Poland, one of Europe most Catholic nations, is facing new challenge in the practice of the faith as more people turn to Western secularization.

Every year, more than 1 million pilgrims from around the globe travel to the Czech Republic, praying in front of the Infant of Prague. They carry on a practice that stretches back hundreds of years.

D’Adamo hopes to share his Catholic faith and help others find a closer connection with their faith through art. His work, which includes gripping images of God, Moses and moments from the life of Christ, was featured in an art exhibit last fall at St. Ignatius in Baltimore.

Its transparent wings beating in a flutter of motion, the locust almost seems ready to jump from the calf-skin parchment on which it is painted. Resting on a delicately arching green leaf, the insect is a physical reminder of a passage in the sacred text that fills the page.

As Melissa Brent crept closer to the 7-foot, 850-pound bronze statue, not even a steady late-November rain could dampen her joy.

“Down through the centuries the Catholic Church has always been a great patron both of the visual and musical arts,” said Monsignor Luca. “It’s in that spirit we would like to offer these concerts to all the people of our community.”

On a recent sunny afternoon, the stained glass windows at St. Louis in Clarksville sparkled with a radiance few could have imagined when they stood in their original home at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore. Illuminated by the mid-day sun, brilliant shades of cobalt blue, deep purples and fiery reds seemed to leap from the glass and command a visitor’s gaze.

For the last 16 years, he has served as principal organist of the Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican and organist to the pope – the first American to hold either post.

Disney film crews were on site at St. Michael from April 27 to May 2 filming the baptism and funeral scenes and a Christmas Midnight Mass scene.