This digital painting is titled “The Test”. The concept and composition was inspired by 1 Corinthians 3:10-15.
“According to the commission of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and another man is building upon it. Let each man take care how he builds upon it. For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble— each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”
When I pray with this passage it is talking to Christians. Jesus Christ is the foundation of our lives. As we build on that foundation we have the free will to lay either gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay or stubble. When tested in fire only the gold, silver or precious stones of our prayers and works will survive the purge. Our sins and temporal punishments can be thought of as the wood, hay and stubble in our lives. We cannot enter Heaven with these unclean impurities. So it is through fire we are purified. We can endure this purification during our life on earth, but if our purification is not complete at our death there is place called purgatory to purify us of our venial sins and temporal punishments. So we must endure a purging fire either now or in purgatory so we can be perfectly clean to enter Heaven.
The composition of this painting shows flames or tongues of fire being dispersed from the wings of the Holy Spirit over a pile of stubble, hay, wood, gold, silver and precious stones. The seven flames represent the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven virtues or the seven corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are infused into every Christian at their baptism. The gifts are nurtured by practicing the seven virtues and they are sealed at our Confirmation. As we grow in virtue and practice the works of mercy we are building walls of gold, silver and precious stones on the foundation. When we sin and lose our heavenly gaze we are building with stubble, hay and wood.
The seven flames from the Holy Spirit set the pile on fire purging all the stubble, hay, wood until the gold, silver and precious stones are all that remain. The Holy Spirit holds in his mouth a Miraculous Medal of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Blessed Virgin Mary’s mission on earth is to bring all her children to Jesus Christ. As St. Louis de Montfort said, Mary “is the safest, easiest, shortest and most perfect way of approaching Jesus.” If we unite our hearts with Our Blessed Mother Mary she will magnify the virtues in our souls and help us to reach the perfection we need to enter into Heaven to meet Jesus, Our Savior. After all, Mother Mary is the only human being who spent all of Jesus’ 33 years with Him. Mary is also so perfectly united with the Holy Spirit that she is known as the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. Mother Mary could never will anything but the Will of the Father. She knows exactly what we need to purge out of our lives so our souls can be as white as snow for Jesus.
