Of the three summer exhibitions currently on view at the John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, the least-heralded is in some ways the most enticing. Titled, "Holy Cards: Picturing Prayers," the show features more than a 100 lithographic holy cards made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The cards depict Christ, the Virgin Mary, many saints, angels, prophets and visionaries grouped by categories such as "martyrs," "hermits," "religious founders" and so forth.

Most of the cards come from the collection of Father Eugene Carrella, the pastor of the Church of St. Adalbert on Staten Island, N.Y., who says he has been collecting holy cards since he was nine years old, when "they cost about a penny apiece." His specialty is saints — the rarer and more obscure, the better. Carrella’s collection has recently become the subject of a book, Holy Cards, published by Harry N. Abrams.

Not long ago, a museum show of holy cards would hardly have been thinkable. To art historians, the term "holy card" evokes mass-produced kitsch — sentimental objects of scarce artistic value. The exhibit at the John Paul II Center suggests that the antique holy cards had considerable esthetic charm and often reflected the styles of the major arts in their respective countries. This is a kind of folk art which is overdue for appreciation.

Father Carrella, now 47, reports that his collection has grown dramatically thanks to online auctions. The antique holy cards are lithographs with gold leaf decorations added, some with intricate lace-cut borders, and they can run up to $50 each today or even more. "I love these mini-artworks. It is unbelievable that a small piece of paper can remain intact for more than 100 years. If you can see these treasures up close you would be even more amazed," said Father Carrella.

"What I look for in a holy card," he added, "is a saint with proper attributes. The picture must tell the story."

A typical example of his collection is the "St. Liborius" holy card, which Father Carrella bought because it had Liborius’s attribute — a peacock. The saint lived in the dramatic fourth century, after the Emperor Constantine had legalized Christianity, but when Europe was still far from being Catholic. Born of a noble family in Gaul, St. Liborius was bishop of Le Mans (348-397), where he built many churches and was a friend of St. Martin of Tours. Liborius is said to have healed sufferers from urological complaints, and for this reason his feast was introduced by Pope Clement XI, himself a victim who was cured through the saint's intercession.

However, the peacock does not refer to any event of Liborius’s earthly life, but rather to something that occurred more than a millennium later, in the 17th century.

The earliest historical reference to Liborius dates to the ninth century when his remains were transferred to the German town of Paderborn, to aid in the conversion of the Saxons. To this day, every year on July 23, the relics of St. Liborius are at the center of a great festival that brings a million visitors to Paderborn. The relics are exposed in the cathedral, and three days later they are carried to city hall in a procession that includes a float with a huge peacock feather, then returned to the crypt.

The peacock symbol derives from the traditional story that this gorgeous bird accompanied the pilgrims of Paderborn when they recovered the relics after they were stolen during the Thirty Years War. Indeed, when one of the pioneers of the modern information society set up his company in Paderborn, he named it "Peacock" in honor of St. Liborius.

Father Carrella’s "St. Liborius" is a fine example of the work of Kuhlen-Gladbach, a German publisher which is no longer in existence. Their holy cards resembled the stained glass windows produced in Munich at the end of the 19th century, which were installed in many American churches then and are still prized today.

Besides the cards from Father Carrella’s collection, another collector has lent to the show about 10 examples of a special kind of object, the large-scale first Communion souvenir pages, originating from France, Belgium, Italy and Germany. Inscribed with the name of the communicant, these large "holy cards" carry personal and family history along with their visual appeal.

Catholics who cherish these images will be gratified to know that interest in the holy cards has spread well beyond the traditional believers. The show will remain at the center until Sept. 18.

<photo credit>Courtesy Photo by Fr. Eugene Carrella

<photo caption>HOLY CARD — St. Liborius, whose feast day is July 23, in a holy card from the collection of Fr. Eugene Carrella. Cards that "tell a story" are favorites of the Staten Island priest, who lent dozens of his favorites to an exhibit at the John Paul II Cultural Center. The story of Bishop Liborius and his peacock spans the centuries of Catholic piety from the fourth to the 21st century.

Hamerman is a freelance writer from Leesburg.