April 7, 2012
The Lord be with you
Yesterday was Good Friday, April 6. The date for Good Friday is set by Easter and so moves from year to year. April 6 is also the Commemoration of Lucas Cranach and Albrecht Dürer, Artists. Lucas Cranach (1472-1557), a close friend of Martin Luther, was a celebrated painter of portraits and altarpieces and a producer of woodcuts of religious subjects. Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), a native of Nürnberg, Germany, was one of the most learned of Renaissance artists and an ardent admirer of martin Luther. His paintings and woodcuts include examples of the splendor of creation and skilled portrayals of biblical narratives. Both Cranach and Dürer are remembered and honored for the grandeur of their works of art, which depict the glory and majesty and the grace and mercy of the triune God.
“Who can exhaust all the virtue and power of God’s Word? The Holy Scriptures, sermons, and all Christian books do nothing but praise God’s Word, as we also do daily in our reading, writing, preaching, singing, poetizing, and in painting. This blessing abides and sustains us when the temporal blessings vanish and when through death we part from them and from one another. This blessing does not leave us or depart from us; it goes through death with us, tears us out of it, and brings us to eternal life, where there is neither death nor fear of dying.” – Martin Luther
Appropriate prayers include:
- For artists
For renewed appreciation of beauty as an attribute of God
For joy in the natural world
For a receptive mind to explore the beauty of creation
For appreciation of art
For the use of art in telling God’s story
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert
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