This article originally appeared on the Voyage Comics blog.
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“The symbol of a ship always delights me and helps me to bear the exile of this life.” – St. Thérèse of Lisieux
The world we live in today has lost its sense of journey. Many of us, instead of seeing our lives as a great adventure to reach a final destination, are intent on focusing only on satiating our immediate desires.
This has left many of us feeling alone, isolated, and without a meaning or purpose in life.
We are like ships, floating along the sea of life without any direction, thrown about by every storm that comes our way.
It doesn’t need to be like this.
We need to recover a renewed sense of journey in our lives, for we are all on a journey: the pilgrimage of life. We need to rekindle in our culture this disposition so that instead of drifting aimlessly through life, we are able to launch forward to Distant Lands, finding a Safe Harbor.
To do this, I firmly believe in the power of stories, and in particular, visual stories.
We all love a good story, as it often has the ability to transport us out of the mundane realities of our world, into another realm that taps into desires that were placed long ago in the depths of our heart.
Bringing Legends Back to Life
I believe that one way to awaken those desires is to recover an ancient form of storytelling: legends.
The word “legend” is derived from the Latin legere, to gather, select, read. This in turn is connected to the Greek legein, to gather or say, and the Greek logos, speech, word, reason. The etymology of this word is important as St. John refers to Jesus in his Greek Gospel as the logos, the “Word” of God (“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” – John 1:1).
For me at the core of these legends is the Logos, God from whom all truth, beauty and goodness finds its ultimate source and I believe these legends possess great value that we often needlessly throw away.
Indeed, it is these types of stories that captivate us and encourage us to look around at the world in a different way. The modern-day myth of Star Wars is a prime example.
George Lucas explained once in an interview, “I put the Force into the movies in order to try to awaken a certain kind of spirituality in young people.” He wanted children to discover the existence of God in their life and to see that there is more to this world. While Lucas wasn’t keen on organized religion, his intention is similar to the story-tellers of old. Using legend and myth to open up the spiritual eyes of people.
This is my intention with Voyage Comics & Publishing, a new company with a mission “to inspire young and old with legendary comics and stories that captivate the hearts of all, inviting the reader to discover truth, beauty and goodness.”
I firmly believe we need more of these stories that reach a modern audience, an audience that has a small attention span and are visually oriented.
This will not only include the continuation of the Finnian and the Seven Mountains series, but also monthly comics and other stories and articles written by new authors.
To accomplish this task, I am inviting YOU to join me on this Voyage.
I am seeking talented writers and artists to submit their work for consideration and to lend their abilities to this mission.
Also, I am inviting those who wish to contribute to this mission and play an active role in making this dream a reality. For this I am creating a special Patreon campaign that will help us reach our goals.
I look forward to this adventure and hope you will consider joining me.
To conclude, I will end with a poem that is close to my heart (and the heart of J.R.R. Tolkien).
Hail, Queen of Heav’n, the ocean Star,
Guide of the wand’rer here below!
Thrown on life’s surge we claim thy care,
Save us from peril and from woe.
Mother of Christ, Star of the sea,
Pray for the wanderer, pray for me
O gentle, chaste, and spotless Maid,
We sinners make our prayers through thee
Remind thy Son that He has paid
The price of our iniquity.
Virgin most pure, Star of the sea,
Pray for the sinner, pray for me.
Sojourners in this vale of tears,
O thee, blest Advocate, we cry,
Pity our sorrows, calm our fears,
And soothe with hope our misery.
Refuge in grief, Star of the sea,
Pray for the mourner, pray for me.
And while to Him who reigns above,
In Godhead One, in Persons Three,
The source of life, of grace, of love,
Homage we pay on bended knee;
Do thou, bright Queen, Star of the sea.
Pray for thy children, pray for me
View our full range of Voyage Comics here.
The Mission of Joan of Arc #1 – Voyage Comics (Paperback)
At age 18, Joan led the French armies into battle. She was a peasant girl who couldn’t even read, let alone fight a war. To save France from the English, she was going to need divine intervention.
The heavens answered her.
Joan received aid from St. Michael the Archangel, supreme commander of the heavenly armies. With his help, Joan led the French to victory on the battlefield, paving the way to the end of the Hundred Years’ War.
This first issue follows Joan as she first encounters the Archangel and leads the armies of France to reclaim the city of Orleans.
The Tale of Patrick Payton – Voyage Comics (Paperback)
The Tale of Patrick Peyton vividly brings to life the American Apostle of the Family Rosary, Venerable Patrick Peyton. Born to a humble family in Ireland, the energetic young boy would embark on an adventure beyond his wildest dreams. His journey would take him to the United States where he would find his true calling as a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross and promoter of family prayer.
Father Peyton was ambitious in his mission and contacted popular Hollywood actors and actresses, such as Bing Crosby and Loretta Young, to help him convince families everywhere, “The family that prays together stays together.”
Using television, radio and film, Father Peyton was a modern-day missionary who went on to encourage devotion to the Blessed Mother and inspire families to pray together. His inspiring life story is now made accessible for the first time in a comic book format.
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