October 04, 2007
More Gratuitous Tiber Posting
Today is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, patron of animals, birds and nature.
I've never really been able to warm up to St. Francis, largely because of the way in which his image has been hijacked in the name of mawkishly sentimentalizing nature and anthropomorphizing animals, both of which I dislike intensely.
The "blessing of the animals" that many churches hold is bad enough, but you watch: somebody (probably within the TEC) is going to start administering communion to them as well. See if they don't.
Posted by Robert at October 4, 2007 08:50 AM | TrackBackHe has been made far too fluffy these days; he's actually one of the toughest saints in Christendom in what he practiced.
Posted by: The Colossus at October 4, 2007 09:53 AMIf you haven't run across him yet, there are a bunch of wonderful podcasts by Fr. John Riccardo available on iTunes. In one, he mentions "St. Francis, the amazing saint who unfortunately loved animals." That has now become our family tagline for St. Francis.
Posted by: Jordana at October 4, 2007 01:51 PM[Insert sound of coffee spraying across keyboard here.]
Thankee, Jordana, I may just have to borrow that one!
Posted by: Robbo the LB at October 4, 2007 02:18 PMDo read G.K. Chesterton's biography, St. Francis of Assisi. He was truly a suffering saint, a saint of the Cross, a point rarely brought out by modern portraits of the man.
Posted by: Christine at October 7, 2007 03:53 AMAnd while you're at it, you ought also to read Chesterton's bio of Aquinas, The Dumb Ox.
Posted by: Christine at October 7, 2007 03:56 AMAbstract paintings
Angel painting
animal paintings
ballet paintings
beach painting
Boat painting
building painting
Children painting
Christ painting
church painting
City painting
Cottage painting
Dancer painting
field painting
Floral paintings
Garden painting
Hunting paintings
impressionist painting
Knight painting
Lady painting
Landscape painting
Lighthouse paintings
Music painting
Nude painting
Oriental paintings
Piano painting
Seascapes paintings
Still Life paintings
street painting
sunset painting
Tropical paintings
Venice paintings
Village painting
wine paintingsalvador dali paintings
thomas kinkade paintings
pablo picasso paintings
vincent van gogh paintings
claude monet paintings
diego rivera paintings
Image courtesy of the lovely and talented 