An Anthology for Discovering

Faith Through Literature,

Art, Film, and Music
 Creation and the Nature of God
“God’s Grandeur is a poem about
the way the beauty of the natural
world reveals or reflects the glory of
God.

Gerard Manley Hopkins was a

nineteenth century convert from
Anglicanism who became a Jesuit
priest. Although not a single one of
his poems was published during his
lifetime, he is recognized today as
one of the great British poets.
“The Teacher of Wisdom” is a religious
short story which explores the
psychological reality that we must not know
God with our minds, we must also love him
with our hearts.

Oscar Wilde was one of the greatest 19th

century English writers and a death-bed
convert to the Catholic faith. A humorist,
he once said, “The only think I can’t resist
is temptation.”
“Pigeon Feathers” is a young man’s
encounter with God through a realization of
his own mortality.

John Updike was a popular and

successful Pulitzer Prize-winning American
author of fiction.
 “The Creation” is a poetic account of
the Genesis creation story in the form
of a sermon to a black congregation.

 James Weldon Johnson was an

African-American “Renaissance man”
who was active in the “Harlem
Renaissance” of the 1920s and 30s.
 “The Burning Babe” is a poetic portrait
of Jesus Christ which combines his
Nativity and Passion.

 Robert Southwell was a Roman

Catholic Jesuit martyr in Elizabethan
England. He was a member of the
school of poetry which is now called
“Metaphysical” along with writers like
John Donne.
 “Parker’s Back” is a fictionalized
working out of the implications of the
heresy that one can “worship in pure
spirit.” The truth is that we are material
and spiritual beings: both dimensions
are important.

 Flannery O’Connor is regarded as

the greatest American Catholic fiction
writer. Her stories explore the stark
reality of original and actual sin in the
world.
 This selection from The Journey of the
Mind into God is about how God is
present in creation and how creation
speaks to us about God.

 St. Bonaventure was a brilliant

philosopher, theologian and
mathematician. He led the fledgling
Franciscan order after the death of St.
Francis of Assisi.
 Icon of the Holy Savior – Artist Unknown

Seeing with the Artist

 The Creation of Adam – Michelangelo

Seeing with the Artist

Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints
- Raphael

Seeing with the Artist

 And Veronica is Still Among Us with her Veil of
Compassion
- Georges Rouault

Seeing with the Artist

 The Black Christ – Ronald Harrison

Seeing with the Artist

 City Lights (1931)—  The Gospel
Directed by Charlie According to St.
Chaplin Matthew (1966)—
Directed by Pier
Paolo Pasolini