This is one of a group of ten holy cards (E.3153-2007 to 3162-2007) representing saints. They are 21st century reprints of earlier designs by Ade Bethune (1914 - 2002). An art student in New York during the 1930s, Bethune worked for the Catholic Worker Movement and her designs of saints and Biblical scenes were frequently published in its newspaper. The figures she depicts, as in the case of these cards, tend to be simply dressed and often shown carrying out everyday chores. They reflect the ideals of the Catholic Worker Movement whose members believed in the virtues of manual labour. As one of its founders, Dorothy Day, explained:

"Besides inducing cooperation, besides overcoming barriers and establishing the spirit of sister and brotherhood (besides just getting things done), manual labour enables us to use our bodies as well as our hands, our minds" (reprinted from The Catholic Worker newspaper, 'The Aims and Means of the Catholic Worker', May 2008).

Five of the ten cards here portray saints carrying out manual chores. For example, the Virgin Mary, 'Our Lady of Home Work', scrubs the floor; Saint Theresa of Lisieux washes clothes or dishes, and Saint Joseph and Christ 'The Workman' carry out carpentry work. Another card depicts Joseph, Christ and Mary at work with the Benedictine motto 'Ora et Labora' ('Pray and Work') explicitly printed above them.

These 21st century reprints were published by Blue Cloud Abbey, a Benedictine Monastery founded in 1950 in Indiana. Their mission is to follow Saint Benedict's Rule to pray, work and study. The saint appears in one these cards in the act of preaching.