You took upon yourself our sins, bearing the heavy burden of the cross for our sake.
May I always look to you for guidance while carrying my own cross knowing always that you send your angels to support and comfort me along the way.
Amen.
Inspiration
I first drew the two figures of Christ in this painting. There was no purpose behind the drawings. I simply drew them on my newsprint tablet, then put them aside. I proceeded on to draw and paint this angel, sensing the image was incomplete but not sure what more to add. One day while preparing for a spiritual direction session I grabbed this angel, already painted on sheer silk. At the last moment, I placed it over the sketches of Christ to roll up in the newsprint for the ride. It was at that moment the full painting came together. My spiritual director at the time saw the angel as closely protecting Christ at His condemnation but pulling away slowly while He journeyed towards the crucifixion to then become a comforting presence.
The final product is a layered image. The figures of Christ are painted with black guttas while the angel is on the sheer silk. When putting this piece together I never had to change the placement of the figures of Christ. They where perfectly placed when I first drew them as simple sketches on the newsprint. The detail at left was the first of the two figures to be drawn.
