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About the Cover:

Here we have Guido Reni’s “St. Matthew and the Angel,” an Italian Baroque painting c.1635-40. This painting not only symbolizes the mystic nature of Catholicism, but also embodies the theme of our journal “The Word and Image.” St. Matthew’s quill moves rapidly as the Angel moves his hands, indicating direct speech, yet the hypnotic gaze alludes to something more than spoken word. This demonstrates the importance and power behind literature, as the dialogue between word and image presents itself as complex yet cohesive. We hope you enjoy the thought- provoking essays within this journal, as they aim to analyze the theme of “Word and Image” in Christianity, past and present.

Matthew Sottile Associate Editor

From the Editor’s Desk:

The theme for this edition is “The Word and Image” which explores how Christianity, or Christian themes, are represented or depicted in the various arts including visual arts, music, drama, and literature. The number of submissions far exceeded our expectations, and it is with joy that we present the following essays, which did not come without a hard gruelling review process. The following works explore Christian representation from a wide scope of artistic and literary angles from the time of early Christianity to the present day.

Our first essay, by Lisa D’Souza, explores the depiction of the holy women Thecla and Perpetua in The Apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla. How did women in the early Church achieve holiness? Or how were women in the early Church expected to attain holiness? How was holiness manifested in their bodies? In written stories, how does the aesthetic depiction of these women inspire others to follow Christ?

Our second essay, by Aliyah Bhatia, picks up the question of visual representation of holiness by adding a material dimension to acts of devotion with the role of relics and reliquaries in the medieval period, with a particular focus on the reliquary of the Virgin and Child. Bhatia raises the question: what is the relationship between the relic and the reliquary? Furthermore, what is the relationship between the material container and the object of sanctity it holds or depicts?

We come to the modern art of visual representation in our third essay by Rakhee Neebar which analyzes how the director of the film I, Worst of All, sets the revered poet Juana de la Cruz and all she represents as a foil against the institution of the Church in seventeenth-century colonial Mexico. Not only does Neebar argue that the influence of the Church permeates almost every cultural aspect in Mexico, but that Christian identity is complex: is it merely found in the institutional Church if the Church is associated with rigidity, patriarchy, and colonialism, or can it be found in those faces that society often dismisses? And how much of this visual representation is coloured by modern lenses? 4

We return to the art of literary representation and pedagogy in our fourth essay by Elijah Smith as he applies the art of parabolic teaching, a pedagogical method inspired by the parables of Jesus and expounded in Michael Desjardins’ Peace, Violence, and the New Testament, to Saint Exupéry’s The Little Prince. What makes a literary work a parable? What is represented in The Little Prince and what values do they teach the reader?

Our final essay by Stefania Lista taps into the place of Christian rock music in the liturgy. She evaluates the theological caution detailed by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who was then Cardinal Ratzinger, and suggests a different interpretation which allows for Christian rock to bear theological meaning despite its secular roots and novelty.

Each of these authors wrestled with a particular artistic expression from various points in the history of Christianity. These are but the scratched surface of the myriad of artistic representations of Christ and Christian values in word and image. I would like to thank our authors for their critical insight, the editorial team for their dedication and hard work, and to the faculty and administration of St. Michael’s College for their continued support.

Katie Zou Editor-in-Chief