L'Angelus, Pausing for Prayer

Macrina Wiederkehr’s ‘Seven Sacred Pauses’ is a modern take on the well known Christian practice of ‘praying the hours.’ This is a spiritual discipline of breaking down the day into segments, with times for prayer and brief reflection sprinkled throughout the day.

The Angelus (French: L'Angélus) is an oil painting by French painter Jean-François Millet, completed between 1857 and 1859. The painting depicts two peasants bowing in a field over a basket of potatoes to say a prayer, the Angelus, that together with the ringing of the bell from the church on the horizon marks the end of a day's work. Millet said: "The idea for The Angelus came to me because I remembered that my grandmother, hearing the church bell ringing while we were working in the fields, always made us stop work to say the Angelus prayer for the poor departed".

When the person who had commissioned the painting failed to take possession of it, Millet added a steeple and changed the initial title of the work, Prayer for the Potato Crop, to The Angelus.

This is a wonderful painting for contemplation. It is also a depiction of how prayer and quiet time can be woven into the day right alongside our work.

The painting currently hangs in the Musée d'Orsay, in Paris, France. Here is a short study on the painting, and its artist, Jean-François Millet.

Jean-François Millet (French), L'Angélus, c. 1857-1859, oil on canvas, 21 x 26 (53.3 × 66.0 cm) (Musée d'Orsay, Paris) Speakers: Drs. Beth Harris and Steven Zucker