May 11, 2016 By Kristina Dean CARTHAGE - Inspired by Pope Francis’ focus on families and the sanctity of marriage, Catholic artist Robert Renaud created a painting for the 14th Annual Family Rosary Crusade that depicts a newly married couple.
The rosary is prayed at the top of each hour beginning at 6 p.m., concluding with Benediction at 1 a.m. Every hour, three different families or groups lead the rosary. Prayer intentions are for all life, families and the sacrament of marriage, innocence and all children and grandchildren, the Holy Church, vocations and all priests and those consecrated to religious life, the Holy Father’s intentions, soldiers, world peace and all sinners and souls in Purgatory. The last hour is dedicated to prayers of thanksgiving. The painting's title is “And the Greatest is Love” which is based on scripture often read during marriages from Corinthians 13: 1-13. Mr. Renaud’s painting portrays a newly married couple driving away in a scooter and side car, symbolically representing two becoming one. Mr. Renaud said this piece was different for him since he used a brown palette of colored pencils for the background and a limited palette of acrylics for the foreground. This year’s event date coincides with the Feast of Fatima, when Mary the Blessed Mother appeared to three children in Fatima. One of Mary’s requests of the children was to pray the Rosary. Mr. Renaud said when he and St. James pastor Father Donald Robinson picked the date for the crusade, neither of them realized it was the Fatima Feast day. “When I realized the crusade and this beautiful Feast were both on the same day, it felt like a little kiss from Heaven,” he said. This is Father Robinson’s first crusade as pastor of the Carthage church. Mr. Renaud said when he approached the priest, he was very encouraging. “He seems to have a genuine love for the Blessed Mother and certainly sees the value in praying the rosary,” Mr. Renaud said. Mr. Renaud asks that anyone who can’t physically be present for the crusade join them spiritually by praying the rosary for the same intentions. Through the years, many people from across the diocese and from the Syracuse and Albany dioceses have come to St. James for the crusade. Many more join spiritually from across the country and around the world, including Japan, Korea, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Mr. Renaud lives in West Carthage with his wife, Mary Beth. He sells many of his works and prints out of his studio, located next to his house. More information is available on the parish’s website at catholicsofcarthagecopenhagen.org |
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Mr. Renaud, the event organizer and art teacher at Carthage High School, develops and paints the artwork specifically for the crusade and offers free prints to anyone who stays three or more hours, in honor of Jesus’s three hours on the cross.