A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF JESUS’ PUBLIC MINISTRY
The purpose of this book, THE TRAIL OF GLORY, is to visually depict the scenes and events described in the New Testament Gospel of John. It is intended solely as a collection of art for contemplation and meditation, not as a textual commentary on the bible. It may also serve as a companion volume to the viewer’s favorite translation of the bible to which, for convenience of reference, specific chapter and verse citations have been made.
This book presents the extraordinary legacy bequeathed to Christians and all people of good will by John J. Gerhard, S.J., resulting from his lifetime of full-time biblical research. It contains full color reproductions of 67 majestic oil paintings that have never before been available on public display.
The 67 original oil paintings represented by these photographs were composed circa 1974-1980 and originated from the sole inspiration of Fr. Gerhard as source, creator and designer. They were each constructed under his direction as principal architect of all scenes. Under his supervision, the artist, Helen Owen, carried out his vision. Fr. Gerhard personally selected the content and setting of each scene to incorporate the very fine images and details of the Gospel story. The buildings, courtyards, landscapes, clothing apparel, and faces of the people were painted to reflect his intimate knowledge of the Gospel narrative developed over 50 years of dedicated scholarship.
This providential collaboration began about 1970, when Fr. Gerhard was delivering lectures at the St. Ignatius Jesuit Church on Park Avenue in New York City. His talks about St. John’s Gospel so fascinated a parishioner in attendance, Helen Owen, that she spoke to him about them afterwards. As a result of that chance meeting, her interest in the Gospel scenes began to grow so strongly that she eventually volunteered her services, as an artist, to pictorially display them. Not having her own detailed knowledge of this Gospel or the biblical period during which it took place, she was delighted to apprentice herself to Fr. Gerhard, whom she understood would provide the necessary information in order to enable her to construct the paintings for him. She painted only as he directed. The results of their collaboration are now available here for all to enjoy.
It is hoped that the full color reproductions of these paintings presented in this book will serve to assist the viewer in experiencing God, which is an essential aspect of Christian life. St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, in his Spiritual Exercises, stressed that meditation on God would be greatly aided by visualizing “the composition of place.” By this he meant that contemplation would be significantly helped if one should “see the place” where the object of contemplation is situated - for example, one should, in the gaze of the imagination, visualize a temple, a mountain, a seaside, or a crowd of people where Jesus Christ, our Lady, or other object of contemplation is to be found.By quietly standing alongside the places, the persons, the objects, and the events, we are invited to place ourselves in a certain situation, and then to be moved by it, and to undertake pilgrimage. Thus one can encounter in a concrete way the person of Jesus by stepping into the scene and becoming a sharer in what those who were there really experienced.
