Brian Handy

@brianhandy.bsky.social

1100 Followers 424 Following

Lifelong learner. Poetry reader. Periodic traveler. Liberal Christian. Fond of obscure Catholic and Orthodox saints.

Drawing of US Army Sergeant Shawn Galen Adams, of Dixon, California. He was killed in a roadside bombing in Owaset, Iraq, on July 22, 2007. In this drawing he is wearing civilian clothes.
Photographs of US Marine Corporal Christopher George Scherer, of East Northport, NY. He died on July 21, 2007, from combat wounds sustained in Taqaddum, Iraq.
Drawing of haloed St. Lawrence of Brindisi, holding a book in his left hand and a feather quill pen in his right.
Painting by French photorealist artist Anne-Christine Roda of the Virgin Mary, wrapped in a white sheet, with a loose turban, against a flat black background.
Photograph of Spanish Discalced Carmelite priest Blessed Josep Tristany Pujol, first pastor of Holy Family Church in Tucson, Arizona, USA. Later he served as provincial of his Order's Catalonia Province in Barcelona, where he was martyred during the Spanish Civil War.
Gravestone (cenotaph) for US Air Force Second Lieutenant John Edward Harriss, Jr., a passenger on B-24D Liberator (serial number 42-40814), which disappeared during WWII, after take-off from Port Moresby, New Guinea, bound for Brisbane. The plane has never been found; thirteen lives were lost.
Painting by British artist Duncan James Corrowr Grant of agricultural fields and copses of trees, under reddish sky.
Prayer card featuring drawing of St. John Plessington, in full ecclesial guard, celebrating the Eucharist.
Photograph of US Navy Petty Officer Second Class Randall Smith, of Paulding, Ohio. He died July 18, 2015, of wounds sustained in a shooting at a Navy Reserve Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Four Marines were also killed in the attack: Thomas J. Sullivan, Springfield, Massachusetts David A. Wyatt, Russellville, Arkansas Carson A. Holmquist, Grantsville, Wisconsin Squire K. “Skip” Wells, Marrietta, Georgia
Painting by British-Iraqi artist Lorna Beryl Selim of a row of homes in Baghdad, Iraq. The first stories are plain brick, but the second stories feature colorful balconies and bay windows.
Painting of Blessed Tiburcio Arnaiz Muñoz, a Spanish Jesuit priest who served parishes throughout Spain. He co-founded the Missionaries of the Rural Parishes. The centenary of his death is today, July 18th, 2026.
Newspaper clipping naming three Pennsylvania service members, including Coast Guard Boatswain's Mate First Class Peter George Broada, of Leechburg, Pennsylvania, who died in the Port Chicago, California explosion on July 17, 1944, that destroyed three ships and killed 320 people. The Port Chicago disaster was the worst home front loss of life during WWII, accounting for 15% of all African-American casualties in the entire war.
Painting by Haitian artist Castera Bazile of shrouded (in white robes) skeletons in a cemetery gathering around a newly filled grave from which another shrouded (in a black rode) skeleton is rising.
Photograph and signature of Blessed Pavel Peter Gojdič, Eparch of Pestov, Slovakia. During WWII, he saved more than 1,500 Jews through fictitious baptismal certificates issued by the Slovak Greek Catholic Church. After the war, he was arrested by Communists. He died in prison ten years after his incarceration.
Watercolor by Iranian artist Ahmad Vosough Ahmadi of an isolated walled village on a rocky plain, with a tree in the middle foreground and distant cloud covered hills.
Drawing of St. Bartolomeu dos Martires, Archbishop of Braga, Portugal. He is wearing ecclesial garb and cradling a staff.
Gravestone of Arm Staff Sergeant Lex Lee Lewis, of Rapid City, South Dakota. He died on July 15, 2011, from combat wounds sustained in Farah Province, Iraq.
Painting by Iranian-American artist David Harouni of indistinct head of man wearing three-pointed crown, against a flat background of rust, purple and red.
Photograph of Quentin Roosevelt, youngest son of President Theodore Roosevelt. He was a WWI combat pilot. He was shot down over Chamery, France, on July 14, 1918. He is the only child of a President to die in combat.
Painting by American artist Betty Sabo of single-story adobe buildings under trees with fall foliage, with native grasses in the foreground.
Prayer card depicting St. Camillus de Lellis, wearing the habit of the order he founded, the Clerics Regular, Ministers to the Sick, popularly known as the Camillians. He stands holding the hand of a seated sick man, his head and right ankle bandaged.
Gravestone of Army Private First Class Edward McGruder, of Cusseta, Georgia, who died on July 13, 1967, at Clark Air Force Base, The Philippines, after being wounded in a booby trap in Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam. He is buried at Mount Gilead Baptist Church Cemetery in Louvale, Georgia.
Roman-built theatre at Orange, in Provence, France, in which 332 executions occurred over just six weeks in 1794, including 32 French nuns, one of whom is Blessed Marie-Anne Lambert ("Sister Saint-François"), guillotined on July 13th.
Memoriam plaque commemorating the lives of four Coast Guard helicopter crew who died while attempting to rescue a sailing vessel in distress near Shelter Cove, California. Those killed were: Laurence Williams, Orlando, FL Mark Edward Koteek, Saugerties, NY Peter Leeman, Oxford, ME Michael Gill, St. Petersburg, FL
Painting by American artist Ernie Barnes of three football players, arranged in a triangle, with a pass receiver catching a football above two defenders, with goal posts in the background.
Icon of St. Jason of Tarsus.
Photograph of Chicago White Sox outfielder Tristan Peters.
Gravestone of U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Dustin Wayne Peters, of El Dorado, Kansas, killed in a roadside bombing in Iraq of July 11, 2004.
Collage by French artist Serge Mendjisky composed of narrow strips of photographs of windows of buildings in Fez, Morocco.
An icon of St. Benedict of Nursia in Tewkesbury Abbey, England. He holds an unwrapped scroll in his left hand and a walking staff in his right.
Painting by French artist Rosa Bonheur of two rams with black heads, against flat yellowish-green background.
Altarpiece of St. Canute the Holy, now in National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen.
Photograph of U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Randy Joe Gillespie, who died July 9, 2007, of combat wounds sustained near Herat, Afghanistan.
Painting by American artist Sam Gilliam in the style of an abstract collage. Several squares and rectangles of abstract images--some cloudlike; others linear--collectively make up the framed square composition.
Photograph of sign for Marine Master Sergeant John E. Hayes Memorial Park in Middleburg, Florida. Along with Marine Lance Corporal Roger Hager, of Gibsonville, NC, Hayes died in combat in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on July 8, 2009.
Abstract painting by Indian artist Prabhakar Kolte of multicolored, narrow, mostly vertical lines against flat, mostly uniform gold background.
Photograph of the Twenty-Six Martyrs Museum and Monument, in Nagasaki, Japan. One of the 26 commemorated martyrs is Blessed Mancius Araki, who, with his brother Blessed Matthew Araki, sheltered Christian missionaries to Japan. Blessed Mancius Araki's feast day is July 8th.
Photograph of cenotaph in Moutchic, France, commemorating WWI U.S. Navy aviators, including Navy Ensign Waldemar Edward Crosscup, killed in a seaplane accident on July 7, 1918. The Naval Air Station at Moutchic was the first such American NAS in World War I.
Painting by Swiss artist Karl Howald of Bern Cathedral. Tiny figures are dwarfed by the immense cathedral, which stands alone on flat rust-colored ground against a background of overcast skies.
Photograph of Blessed Maria Romero Meneses, a Nicaraguan Salesian Sister of Don Bosco, who served the poor in Costa Rica.
Photograph of Navy SEAL Jason Dale Lewis, of Brookfield, Connecticut, who, along with sailors Robert Richard McRill, Lake Placid, Florida; and Steven Phillip Daugherty, Barstow, California; died in a roadside bombing in Baghdad, Iraq on July 6, 2007.
Painting by British-American artist John George Brown of children, all facing the viewer, seated and standing on and in front of a wooden gate, with a three-story home in the background.
Photograph of Venerable Catherine Aurélie Caouette, foundress of Canada's first home-grown contemplative order, the Congregation of Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood of the Union of Saint-Hyacinthe. In the photograph, she is dressed in full habit, holding a Crown of Thorns and viewing a crucifix atop a stack of books. Her feast day is July 6th.
Photograph of Houston Astros hitter Yordan Alvarez at the plate.
Photograph of Army Corporal Michelle Raylene Stearns Ring, killed in a mortar attack while on patrol in Baghdad, Iraq, on July 5, 2007.
Painting by Filipino Cubist artist Oscar de Zalameda of fishermen and -women unloading their catch from three small boats, against a flat, mostly bright orange background.
Photograph of Blessed Joseph Boissel mounted on a miniature horse, with a barn (?) in the background. Boissel was martyred in Laos by Vietnamese guerrillas in 1969, during the Vietnam War. His feast day is July 5th.
Photograph of Italian Franciscan priest St. Cesidio Giacomantonio, martyred in China during the Boxer Rebellion. He was 26. His feast day is July 4th.
Portrait by British artist John Cecil Stephenson of Elizabeth Allison. She is seated facing away from the viewer, but her head is turned to the right so her profile is visible. She is wearing a shiny light blue backless, strapless dress.
Painting by Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn of St. Thomas and the resurrected Christ.
Photograph of Chicago Cubs hitter Michael Conforto.
Photograph of Marine Lance Corporal Juan Manuel Garcia-Schill, of Klamath Falls, Oregon, who died July 2, 2007, of combat wounds sustained in Al-Anbar Province, Iraq.
Painting by Dutch artist Willem Koekkoek of a village street scene, with pedestrians and a horse-drawn cart. A church spire rises in the background.
Prayer card featuring drawing of St. Bernadino Realino, holding the Christ child. St. Bernardino's feast day is July 2nd.
Photograph of Marine Corps Reserves Private First Class Ray Frank Costello, of Morris, Illinois, who died during World War II, on July 1, 1943, of wounds sustained on Vangunu Island, part of the New Georgia Islands.
Painting by British artist James Dickson Innes of the beach at twilight at Collioure, France, near the border with Spain. The sea is deep blue. Sharply pointed mountains rise above the beach, under a Van Gogh-like sky with yellow clouds.
Newspaper obituary of Marine Sergeant Chad Dennis Frokjer, of Maplewood, Minnesota, killed by a landmine in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on June 30, 2011.
Book cover collecting the writings of Italian Redemptorist priest Blessed Gennaro Maria Sarnelli. His feast day is June 30th.
Painting by British artist Dexter Dalwood of a black vertical speaker (?) on a blue floor in a blue room with a red track lighting fixture, a shelf bearing an unidentifiable object, a collection of Joy Division CDs, and a red telephone, with a bare lightbulb and window overlooking rooftops. Ian Curtis was the lead singer of Joy Division.
Drawing of Italian Passionist priest Domenico “Padre Norberto” Cassinelli, a novice master. His feast day is June 29th.