We have restored this Victorian holy card and printed it as a postcard. Use it to send a message to a friend or put up a little bookshelf piece of Catholic art!

This card is one of our favorites. Mary is holding the Sacred Heart as well as the baby Jesus, so we get two powerful Catholic Icons in this rare image: The Sacred Heart and the Madonna and Child. The colors are rich and warm, but still have some of that vintage feel. We love this card and think it is beautiful!

The French inscription at the bottom reads, “Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Pray for Us.” Underneath that it says, “100 days one day at a time for the Associates,” which we think was prayer instructions for an indulgence at the time. There are also words in the gold mandorla (the full halo around their bodies). We’re pretty sure the first word is JÉSUS in the lower left, and clockwise, EST L'ESPÉRANCE, and on the other side DES DÉSESPÉRÉS, which means “Jesus is the hope of the despairing.” (It took us a long time to discern those words!)

There was a lot of discoloration and tarnish on this long out-of-copyright image. We spent hours restoring it to its original beauty. Overall, there are tens of thousands of good Catholic images out there, but we work to bring you just the few we love, and to make them as perfect as we can. We want to curate a collection that brings you joy. St. Pope John Paul II said, “In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art.”

Image Restoration © www.CatholicArtAndJewelry.com

You might also be interested in original Catholic art and jewelry by me, Sue Kouma Johnson, available all over this shop! Thanks!