Dominican Altar Cards



When Fr. Augustine Thompson O.P. discussed the Dominican Rite Missa Cantata he celebrated at the beautiful chapel of St. Albert the Great Priory in Oakland on the occasion of his receiving the distinction of Master of Sacred Theology (S.T.M.), I was quite captured by the beautiful Dominican Altar Cards placed on the altar. Fr. Thompson writes that "the cards were calligraphed and the miniatures painted by two cloistered nuns of the Dominican Monastery in Menlo Park California for the dedication Mass of the chapel in 1948."

To my delight, Fr. Thompson has a nice post today at the Dominican Liturgy blog (mirrored at the New Liturgical Movement blog) reflecting on the cards:



For the main card, Fr. Thompson writes:

Two Fra Angelico angels grace the sides; in the bottom center is the old Coat of Arms of the Province of the Holy Name, the Western Province. In the top roundels, from left to right, we see St. Albert the Great, patron of the House and of natural philosophy; an angel; St. Thomas Aquinas, patron of theology; St. John and Our Lord at the Last Supper; St. Raymond of Penafort, the patron of Canon law, contemplating the Cross; another angel; and, finally, and St. John of Gorkam, who was martyred by the Calvinists in the Low Countries for bringing the Eucharist to Catholics in prison for their faith. The selection is very suitable for the House of Studies as it includes the patrons of theology, philosophy, and canon law, the major disciplines studied there. The other images are chosen because of their links to the Eucharist.