By Cécile Martin-Houlgatte

If the painter Francisco de Goya wrote, “The act of painting is one heart telling another heart where it found its salvation,” it is because he sensed that art is encounter… and a profound encounter at that!

There are several levels of encounter: one thing is to paint; another is to paint in the company of others; and finally, there is the level of creating in collaboration with other people.

As a consecrated woman, in recent months I have had the grace of experiencing these three levels.

First level: the encounter in painting

I have the joy of living in Magdala, in the beautiful Galilee of Jesus. There is something in this land that expands the heart. The creative flame is kindled within and naturally flows into the hands. I am surprised that what I paint are simply birds, flowers… nothing extraordinary or new.

And yet, something deep and moving happens in my soul: what is it? I believe, quite simply, that these birds and flowers tell the heart of Jesus. He looked at them, contemplated them, and praised the Father while speaking of them: the birds of the sky, the lilies of the field.

Here and now, art becomes the art of encountering God.

Second level: encounter with art while painting in company

In Magdala, we periodically gather with several volunteers to paint. We begin our meeting by reading a paragraph from philosophy, theology, or Scripture. We share the echo these words awaken in our hearts.

Then we paint that echo—abstractly or figuratively—sometimes in silence, at other times in conversation. Hearts tell receptive hearts where they find their salvation.

This moment of encounter is a sacred space: each person listens to her heart, reflects on it, expresses it on canvas, and shares it.

The encounter becomes communion.

Third level: painting in creative collaboration with other consecrated women

At the Interterritorial Jubilee Gathering that we held in Rome, we created a participatory work of art. Each reflection group had the opportunity to express in a painting what it saw as a “seed of hope” in its mission: spiritual accompaniment, education…

The experience of encounter was truly beautiful. From each group emerged a painting, and the most valuable part was not the finished work, but the creative process itself: each woman listened to and welcomed the ideas of the others, contributed her own, and, when possible, took up the brush.

For four days, the shared canvas became a place of creation, re-creation, and encounter.

I give thanks to God—whether painting myself or accompanying and animating community artistic activities—for allowing me to experience how the art of encounter blossoms through the encounter with art.

If Francisco de Goya saw in painting “one heart telling another heart where it found its salvation,” Pope Francis saw art not as a luxury, but as a necessity of the spirit: a path to widen the heart, free the mind, and connect with the beauty that saves.

And as Fyodor Dostoevsky said:

“Beauty will save the world.”