Category: Iconography
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The Womb that Contains What the Heavens Cannot
From you, our God who is before eternity, became a child! He has made your womb His throne, making it more spacious than the heavens. In you, O woman full of grace, all creation exults. Glory to you! (Joseph Raya, Theotokos: Mary Mother of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, 40.) Read more
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Blessing of an Icon – The Protection of Philip
Tonight at our celebration of the Feast of St. Philip we will bless our icon, The Protection of Philip. The icon shows Jesus and St. Philip standing together. Jesus is on the right side of the icon with his right arm around Philip. In his left hand Jesus holds a scroll that says, “If you have seen Read more
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St. Thomas and St. Joseph, Faithful Doubters
How interesting that today, December 21, just four days before Christmas, we celebrate the Feast of St. Thomas, the Apostle. Think of Thomas and most will think about “Doubting Thomas.” Before we can get to the Nativity of our Lord, the manifestation of the incarnation, we must first face Thomas and his “doubts” about the resurrection. Read more
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The Icon of Pentecost
The Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:1-13) describes the day of Pentecost as accompanied by “a sound like the rush of a violent wind.” “Divided tongues, as of fire,” appeared and rested on each of the disciples who began to speak in other languages. The crowd was bewildered, amazed, astonished, and perplexed. It sounds like Read more
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Trusting Death
In the Episcopal lectionary the gospel for this past Sunday (John 12:20-33) has some Greeks coming to Philip and saying, “Sir we wish to see Jesus.” Philip tells Andrew of this request and together they tell Jesus. I suspect Jesus’ response is not what these Greeks had expected or wanted. Jesus responds: The hour has Read more
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Iconoclasm
If, as I suggested in the previous post, we all have and venerate icons then maybe there is a corollary to be considered. How are we also iconoclasts? What images have we and do we continue to destroy? Iconoclasm is often justified as an attempt to protect or defend God. The incarnation, however, lies at Read more
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What are your icons?
“Show me the icons that you venerate, that I may be able to understand your faith.” – John of Damascus As I watched the inaugural events of this week and especially today’s inauguration I was reminded that we are surrounded by images, icons. They fill our world, our minds, and our hearts. There are icons Read more
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The Feast of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ
“What can we bring you, O Christ, for having been born for us on earth as a man? Each creature, the work of your hands, offers you a sign of gratitude: the angels, their hymn; the heavens, the star; the magi, their gifts; the shepherds, their admiration; the earth, a cave; the desert, the manger; Read more
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The Icon of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ
This is a traditional icon of The Nativity. The early church used icons to tell the story—theology in imagery. There is so much to tell and to be seen! For starters, notice that Joseph is off to the bottom left. This is his proper position in the Nativity icon. Think of the Gospel account – Read more
Interrupting the Silence 