Light & Stone

Sculpted Miracles of Souillac

My favorite place in the world is on a small tributary of the river Dordogne near the town of Lacave, about ten miles from the great pilgrimage site of Rocamadour. It is the hotel Le Pont de l’Ouysse, which I have been visiting since 1986. It is my omphalos, the navel of my world, where everything comes into balance and harmony. Near this wonderful rustic hotel is the commercial town of Souillac, unexceptional except for a stunning abbey church, Sainte Marie-de-Souillac. This podcast explores the church itself, but concentrates mostly on the unrivaled sculpture inside, including the mysterious trumeau.   About the artists: PJ and Dennis Aubrey are photographers and writers who have spent the last dozen years photographing and writing about medieval churches and cathedrals.    Links to Via Lucis articles on the Val d'Aran: Sculpted Miracles of Souillac Sainte Marie of the Marshes   Music:  Stella Maris - Mobyfree (Royalty Free) Noosphere – Chris Law (by Permission) Love is a Ghost - Edward Bilous (by Permission) For more information on Via Lucis: Via Lucis Blog Via Lucis Website  We encourage listeners to comment on and follow this podcast. Thank you. Podcast copyright Via Lucis Press (2019)

The Auvergne - Part 2

Words can’t do justice to the beauty of the spring countryside in the Auvergne with its fields of yellow dandelions, meadows, volcanic peaks and herds of cattle blending peacefully under a deep blue sky.  In the fall, the autumn colors fill the valleys and mountains. This central highlands of France is also home to many of the greatest Romanesque churches - the Cathédrale Notre Dame of Le Puy, the Basilique Saint Julien in Brioude, Saint Austremoine in Issoire, Orcival, Saint Nectaire, and so many more.  The richness of the Romanesque bounty is something that we can explore every year when we travel to France. About the artists: PJ and Dennis Aubrey are photographers and writers who have spent the last dozen years photographing and writing about medieval churches and cathedrals.    Links to Via Lucis articles on the Val d'Aran: In the Shadow of Le Puy Notre Dame du PortÉglise Saint Laurent d’Auzon The Abbey Church of Saint Austremoine, IssoireLux Aeterna Music:  Stella Maris - Mobyfree (Royalty Free) Love makes all good again – Chris Law (by Permission) Love is a Ghost - Edward Bilous (by Permission) For more information on Via Lucis: Via Lucis Blog Via Lucis Website  We encourage listeners to comment on and follow this podcast. Thank you. Podcast copyright Via Lucis Press (2019)

The Auvergne - Part 1

Words can’t do justice to the beauty of the spring countryside in the Auvergne with its fields of yellow dandelions, meadows, volcanic peaks and herds of cattle blending peacefully under a deep blue sky.  In the fall, the autumn colors fill the valleys and mountains. This central highlands of France is also home to many of the greatest Romanesque churches - the Cathédrale Notre Dame of Le Puy, the Basilique Saint Julien in Brioude, Saint Austremoine in Issoire, Orcival, Saint Nectaire, and so many more.  The richness of the Romanesque bounty is something that we can explore every year when we travel to France. About the artists: PJ and Dennis Aubrey are photographers and writers who have spent the last dozen years photographing and writing about medieval churches and cathedrals.    Links to Via Lucis articles on the Val d'Aran: In the Shadow of Le Puy Notre Dame du PortÉglise Saint Laurent d’Auzon The Abbey Church of Saint Austremoine, IssoireLux Aeterna Music:  Stella Maris - Mobyfree (Royalty Free) Love makes all good again – Chris Law (by Permission) Love is a Ghost - Edward Bilous (by Permission) For more information on Via Lucis: Via Lucis Blog Via Lucis Website  We encourage listeners to comment on and follow this podcast. Thank you. Podcast copyright Via Lucis Press (2019)

The Val d'Aran

In the Middle Ages, there were areas in Europe that existed in an isolation almost inconceivable today. In the center of the Pyrénées, just south to the current border of Spain, is a small east-west valley tucked into the mountains. During the winter snows, the valley is almost completely inaccessible. But in that valley there are thirty villages, each with a Romanesque church built mostly in the 12th and 13th centuries. Every hillside reveals another, often perched just above that of an adjoining village just a few hundred yards away as the crow flies but miles away by twisting roads. In this podcast we discuss these churches and La Crema deth Haro, an ancient ritual still celebrated in the Val d'Aran on the Summer Solstice.   About the artists: PJ and Dennis Aubrey are photographers and writers who have spent the last dozen years photographing and writing about medieval churches and cathedrals.    Links to Via Lucis articles on the Val d'Aran: The Val d'Aran - Tapas, tres Esglésies, and the Haro   Music:  Stella Maris - Mobyfree (Royalty Free) Love makes all good again – Chris Law (by Permission) Love is a Ghost - Edward Bilous (by Permission) For more information on Via Lucis: Via Lucis Blog Via Lucis Website  We encourage listeners to comment on and follow this podcast. Thank you. Podcast copyright Via Lucis Press (2019)

The Throne of Wisdom

One of our most popular exhibitions is that showing the vierges romanes. These Throne of Wisdom madonnas are captivating and powerful iconographic images of the Romanesque era. Most of these are small (30 inch/76 centimeters), polychrome wooden statues from the 12th and 13th centuries. The Sedes Sapientiae(“Throne of Wisdom”) is an icon of the Mother of God in majesty and was found throughout Romanesque Europe. But the woman, Mary, is not usually a young mother, but a mature woman. The child is small, but is not depicted as an infant or a baby, but rather more like a small adult. Both look directly ahead at the beholder. In few of these images will we find the maternal warmth of the Renaissance Madonna and Child (which came later) or the sorrow of the Mater Dolorosa. Instead, there is often a distant look, as if Mary is looking into the future, into the sacrifice that will be demanded of both herself and her Son.   About the artists: PJ and Dennis Aubrey are photographers and writers who have spent the last dozen years photographing and writing about medieval churches and cathedrals.    Links to Via Lucis articles on the Throne of Wisdom madonnas:.   The Throne of WisdomThe Throne of Wisdom, Part 2The Thrones of WisdomOur Dayton OpeningThe Black Madonna of DorresThe Three Virgins of Corneilla-de-Conflent Interview about Black Madonnas on Marian Radio (July 2018) Music:  Stella Maris - Mobyfree (Royalty Free) Earth calls us home – Chris Law (by Permission) Love is a Ghost - Edward Bilous (by Permission) For more information on Via Lucis: Via Lucis Blog Via Lucis Website  We encourage listeners to comment on and follow this podcast. Thank you. Podcast copyright Via Lucis Press (2019)