The Forging of the Cross of Faith

Friday, February 23, 2024 12:00 pm EST

KC Castillo, undergraduate art major at the University of Notre Dame invites us to contemplate The Forging of the Cross by Henry Mosler. In this painting, four men labor over an iron cross in a blacksmith’s shop, the red-hot glow of the metal illuminating the room. European artists working during the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries used this type of light to represent the divinity of Jesus in a manger in scenes of the Nativity. Artists such as Mosler appropriated this same device to highlight the aspects of sanctity in industry and work. That the men are forging a cross adds an explicit spiritual dimension. The minister and onlooking women are also drawn into the drama of the scene and what it represents about the life of faith.

As we think about the work and its intentionality, we must consider the cultivation of our spiritual lives, and forging a cross is a fitting image. Jesus says in today’s gospel passage, “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.” He then goes on to list what loving one’s neighbor really looks like—the sacrifice and the effort it takes to rid one’s self of anger and resentment toward one’s brothers and sisters. It is no small thing.

How many times have we ignored a deeply hurtful offense, pretending that forgiveness is a passive virtue, only to find ourselves later ruminating over past transgressions? How many times have we hurt someone, felt remorse, but couldn’t bring ourselves to apologize and make things right? Christ knew that unless we strive to make real peace, none will be had. We can’t just appear to be righteous like the scribes and Pharisees. Like Jesus, we have to undertake the hard and courageous work of forging a cross of love.

This Lent, ThinkND invites you to join FaithND and the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art for a journey of Lenten discovery through some of the most significant liturgical paintings in the Raclin Murphy collection, challenging you to contemplate prayer, fasting, sinfulness, mercy, grace, and God’s infinite love from the perspectives of the artist’s gaze. To subscribe to the FaithND Daily Gospel Reflection visit faith.nd.edu/signup.

Forging the Cross, ca. 1904, Oil on canvas. Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame. Gift of Mrs. J. Fuller Fedor, 1950.003.

In this painting, four men labor over an iron cross in a blacksmith’s shop, the red-hot glow of the metal illuminating the room. European artists working during the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries used this type of light to represent the divinity of Jesus in a manger in scenes of the Nativity (see Edouard Steinbruck’s Adoration of the Magi nearby); artists such as Mosler appropriated this same device to sanctify industry and work. That the men are forging a cross adds a spiritual dimension. The separation of men and women into different areas of the composition reflects the distinctive roles that each played in spiritual life.

For closer viewing of this work through the digital collections of the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, please click here.