"It is a great honor to you who are married that God, in His design to multiply souls who may praise and bless Him for all eternity, causes you to cooperate with Him in so noble a work. This is by your production of the bodies into which He infuses immortal souls, like heavenly drops, as He creates them." (St. Francis de Sales)
(William Adolphe Bouguereau painting, 1869, in US public domain)
A beautiful quote. I love that painting. I actually have it hanging in my living room.
ReplyDeleteLucky you, Kathleen, to have this gorgeous painting in your home! I had never seen it before finding it online. I immediately thought of the countless hours I've spent (so far) gazing upon my grandchildren. I know I once looked at my own babies the same way. What a miracle is a human life!
DeleteThis is so pretty and uplifting. Where is your facebook share button? I would have shared this.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anabelle. I know there's a button gadget in my "blog toolbox," so I'll go find it and hopefully put it on right now! Thanks for calling my attention to this. I am not on Facebook myself, so hadn't noticed the omission. Maybe in a few minutes, you can try again :)!
DeleteI love WA Bouguereau's paintings, esp. his images of Our Lady. This one makes me want to cry, as I think wistfully back on my newborns!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Phoenix. I actually found this painting at a "wistful" time of my own (recently), and this captured the feelings I had so amazingly that I DID have a few tears!
DeleteI personally find this work stunning. I cannot imagine a painter being able to do this. The smooth skin texture, the emotion captured in the mother's face, the lace. If I saw it exhibited, I'd have to bring a comfy chair for my hours of staring, a box of tissues.... and a newborn to hold :)!
Nancy, this is beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteKathryn, thank you so much!
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