Editing Holy card (section)

==Uses==
[[File:Stampita of Our Lady of Solitude of Porta Vaga.jpg|thumb|right|Prayer card of [[Our Lady of Solitude of Porta Vaga]] from the Philippines]]
Most cards are circulated to assist the [[veneration]] of the saints and images they bear.

Special holy cards are printed for Catholics to be distributed at funerals by the family of the deceased that include the name and usually dates of birth and death of the deceased.  These are a particular type of the [[in memoriam card]]s, which can also record other events such as [[baptism]]s, [[confirmation (sacrament)|confirmations]], [[ordination]]s, or the making of [[religious vows]].

At the end of the nineteenth century, some Protestants also produced similar images of their own. They produced "Bible cards" or "[[Sunday school]] cards", with lithographed illustrations depicting [[Bible stories]] and [[parable]]s, more modern scenes of religious life or prayer, or sometimes just a Biblical text illuminated by [[calligraphy]]; these were linked to Biblical passages that related to the image. The reverse typically held a [[sermonette]] instead of a prayer. Imagery here was always the servant of text, and as such these Protestant cards tended to be replaced by [[Tract (literature)|tract]]s that emphasized message instead of imagery, and were illustrated with [[cartoon]]-like images if they were illustrated at all.