still hangs. Mexico still looks up.
• St. Pio of PietrelcinaThe Capuchin whose hands bled for fifty years, who heard confessions until the line wrapped the square, who was silenced and then canonized.
• St. Thérèse of LisieuxThe little way. A Carmelite who died at twenty-four and then would not stay small. Patron of missionaries who never left the cloister, and of anyone in a dark night.
• St. DymphnaA young woman who fled a violent house. Patron of minds that will not quiet, of nerves, of the hospital ward no one wants to name.
• St. Faustina KowalskaThe secretary of Divine Mercy. A Polish nun who wrote what she was told, was doubted, and then had a pope who had grown up down the road write her into the calendar.
• St. AgathaVirgin martyr of Catania. Her name is in the Roman Canon.
• St. AgnesA child of Rome who would not be owned. Lambs are blessed on her feast.
• St. Albert the GreatDoctor of the Church. Teacher of Aquinas. The man who thought the created world was worth naming.
• St. Aloysius GonzagaA Jesuit novice who died nursing the plague. Patron of youth.
• St. Alphonsus LiguoriFounder of the Redemptorists. Moral theologian of mercy. Doctor of the Church.
• St. AmbroseBishop of Milan who baptized Augustine. Doctor of the Church.
• St. AndrewFirst-called of the apostles. Brother of Peter. Crucified on an X-shaped cross.
• St. Angela MericiFoundress of the Ursulines. Teacher of girls when that was not an industry.
• St. AnneMother of the Blessed Virgin. Grandmother of the Lord.
• St. AnselmArchbishop of Canterbury. Father of scholasticism. Doctor of the Church.
• St. Anthony of PaduaFranciscan preacher. Finder of lost things. Doctor of the Church.
• St. Anthony the GreatFather of monks. The desert as a school.
• St. AthanasiusBishop of Alexandria. The man who would not let Arius rename the Son.
• St. Augustine of HippoDoctor of grace. The Confessions. The City of God.
• St. BarnabasCompanion of Paul. Son of encouragement.
• St. BartholomewApostle. Often identified with Nathanael under the fig tree.
• St. Basil the GreatCappadocian Father. Father of Eastern monasticism. Doctor of the Church.
• St. Benedict of NursiaFather of Western monks. Ora et labora. His medal is still worn.
• St. Bernard of ClairvauxCistercian. Mellifluous doctor. Preacher of the Crusade and of the Name of Mary.
• St. BonaventureFranciscan general. Doctor of the Church. The mind on fire.
• St. Bridget of SwedenMystic, foundress, widow, pilgrim to Rome.
• St. Catherine of SienaDoctor of the Church. Tertiary who told a pope to go home to Rome.
• St. CeciliaVirgin martyr. Patroness of music. Named in the Canon.
• St. Charles BorromeoCardinal of Milan. Reformer of a plague city.
• St. Clare of AssisiFirst woman of the Franciscan life. The Poor Ladies.
• St. ColumbaMonk of Iona. Apostle of the Picts.
• St. CyprianBishop of Carthage. Martyr. The unity of the Church.
• St. DominicFounder of the Order of Preachers. The rosary’s Western father in the old telling.
• St. Teresa Benedicta of the CrossEdith Stein. Philosopher, Carmelite, martyr at Auschwitz.
• St. Elizabeth of HungaryQueen who became a servant. The roses in the cloak.
• St. Elizabeth Ann SetonFirst native-born American saint. Widow, convert, foundress of Catholic schools.
• St. Francis of AssisiIl Poverello. The stigmata of 1224. Patron of Italy and of ecology.
• St. Francis XavierJesuit missionary. India, Japan, an island off China.
• St. Francis de SalesBishop of Geneva. Doctor of charity. Introduction to the Devout Life.
• St. Gabriel the ArchangelThe one who is sent. Annunciation. Daniel. Guardian of the Incarnation’s news.
• St. GeorgeSoldier-martyr. The dragon is the story a nation needed; the martyr is the file.
• St. Gertrude the GreatBenedictine mystic of Helfta. The prayer for the souls in purgatory.
• St. Gregory the GreatPope. Doctor. The Pastoral Rule. The mission to England.
• St. HelenaEmpress. Mother of Constantine. Finder of the True Cross in the old telling.
• St. Hildegard of BingenAbbess, visionary, composer, Doctor of the Church.
• St. Ignatius of AntiochApostolic Father. Letters written in chains on the way to the Roman beasts.
• St. Ignatius of LoyolaFounder of the Jesuits. The Spiritual Exercises.
• St. IrenaeusBishop of Lyons. Against Heresies. Doctor of the Church.
• St. Isaac JoguesJesuit martyr of North America. The North American Martyrs.
• St. James the GreaterApostle. Son of Zebedee. Compostela’s man.
• St. Jane Frances de ChantalWidow, foundress of the Visitation with Francis de Sales.
• St. JanuariusBishop of Benevento. The blood that liquefies in Naples.
• St. JeromeThe Vulgate. Doctor of the Church. A bad temper in the service of the text.
• St. Joan of ArcThe Maid of Orléans. Voices, a campaign, a fire, a rehabilitation.
• St. John the BaptistThe forerunner. The voice in the wilderness. The head on a platter.
• St. John the EvangelistThe beloved disciple. The Fourth Gospel. Patmos.
• St. John BoscoDon Bosco. Father of poor boys. The Salesians.
• St. John ChrysostomGolden mouth. Patriarch of Constantinople. Doctor of the Church.
• St. John of the CrossCarmelite reformer. Doctor of mystical theology. The Dark Night.
• St. John VianneyThe Curé of Ars. Patron of parish priests. Confessor of France.
• St. Joseph of CupertinoThe flying friar. Patron of students who cannot pass.
• St. JudeApostle. Patron of impossible cases.
• St. Justin MartyrPhilosopher. The first great apologist. The Sunday Mass described in 155.
• St. LawrenceDeacon of Rome. The gridiron. The treasures of the Church are the poor.
• St. Leo the GreatPope. Doctor. The Tome of Leo. The man who met Attila.
• St. Louis IXKing of France. Crusader. The Sainte-Chapelle for the Crown of Thorns.
• St. LucyVirgin martyr of Syracuse. Eyes, light, December dark.
• St. LukeEvangelist. Physician. Painter in the old legend. Acts of the Apostles.
• St. Margaret Mary AlacoqueVisitandine of Paray-le-Monial. The Sacred Heart as a public devotion.
• St. Maria GorettiChild martyr of purity. She forgave her murderer, who later took a religious name.
• St. MarkEvangelist. The lion. Peter’s interpreter in the old memory.
• St. MarthaOf Bethany. The one who served, and who said: I believe that you are the Christ.
• St. Martin de PorresDominican brother of Lima. The poor, the sick, the animals.
• St. Martin of ToursSoldier who cut his cloak. Monk, bishop, apostle of Gaul.
• St. Mary MagdaleneApostle to the apostles. First witness of the Resurrection.
• St. MatthewApostle. Evangelist. The tax collector called from the booth.
• St. Maximilian KolbeFranciscan. Auschwitz. He took another man’s place.
• St. MonicaMother of Augustine. The widow who prayed a son into the Church.
• St. NicholasBishop of Myra. The gift-giver. Bari’s bones.
• St. PatrickApostle of Ireland. The Confession. A slave who went back.
• St. PaulApostle to the nations. The road to Damascus. The letters that built the West.
• St. PerpetuaCatechumen of Carthage. Her diary from prison is the Church’s first woman’s book.
• St. Philip NeriApostle of Rome. The Oratory. Joy as an ascesis.
• St. Pius XPope. First Communion for children. The Oath against modernism. Incorrupt.
• St. PolycarpBishop of Smyrna. Hearer of John. The martyrdom that taught the Church how to write one.
• St. Raphael the ArchangelThe healer. Tobias. The road companion.
• St. Rita of CasciaWidow, Augustinian, thorn in the forehead. Patroness of impossible cases with Jude.
• St. Robert BellarmineJesuit cardinal. Doctor of the Church. The catechism of a fighting age.
• St. Rose of LimaFirst saint of the Americas. Dominican tertiary. The city of kings’ recluse.
• St. ScholasticaTwin of Benedict. The storm that kept a brother talking until morning.
• St. SebastianSoldier of the Praetorian guard. The arrows. Patron of athletes.
• St. StephenFirst martyr. Deacon. The face of an angel, then the stones.
• St. Teresa of ÁvilaCarmelite reformer. Doctor of the Church. The Interior Castle.
• St. Teresa of CalcuttaMother Teresa. The Missionaries of Charity. The dark night in a sari.
• St. Thomas the ApostleThe twin. Unless I see. My Lord and my God. India in the old mission.
• St. Thomas AquinasThe Angelic Doctor. The Summa. The hymns of Corpus Christi.
• St. Thomas MoreChancellor of England. The king’s good servant, but God’s first.
• St. Vincent de PaulFather of the poor. The Lazarists. The Daughters of Charity with Louise.
• St. WenceslausDuke of Bohemia. Murdered by a brother. The good king of the carol.
• St. BlaiseBishop of Sebaste. The blessing of throats.
• St. Brigid of IrelandMary of the Gael. Kildare. The cloak that covered a field.
• St. Frances Xavier CabriniFirst American citizen saint. The immigrants’ mother.
• St. Catherine of AlexandriaThe wheel. Patroness of philosophers and of students.
• St. Catherine LabouréThe Miraculous Medal. A novice who saw Mary in a chapel in 1830.
• St. Charbel MakhloufThe hermit of Annaya. Incorrupt. Oil on the grave.
• St. ChristopherChrist-bearer. Patron of travelers.
• St. Damien of MolokaiThe leper priest. He went and did not come back well.
• St. Edward the ConfessorKing of England. Westminster Abbey’s founder in the old telling.
• St. Gemma GalganiThe stigmatic of Lucca. A Passion lived in a rented room.
• St. Gianna Beretta MollaPhysician, mother, who would not choose against the child.
• St. John Paul IIThe pope from Poland. Totus tuus. Divine Mercy as a feast.
• St. John XXIIIGood Pope John. The Council. A peasant’s face on Peter’s chair.
• St. Josephine BakhitaSlave, then Canossian sister. Patroness of Sudan and of those trafficked.
• St. Kateri TekakwithaLily of the Mohawks. First Native American saint of the United States and Canada.
• St. Katharine DrexelPhiladelphia heiress who spent a fortune on Black and Native schools.
• St. OlafKing of Norway. Martyr of the north. Nidaros.
• St. Óscar RomeroArchbishop of San Salvador. Shot at the altar.
• St. Peter the ApostleThe rock. The keys. The fisherman who denied and then fed the sheep.
• St. PhilomenaThe child-martyr of the catacombs whose cult Mugnano kept.
• St. UrsulaThe legend of Cologne. Patroness of education and of the Ursulines.
• St. ValentinePriest-martyr of Rome. The name a later century filled with romance.
• St. Zélie MartinMother of Thérèse. Canonized with Louis. The domestic church as a canonization.
• St. ZitaServant of Lucca. Bread in the apron that became roses in the story.