Family in Feast and Feria

The month of July is traditionally dedicated to the Precious Blood. There is an interesting thread on 4Real asking for ideas. I pulled out an old book I found at a book sale entitled The Story of the Precious Blood by Rev. Joseph F. Stedman, copyright 1932, printed by Arlington, Press, Inc., NYC. Father Stedman was the former director of the Confraternity of the Precious Blood.

The book uses the paintings, sculptures, mosaics, and other items of art from the Monastery Chapel of the Contemplative Sister Adorers of the Precious Blood, in Brooklyn, NY. They do not have much of a web presence, but another monastery in Watertown, NY does.

I went to bed last night wanting to find out more about this chapel. Is it still standing (built around 1910)? Was it wreckovated, or is it still as beautiful? I'd love to see color pictures of some of the paintings and stained glass. I didn't have much luck in finding out anything.

But I found it so wonderful that in my initial search on the Internet I found out that one of my favorite Catholic liturgical artists, Ade Bethune, designed the stained glass windows:

In 1938, Father Joseph F. Stedman asked Ade Bethune to design stained glass windows for the chapel at the Precious Blood Monastery in Brooklyn, New York, where he was chaplain. In 7 lancets, she designed stained glass versions of her Catholic Worker saints practicing the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.

Early sketches for these windows show both male and female saints, but the final version depicted only women. Unfortunately, Ms. Bethune did not have the joy of executing them herself; instead they were done by Per Bergeton of Rambusch Studios in New York.

What a wonderful connection! I know this isn't directly related to the Precious Blood--see how easy it is to go off onto rabbit trails? I am very drawn to her art. She uses thick line drawings, and most is in black and white. Her use of symbolism reminds me of the role of catechetical work the early stained glass and paintings. Both intellectual and Illiterate people of all ages, wealthy and poor, religious and laity could learn the lessons depicted in those images, and could easily recognize the saints by the symbols used. And in this modern era, she recaptures that spirit.

I've had an ongoing love of her work. For years I'd see her images, but had no idea of the artist's name. When I made the connection a few years back, I was excited to find I already had a few books illustrated by her (see Amazon's list.

One I highly recommend is Eye Contact with God Through Pictures: A Clip Book of Pictures from the Ade Bethune Collection . This is a great collection of clip art that follows the Liturgical Year, including some saints. It is a slim volume, and rather expensive. I've mentioned this work before in my post about Christian symbols.

Some other links of her works and information:

About Ade Bethune

Ade Bethune Collection Iconography Digital Collection. This is a goldmine, containing all her iconography.

Stained Glass images

St. Nicholas, The Children's Friend: A Belgian Tradition for December 6 and St. Nicholas Poem and St. Nicholas clip art by Ade Bethune.

Blue Cloud Abbey sells holy cards illustrated by her.

Mary, Seat of Wisdom

Women--Liturgical and Religious Art

Images of Corporal Works of Mercy