Saints & Devotion: Icon Guides for Joseph, Rita, Teresa & More

"Blessed" is the step before "saint" — and the icons of the blesseds are often the most moving of all, because they show people from our own streets: a teenage web designer, a family of nine executed in their farmhouse, a bishop imprisoned for his faith. In the icons of Blesseds the halo is a reminder that the Church has already recognized their heroic virtue. This guide explains what beatification means and introduces the most beloved bles... Read more...

The saints of the last two centuries are the ones we can almost touch: photographs, diaries, radio broadcasts and hospital wards belong to their stories. The icons of modern saints show Padre Pio with the stigmata, Faustina with her diary, John Paul II with the pilgrim's staff, Mother Teresa in her white sari. This guide introduces the most beloved modern saints and explains what their icons carry. Read more...

Every religious order began with a founder who heard a call and answered it: Benedict withdrawing to a cave, Francis hearing the crucifix speak at San Damiano, Dominic preaching against heresy, Teresa reforming Carmel from within. The icons of founders and religious preserve their faces and their habits — the black of the Benedictines, the brown of the Franciscans, the white of the Dominicans. This guide explains how to read these icons and... Read more...

Pope icons and bishop icons carry a very specific visual vocabulary: the mitre on the head, the crozier in the hand, the pallium around the shoulders. Behind these signs stands a two-thousand-year ministry of teaching and shepherding. In this guide to our icons of popes and bishops you will learn how to read the vestments, meet the most popular saints of this order — Nicholas, Gregory the Great, Charles Borromeo, John Paul II — and choose a... Read more...

Martyr icons are the most ancient images of the Church after the catacomb symbols: portraits of men and women who gave their lives for Christ, painted by communities that remembered them. In the icons of martyrs you will always find the same quiet language — a palm branch, a crown, the instrument of a violent death held like a trophy of victory. This guide explains who the martyrs are, how their icons are read, and how to choose a martyr ic... Read more...