The War Cry of Beauty: Chris Lewis and the Mission of Baritus Catholic

When men suffer, they face a fork in the road: despair or surrender to God. Chris Lewis, the illustrator behind Baritus Catholic, knows this path well. His story is not simply one of artistic success but of conversion, suffering, sacrifice, and ultimately, spiritual warfare through beauty. His journey challenges Catholic men to reflect: How will you utilize your gifts to fend off the evil and darkness of our age?

From Darkness to Light: Chris’s Early Years

Chris was raised in a Protestant household within a military family. Church was inconsistent, and while his home believed in Christ, there was little discipline in Scripture or worship. As a teenager, he began asking hard questions: Where did the Bible come from? How do we know this is true? Without strong answers, he drifted. Like many young men, the allure of the culture promised fulfillment but left only emptiness.

Chris admits he grew bitter toward God. “I didn’t think about Him much, but if I did, I was angry,” he recalls. His life carried on until one providential meeting: his future wife. Though she wasn’t living her Catholic faith deeply at the time, she kept two devotions: Sunday Mass and the rosary. Their first date? She invited him to Mass. That small act cracked open the door of grace in Chris’s heart.

A Brush With Death

The turning point came in his early thirties. Chris was diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent surgery to remove part of his lung. For years, he battled illness and the long shadow of recovery. In that crucible of suffering, he wrestled with God like Jacob in the night. Out of the struggle came clarity: life is fragile, fleeting, and every gift must be offered back to the Giver.

“It was catharsis. It was healing,” Chris says of those years. “When you get to the darkest places in your life—where else are you going to go? I wanted people to know there is something there for them when they hit that bottom."

Out of suffering, Chris rediscovered art—not as a career, but as a weapon for the Kingdom.

The Birth of Baritus Catholic

Chris had worked for years in marketing and design within the athletic apparel industry. He knew branding, packaging, and product development. Yet art, his first love, had long been dormant. Around 2017, as his faith deepened, he began sketching again. Slowly, his passion returned. He chose the name Baritus, which is a Latin word meaning WAR CRY (emphasis is my own) because he saw his work not merely as illustration but as a spiritual weapon.

Early on, he simply opened social media accounts and began posting his work. The response shocked him. “It just exploded,” Chris remembers. “Within a year, people were engaging, buying, and asking for more."

But the deeper change wasn’t only professional. It was spiritual. His wife experienced a reversion to the Catholic faith. Together, they committed to openness to life, she left the workforce to raise their children, and they began praying the rosary daily. Their home became a domestic church, and Chris’s art became its unification.

The Leap of Faith

By 2020, Chris was running two full-time jobs: his corporate role and his growing art business. Then COVID hit. On a long drive to visit family, he and his wife wrestled with the decision: stay safe with a stable job, or leap fully into Baritus Catholic? His wife, full of trust, pushed him toward faith. “What if you just did this full-time?”

Chris quit. He lost benefits, health insurance, and security. He gained only risk, faith, and freedom. “I was staring at the road for 14 hours asking, What did I just do? But when I got home, I hit the ground running and I haven’t stopped since.”

That leap has carried him into 5 years of full-time work as a Catholic illustrator. His pieces now hang in homes, parishes, and schools worldwide, speaking to men and women who hunger for beauty.

Art as a Weapon

For Chris, art is not neutral. It is a battlefield. In a culture saturated with pornography, ugliness, and shallow distractions, he insists that beauty still evangelizes. His work channels saints, Scripture, and spiritual warfare imagery in ways that pierce hearts.

His most popular piece? An epic portrayal of the Seven Deadly Sins being terrorized by saints. “That came directly from the Holy Spirit,” Chris explains. “I don’t even know where it came from. I was just on fire to get it done.”

Other works, like The Bark of St. Peter, honor the papacy and the Church’s mission. Chris deliberately weaves deep symbolism into each design, leaving breadcrumbs that invite Catholics to ask questions, study, and rediscover the richness of their faith.

Chris has also collaborated with publishers like Ascension Press, TAN Books, and Sophia Institute. Yet he continues to dream bigger: fully illustrated Catholic children’s books, epic projects, and new works that capture timeless truths in a fresh way.

Discipline and the Creative Life

It is easy to romanticize the life of an artist, but Chris is clear: it takes discipline. “I’ve got tabs for social media, YouTube, emails and they are all distractions. I have to force myself into structure or nothing gets done,” he admits. Prayer anchors his day, especially the rosary. Discipline makes his creative freedom fruitful.

This tension between freedom and order is something every Catholic man faces. Without discipline, we drift. With discipline, our lives become ordered toward God, our families, and our mission.

Lessons for Catholic Men

Chris Lewis’s story is not only about art. It’s about faith, risk, and courage. Catholic men can draw several lessons from his journey:

• Suffering is a gift. Whether through illness, failure, or hardship, God uses suffering to purify and redirect us.

• Beauty is a weapon. Our culture is drowning in ugliness. Catholic men must elevate what is noble, true, and beautiful in their homes, parishes, and communities.

• Take risks for the Kingdom. Comfort and security can enslave. Sometimes God calls us to step out in radical faith.

• Lead your family. Chris and his wife’s decision to embrace openness to life, prioritize faith, and pray daily transformed their home. Men, it starts with us.

The War Cry of Beauty

Chris Lewis chose the name Baritus, war cry, because beauty is not passive. It is a cry of defiance against Satan. It is a banner of hope for weary souls. It is a call to arms for Catholic men.

As Chris reflects on his journey, he sees every brushstroke as a prayer and every piece of art as an act of spiritual warfare. “I want people to know there is something for them when they hit the bottom,” he says.

The war cry of beauty is ringing. Will you answer it?

Conclusion: A Challenge for Catholic Men

Chris Lewis’s testimony challenges us to reexamine our own mission. Are we wasting time, scrolling endlessly, or are we creating, building, and leading? Are we passive in the face of cultural decay, or are we making a stand through faith, family, and sacrifice?

At The Manly Catholic, we exist to challenge, encourage, and motivate men to become saints every day. Through stories like Chris’s, we see that sanctity is not abstract—it’s lived in the choices we make, the crosses we carry, and the courage we show.

Brothers, it’s time to pick up your weapons. The battle is raging. Let us fight with faith, lead our families with courage, and, like Chris Lewis, raise the war cry of beauty.