The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-08-02
RELIGIOUS PICTURES IN THE
HOME.

Parents have the most serious duty
that can be imposed upon human
beings, viz, that of training up their
children in the fear and love of God.
Those children have souls as we'll as
bodies, and, while their bodies will die
and crumble into dust, their souls will
live forever. While most homes are
arranged, as far as possible, in keep
ing with the means of the parents, in
such way as to minister to the mate
rial well-being of the children, the
same is frequently not true where
there is question of their spiritual
development. This is not to be attrib-
uted to the deliberate intention of
the parents to deprive the children of
what is due to them, but simply to the
fact that people do not realize the
elements helpful to the development
of the soul, as we'll as they do those
calculated to build up and strengthen
the body.
In this article, it is my aim to make
a plea for religious pictures in the
home, for the sake of the spiritual
Religious pictures are numbered
among the sacramentals of the
Church. AS such they inspire good
thoughts and increase devotion among
adults, as well as help the spiritual
upbuilding of the children. But it is
only in the latter aspect that l shall
consider them here.
blank; and it begins to furnish ideas
to that mind through it's carriers, the
hands, the ears, the taste, the eyes.
But, much as it learns through the
other senses, | think that it acquires
the most through the eyes. The eyes
give it perception of color, of shape, of
size, of proportion, of distance, and of
action. Now, if the eye is so helpful
in supplying the child with the knowl-
edge of earth, why not make the child
use the eye to acquire a knowledge of
the things of heaven?
People who wish their children to
speak French or German, allow only
those languages to be spoken in the
hearing of the children; and those
parents who wish their children to
grow up healthy, keep them out in the
air as much as possible. In the same
way, those parents who wish their
children to grow up religious and
pious, should create an environment
of religion and piety for them; and
ment would be a plentiful supply of
pictures portraying religious subjects,
on the walls of the home.
What is it that makes the Church
so devotional? Of course it is chiefly
the fact that Our Lord is there in the
Blessed Sacrament. But, besides, it is
the plentiful supply of religious art.
There are the statues, the stations of
the Cross, the pictures, and the
stained glass windows, all portraying
religious subjects; and the number
and weight, | might say-of all these
create an atmosphere of piety and
devotion that is perceptible and unmis-
taxable. Now, while the Blessed Sacra-
ment cannot be kept in the home, all
else, or nearly all else, that contrib
utes to the devotional atmosphere of
the Church can-and, as far as cir
cumstances permit, should be found |
there.
For the home is to do the same
work as the Church-to train the child |
for heaven. If the child would get
the best possible start in life, the diff |
ference between his home atmosphere |
and the Church atmosphere should be /
as little as possible; the more they |
resemble each other, the better And !
when the child comes to the Church |
or to the Sunday School, if what he
hears explained by the priest or
teacher he has already seen depicted |
on the walls of his own home, he is
much better prepared to profit by
such instruction than if the work in
the Church were not aided by various
good influences at home
A certain priest was once giving an
instruction on the life, deeds and
death Of John the Baptist and b~