A Pilgrim's Progress

Title: Jacob and the Angel Artist: Gustave Moreau (French, 1826-1898) Date: between 1874 and 1878 Genre: religious art Movement: Symbolism Medium: oil on canvas Location: Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

St. Sebastian

Gustave Moreau ⏤ 1870-1875

St. Elizabeth of Hungary or The Miracle of the Roses by Gustave Moreau, 1879

Elizabeth of Hungary (7 July 1207 – 17 November 1231), also known as Elisabeth of Thuringia, was a princess of the Kingdom of Hungary and the landgravine of Thuringia.

Elizabeth was married at the age of 14, and widowed at 20. After her husband's death, she regained her dowry, using the money to build a hospital where she herself served the sick. She became a symbol of Christian charity after her death in 1231 at the age of 24 and was canonized on 25 May 1235. She is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church. She was an early member of the Third Order of St. Francis, and is today honored as its patroness.

Gustave Moreau Saint Sebastian rescued by St. Irene

Watercolor and gouache on paper, 19.9 x 12.9 cm, ca. 1890

Saint George and the Dragon (Gustave Moreau, 1889-90)

trust me, when you see a dove couple doing this for half an hour without ever getting bored of each other, something in you changes fundamentally

Abraham and Isaac

Description

According to the Old Testament, God instructed Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham’s only son by his wife Sarah, as a test of his faith and obedience (Genesis 22: 1–19). Abraham and his son make their way to the place of sacrifice. Abraham strides up the mountainside with steely resolve, his eyes on the path ahead. Isaac carries a bundle of wood for the altar fire on his back, while his father holds a lighted torch and a knife. When Isaac asks his father where is the lamb to be sacrificed, Abraham replies that the Lord will provide.

In the next episode of the story, Abraham places Isaac on the altar and is about to kill him when an angel appears and tells him not to harm the child. God sends a ram in a thicket to be sacrificed as a burnt offering instead of Isaac and the boy is saved. This episode in the Old Testament is frequently interpreted as a precursor for God’s sacrifice of his own son, Jesus, recounted in the New Testament.

The Marriage of Jacob and Rachel

The Story of Jacob, Leah and Rachel

The complicated story of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel comprises one of the larger sections of Genesis and includes much information relevant to the history of the Jewish people. Jacob, the son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham, fled to his mother’s brother Laban. At the time, Jacob feared his twin brother, Esau, would kill him (Genesis 27:41–46). It was at Laban’s that Jacob met Leah and Rachel.

Laban offered his nephew Jacob a place to stay. Jacob soon fell in love with Laban’s younger daughter, Rachel, and agreed to work for Laban seven years in exchange for marriage to her (Genesis 29:16–20).

Laban agreed, but after seven years, he deceived Jacob. On the night that Jacob and Rachel were to be married, Laban gave Rachel’s older sister, Leah, to him as a wife instead. Jacob protested, but Laban argued that it wasn’t the custom to give the younger daughter in marriage first. So it was official: Jacob and Leah were to stay married. Laban then said Jacob could still have Rachel in exchange for another seven years of work (Genesis 29:21–30). In an ironic twist, the deceiver Jacob had himself been deceived. In exchange for fourteen years of labor, Jacob had two wives, Leah and Rachel.

Jacob showed favoritism to Rachael and loved her more than Leah. God compensated for the lack of love Leah received by enabling her to have children and closing Rachel’s womb for a time (Genesis 29:31). There developed an intense rivalry between the two wives. In fact, at one time the wives bartered over the right to sleep with Jacob. Genesis 30:16 says, “When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, ‘You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.’ So he lay with her that night,” and Leah became pregnant. In the end, Jacob fathered twelve sons and a daughter. Jacob and Leah had six sons and a daughter; Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, bore Jacob two sons; Jacob and Rachel had two sons together; and Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, bore Jacob another two sons (Genesis 35:23–36).

After twenty years with Laban, Jacob and Leah and Rachel, now very wealthy, moved their family back to Canaan. As they were leaving Laban’s house, Rachel stole her father’s teraphim and lied about having them (Genesis 31). As he drew closer home, Jacob knew that he would have to face Esau again. He still feared Esau’s anger, and he sent gifts to satisfy him before he arrived. The night before Jacob crossed the Jabbok River, he “wrestled with God” and was given the name “Israel” along with God’s blessing.

The story of Jacob and Rachel ended tragically, as Rachel died giving birth to her second child, Benjamin. Rachel named him Ben-Oni (“son of my trouble”), but Jacob renamed him Benjamin (“son of my right hand”). Rachel “was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb” (Genesis 35:19–20).

Jacob and Leah’s marriage lasted longer, but eventually Leah, too, died in Canaan and was buried in the same tomb as Abraham and Sarah and Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 49:30–32). Jacob and his son Joseph would later be buried in this tomb as well (Genesis 50).

The Last Family Who Perished in the Deluge

The Flood in the Time of Noah

Genesis 6 gives the sad account of the state of humanity prior to the worldwide flood during the days of Noah. Genesis 6:5 states, “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.” The level of sin and corruption among the human population was staggering: people thought about doing evil “all the time.” The evil of humanity would have resulted in disease and bloodshed and death. The weak or unhealthy (babies, children, women, and the disabled) would have been exploited and constantly put in harm’s way because of the evil actions of others.

The world of Noah, was incredibly corrupt and perverted. Genesis 6:6 tells us that “the Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.” The Lord’s “regret” is unlike ours. Creating mankind in the image of God was not a “mistake” on the part of the Lord. The Hebrew word nahem can also be translated “grieved.” The depraved actions of mankind grieved God in His most holy heart.

God responded to man’s sin in a holy and righteous manner, but also in a way that salvaged mankind. “So the LORD said, ‘I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created - and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground- for I regret that I have made them.’ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:7–8). Yes, all people on earth died except the eight people who were found righteous in the eyes of God: Noah, Noah’s wife, and Noah’s three sons and their wives.

Scripture indicates that Noah testified to the world about the coming flood for 120 years. The people who perished in the flood died because they refused to acknowledge God or seek His forgiveness. Noah, on the other hand, is described as righteous, blameless, and obedient in that he “walked with God” (Genesis 6:9).

Noah and his family became our ancestors. The polluted, unrighteous population of the world of Noah disappeared from the earth. Mankind was salvaged, and from the line of righteous Noah came the Son of Man, Jesus Christ our Lord, who died to save those who call upon His name.

madonna of the peonies

St. Catherine of Siena The Dialogue

The Chalice of Christ by Nicholas Roerich

The Sermon on the Mount block print by Sarah Hawkes