Raffaello Sanzio, known as Raphael (Urbino, Italy 1483 – Rome, Italy 1520), Sistine Madonna, 1513-14, oil on canvas, 265 cm x 196 cm, Dresden, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister.

1 January, Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God.

On 6 April 2020 will be the 500th anniversary of the death of Raphael, certainly one of the absolute geniuses of the Italian Renaissance. A selection of his works will accompany us during this year, sure that the pinnacles of beauty reached by the painter from Urbino will help our reflections.

School of Francisco de Zurbarán (Fuente de Cantos, Spain 1598 – Madrid, Spain 1664), Saint Eulalia, 1640-50, 173 cm x 103 cm, oil on canvas, Seville, Spain, Museum of Fine Arts.

10 December, Memory of Saint Eulalia.

Let's start by reading some of the verses that a modern poet, Federico García Lorca, dedicated to the most famous saint in Spain, the martyr Eulalia. They are taken from one of the 18 "Romances" that constitute his most important poetic collection, Romancero gitano (Gypsy Ballads), published in 1928.

Stefano Maderno (Capolago, Switzerland, 1576 – Rome, Italy, 1636), Saint Cecilia, 1600, marble, Rome, Church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere

22 November, Memory of Saint Cecilia.

The story of the beautiful statue in white marble, placed under the altar and the ciborium of the church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, is closely linked to the story of the Roman martyr saint.

Hans Memling (Seligenstadt, around 1436 – Bruges 1494), Saint Ursula protecting her virgin companions, 1489, oil on wood, 45.5 cm x 18 cm, Bruges, Memlingmuseum.

21 October, Memory of Saint Ursula and companions.

The history of St. Ursula is widely spread in Christian Europe and several legendary elements have been added to it. Her story is said to have taken place between the 4th and 5th centuries AD. She was probably the victim of the persecution of Diocletian or perhaps that of Attila, King of the Huns, who was quite harsh on Christians. Let us try to highlight some essential details of her life.

Gjergj Kola (Durrës, 1967), Saint Teresa of Calcutta, oil on canvas.

5 September, Memory of Saint Teresa of Calcutta.

It feels nice to present a painting of the great saint painted by a young compatriot of hers. When Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu - this is the family name of the one we all know as Teresa of Calcutta - died in the great Indian city, Gjergj Kola was just 30 years old and had moved 6 years before, for political reasons, to nearby Greece.

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (Seville 1618 –1683), Saint Rose of Lima, around 1670, 145 cm x 95 cm, oil on canvas, Madrid, Lázaro Galdiano Museum

23 August, Memory of Saint Rose of Lima. 

The Saint, with her Dominican habit, is on her knees, contemplating the Christ Child, who is sitting on a pillow on the linen basket and is raising his left hand towards the Saint in a caressing gesture, while with his right hand he seems to give her (or is he rather taking them?) roses. From the mouth of the child comes out a Latin inscription that means: "Rose, you will be the bride of my heart." On the floor, next to the basket, there is a book and there are other roses. In the background, on the right, there is a building, which is undoubtedly the convent, partly covered by a bush of roses.

Donatello (Florence 1386 –1466), Penitent Magdalene, 1453-55, height 188 cm, poplar wood with traces of polychrome, Florence, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo

22nd of July: Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene.

Mary Magdalene appears at the beginning of chapter 8 of Luke's Gospel: “Now it happened that after this he made his way through towns and villages preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. With him went the Twelve, as well as certain women who had been cured of evil spirits and ailments: Mary surnamed the Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their own resources.” And then, especially, as it is said in chapters 19 and 20 of the Gospel of John, she was at the foot of the cross, she was in the garden where they laid down the body of Jesus, and she was the first to see the risen one and ran to announce it to the apostles.

Giovanni Odazzi (Rome 1663 –1731), Blessed Theresa and Sancha, 1725, oil on canvas, Rome, Church of Sant’Antonio dei Portoghesi

In Rome, a few steps from Piazza Navona and very close to the more famous Church of St. Augustine, there is a small church of the Portuguese nation, dedicated of course to St. Anthony. In it there are several paintings representing Portuguese saints and blessed, including the one we propose here, which depicts two sisters, both nuns, both blessed. Let us dwell on Theresa.

Giovan Battista Galizzi (Bergamo 1882 - 1963), Entrance of Saint Rita to the monastery, oil on canvas, 1947, Cascia, Italy, Chapel of the urn in the Sanctuary of Saint Rita

Saint Rita of Cascia is one of the most invoked and venerated saints. She was born in 1381 in Roccaporena, a hamlet of Cascia, in central Italy. She was given the name of Margherita, but soon everyone started calling her Rita.

A mild-tempered, humble, obedient and well-mannered girl (her parents taught her to read and to write), from a very young age she became passionate about the Augustinian family, so much to want to take her vows and to attend regularly the monastery of Saint Mary Magdalene of Cascia and the church of St. John the Baptist. But when she was 14, her parents promised her married to Paolo di Ferdinando Mancini, a violent man, and after three years she got married with him. Two children were born from the wedding, perhaps twins: Giangiacomo Antonio and Paolo Maria.

Guidoccio Cozzarelli (Siena 1450 – 1517), Saint Catherine of Siena exchanges her heart with Christ, around 1500, Siena, Pinacoteca nazionale

Catherine was born in Siena on 25 March 1347. Her confessor, Raimondo da Capua - who also became Minister General of the Dominicans - left written testimony of the precocious vocation of this great saint. In 1363, when she was just 16, she became a Dominican tertiary. Illiterate, she learned to read and also to write so as to be able to draw directly on the Holy Scriptures. She obtained special gifts and graces from Jesus, which made her one of the most important mystics in the history of the Church.

Matilda of Ringelheim, marble, Milan Cathedral

Matilda was a woman, a wife, a mother, and a queen who distinguished herself for her extraordinary concern for the poor and the sick, as well as for her intense life of prayer.