Friday, September 17, 2010

Should We Paint God the Father?

New Liturgical Movement blog has this interesting article on God the Father in Christian Art. I myself have reservations about painting the image of God the Father. In fact, I have observed that the Blessing of Sacred Images found in the Roman Ritual says nothing about the image of God the Father. The Blessing is worded in this way:

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui Sanctorum tuorum imagines (sive effigies) sculpti, aut pingi non reprobas, ut quoties illas oculis corporis intuemur, toties eorum actus et sanctitatem ad imitandum memoriae oculis meditemur: hanc, quaesumus, imaginem (seu sculpturam) in honorem et memorian Unigeniti Filii tui Domini nostri Jesu Christi vel beatissimae Virginis Mariae, matris Domini nostri Jesu Christi, vel beati N., (Apostoli) tui, (vel Martyris), (vel Pontificis), (vel Confessoris), vel beatae N. (Virginis), (vel Martyris) adaptatam bene+dicere, et sancti+ficare digneris: et praesta; ut quicumque coram illia Unigenitum Filium tuum vel beatissima Virginem, vel gloriosum (Apostolum), (vel Martyrum), (vel Pontificem), (vel Confessorem), vel gloriosam (Virginem), (vel Martyrem) suppliciter colere et honorare studuerit, illus meritis et obtentu a te gratiam in praesenti, et aeternam gloriam obtineat in futurum. Per (eundem) Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

The text of the prayer seems to tell us that the Church does not intend to portray the invisible Father in art. You may want to read this interesting article:


Should We Paint God the Father?

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