New Plaque Available
Blessed Karl of Austria by Janet McKenzie
The Emperor Karl League of Prayer U.SA. and Canada is pleased to offer a new, devotional image of Blessed Karl of Austria by American artist Janet McKenzie. This painting was commissioned by friends of The League of Prayer in 2012 for Br. Nathan Cochran, O.S.B. (1957-2014), a monk of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, who served as The Emperor Karl League of Prayer Delegate for the U.S.A. and Canada for nearly a decade. Br. Nathan was instrumental in planning the Beatification of Emperor Karl and worked at Vatican City in 2004 as a special secretary where he coordinated and organized the various beatification celebrations and wrote, edited and oversaw the translation, printing, and distribution of various publications and press releases in eleven different languages. The original painting, beloved and treasured by Br. Nathan, hung over his personal desk where he conducted his correspondences between members and friends of The League of Prayer from around the world. To honor Br. Nathan's numerous contributions in the Cause of Canonization of Emperor Karl, The League of Prayer is pleased to offer reproductions of this beautiful painting by Janet McKenzie to honor his memory.
Janet McKenzie is an internationally-renowned artist known for her distinctive iconography of sacred subjects that glow with an inner, spiritual light. Her Jesus of the People was selected as First Place winner in the National Catholic Reporter’s global competition by juror Sr. Wendy Beckett, the famed art historian and BBC personality. It was revealed for the first time on the Today Show in New York and generated enormous worldwide interest and discussion. The controversial painting challenges stereotypical thinking by including two groups traditionally left out of iconic imagery of Jesus — people of color and women.
Her art is featured in Holiness and the Feminine Spirit – The Art of Janet McKenzie, which won the 2010 First Place Award for Spirituality from the Catholic Press Association. Another book, The Way of the Cross – The Path to New Life, features her Stations of the Cross with reflections by leading religious writer, Sr. Joan Chittister, O.S.B.
Her solo exhibitions include: The Haggerty Museum of Art, Milwaukee; Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago; Carlow University, Pittsburgh; and the Saint John Paul II National Shrine, Washington D.C. Her works can be found in the collections of: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, Carnegie, PA.; St. Mary’s University, Winona, MN.; Daughters of the Heart of Mary, Holyoke, MA.; the Archdiocese of Chicago; and Harvard University, Cambridge. In 2013, she was the William Belden Noble Lecturer at The Memorial Church, Harvard University.
The Emperor Karl League of Prayer U.S.A. and Canada is grateful to Janet McKenzie for her support of The League and for allowing us to reproduce the painting of Blessed Karl. To learn more about Janet McKenzie and her artwork, click here.
Icon Plaques Available!
Plaques of Blessed Karl are available in our online store by clicking the link below.