California woman on mission to preserve 'God's calling cards'

Published: 2005-10-05

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Santa Barbara City College marketing and e-commerce professor Julie Ann Brown is the Internet go-to person for holy cards. Brown, 45, is on a mission to preserve and share what she calls "God's calling cards" lovingly made more than 75 years ago by European nuns and clergy. "My quest remains the same: to spare and share the beautiful holy images from those who have loved and lived before us," said the Catholic mother of two college students. Visitors to Brown's Web site, www.holycards.com, can e-mail a free virtual holy card to friends or download a Christian image for a one-time fee of $2 to $3, no royalty strings attached. During a 1996 shopping trip to an antique mall in Palmdale, Brown happened upon a collection of holy cards. "That day, I found the buried treasure of memories," Brown told The Tidings, newspaper of the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

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