David Henrie is crediting beauty for his return to the Catholic faith after creating a new docuseries with EWTN Studios called “Seeking Beauty.”
“Beauty was a part of it, because the place that I had my conversion was St. Michael’s Abbey in Orange County, which is probably one of the most beautiful monasteries in the United States,” the 36-year-old actor, who rose to fame starring in TV shows such as Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place” and the CBS sitcom “How I Met Your Mother,” said of the community of Norbertine priests in Silverado, California. “That’s where I went and did my first general confession.”
Henrie spoke with OSV News ahead of the premiere of his adventure documentary series, “Seeking Beauty with David Henrie,” on Jan. 19.
As the show’s host, he invites viewers to travel with him across Italy to Vatican City, Rome, Florence, Milan, Subiaco and Venice in a quest for beauty. In six 45-minute long episodes, he channels the viewer’s wonder and curiosity as he explores the art, music, food, history and culture of those regions.
The show will debut on EWTN’s streaming platform, EWTN+, which is available free on RokuTV and recently launched on EWTN.com, AppleTV, AmazonFireTV and GoogleTV.
“Beauty is a fingerprint of the divine,” Henrie told OSV News. “I have come to see how, if you invite it into your life, it can help you know, see and love God.”
In his search for beauty, Henrie examines masterpieces and monasteries up close. Along the way, he invites viewers into his own life and introduces his wife Maria and their three children. In one episode, Henrie speaks about his faith journey.
“By the time I was a teenager and in my 20s, I had gained all this – all this success and money – and traveled the world,” he said. “But I was brought to a real low point.” At the time, he felt depressed and struggled with a lot in his life, he says.
“I felt I should be happy, I have all the things that I should have to be happy,” he adds. “But then once God reached out and gave me that clear sign that there is a path and that my life isn’t a big mistake.”
Places of beauty such as the Monastery of St. Benedict, known as the Sanctuary of the Sacred Cave, near Subiaco, Italy, can bring us closer to God, a new TV series says. (EWTN Studios | OSV News)
Henrie was 22 when he visited St. Michael’s Abbey for confession on Jan. 1, 2012.
“I didn’t just go anywhere for my conversion, and I wasn’t even directly seeking it,” Henrie said of the abbey. “It was at the most beautiful place, a place that you can really feel God … beauty was right there, knocking on my door.”
Henrie expressed excitement about exploring beauty with others in “Seeking Beauty,” which has already filmed a second season in Spain. “I’ve always struggled with just purely producing secular works and working in secular Hollywood and being vocal about my faith,” he said. “It’s been a joy to just be able to be myself and talk about something that I love and care about.”
Beauty, Henrie said, is God’s language. He encouraged viewers to explore whether beauty is subjective or objective.
“If it’s something that’s outside of you that has a universal effect, where you have people from all different faiths, all different ages, standing there, looking at a thing, contemplating it, being brought to tears,” he said. “Maybe there’s an objective truth to it.”
“If that’s the case, who’s the author of that? That’s where you start the conversation about God and contemplation,” he said.
He hopes the show inspires viewers to embrace beauty.
— Katie Yoder, OSV News
