Crossed The Tiber

An Evangelical Converts to Catholicism

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Location: Pennsylvania, United States

I was born into the Catholic faith. At 14, I was "born again" and found Jesus personally but lost His Church. After thirty years as an evangelical protestant, I have come full circle to find that He has been there all the time, in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I wish others to find the beauty and truth of the Catholic faith as I have found.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Water Color of San Pietro


When Susie from Recon returned from Rome, she sent Prodigal Daughter and I this beautiful little water color rendering of Saint Peter's Basilica viewed from across the Tiber River. Am I more excited about Rome than Jerusalem one might ask? I certainly would love to see the Holy Land someday, but knowing that Peter's successors have been in Rome since the early days of Christianity gives me a sense of history that I hadn't appreciated before. To be able to still see the chains that bound St. Peter and the remains of St. Ignatius (A disciple of St. John) suggests to me that the gates of hell certainly have not prevailed. I had previously thought that the Catholic Church had "gone off the rails" shortly after the apostles died and laid dormant or invisible until the 16th Century. The historicity and continued visibility of Catholicism as represented by St. Peter's is what gets us reverts and converts energized. We see a Church that we believe has been "set on a hill" that can historically trace itself to the apostles. Catholics believe that there has been spiritual, physical, and historical continuity with the same Church that the early Church fathers proclaimed as one, holy, catholic and apostolic.
These photos and paintings of St. Pete's are so meaningful to me because they are visual metaphors of my *new* discovery of ancient history. The Tiber River represents the sometimes difficult "crossing over" process of conversion/reversion as many sojourners since the time of Constantine have experienced.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

When I was working on my fine arts degree I studied all these magnificent treasures of the Church as works of art.

Needless to say, now that I've become a Catholic seeing the creations of artists like Fra Angelico, Michelangelo and Bernini has become much more than an exercise in art history (and that's still valuable). It's now part of my heritage.

Pictures of St. Peter's gets me all emotional in a way it never did before. It's because it's now more than just architecture, it's home.

June 12, 2007 9:15 AM  
Blogger JP said...

What a beautiful picture!

I want to thank you for your contribution over at my blog on sacraments. My next study is that on the Papacy. Add your 2 cents if you wish.

Thanks again.
JP Manzi

June 12, 2007 11:54 AM  
Blogger Russ Rentler, M.D. said...

Your welcome JP ! I might blog about your site if you don't mind.

June 12, 2007 4:29 PM  
Blogger JP said...

No not at all. Be my guest.

June 12, 2007 6:08 PM  

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