"Ave Maria!"
Antique Holy Card - Anonymous Artist

Ave Maria! Hail Mary! This sweet holy card has the letters A M arranged as a flower trellis, and a dear little dove, standing in for you and me, looking up lovingly. Doves stand for souls. The periwinkle blue flowers are a traditional symbol of Mary, representing promise and hope, and they imply everlastingness and love through eternity. In the language of Catholic symbols, the red roses represent Christ's sacrificial blood, and for Mary they mean Mary's perfection, without blemish, immaculate. The rosary is a bouquet of roses we offer to our Mystical Rose.

The text at the bottom of the card translates to, "May the sweet Name of Mary be my hope and my refuge!" A beautiful, flowery phrase from the 19th Century, a time when Catholics loved to use flowery love poem language to our Blessed Mother! We still use phrases like that today with some of our traditional prayers, such as the Hail Holy Queen.
(source: www.cityflowers.co.in)

We have a slight preference for the 5x7 size on this one, as the subject is sweet and simple, and very personal.

** IMPORTANT ** THE IMAGE IS SMALLER THAN THE PAPER! There is a white border all around the image of about .5" for 5x7 and 1.3" for 8.5x11. All Approx! The white space around picture means the image is smaller than the paper. It gives the framed picture a nice finished look without using a matt.

- Acid-free paper
- Archival pigments, rated to last for generations.
- Cardboard backer
- Above story of the art
- Enclosed in a tight-fitting, crystal clear bag.

Thanks for your interest!
Sue & John

"In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art." ~ St. Pope John Paul II

Original image is out-of-copyright. Descriptive text and image alterations (hence the whole new image) © by Sue Kouma Johnson - Classic Catholic Art.