Friday, January 10, 2020

A New Book on Bl. Karl of Austria for Marriage Preparation

The Emperor Karl League of Prayer in the United States and Canada is pleased to announce the publication of a new book entitled Bold Union: Preparing for Marriage with Karl and Zita. Edited by Suzanne Pearson, Cathy Pearson, Dcn. Jordan Hainsey, and Fr. Britton Hennessey, Bold Union utilizes vignettes from the life of the last-ruling imperial family of Austria-Hungary as a witness to the bond of marriage, helping to supplement the preparation a couple receives in their own diocese. Couples are invited to spend half an hour each day, for six weeks leading up to their wedding, growing in prayer and openness to each other. The structure for each day is the same: a vignette from the life or marriage of Karl and Zita, a reflection on the sacramental bond, questions for conversation, and short Catholic prayers.


Eight illustrations were commissioned by the League of Prayer U.S.A. and Canada from John Ritter, an American Post-Pop artist and illustrator whose vibrant figural and cultural depictions have consistently defined the pages of The New Yorker, Time, GQ, The New York Times, and Harper’s. Ritter began his career in northern California in the early-1990’s, where his unique style and deployment of color landed him a slot on the design team that created and marketed Adobe© Photoshop©. Utilizing photographs from the Gebetsliga Archive, this is Ritter’s first collection of religious-themed illustrations which contextualize sanctity in the 21st century and boldly reinterpret the familiar images of Karl and Zita.


Bold Union: Preparing for Marriage with Karl and Zita is the perfect companion for engaged couples beginning their journey together or married couples who wish to deepen their marital bond and explore the vows they made on their wedding day. Printed and bound in the U.S.A., this book carries the Imprimatur of Bishop Roger J. Foys, D.D., of the Diocese of Covington, and an accompanying Nihil Obstat. To order, click this link.

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