How can one define devotional art? Well, let’s call it art that supports one’s religious devotion. Yes, that is no narrow definition, and that is because religious devotion is no narrow reality. It is a way of relating to God that spans the broad turf between baffling and beautiful. It is as important to us as potable water. It is the necessary light under which I’ve had my most human encounters.

Most devotional art is old, formal, and sentimental. The painting I brought to church on Divine Mercy Sunday was none of these.