The Italian Fratelli Bonella cards are the most common holy cards on the market today. The Fratelli Bonella cards are distributed by Gerfert Co., NY and are cut in the most common traditional size of 2 1/4" by 4". J.B. and Co., NY and Reproducta USA both produce very popular lines of cards as well. Any of these may be purchased in nearly any religious goods store. (Pl. 37-39) These cards have been in print since the 1960's and employ the St. Sulpice style.

Krause, Gromer & Co. (KG Co.) cards printed in Germany are another St. Sulpice style traditional-looking line of holy cards and may still be purchased through The Mother of Our Savior Co. Inc. in Pekin, Indiana. Barton-Cotton Co. of Baltimore, Maryland and Creative Communications for the Parish of St. Louis have nice selections of contemporary cards. Cards may be ordered direct from the publishers. (Pl. 40-42) Address, phone numbers and ordering information for these and other cards described in this chapter are found in the Appendix.

Blue Cloud Abbey is the distributor of Ade Bethune holy cards of the saints. Ade Bethune is known as the "The Mother of American Liturgical Art". Through the 1930's to 50's her art work appeared in many Catholic publications, including features in The Catholic Worker. For many years she worked out of her studio and store, St. Leo Shop in Newport, Rhode Island, where she still lives. Her holy cards images done in the l'art sacre style have the appearance of woodcuts but actually were all drawn. They seem to have a timeless appeal and are quite reasonable in price. They measure 3" x 5" and can be preserved nicely in photo album archival sleeves. (Pl. 43,44)

C&D International of Dallas, Texas produced a line of Bible Character Cards in 1989 that came in randomly packaged 12 packs or as a complete set of 72. These cards were one of the first to be sized like baseball cards, which made them very collectible for children. The contemporary illustrations are done by a variety of artists. The cards included interesting facts about New and Old Testament Bible characters, the origin of their name and a scripture verse to live by. (Pl. 46,47)

Paul Anderson of Mission Viejo, California has distributed nearly 200,000 of his self published Bible trading cards. Anderson first began making the cards in 1990 and has since produced over 300 different cards and stickers. Anderson approaches the card production as an outreach ministry, asking only suggested donations for the cards. The cards include New and Old Testament bible characters, quotes on the Bible from famous Americans and each of the U.S. presidents. (Pl. 51)

Brent Devitt has a set of trading size "classic" cards. Featuring such obscure saintly subjects as Radegund, Severinus, Vitus, Ethelreda, Natalie and Felix, among others, this series of over 50 cards provides holy cards for saints where few if any have been published before. Old German and Polish engravings from turn of the century saint legendaries serve as the illustrations. Printed on parchment the trading size cards (2.5" x 3.5") contain information on the origin of the saint's name and its related names. The cards also list the feast day, patronages, symbols in art, biography and legend of the saint depicted. (Pl. 54)

The Leaflet Missal Company of St. Paul, Minnesota markets a set of 64 Catholic Flash Cards featuring saints and beatti. These giant print cards (5.5" x 8.5") are billed as helpful learning aids for school, home, religious education programs or personal devotion. Sketches of the saints by artist Anna May McCallum appear on the front of the cards while biographies and prayers are printed on the back. The same illustrations are the basis for the Holy Card Prayerbook by the same publishers. (Pl. 50)

Allegiance Advantage was established in 1990 by two nuns, Sr. Kathy Hollywood and Sr. Lorraine Hale, at Barry University in Miami, Florida. In their efforts to bring the saints down to earth, present them as heroes and help them seem cool to kids they produced a whole line of T-shirts, bookmarks, plaques, plates, medals, buttons and prayer cards marketed by Roman Inc. The three-color images produced by John Robert Lloyd are circled by titles such as Joan of Arc - Freedom Fighter and Saint Francis - Champion of the Poor. Currently out of print, the cards measure 2 1/4" by 3 3/4", slightly longer than a trading card format, and may still be found in religious goods stores. (Pl. 45)

In 1993 the religious card market saw probably the first series of trading cards to employ a true comic book style artistry in a series of produced by Jamison Services of West Plains, Missouri. Three inaugural sets of 19 cards apiece were titled Images of Jesus, David & Goliath and Supernatural Images. These were the first and only series produced by Jamison which no longer produces Christian materials. The cards are out of print yet numerous sets remain in inventory at Jamison and are still available to the avid collector. (Pl. 46,47,48)

Aziriah Company, founded by Jim Shanley of Boynton Beach, Florida, created "Holy Traders", trading cards with saints and religious on them. These cards are in a very collectible trading card format. Shanley was also inspired to produce cards that would appeal to today's sophisticated kids, help them learn about their faith and encourage vocations to religious life. The cards feature photographs and paintings from religious news services and Catholic groups. The back of the card tells the saint's life story with such statistics as the date of canonization. A Check It Out box also on the back of the card defines a wide range of Catholic words and terms such as spiritual and corporal works of mercy, grace, conversion, the Beatitudes, indulgences and the meaning of religious items such as monstrances. In 1994 an Ohio company printed the first press run of 100,000 cards. The first set of 40 cards has since been followed by another 24 card set. (Pl. 48,49)

"Ancient Heroes", a 50-card set that contains color illustrations of biblical heroes on one side and their capsulized Bible stories on the reverse was released in 1994. Youth Life Creations is the publisher set up by illustrator and founder Scott Roberts of North St. Paul, Minnesota. Roberts' pet peeve was that illustrators seemed to make Bible characters look European. Roberts has them look Hebrew, with the intent to have them be real life characters and not the stuff of myth and fairy tale. (Pl. 52)

Since the original Ancient Heros edition Roberts has teamed up with Northwestern Products and historical consultant Dr. Charles Ailing to create a New Testament series titled "Jesus, His Life and Times." Like the Old Testament set this new edition has fifty cards. Plans are for introducing yet another fifty New Testament cards. (Pl. 53)

In 1995 Cactus Game Design introduced the action adventure card game called Redemption. The game is for two or more players sold in decks of 50 collectible trading cards. Each pack is different containing common, uncommon and rare limited edition cards. Players can collect booster packs of eight cards to create an "unbeatable" deck. The game is described, "Lead your brave band of Heroes in a series of battles against your opponents' evil forces. The object of the game is to be the first to rescue five Lost Souls who are being held prisoner in the Land of ." The cards feature old testament characters and Biblical symbols. (Pl. 55)

Not all modern cards exhibit the superhero style.  A recent addition to the market in 1995 is the "Heavenly Saints" series.  They are the inspiration of Joan P. Petitti, a grandmother of eleven.  The cards are laminated and feature 30 lifelike illustrations of the saints and a short description of their lives. Her belief is that "A child can relate more to someone who looks like us even though they lived 1,000 years ago."  (Leisner, 1996) (Pl. 56)

One of the newest trading card series out is "King's Kards" Bible Trading Cards, featuring old and new testament Bible characters. Each card contains a colorful illustration, interesting facts, related Bible verses. These cards come in sheets of six and in collector packs of twelve. The cards are copywritten in 1995 through 1996 and are distributed by Creative Communications for the Parish of St. Louis, Missouri. (Pl. 57)

Silver Burdett Ginn Religious Division has 54 different cards of saints packaged for classroom use in grades kindergarten to eighth grade. There are six different cards per grade level. The attractive, full color multi-use cards come in 32 sets of 6 Saints per grade. The cards include a short prayer or information about the saint and come conveniently packaged in a colorful storage box. (Pl. 58)

Kevin & Frances Butek of Eau Claire, Wisconsin formed Art Angels to distribute a line of Catholic children's creations that encourage children to color their own bookmarks, trading cards, stickers and playing cards. They have introduced a series of seven cards of famous approved Marian apparitions from throughout history. Each is presented in a detailed black and white illustration, ready for coloring. The Buteks also have a game called "Litany" featuring 18 different cards with the names and symbols of various saints. The game is played like "Memory." (Pl. 59)

The Gift Shop of the Carmelite Friars at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Middletown, NY has a very nice series of some fifty cards featuring Carmelite saints, blessed and venerables. The art features simple black and white images with tendencies toward the Sacred Art style. The cards are slightly longer and wider than trading card size. For a donation the entire set will be sent to you. The series has some saints seldom featured on other holy cards, including St. Berthold, thought to be the founder of the Carmelite order. (Pl. 60)