Ave Maria Living.com
Ave Maria, Florida – the town with a Catholic heart.©™ Stories & information for residents & visitors.Archive for Ave Maria Center for Truth Beauty and Goodness
On 9/11 anniversary, sculptor Schmalz seeks to depict the love that can save even a terrorist
The sculptor whose work is seen throughout Ave Maria in the Oratory and on the Ave Maria University campus, Timothy Schmalz, noted on social media that on the anniversary of 9/11 he will be working on a sculpture that tries to express the mysterious and merciful love Christ has even for a terrorist.
Facebook message posted by Timothy Schmalz
Schmalz’s “Homless Jesus”, which depicts Christ as a hooded homeless man bearing the stigmata, has garnered media attention in recent years as copies have been installed in cities throughout the world. A majority of Schmalz’s work is religious.
Pope Francis blesses and admires Schmalz’s “Homeless Jesus”
Schmalz sculpted the large bronze Crucifix in the Oratory and a series of about ten bronze religious sculptures that are dispersed throughout the AMU campus.
This hooded beggar by Schmalz bears the stigmata and greets visitors to the Adoration chapel at Ave Maria University
Schmalz’s larger than life-size crucifix hangs above the Oratory altar
Sunset in Ave Maria
Where truth, beauty, and goodness thrive: Ave Maria, Florida – the town with a Catholic heart.™© It is an honor for AveMariaLiving.com to feature this work of local artist Elisabeth Waldstein.
Sunset in Ave Maria, oil and acrylic, Elisabeth Waldstein, 2016.
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Icons of Christ: extolling the deep meaning of every mother’s suffering
Catherine Pakaluk is our neighbor, friend, and a professor at Ave Maria University. She is a mother, and this week that is the focus of her column:
…But I think we should talk more about the negatives. Not to be dour, of course, but to help people understand the fundamental meaning of the Christian vocation, a message that is central to Mulieris Dignitatem and the Second Vatican Council. You just can’t advance these majestic teachings on a cartoon image of the pregnant woman that sweeps away hardships. People do not want to escape from sufferings. They want to know that their sufferings have meaning…
This is my favorite line from the column: “And just like pregnancy—Christianity seems to make sense and be cool for a while at the beginning, right up to the point when you realize, and you always do, that running the race to the finish calls for laying down your life.”
This Madonna and Child shows them pausing during the flight into Egypt – see Caravaggio’s original painting for the full scene. This painting is by Cornelius Sullivan, a member of the Ave Maria community.
That’s what every mom MUST do while pregnant and usually does after the child is born. That is what is so compellingly beautiful about every mom. That is why motherhood is the best icon of Christ – and that is precisely why motherhood is rejected by so many. According to Catherine, maybe talking about it more will help more women understand the meaning of that suffering instead of simply dreading it.
Thank you to all the mothers in Ave Maria. Thank you for your witness – for being icons.
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Update: Myra talks Ave Maria on Sunday TV
This teaser video clip (click the photo) has me curious. Myra Daniels really does love Ave Maria, and this Sunday we’ll be able to hear why.
UPDATE: Wow – Myra is passionate about Mother Teresa, Ave Maria University, and the town of Ave Maria. Full video is now available here.
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Art: AMU alum John Broadhead’s “Reflection Films”
This is the animated logo for Reflection Films, a project of AMU alumnus John Broadhead.
Pretty sweet, huh? If you click around and watch, you will soon realize John is a real film maker. An artist even. You can check out Reflection Films’ latest project below, and maybe you will want to help fund the project (click).
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Mother Teresa at the Ritz
AMU had its big gala tonight (at the Ritz). The legendary Myra Daniels (may God bless her and this project more and more) and President Towey seem well-positioned to raise the millions needed for the new performing arts theater and Mother Teresa museum. I am a big supporter of this very worthy project, which will be about 300 yards from my front porch. But I couldn’t stop laughing at the first sentence of this story (close your eyes and imagine a wrinkled Sister in a white sari tapping her toes to the music):
Click to read the original article’s first sentence
which brought this book to mind:
Monsignor Albacete’s book “God at the Ritz” is excellent (if you live in town I’ll loan it to you)
UPDATE: As ever, the Ave Herald has the best coverage of the gala:
“You have blessed me by giving me the chance to do this,” Mrs. Daniels said. “This is the most exciting thing I have done. It’s needed, it’s wanted, and it will change the life of the students.”
and of the dedication of the temporary home of the Mother Teresa Museum:
Sr. Lima Marie told the group, “I really feel the presence of Mother here. Anyone who visits won’t be the same person when they come out of this room.”
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Location of the new Ave Maria Center for Truth, Beauty and Goodness* and Mother Teresa Museum
For those who are curious, we have pieced together exactly where the Ave Maria Center f
or Truth, Beauty and Goodness* will be located. Today AMU issued a press release with this site plan:
According to the clues provided in the Ave Herald, we can overlay the site plan onto the official county map of Ave Maria to see exactly where AMU plans to build the performing arts center and Mother Teresa museum:
[*not its real name]
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