Photo by Julianna Leopold

SAVANNAH—Paintings and live music brought the story of the Georgia Martyrs to life in Savannah, where Catholic artists and musicians gathered for the friars’ Oct. 31 beatification Mass.

Through their creative gifts, participants honored the five Franciscan friars, whose witness to the Gospel continues to inspire them more than four centuries later.

The contributions ranged from an exhibition of artwork at the Savannah Convention Center to worship by young musicians singing through downtown Savannah.

Blessed Pedro de Corpa, Blessed Blas Rodríguez de Cuacos, Blessed Miguel de Añón, Blessed Antonio de Badajoz and Blessed Francisco de Veráscola were Spanish Franciscans who served the indigenous Guale communities along the Georgia coast. They were killed in September 1597 after defending the Church’s teaching on marriage.

The martyrs were beatified during a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Frank Leo of Toronto at the Savannah Convention Center, with nearly 10,000 participants.

In March, the Diocese of Savannah invited artists to submit pieces for an art contest to create the official image of the Georgia Martyrs.

More than 100 pieces were submitted, and about half entered the competition. In the convention center, an art exhibit was open to attendees to see the contestants’ work.

Painting the hope of the friars

Savannah artist Jared Matthew Seff won the contest with a watercolor painting titled “The Georgia Martyrs.” The image depicts the five friars surrounded by golden light, each holding an object connected to his life or martyrdom. The artwork was unveiled during the beatification Mass.

Savannah artist Jared Matthew Seff won the contest with this watercolor painting, “The Georgia Martyrs.” The image depicts the five friars surrounded by golden light, each holding an object connected to his life or martyrdom. The artwork was unveiled during the beatification Mass. Photo by Julianna Leopold

Other artists brought their own interpretations of the friars to the exhibition.

Eva Winfree, a seventh grader from Sarasota, Florida, displayed a model of the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist that she first built as a fifth-grade student in 2024.

Using foam board, chopsticks, popsicle sticks, paint and hot glue, Winfree recreated the Savannah cathedral basilica, studying photographs and visiting the building to understand its architectural details. According to Winfree, she is especially proud of the columns leading up to the spires.

Eva Winfree, a seventh grader from Sarasota, Florida, displayed a model of the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist that she first built as a fifth-grade student in 2024. Her work was part of an exhibition of pieces for the beatification of the Georgia Martyrs. Photo by Julianna Leopold

“It’s just so pretty,” she shared with spectators about the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist. Nicknamed the “Sistine of the South,” the cathedral basilica stands out in Savannah with its Gothic architecture and distinctive white exterior.

Natalie Ruiz, who lives in Evans and attends St. Teresa of Avila Church in Augusta, submitted an oil painting of the five martyrs. She completed the work in a little under two months, spending hours at a time painting after entering the contest late.

To help portray the friars, Ruiz asked friends and local priests to pose as models. In her painting, the men look upward with expressive eyes. For Ruiz, the goal was to create an image that directed viewers beyond the artwork itself.

“My only objective with this piece was that anyone who sees the painting looks up to heaven,” she said.

In her piece, the martyrs are surrounded by a glowing light. Ruiz shared her vision for this was to emphasize something the friars have instilled in Catholics around the world.

“Hope,” she said. “That’s what I wanted to portray. The hope they’ve given us.”

Ruiz said Catholic art can communicate emotions and aspects of faith in ways that words alone sometimes cannot.

“Catholic art is so important and necessary for our faith because we like to depict so much emotion through art, especially in our parishes,” she said.

Gospel on Savannah’s streets

While artists filled the convention center with paintings and creative displays, a different kind of expression could be heard across Savannah.

More than 100 Catholic young adult musicians from Music for Missions, an initiative of the Regnum Christi Music Collective, performed original songs on Savannah’s streets on Halloween night.

The Regnum Christi Music Collective grew from a desire among members of the international Catholic movement to create music that would draw people closer to the Catholic faith. Since its founding in 2019, the collective has expanded its work by collaborating with Catholic musicians and singers both inside and outside the movement.

Strapped with instruments and a willingness to meet people where they were, members of Music for Missions echoed their talents through the city’s Plant Riverside District.

The musicians spoke with strangers and collected prayer intentions. They later gathered near City Market for night prayer, bringing the intentions they had collected and inviting people they had met to join them.

Members of Music for Missions played original songs in the Plant Riverside District of Savannah on All Hallows’ Eve praising, singing and collecting prayer requests from those they met. The group is part of the Regnum Christi Music Collective and grew from a desire to create music to draw people toward the Catholic faith. It was founded in 2019. Photo Courtesy of Music for Missions

Traveling from different states, each musician brought different instruments and talents. Janie Levergood of Smyrna played piano and sang, while Maddie Smith of Winchester, Virginia, brought her ukulele and voice.

Levergood described the musicians as a group eager to flock together and share their gifts to others.

“We’re little songbirds for the Lord,” she said.

Smith said the mission also gave young adults the freedom to share their faith with others who understand the importance of authenticity.

“It feels very free and liberating to just be yourself and share your gifts with other people very organically,” she said. “You’re just radically yourself, and it draws other people to you through your gifts.”

Martin Vasquez of Bowling Green, Ohio, sang and played guitar and piano. He shared that he believes music can make evangelization more approachable.

“I think evangelization through music helps break the barrier of what can be more complicated,” he said. “It can help settle people into the spiritual world.”

The beatification was also an opportunity for Vasquez to encounter the history of the Church in a more personal way. Growing up he often wondered what it would have been like to live during the time of the saints. Being in Savannah, so close to the places connected to the martyrs, gave him a new perspective.

“To be so close to the martyrs here, it just makes my faith stronger,” he said.

Vasquez shared that the choir was especially stunning and solidified his love for worship.

Dr. Paul Thornock, director of music at the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist, conducted the choir during the Mass. The liturgy included music in English, Spanish and Latin, with pieces including a Spanish setting of Psalm 116 by Marc Cerisier and the Communion motet “Eternal Glory” by Jessica French.

Vasquez shared that a choir can help bring people together and make the liturgy more engaging.

“I think it elevates the worship because it starts the fire for participation, it helps us all unify,” he said. “Having quality music really helps elevate the ways we focus on the liturgy.”

Levergood shared the same perspective, noting that during the beatification Mass, the group tended to sing along with the choir.

“It was beautiful,” she said. “It was like we were there with a whole choir of angels from heaven.”

Singer Vicky Freeman traveled from Marietta to sing with Music for Missions. For her, the opportunity to be with the group and attend the Mass was “absolutely incredible.”

“I was very grateful to be there because I understood the privilege and the gift that it was,” she said.

The artwork and music offered different ways to share the story of the five friars and the faith that shaped their lives.

The Georgia Martyrs traveled from Spain more than four centuries ago to share the Gospel with the Guale people. In Savannah, artists and musicians used their own evangelization tools, paintbrushes, pastels, guitars, ukuleles and voices, to invite others to encounter that same faith.