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Life is a pilgrimage as we make our unique journeys of faith toward union with God, who created and sustains us. Unfolding over a lifetime, our spiritual passages parallel our physical journey through life’s phases. From Baptism on, we move closer to God, who draws ever closer to us in the Eucharist.
In 1842, the American artist Thomas Cole completed a dramatic series of four paintings titled Voyage of Life. In these masterful scenes, Cole—known as the founder of the Hudson River School art movement—traces an archetypal voyage down the “River of Life.” The four-part series, on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, invites us to join the pilgrim whose journey unfolds against magnificent landscapes radiant with heavenly light. As we move through the stages of childhood, youth, manhood, and old age on a pilgrimage of beauty and light, our eyes are opened to recognizing our own spiritual journeys in “Eucharistic amazement” at God’s presence and power in life.
The first in the series is titled Voyage of Life: Childhood. We see a young, exuberant infant seated amidst lush foliage in a golden boat, guided by an angel who holds the light of life. Behind the child is another large-winged angel, clothed in radiant white, with a face framed in a halo of ethereal light. This guardian angel guides the boat out of a dark cave set against a rugged mountainside. The faint dawn light, evoking the newness of the child’s life, reveals a lush landscape of flowers and plants reflected on the calm surface of the flowing river. The scene is filled with joyful hope for the future that lies ahead.
The second painting, titled Voyage of Life: Youth, continues the infant’s journey into adolescence. The young boy, still seated in the boat, is now guided by the angel of light at the helm. The larger angel steps off the boat onto the shore and gently waves to the youth as he continues his adventure down the river. In the far distance, an imposing mountain is dwarfed by an immense, imaginary castle made of clouds, symbolizing the idealism and hopefulness of youth. The river is flanked by large trees that lead our eyes back into the painting so that we, too, are drawn to continue on this pilgrimage of life.
The third scene, Voyage of Life: Manhood, leads us into midlife with its challenges and troubles. The bright light of the first two scenes is replaced by a shadowy and turbulent mood as the pilgrim, now an adult, moves through a treacherous, stormy river. The radiant angel remains watchful over the pilgrim, now through a distant burst of light that pierces the dark clouds. Reflected in the glassy, stormy water, the middle-aged pilgrim stands in the rocky boat with his hands folded in prayer and his eyes raised to heaven. The scene evokes the dangers and trials we pass through on life’s journey. Trust and daily dependence on God will surely lead the pilgrim—and us—through the storms of life.
The final scene, Voyage of Life: Old Age, returns to the serene atmosphere of the initial journey. The pilgrim, now an old, bearded man, remains in the boat that glides slowly through calm waters. Both angels hover aloft to guide him to his final destination in God, symbolized by rays of warm, heavenly light shining through dusky clouds. With both hands raised in a gesture of prayer, the pilgrim looks to the heavens in joyful anticipation of restful bliss. As his journey draws to a close, the artist offers a starkly beautiful vision of hope and the eternal rest to which every pilgrim advances in faith, hope, and love.
Thomas Cole’s magnificent scenes invite our contemplation of the stages of life as a pilgrimage of hope in the face of trials, marked by joyful trust and anticipation of union with God. The risen Lord promised to remain with us always as he ascended into heaven. In the age of the Church, to which we belong from Baptism, Jesus continues to walk with us on our pilgrimage of life—in his sacred Word and in the sacraments, especially in the gift and mystery of the Eucharist. As you prepare to join in the Eucharistic pilgrimage, in person or in prayer, you may choose one of these masterful scenes to reflect on how the radiant light of God’s healing love and presence shines on the daily path of your own life.
I invite you to choose one of the four images of The Voyage of Life, and to take time to reflect on what you notice about its colors, movement, and light.
Dr. Jem Sullivan, associate professor at The Catholic University of America, is the author of Way of Beauty: Rekindling Eucharistic Amazement with Visio Divina from Our Sunday Visitor. She leads a pastoral initiative Welcoming Children in Worship at Welcoming Children in Worship - A Lilly Foundation Project. For a recent lecture on prayer by Archbishop Rino Fisichella hosted by Welcoming Children in Worship see Vatican pro-prefect at Catholic University: Liturgical prayer is indispensable to evangelization - OSV News
Image Credit: Thomas Cole, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
