Merry Mary-Marthas: Chats with Catholic women exemplifying the feminine genius in the world and in the home.
Meet Katie Weiss,
artist, teacher, wife, and mother
Behold is the result of Katie being struck by beauty in her own life. As she began to pray with art and Scripture together, she recognized its powerful impact. Seeing the effect of such prayer, Katie created a praying with art program in 2016, that later developed into Behold. Katie is happily married to her husband, Kevin, who also supports and helps her with the book printing process. They welcomed their precious Peter in June this past year!
Tell us a little bit about yourself – your family, hobbies, experiences, education – basically anything you’d like to share.
My name is Katie Weiss, and I am the founder of Behold Visio Divina, a ministry devoted to helping women to pray with art and Scripture. I am the third oldest out of seven children, a New Jersey native now living in Virginia, and someone who absolutely loves anything art related. I have been married to my husband Kevin for two years, and we just had our little Peter this past June! I have a bachelors in Theology from Catholic Distance University, and my current favorite medium to create art with is gouache (a mix of watercolor and acrylic paints). Before I did Behold full time, I taught art, ranging from four year-olds all the way to high school!
What is your apostolate? How do you bring truth, beauty and goodness to the world? How did your ministry/apostolate begin?
I love sharing the answer to this question so much. I absolutely love what I do with Behold, because I meet and pray with amazing women, but also because it is a way the Lord continues to speak to me. I started this ministry in 2017 at my parish, and the main reason I love to teach women how to pray with art is because I found it healing in my own life. Way back in 2013, I discerned religious life, and it was at that time that I was actually really struggling. Religious life is so beautiful, but I found I was not fulfilling what the Lord created my heart for. I didn’t want to see this – I found that I just tried to ignore what was going on in my heart, until the Lord spoke to me through an image of the Annunciation. This image really helped me to be real with Him and to go deeper into the question of what He was desiring me to do with my life. I truly am so grateful for this ministry!
What have you struggled with and how have you managed to balance the interior life of Mary, with the exterior life of Martha? Tell us about your practice of prayer and any special devotions you have, and how this supports/enhances your apostolate.
What a good question! I am actually asking myself this question actively right now. We just had our first baby in June, and I find that my life is so all over the place sometimes, whether it is getting things done at home, being present to Peter, or catching up on Behold things. I think the best thing that wise mentors have told me is: 1) that my life is a prayer; 2) to ask the Lord for help throughout the day; 3) and to make spaces holy. I find that even just slowing my breathing, looking at a holy image and asking the Lord’s help in the busy-ness of the day really helps. I have a very special devotion to Christ the Good Shepherd right now, and I think a huge reason for that is the imagery of Christ carrying us when we are weary. He truly works in all things!
Where can we learn more about you, your apostolate and new projects?
We currently have lots of ways to connect with us! Our website is beholdvisiodivina.com, we are also on instagram and on facebook. We have over 8 published books on praying with art on our website, and one of our favorites is one we wrote with a friend, From Trust Unto Surrender, which features the Litany of Trust and Surrender Novena. It can be found here.
