Also featured as the cover art for a new album by award-winning Catholic singer/songwriter Annie Karto for her new album for the Year of The Eucharist: "Stay with us Lord - The Perfect Sacrifice"

The Perfect Sacrifice

This new print, commemorating The Year of The Eucharist  is now available as a fine-art print.

Size: 13.25 x 11.75 inches   (33 x 29.5 cm)

Cost:  $15.00

 

In the U.K.:

 

 

From the Artist:

The idea of depicting the  Institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper , Christ’s Sacrifice on Calvary and The Sacrifice of the Mass as one event, was an idea I was looking forward to painting for a long time. The year of the Eucharist seemed to me an opportune time to do so. It is also an idea that is not new in the history of Sacred Art. Writing of that subject in The Saint Austin Review, Romanus Cessario,O.P. spoke of  sacred art during the Carolingian era, specifically, the period from Charlemagne(743-814) to Charles the Bald (823-877) “They included the relationship of the crucifixion or passion of Christ both to the Eucharist and to the Church”

In particular the writer cited the example of the Romanesque Church of Charlemagne in the French Ard`eche, where the artist had elaborately sculpted a bas relief in the church’s main portal. Comprising of two scenes . On the tympanum, the Calvary scene , depicting the moment when Christ’s side is pierced; on the lintel, the Last Supper, showing Christ as He  communicates the Apostles. The artists intention being to show the Catholic teaching on the intrinsic relationship of Calvary to the Eucharist: that the sacrifice of the Cross and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one.

In this new painting called “The Perfect Sacrifice”  it is an attempt to tell, I hope, in a clear, interesting and mystical way the story of The Eucharist, from it’s beginning on Holy Thursday  to the present day in the life of the church. The circular window on to those events echoes the shape of the Host itself. The surrounding of the circle is rendered in the appearance of  parchment or scrolls on which the Evangelists recorded these sacred events that they witnessed.  The Gospel narratives from Luke’s Gospel at the top, from Chapter 22:19 recall Christ’s words of institution with the Apostles at the Last Supper. At the bottom of the image the words recall the disciples encounter with the Risen Christ on the road to Emmaus, Lk(24:31).Particularly the moment when Jesus breaks bread and their eyes are opened. The words in Greek, as if written by the very hand of Luke himself, recalling the  time and culture that Christ chose to institute the Eucharist. It was this same idea which prompted me to include the Jewish Menorah placed alongside the scene depicting Christ and the apostles at the Last Supper. Here it is a symbolic visual reminder of the covenant that God made with the people of Israel that foreshadows the new covenant which is fulfilled with the coming of Christ. At the same time it shows the continuity of the use of Light in Worship, as our gaze looks down to the bottom of the image and see the lighted candles at the altar of the Mass.

The central and most prominent part showing St John and Our Lady draws us straight into the reality of Christ’s bloody sacrifice. We see the pain , anguish and unspeakable sorrow etched on the faces of  the Mother of Sorrows and John, the beloved. The bloodied wounds on the legs of Jesus and the  nailed  feet to the wood of the cross is the satisfaction he offers as recompense for the sins of the world, from the original sin to the last sin to be committed. It also speaks of the propitiatory nature of Christ’s sacrifice in the Mass. To propitiate means to turn away wrath and the sacrifice of the cross was propitiatory in that it paid the price for God’s wrath to be turned away from us. Since the Mass is the re-presentation of the sacrifice of the cross (not merely it’s symbolic retelling), the Mass itself turns away wrath; it is a means by which the forgiveness Christ earned is applied to us. Regrettably  this aspect of the Mass is often downplayed in many places in the Church today and  the language of sacrifice and atonement has either been forgotten or entirely disappeared.  I felt conscious of this when considering the composition for the painting. As many will no doubt notice , I borrowed a lot from the Mel Gibson movie , “The Passion of the Christ” in the aesthetic look of the painting. I was, like so many, moved and inspired by the artistic choices in the film and viewed  it often as inspiration for the painting.  So once again Mia Morgenstern models as the Mother of Sorrows and Jim Caviezel as Jesus. In my own opinion they both brought to life through the artistry of acting, the persons of Jesus and Mary as no other had done previously, and I humbly acknowledge them and Mel Gibson for providing an invaluable source of inspiration for the work. After all, great art inspires great art and is something often seen in the lives of artists. For example, the Florentine artist Raphael was greatly inspired by Michelangelo’s Sistine ceiling  and his work reflected this.

Just as in the Old Testament there could be no sacrifice without priests, so the depiction of the apostles in the painting points to the inextricable links between the priesthood and the Holy Sacrifice of The Mass. On Holy Thursday, the Catholic Priesthood was simultaneously instituted along with the Eucharist. The priests, each day, are privileged to be at the altar of sacrifice, to consecrate the bread and wine into the Body, Blood , Soul and Divinity of Christ.  In Persona Christi they repeat the words of institution and the past present and future meet.  When I look at the expressions on the faces of the Apostles  in the painting I wonder if they had any idea at all what Jesus meant when he uttered for the first time the words “ This is my Body which will be  given for you”(Luke22:19). After the Lord had risen and appeared to them on Easter Sunday, their eyes began to open, after Pentecost even more. Two thousand years on, do we, the successors of the apostles, the priests and Bishops, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters of the first Christians to know Him, do we still recognise Him in the breaking of the bread? I hope and pray that we do. Let us not forget what Perfect Sacrifice opened heaven to us.  Let us go to Mass to worship and adore Him.                                  

When the Holy Father announced that from October 2004 to October 2005 was to be declared The Year of the Eucharist, it prompted me to consider doing a painting to commemorate this year in the Church. It coincided with a phone call conversation with a good friend from Florida,  Annie Karto, a Catholic singer and songwriter whom I had collaborated with before on paintings which featured as the covers for her CDs, “Hidden God” and “You Are A Priest Forever.” Annie was working on a new CD for the Year of The Eucharist which would consist in a compilation of songs and hymns on the Eucharist, and one of the title songs for the CD was “The Perfect Sacrifice”. She was hoping to use one of my existing paintings for the cover, so when I told her of this idea I had, well, the rest is now history.

In the Hearts of Jesus and Mary,

Tommy Canning.