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A couple of months ago we looked at a Carthusian monk at prayer.\u00a0 This month, by contrast, we have before us George Henry Boughton\u2019s,\u201dWoman Kneeling at Prayer.\u201d\u00a0 <\/strong>As a child, I remember very lividly seeing my mother kneeling by the hearth before a picture of the Sacred Heart which hung above the fireplace and which bore the inscription, \u201cMost Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.\u201d\u00a0 Below, in his own hand, Pope Benedict XV on 17th<\/sup> July 1921, had written in Italian, \u201cWe grant three hundred days indulgence to the Faithful who shall recite three \u2018Gloria Patri\u2019 before one of these pictures of the Sacred Heart.\u201d\u00a0 The picture now hangs in my bedroom.<\/p>\n George Henry Boughton, whose work impressed Vincent Van Gogh, was an Anglo-American (1833\u20131905) who spent some time during his training, in Scotland. This work can be seen at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, U.S.A. One wonders if the woman is a lonely widow, a concerned mother of children, or simply a devout woman with a strong belief in the power of prayer.\u00a0 Pure faith made tangible through the genius of the artist.\u00a0 She looks like a woman of means.\u00a0 Look at the rich fabric of the chair with its heavy brass studs and at the quality of the gown she is wearing.\u00a0 Her hair seems well-kept and her hands are not those of a washer-woman, rather suggesting a certain gentility.\u00a0 Even the colour of her robe suggests a measure of wealth since purple pigment was hugely expensive.\u00a0 Every colour tells it\u2019s own story. Yet, the riches of this world are not a guarantee against worry and anxiety. \u00a0The clasped fingers and closed eyes, in a very natural way, suggest a woman deep in prayer and, perhaps, with a lot to pray about!<\/p>\n Monsignor Monaghan<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A couple of months ago we looked at a Carthusian monk at prayer.\u00a0 This month, by contrast, we have before us George Henry Boughton\u2019s,\u201dWoman Kneeling at Prayer.\u201d\u00a0 As a child, I remember<\/p>\n