Evangelizing through Art and Architecture

“If a pagan asks you to show him your faith, take him into church and show him the icons and explain the series of religious paintings to him.” –⁠ St. John of Damascus

There are no greater joys in life than speaking truth, beholding beauty, and doing good. This is almost a self-evident statement—truth, goodness, and beauty are descriptions of reality in the way it ought to be, of the act of being, of the ways we wish to know, see, and love. But sadly, such blatant statements are not taught in today’s world, however much they are sought at a hyper rate.

Because of the indifference and monotony of our world, the peace and hope brought by Jesus becomes all the more potent. That is why some of the greatest experiences of my life have been speaking with strangers who wander into a beautiful church on the corner of Prince and Hanover Streets in the beloved North End of Boston.

Pietre Vive

I belong to an international Catholic ministry created expressly for evangelizing tourists who happen to cross the thresholds of urban Catholic churches. This volunteer group, Pietre Vive, or “Living Stones,” is comprised of individuals, everyday parishioners from all walks of life, who wish to share the joy of the Gospel, the salvation offered to each soul personally by God, who is the foundation of existence.

As a local Pietre Vive community, we study Church Fathers and Catholic doctrine over aperitivo. We pray together in silence, using our church’s art and architecture in meditation, after the pattern of St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises. Thus we become equipped to offer free theological tours to those who might pass by our holy turf. There are around 40 active Pietre Vive communities around Europe and the Americas, with only two in the United States.

My Experience

I believe God answered my prayer when I joined this church group in 2023.

In 2022, I had visited Rome and Israel. My experience in both of these holy pilgrimage sites was very similar: I was distracted. There were tourists everywhere, mesmerized by external phenomena and caught up in cameras and crowds, but who were oblivious to the invisible reality which radiated right there in the space.

How come they look at the empty tomb and hold their selfie-sticks when Jesus is bodily right next door in the tabernacle? How can they look at Michaelangelo’s Pieta for just a few seconds when it portrays the most profound loves of mother and Son, of God and creature?

I was frustrated—not at any tourists themselves, but at the fact that Christians had failed to instruct them. I was also frustrated at my own hypocrisy, for I was irreverent and uninspired. I gave my frustration to God.

In 2023, I found myself in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. Once again, the crowds overwhelmed me; once again I pitied their ignorance of what they beheld; once again I prayed, giving my frustration to God. I thought there should be Christians in churches telling people what Christians believe. Yet once again, I was a hypocrite—I did not tell them what I believe.

A few months later, I moved to Boston, and low and behold, I soon found myself invited into a group I had never heard of before: Pietre Vive. I was invited to speak with serendipitous visitors at St. Lenard’s—something which I had begun to do independently. I read the Pietre Vive central tenets and found that they spoke to the desires of my heart.

The vision that had passed through my mind during my travels had been actualized by many of my fellow Christians in this volunteer network providing theological art and architecture tours in many churches. This ministry was encountering the tourists as persons made in the image and likeness of God.

How wild it was that the next time I was in St. Peter’s Basilica was with these church evangelists—Pietre Vive missionaries—whom I had imagined the year prior! God had heard my prayer. There is a great sense of purpose and empowerment alongside my fellow evangelists in the international community. If they had not taken up the torch, neither would have I.

I could tell so many stories of encounters about my Pietre Vive service and the people we welcome into our home, our church. People visit from all over the world: Mexico, Kazakhstan, China, Ireland, Tennessee, Canada, India, Ohio, Spain, Italy, Washington State, and many other places.

Some had never been in a church before. Some knew next to nothing about Christ. Some asked me how to pray. Some were being impacted by hellish experiences and found consolation there. Some were on flight layovers and were just wandering the city. Some thought that it seemed like God had orchestrated them coming there.

All of them are infinitely loved by a God who bizarrely wants to share Himself through you and through me—so that we might share this joy and communion.

How to Join

If you are interested in hearing stories of talking with strangers in church; if you wish to be likewise formed in the Faith through prayer, sacred art, and church architecture; or if want to participate in this style of evangelization, please reach out to me at honestdepictions@gmail.com. It would be my pleasure to help inspire similar local art evangelization ministries in my beloved Arlington diocese, as well as in Washington DC, Baltimore, Montreal, Quebec City, Tallinn—and any and every city in any state or country where followers of Jesus dwell. “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few,” said our good Lord.

Photo by Nick Castelli on Unsplash