REQUIREMENTS

Order of St. Udio members must be professional or aspiring artists – or at the very least, lovers of art – and committed Christians (Catholic or non-Catholic) who take their artistic vocation and Christian calling seriously.

• Those who put God before all things (even their art) yet who see art not as an obstacle to God but as an icon and channel of his being and grace.

• Those who put others before their art and who do not exploit people for one’s own personal endeavors but who utilize art as a means of edification, solidarity and peace among men.

• Those who admit the creative process and the appreciation of art cannot replace the Christian life itself: the call to worship God and to do his will, the call to personal holiness and the salvation of one’s soul, and the duty to use one’s gifts for God’s glory and in service to others.

• Those who will – as co-creators with God (Father, Son, & Holy Spirit) – work to make of themselves and their lives (including their art) a masterpiece pleasing to God, and who will help others do the same.

• Those who admit that natural talent and spiritual gifting do not exempt one from the sacrifices and expertise required to develop a true craft.

• Those who accept that creativity does not excuse one from honoring certain moral limits (even in art) and who reject self-expression as the best (or only) motive for creating art.

• Those who acknowledge the proper distinctions between sacred and secular art as well as classical and modern art, yet who recognize that all forms of art – insofar as they are not profane – reveal God’s divine order and beauty even if only in lesser degrees or in different ways.

• Those who reject the notion that artistic inspiration is merely an uncontrollable impulse and not the conscious and free use of one’s reason and will, yet who understand imagination and emotions are gifts of God for the enjoyment of sharing in his divine nature and life.

• Those who refute the false presumption that all artistic inspiration is divine inspiration, that one’s art – because it was created by a Christian – is necessarily good or better or free from error or defect, that one’s art – because it was created by a non-Christian – is incapable of achieving the intrinsic or even higher purposes of art, or that one’s art – simply because it was created – is necessarily worth anything.

• Those who protect the right of artists to receive a fair wage for their art, time, resources and expertise, yet who will (when able) freely offer them to others for little or no cost – especially fellow Christians and OSU members – and who will not allow the duty to provide for one’s own material necessities or the freedom to accumulate wealth to undermine art’s primary and essential nature and purpose.

• Those who are not ashamed of their Christian identity and who are not afraid of their Christian Faith influencing their art, yet who do not consider “Christian” as an adjective or a genre of art nor who want to exist exclusively within a so-called “Christian” industry or market separate from the rest of the world.

DUTIES

Order of St. Udio members will commit to certain [yet-to-be-determined] duties, such as simple prayers and devotions, required readings and assignments, and regular gatherings and events.

Members are encouraged to pray The Angelus each day (when able) at 6am, 12Noon, 6pm, and before all OSU member gatherings. They are also encouraged to establish a prayer rule, with a minimum of praying a Daily Offering in the morning when beginning their day, and to pray an Act of Contrition, after first making an examination of conscience, at night before retiring.

Those who live in close proximity to one another are encouraged to meet regularly to contemplate and discuss certain texts and works of art, to share and critique each others work, to offer advice, resources, and (when appropriate) collaborate, to pray, encourage, and serve one another, and to invite other artists and lovers of art outside the Order to visit or join.