Angelus

My painting Saint Francis of Assisi and the Heavenly Melody is initially inspired by Olivier Messiaen's The Angel Musicians from Saint Francis of Assisi, Music from Heaven, and, of course, the various medieval works depicting the death of Saint Francis of Assisi, plus the famous. albeit more recent work, by Frank Cadogan Cowper (1877-1958) who was known as the last of the Pre-Raphaelites. With the exception of the death of Saint Francis where an angel is invariably always in close proximity, other works have generally been set in daylight. Mine is set at dusk with a full moon in evidence to enhance the mystical aspect of the occasion where a celestial melody entrances the little saint on whose feast day I was episcopally consecrated. My mother fell into quiet repose on the feast of the Holy Guardian Angels one year later, having been preceded by four months by Messiaen, one of my favourite composers who shared the same birthday as my father who died eight years after them both.  

Theotokos

"Stunning, it is electric, magnificent, it portrays all of the joy and the pain that the Mother of God suffered." — Anthony Hill

Sarah

Countess

The Countess

Calix

Judas

Judas has become the most despised person in the annals of human history. His personality is the darkest in the chronicles of the world, and the name Judas itself bears a stigma, reflecting the scorn for him that burns within us. The New Testament writers disdain Judas to such a degree that in every list of the disciples given in the Gospels, Judas is listed last, with a note of contempt after his name.

Hatred for Judas was so deep in the years following the closing of the New Testament that several incredible legends about him evolved. They describe bizarre occurrences, characterising Judas as ugly, evil, and totally repugnant. One, in the apocryphal Coptic Narrative, said that Judas, having betrayed Christ, was infested with maggots. Sin is never more grotesque than it is in the life of Judas. When we study Judas and his motivations, we are prying very close to the activity of Satan.

"He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me. The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."

When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said: 

"Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me."

Lazarus

Lazarus of Bethany, also known as Saint Lazarus or Lazarus of the Four Days, is the subject of a prominent miracle attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of John, in which Jesus restores him to life four days after his death.

In the context of the Gospel of John, the narrative of the Raising of Lazarus forms the climactic sign. Each of Jesus' seven signs illustrates some particular aspect of his divine authority, but this one exemplifies his power over the last and most irresistible enemy of humanity — death. For this reason it is given a prominent place in the gospel.

When Jesus arrives in Bethany, he finds that Lazarus is dead and has already been in his tomb for four days. He meets first with Martha and Mary in turn. Martha laments that Jesus did not arrive soon enough to heal her brother and Jesus replies with the well-known statement: "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die." Later the narrator here gives the famous simple phrase, "Jesus wept."

In the presence of a crowd of Jewish mourners, Jesus comes to the tomb. Over the objections of Martha, Jesus has them roll the stone away from the entrance to the tomb and says a prayer. He then calls Lazarus to come out and Lazarus does so, still wrapped in his grave-cloths. Jesus then calls for someone to remove the grave-cloths, and let him go.

The narrative ends with the statement that many of the witnesses to this event "believed in Him." Others are said to report the events to the religious authorities in Jerusalem.

The Gospel of John mentions Lazarus again in chapter 12. Six days before the Passover on which Jesus is crucified, Jesus returns to Bethany and Lazarus attends a supper that Martha, his sister, serves. Jesus and Lazarus together attract the attention of many Jews and the narrator states that the chief priests consider having Lazarus put to death because so many people are believing in Jesus on account of this miracle.

The miracle of the raising of Lazarus, the longest coherent narrative in John aside from the Passion, is the climax of John's "signs." It explains the crowds seeking Jesus on Palm Sunday, and leads directly to the decision of Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin to kill Jesus.

It is notable that Lazarus is the only resurrected character in the Bible (besides Himself) that Jesus personally refers to as "dead." The Daughter of Jairus, whom He resurrected at another time, was said by Jesus to have been "sleeping."