The Lenten season this year is February 22 to April 6.



The Guidebook

A Lenten Devotional INSPired by matisse

The 40-day Season of Lent is a journey through color: from ashen gray to glorious purple, charcoal shadow to dazzling silver, deep crimson to the rainbow of petals in a springtime garden. The word “Lent” refers to the “lengthening” sunlight each day (in the Northern Hemisphere), shining down and drawing out the colors from the earth: the immersive, annual Easter poetry of creation.

What better guide, then, to this colorful pageant than the artist Henri Matisse, one of the most innovative, influential, and beloved artists in modern history, celebrated above all as a master colorist. From his childhood growing up Roman Catholic in a small town in France, to the major work at the end of his life he declared to be his masterpiece, the Chapel of the Rosary in Venice, Matisse explored spiritual and theological themes throughout his life, sometimes implicitly, sometimes explicitly.

He once said he liked to pray with a pencil: “At the moment I go every morning to say my prayers, pencil in hand; I stand in front of a pomegranate tree covered in blossom, each flower at a different stage, and I watch their transformation… filled with admiration for the work of God. Is this not a way of praying?”

So grab a pencil (or a paintbrush!), your favorite Bible, and a decent internet connection (all the paintings referenced here can be found online; see the companion “Link Sheet” pdf for guidance). Week by week, with the words of Scripture and the art of Henri Matisse as our guides, we’ll travel through the colors of Lent – all the way to the vibrant, joyful dawn of Easter morning.

We will meet after Sunday services from February 26 through April 2.

MATISSE ART NIGHT - March 10 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Union Chapel Indy.

Come Experience Art as Play and an Expression of Devotion. Make 4 to 6 Matisse-inspired mixed media greeting cards while learning a bit about the subject of this season's Lenten celebration, Henri Matisse.

RSVP by email required for this free event so supplies can be prepared.