Many Catholics find strength in the lives of the saints, people who chose to have faith in God and to serve Christ no matter how difficult the circumstances.

Seeking to inspire and guide their parishioners and parish leaders, Our Mother of Good Counsel Church in Los Angeles' Los Feliz area erected an outdoor tile mural earlier this year which honors nine Augustinian saints who are highly revered in the U.S. The parish has been administered by Augustinian priests since 1925.

The mural was designed by renowned liturgical artist Isabel Piczek. In the 1960s she and her sister Edith designed the stained glass windows for the church.

"We see people coming and praying in front of the mural," said Augustinian Father James Mott, parish administrator, who is celebrating 50 years of professing religious vows. "We hope it speaks volumes to the call to holiness all of us have."

The mural was placed on the right side wall of the church overlooking a small plaza where parishioners gather for fellowship following Mass.

In the center of the mosaic is the depiction of Mary as Our Mother of Good Counsel, a loving mother giving comfort to the baby Jesus in her arms. The eight saints on either side of her are Blessed Stephen Bellesini (from far left), St. Thomas of Villanova, St. Rita of Cascia, St. Monica, St. Augustine, St. Clare of Montefalco, St. Nicolas of Tolentine and St. John Stone.

Commissioned by the parish's former pastor, Augustinian Father Gary Sanders, and completed under Father Mott, the mural is eight feet tall and 24 feet wide.

Piczek, who has completed works of sacred art for 498 churches around the country and beyond during her long and distinguished career, said the challenge in drawing for tile is to depict a figure using only a few major lines.

"Those few lines have to express the full anatomy of the figure. Most of all they have to express the character of the saint, and the very thing for which he or she became a saint," Piczek told The Tidings. She spent eight months working on the project which used rare Italian tile.

St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, is depicted on her knees crying and praying for the conversion of her wayward son to Christianity. Her persevering faith is depicted with raised hands offering her son up to God.

St. Augustine, who against all odds finally transformed his life and went on to become a prominent Catholic theologian and writer, is depicted with a scroll on which is written: "Before all else…" It is a reference to the opening words of his guide for religious life in which he advises: "Before all else, dear brothers, love God and then your neighbor…"

St. Rita is a saint many people turn to when facing impossible or lost causes. She endured a violent husband; after he was murdered she persisted in her belief and desire that she join a religious order until she was finally admitted. In the mural she lovingly holds the cross in which she always placed her faith.

St. Thomas of Villanova was a learned man who gave away all his money to the poor and established a university. Blessed Stephen Bellesini supervised schools in Italy. St. Clare of Montefalco served as an abbess of her monastery and had a great devotion to Christ's suffering. St. Nicholas of Tolentine prayed for the release of souls in purgatory, which Piczek depicted as a dove flying out of a flame of fire. St. John Stone was tortured and martyred in England for standing up for his faith.

"I hope this helps parishioners become interested in the lives of the saints," said Piczek. Sacred art, she added, "is for the purpose of creating more attachment to God.

"The arts are very strongly connected to the beauty of God," said Piczek. "They inspire the human soul and they develop your greater vision, not just your body vision, but your spiritual vision. The spiritual eyes are very important, because this is how you see God. Even in this life to a certain extent you see God through his beauty and certainly through Jesus Christ. And so the arts are extremely important, because they transfer to you the beauty of God, and from that derives His truth and His goodness."

The mural, added Father Mott, "will serve as a testimonial to the long-standing partnership between parishioners and Augustinians."

Parishioners at Our Mother of Good Counsel said they were particularly moved by the saints' great deeds of service.

"I admire their humility and their goodness," said Carlos Diaz, a husband and father of four who is actively involved in the parish. "They were people of service. And for me, it's important to serve."

Vicky Morales pointed out that each saint had a unique call from God.

"Each of us is called to a different service," said Morales. She and her husband Joey have served the parish as lectors and eucharistic ministers, bringing Communion to the sick or food to the homeless.

The saints, added Morales, were people of "faith, unity, love and service. They were filled with the love of Christ and walked together with Christ."