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    Holy Cards
    Holy Cards
    Holy Cards
    Ebook243 pages1 hour

    Holy Cards

    By Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    A treasury of the devotional art that has comforted and inspired millions of Catholics—portraying a remarkable gallery of saints.
     
    Often used in daily rituals or given out at significant life events such as wakes and funerals, communions and confirmations, the holy card can be appreciated as both a religious tradition and a beautiful work of folk art.
     
    This comprehensive volume offers a richly illustrated overview, organized thematically, along with brief biographies and attributes of prophets and angels, disciples and evangelists, hermits and visionaries, martyrs and mystics—in exquisite depictions that run the gamut from dramatic and disturbing to moving and comforting.
     
    Including detailed explanations of the often-enigmatic symbolism found in these unique keepsakes, Holy Cards is a compendium that will fascinate anyone who enjoys the artistic beauty for which the Roman Catholic Church is renowned.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherABRAMS
    Release dateJul 1, 2013
    ISBN9781613126080
    Holy Cards

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    4.5/5

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    • 5/5
      What does an eccentric obsessive-compulsive pagan collect? Holy cards, of course. I'm not a Catholic and never have been. In fact, I am a Wiccan. I have long enjoyed the study of what pagan author Stewart Farrar has called the goddess-shaped yearning as it manifests in religions other than that of Wicca. I find the archetypes represented by the many saints to be similar in some aspects to that of the various gods and goddesses of pagan religions. I have been interested in the lives of the saints most of my life and I think that is because of the vivid drama associated with so many of them. By definition there is something superhuman about them. Holy cards are the perfect instrument for displaying these larger than life tendencies. The art is idealized and exaggerated. It deals heavily in symbolism and emotionalism. By association the holy cards and the simplistic descriptions they offer up help to illustrate aspects of Catholicism that I find highly interesting. They convey mythology that is spectacularly manipulative and whether that is for good or ill doesn't matter a fig to me. I just love looking at them...they're usually beautiful, peopled with ethereal beings with enraptured faces. Sometimes they have gilt accents and they almost always have lots of detail. I've learned a lot about the various sacred orders of priests and nuns from the cards. As they say in baseball, you gotta have a scorecard if ya wanna know the players. This lovely book is the perfect scorecard for holy card enthusiasts and collectors or just the merely curious. It is a medium size (not quite coffee table) hard cover book fully illustrated on every page with colored images of actual holy cards of varying degrees of antiquity and of many different styles. It contains a well written but brief history of holy cards in general at the beginning but other than that the text is in the form of short descriptions under each card that sketch in the key aspects of the saint's life. The descriptions are intended more to explain the imagery on the cards than they are to fully express the details of the life of any given saint. This book does not try to be a conclusive collection of the hundreds and hundreds of saints. It focuses on 31 different saints, many of them quite obscure, though some famous ones like Saint Joan of Arc and Saint Patrick are here, too. It contains holy cards of saints from many different eras of the Catholic Church including a few modern ones like my personal favorite, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, a Carmelite nun who wasn't canonized until 1925. Each page shows a holy card that is enlarged to about 5x7". The cards are arranged in groups under the headings of Prophets and Angels, Disciples and Evangelists, Martyrs, Hermits, Visionaries and Mystics, Religious Orders, Missionaries, and Holy People. There is a short description about each of these different groupings that explains their significance and the characteristics that qualify a saint for inclusion in them. There is an explanation of the various types of halos and their significance as well as a detailed glossary of symbols broken down into groups of Plants, Trees, Flowers and Fruit, Objects, Colors, Birds, Shapes and Numbers, Animals, Fish and Insects, Clothing, and Body Parts. For example under the symbol of the iris flower it says, "Mary's sorrow at Christ's passion. Rival of the lily as a symbol of the Virgin Mary." Under the symbol of the pomegranate it says, " Because there are many seeds in a single fruit, it is the symbol of The Church. Also, immortality, fertility, hope, and royalty." I find this symbol glossary particularly interesting because many of the same symbols are employed in my religion with different meanings. There is also some overlapping. The five point star that the seeds within a pomegranate reveal when it is sliced in half certainly does not represent the Catholic Church to me but it does symbolize my "church" of the five elements and the created web of life. It represents the Goddess and fertility. I find this book interesting for its perspective on sacred iconography. I think this would make an excellent gift for a practicing Catholic or for an art lover of any faith. The paper is good quality, the inks are clear and true and the art speaks for itself. I love the romanticism in the imagery but some of the images are gruesome and the stories macabré. We see St. Lucy holding her eyeballs in a little dish, Saint Apollonia holding a crude set of pliers used to pull out her teeth, standing before the pyre upon which she was burned alive, and Saint Laurence, the patron saint of cooks, holding the grill upon which he was cooked by order of the Roman Emperor for failing to hand over the Church's treasures. These are some of the Martyrs, of course. The holy cards also depict pious and humble people as well as great thinkers and holy examples of faithfulness. As a complete book of saints this will disappoint but for an excellent introduction into the lives of the saints it is superb, offering a good cross section of types and thus a good primer of the whole concept of sainthood. Many of the cards shown in this book are from the private collection of Father Eugene Carrella, Pastor of St. Adalbert's Parish on Staten Island, who is the foremost collector of holy cards in America. The authors of the book, Barbara Calamari and Sandra Dipasqua are a freelance writer and a graphic designer respectively and have written other books about Catholic religious subjects, including Holy Places: Sacred Sites in Catholicism and Novena: The Power of Prayer. They treat the subject of devotional art with a loving hand and have produced a book that is lovely to look at and which illuminates this subject. I thoroughly enjoyed it and think there is plenty here to interest people of any religion.

      1 person found this helpful

    Book preview

    Holy Cards - Barbara Calamari

    holy cards

    BARBARA CALAMARI & SANDRA DIPASQUA

    FROM THE BIRTH OF CHRISTIANITY, saints have inspired the classic works of Western art. They are human representatives of divine grace, and their stories of faith and suffering, and trial and transcendence, have fascinated the secular and comforted, consoled, and encouraged believers. One of the most important and endearing traditions of Catholic iconography is that of the holy card. Offering images of the saints, these portable objects of daily ritual are carried for protection; given as remembrances at communions, confirmations, and funerals; and collected and traded.

    With Holy Cards, authors Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua offer the first book to survey this rich and varied art form. Featuring a pantheon of major religious figures in Catholicism and many little-known saints—such as St. Clare, the patron saint of television, and St. Monica, the patron saint of people with disappointing children—this book is sure to inform and inspire. The beautifully reproduced holy cards are arranged thematically, and each is accompanied by a brief biography of the subject, including attributes and powers. A glowing compendium of jewel-like images, Holy Cards can be treasured for both its spiritual and its artistic qualities. It is the perfect gift for those interested in Catholicism and devotional art.

    HOLY CARDS

    Editor: Christopher Sweet

    Designer: Sandra DiPasqua

    Production Manager: Ankur Ghosh

    The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition of this book as follows: Calamari, Barbara.

       Holy cards/by Barbara Calamari & Sandra DiPasqua.

          p. cm.

       Includes bibliographical references and index.

       ISBN 10: 0-8109-4338-7

       1. Holy cards. 2. Printed ephemera. 3. Christian art and symbolism—Modern

       period, 1500– I. DiPasqua, Sandra. II. Title.

    NE958.C35 2004

    760’04482—dc22

    2003015832

    Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4197-0227-3

    Copyright © 2004 Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua

    Originally published in hardcover in 2004 by Abrams, an imprint of ABRAMS. This edition published in 2012. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

    Abrams books are available at special discounts when purchased in quantity for premiums and promotions as well as fundraising or educational use. Special editions can also be created to specification. For details, contact specialsales@abramsbooks.com or the address below.

    115 West 18th Street

    New York, NY 10011

    www.abramsbooks.com

    CONTENTS

    ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

    INTRODUCTION

    A BRIEF HISTORY

    PROPHETS & ANGELS

    DISCIPLES & EVANGELISTS

    MARTYRS

    HERMITS

    VISIONARIES & MYSTICS

    RELIGIOUS ORDERS

    MISSIONARIES

    HOLY PEOPLE

    HALOS

    SIGNIFICANCE LISTS

    Plants, Trees, Flowers & Fruit

    Objects

    Colors

    Birds

    Shapes and Numbers

    Animals, Fish & Insects

    Clothing

    Body Parts

    BIBLIOGRAPHY

    PICTURE CREDITS

    ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS   Many thanks to our agent Jim Fitzgerald and our editor Christopher Sweet of Abrams Books, who made this project such a pleasure to work on. We were in touch with several holy card collectors who were very supportive in their communications with us, among them, Sister Mary Jacque Benner and Pierluigi Stradella. James Occhino lent us some real treasures from his family collection and Mr. Fred Pfefferlein of PekaVerlag kindly allowed us to use several of his company’s beautiful images. Patricia Bates and Louis Turchioe are owed a special debt for their unconditional support. We are also grateful to Deborah Rust for her generosity and technical expertise. Brian Tully was a great help with his knowledge of Photoshop. Kate Castellucci and her devotion to St. Anthony deserves a special thank you.

    The best thing about working on this project was the opportunity we had in meeting Father Eugene Carrella, Pastor of St. Adalbert’s Parish on Staten Island, New York. Father Carrella is not only one of the foremost collectors of holy cards in America, he is also someone who cared deeply enough about this project to assist us with research information as well as provide us with the majority of our images. Working with him has been an educational and thoroughly enjoyable experience.

    Finally, we would like to dedicate this book to our parents, Virginia and Anthony DiPasqua and Leonora and Raymond Calamari.

    INTRODUCTION The saints were human beings with human problems. They had bad marriages, debts, wayward children; they came from all walks of life. Yet through divine grace they were able to overcome their own personal obstacles and transcend the burdens of the material world. To Catholics they are an extended family that serve as a great inspiration in the ability of prayer and faith to change one’s life. They have fascinating stories of suffering, failure, and victory, and many of us implore our favorite saints to pray with us and for us. They

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