Slidell woman marvels at the evangelizing power of art

(Photos by Beth Donze, Clarion Herald, and courtesy of Diane St. Germain)

By BETH DONZE
Clarion Herald

Diane St. Germain’s watercolor painting takes viewers on a journey through the milestones of Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection in a piece that’s designed to be “read” in three-part chronological order, from the bottom up:

• In the lower portion of her paper canvas, St. Germain depicts the birth of Jesus, clustering the three members of the Holy Family at the base of a towering gold chalice. The Star of Bethlehem, twinkling against the chalice’s stem, proclaims the savior’s birth, while a nearby lamb foreshadows Christ’s supreme sacrifice.

• The artist’s rendering of Jesus’ crucifixion looms over this Nativity scene, with Christ’s arms stretched out on the crossbeam, above the chalice’s rim.

• The composition culminates at the top with St. German’s portrayal of the risen Christ. The gates of heaven crack open over the redeemer’s head, and the broken host at his chest glows as a reminder of how Jesus’ “broken body” is his “love offering for us to the Father” that carries the possibility of eternal life, the artist said.

“As Catholics, we believe that the body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ are truly present at every Mass under the appearances of bread and wine,” said St. Germain, an extraordinary minister of holy Communion at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Slidell, of the inspiration behind her Eucharist-themed powerhouse.

“I believe that through the frequent reception of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, we are spiritually and physically united with him, and we are transformed into his life,” she added. “That’s what we do at the Mass – we unite ourselves with him, physically and spiritually, at the cross at Calvary, but (we also are united) with the resurrected Christ. They’re all together!”

Imagery strikes chord

With most of salvation history compressed into one, breathtaking piece, it was no surprise that St. Germain’s work, entitled “The Eucharist: The True Presence of Jesus Christ,” was chosen as a finalist in the “Year of the Eucharist” art contest sponsored by the Archdiocese of New Orleans in 2021.

But in typical 21st-century fashion, the painting’s impact didn’t stop there; it went “viral,” and in the most sacred of ways.

A few months before Christmas of 2021, St. Germain received a call from the church secretary at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Hermosa Beach, California. The secretary told the artist that her pastor had asked her to search the internet for an image that effectively depicted “the Eucharist and Christmas together.”

“She found my painting, and her pastor told her that it was amazing how it expressed the whole paschal mystery – the birth, death, resurrection and ascension of our Lord,” St. Germain said.

The priest asked St. Germain if he could use her imagery as cover art for his annual parish Christmas card, suggesting that it be adapted into the format of a 2-by-7-inch bookmark – one side showing St. Germain’s painting, the flip side carrying his Christmas message.

“He was so pleased that he had me do the bookmark in Spanish also,” recalled St. Germain, who also was touched to learn that a framed reproduction of her painting had been hung in the California parish’s adoration chapel.

Local interest stirred

The artwork’s ripple effect continued.

St. Aloysius Church in Bowling Green, Ohio, solicited St. Germain’s permission to use the painting in bookmarks tucked inside its own 2021 Christmas cards. This growing interest prompted St. Germain to ask her then-pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes, Father Wayne Paysse, if he wanted to do the same. The parish printed 1,000 bookmarks that Advent, with St. Germain’s painting on one side and the parish’s Christmas Mass times on the back.

Additional requests to use the artwork came from religion teachers in Pennsylvania and Texas, who saw it as a powerful teaching tool conveying the paschal mystery.

“They requested a small photo of my painting that could fit into 5-by-7-inch frames and be given as gifts to first communicants and the newly confirmed,” St. Germain said.

“I believe that the meaning of Christ’s life, death and resurrection is best told in image form, or story form, or through words that Jesus used – his parables. The Bible is full of illustrative things,” noted St. Germain. “The imagination takes over when you look (at a painting) and the story is told through art. You don’t have to tell the story. It’s all there.”

New Orleans-born St. Germain, an award-winning artist who recently earned her “Master’s” distinction from the Louisiana Watercolor Society, said a major event in the painting’s journey took place last March, when she and Our Lady of Lourdes Deacon Warren Berault visited Archbishop Gregory Aymond to give him a framed gicleé of the artwork.

“He was very grateful to receive it and studied it closely,” St. Germain recalled. “He said he was very impressed with how theologically correct it was. He pointed to each part of the painting and gave his theological interpretation. Then, he looked at me and said, ‘Diane, you are using your art to evangelize.’ What an amazing compliment! I was definitely overwhelmed with gratitude.”

During the visit-ending prayer, “the archbishop took both my hands and held them and prayed that God would bless them and use them for his glory and to spread the Good News of his salvation and his Eucharist,” said St. Germain, who promised the archbishop she would share her painting with as many schoolchildren as possible. To date, she has taken it to sixth and seventh graders at Our Lady of Lourdes School and to her granddaughter’s high school, Sacred Heart in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Whenever St. Germain presents her painting to young people, she always asks them for their own interpretations before sharing her own take.

“They see different things – the darkness, the light, the Star of David, the lamb,” said St. Germain, recalling a poignant moment from her school visit to Our Lady of Lourdes.

“When we eventually got to the point about the real presence of Jesus Christ, I asked them, ‘What does that mean to you?’ and they started talking about transubstantiation,” she said. “But then, there was one girl who gave a beautiful description of Jesus being the true presence – body, blood, soul and divinity. After the class was over, the teacher said, ‘You know, she’s not Catholic, but she understands.’ I truly believe that if you approach (the tenets of the faith) – especially the children – with art, with music, with poetry and with stories, they are going to get it more so than if we stand up there and say: ‘Transubstantiation is...’”

Victory over death

The painting’s most recent appearance was on 2,000 bookmark-style holy cards featuring an excerpt from St. John’s Gospel and made available to Our Lady of Lourdes and Our Lady of the Lake churches during Holy Week and Easter. St. Germain said her painting, with its movement from earthbound darkness to celestial light, also comforts the bereaved in the parish grief ministry she co-directs at Our Lady of Lourdes.

“I use it with the grief ministry because it expresses our (Christian) hope,” she explained. “Death is no longer ‘a hole in the ground.’ It’s the doorway to heaven, and I really believe this is a beautiful image that just wakes you up (to that). For those who are grieving the loss of loved ones, we believe that they’re alive, and the closest we can be with them is when we are receiving Jesus in the Eucharist!”

St. Germain does not print or ship bookmarks but can assist parishes interested in featuring her painting in various formats. PDFs are available at no charge, but it is the responsibility of the parish to commission its own printing company. For information, email [email protected] or visit dianestgermain.com.

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