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Among the glories of the Middle Ages were the illuminated Bibles created by the great cathedrals and abbeys of Europe. They were years in the making, extremely costly, and stupendously beautiful.
The scribes and illustrators who produced these Bibles knew that this written form of God’s word was intimately connected with Jesus, the Word made flesh. They also knew that the Bible was meant to draw its readers into the truth of who Jesus is—not just through the words on the page but through the beauty of the illustrations and calligraphy. This is why they considered the Bible to be worthy of an artist’s utmost skill.
A Bible Is Born. More than a decade ago, the Benedictine monks of Saint John’s Monastery and University in Collegeville, Minnesota, sought a unique way to mark the approaching Jubilee Year of 2000. Donald Jackson, world-renowned calligrapher and Senior Scribe to Queen Elizabeth’s Crown Office, approached them with a proposal to handwrite and illuminate the Gospels. As they discussed it, his proposal evolved into an…
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