Our Life and Beauty

One of the last honorary doctorates bestowed on Focolare founder Chiara Lubich before her death was an honorary doctorate in Art by the Catholic University of Maracaibo, Venezuela. Following are excerpts from her acceptance speech.

Right from the beginning, we always had an ardent desire in our hearts: that of shouting out with our lives, with words, through the arts, that God is Beauty … We have always wanted to arrange everything around us in such superior harmony as to make of our dwelling place a corner that mirrors nature, which simply by its presence elevates and draws one’s soul to God.

This is reflected in the welcoming simplicity that distinguishes our homes, our centres and the little cities … In addition, this vocation has made it possible for many artists to find a source of inspiration in the spirituality of unity …

This spirituality, individual and collective at the same time, brings us almost unknowingly to refine our sense of aesthetics. The new perspective on the world that it gives makes us feel an affinity with artists. They know how to see beyond appearances and perceive, under a new light, even those things that many may see as insignificant.

At the onset of our movement, we had intuited that the charisma that God had given us would have brought about a new culture. We felt that this special light from the Holy Spirit was able to clarify, to enlighten from within … the various fields of human endeavour—economics, politics, sociology, health care, and of course also the arts …

On the occasion of a 1999 Focolare-sponsored conference for 1,700 artists from all over the world, I had highlighted how the presence of Jesus among those united in his name is essential. Only this bestows on each and every one that breath of the Holy Spirit and, therefore, of light, peace, strength and joy, typical of our charisma.

We are convinced that this presence of Jesus among artists will be the herald of new and unimaginable works of art. He, present in each of them and among them, will inspire poems and music. He, who is one, will move the painters’ brushes, choose the colours and imprint his mark on the artists’ works.

Yet we cannot take advantage of his gifts and enjoy his presence without establishing unity with our brothers and sisters, by loving them as he has loved us … Unity requires setting aside all earthly goods and divine riches in order to love our neighbours. Therefore, artistic inspiration should be secondary to unity as well … in order to see through it, in a certain sense, heaven and all the things on earth with new eyes …

There is one person in whom we have always contemplated the divine model of beauty: Mary. She is the all-beautiful. She is the one who mirrors the image of the Creator in a unique way. That is why she is admired by artists and is the object of inspiration for painting and sculpture, music and literature … She, who generated the Word of God in flesh, elevating our human nature to the heights of God, is the model for artists. Making her inner, mystical beauty our own, we will receive from God the grace to create works that will remain for eternity.

The conferral of the Doctorate in Art took place in November 2006 at Focolare headquarters in Rocca di Papa, Italy.

Chiara Lubich