The Saint Euphrosynos Cafe

This image is so wrong.

I did a double-take when I received the latest edition of The Tablet, the newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, and saw this image taking up most of the front page. It is the Blessed Mother wrapped in the American flag, and a poster of the photo has been sent to all parishes in the diocese.

See more at: http://davidgibson.religionnews.com/201 ... vfN06.dpuf

I have, unfortunately, seen this image several times. It has nothing to recommend it save as a parody in very poor taste. A very worldly woman holding a crucifix and wrapped in a country's national flag. Ugh!

It shows no respect for any of the elements in the image nor any artistic merit either.

StephenS wrote:

I have, unfortunately, seen this image several times. It has nothing to recommend it save as a parody in very poor taste. A very worldly woman holding a crucifix and wrapped in a country's national flag. Ugh!

It shows no respect for any of the elements in the image nor any artistic merit either.

When I was a Roman Catholic, not only did religious art (or lack of religious art) concern me, but also the constant revolution of the Liturgy distracted me to the point where I could not pray. How can one pray with dancing clowns, scantily clad young dancing ladies, adulterated scripture readings where "he" is replaced with "she," "religious" songs that talk about gathering in a circle or worse have titles such as, "Her name is Jesus" ? Then there were the artistic statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary that made her look like a young pregnant girl.

In desperation, I joined the local Melkite Eastern Catholic parish, where I was instructed in Eastern Orthodoxy. The beauty of icons was definitely awe-inspiring compared with Western art objects sold as "religious items." The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom reduced me to tears. I felt at home immediately. And no wonder, my ancestors were Eastern Catholics. I had come home, or so I had thought. As I studied Eastern Orthodoxy, I knew that I had to join the original and ancient Holy Orthodox Church. And with time, it happened. O blessed day!

Glory to God in all things.

Is this image known by all American RC? And is she wearing lipstick?

Maria, your description reminds me of some videos I saw on Youtube. It was horrific. It's like a circus act. How can they believe this is acceptable by God? Thankfully, my mother's church is still old fashioned. They have Fransciscan monk priests. I haven't heard of any of these innovations in her church; she would have mentioned it. And they certainly wouldn't have accepted them. They still hold strong to the Mother land traditions.

As ironic as it sounds, being Orthodox and rejecting all RC innovations, I am happy to see that my mother's church still keeps the old ways that I knew when I was growing up there. Perhaps they're waiting for the last old generation to die before they bring in these innovations.