Christ Pantocrator at a Young Age

Here is an icon titled, Christ Pantocrator at a Young Age. The Greek word Pantocrator means, Ruler of All. Jesus appears as a young man in this 16th century fresco painted over the altar at the Monastery of Koutloumousiou on Mount Athos. God, being born with the human face of Jesus, has become picturable. 

Jesus seems to be in motion here: on his way, setting out with purpose. He is beautiful and full of life. He is wide awake but serene. His face possesses an inner light. 

Christ's head is large ~ filled with the best human-divine thoughts. His eyes remain wide open to all the world's struggles. His nose, elongated and slender, with arched eyebrows suggests a palm tree offering protection, nourishment and consolation. 

The ears of Jesus are easily detected ~ he will hear my prayer, the expression of my heart-longings, my sorrows and joys, my thanks and praise. The line of Jesus' mouth suggests nothing carnal. Presently his mouth is closed, but he will open it with a word spoken to each of us. I will hear him if I am attentive, receptive and still.

The circle of light around Jesus' head keeps my gaze drawn to his face. The cross inside the nimbus forms the Greek initials for the Divine Name revealed to Moses: The Being. Jesus is the God-Man.

There are lively decorations of green and red within the nimbus too. Divine light radiates from the clothing and even the hair of Jesus. We know the old expression, You are what you eat. We might also say, You are what you look at.

Tomorrow there'll be a prayer here that we might enter before this icon. And of course, as with any prayer, poem or hymn found here, we can expand and adapt it as we are inspired.

Prayer of Saint Paul the Hermit to the Mother of God

O Lady, Bride of God, radiant, clean of heart, new, undisturbed and blameless, who through your maternity united God the Word with our human nature and established a link between our fallen state and the the things of heaven:

O Mother, hope of the hopeless, help of the oppressed, ready protection of those who fly to you, and safe-haven for all Christians; do not turn away from me, filled as I am with unworthy thoughts, words and deeds, and in my laziness have become a slave to dark emotion and desire. Since you are the Mother of God, Who is the Lover of humankind, have mercy and compassion on me, a wanderer; accept my feeble prayer, and with the power of your maternity, beg your Son, my Lord and God, that He may open for me the deep well of his loving kindness, convert me to true repentance, and make me faithful to His commands.

O Mary, who are compassionate, be my constant companion. In this present life, be with me as intercessor, as a powerful help to turn away the assaults of the enemy and to guide me to an in-spirited life. At the hour of death, embrace my poor soul; keep away the dreadful sight of Satan. On the awesome day of my judgment, speak on my behalf and make me an heir of your Son's glory, through the grace and love for humankind of your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Note: St. Paul the hermit of Egypt offered this prayer in the 4th century. The world can't understand religious language anymore, and so while retaining the full sense of the prayer, I've freshened the English translation, intending to make the thoughts more accessible for people today. 

The icon of the Vladimir Mother of God at the top of the page was painted recently by my friend, Yuri. Actually, as icons do for the eye what the gospel does for the ear, it's more fitting to say that the icon was written, not simply painted.

Prayer before the Mother of God ~ Joyful

THIS ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD is called simply, Joyful. Sometimes it is titled: Mother of God ~ Child Leaping for Joy.  Mary's joy is that she stands in God's soft yellow light - the Holy Child plays in her arms. 

Nothing is known of the icon's history except that miracles are attributed to it. The world needs miracles, especially the miracles which heal the darkness and hate of human hearts. 

When we click on the icon below we hear priest-monk Vasily Mosgovoy of the Optina Monastery sing the Phos Hilaron. This is a third century hymn sung at Saturday Vespers (evening prayer) as the candles are lit and Sunday, the Day of Resurrection, is welcomed. The English translation appears at the bottom of the icon. 

We might listen to the hymn several times - allowing the icon's light and prayer-words to melt into us, like the snow's melting we await. Monks sing without instrumental accompaniment. The intense hum before and during the hymn is made by the monastic choir. The human voice is the only instrument and has a great unifying function.

Link to Phos Hilaron

Jesus Pantocrator and the Antichrist

HERE IS THE ICON of Christ-Pantocrator dating to the 6th century and kept at Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai, Egypt. Pantocrator means - Who rules over all. But this Christ rules with a gentle face, his blessing hand and life-promising Gospel Word. 

Kathleen Norris in her book, Amazing Grace, writes about the word Antichrist. Religious people often use Antichrist as a dramatic shock word. I met some lean-right Catholics once who within two minutes of our introduction pronounced Barack Obama to be the Antichrist in league with Hitler and Stalin. 

Stupidity and ignorance (along with power and fear) are the prime spiritual enemies of the Christian, turning us into demonizing finger-pointers. This kind of religious person keeps the spotlight on others. They don't see themselves. Remember Michael Jackson's song, Man in the Mirror.

I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you want to make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change.

Kathleen Norris tells of asking a preacher man the meaning of Antichrist. He told her that the Antichrist is ME and YOU - when we hear the gospel word of Jesus and then don't do it. Talk about keeping things simple. It's much easier to blame someone else - to take an interest in every other kind of religious person, place or thing, but keep the Gospel at bay.

So here in the icon we see that Jesus' gospel book is closed. Forcing nothing, he waits to see if we will open it. If we were to open Jesus' golden, jeweled and illumined book our eyes might fall on this passage:

Jesus also said to them, "Is a lamp brought in to be put under a tub or under the bed? Surely to be put on the lamp-stand? For there is nothing hidden, but it must be disclosed, nothing kept secret except to be brought to light. Anyone who has ears for listening should listen?" (Mark 4: 21-23)

Each of us is the lamp, having received the Lord's teaching and inspiration. Jesus wants us living in light - bright inner light: faithful, repentant, attentive to and aware of spiritual things, true, just, teachable, unfettered and glad.

We're illumined, so to shine where we go. That little interior lamp, easily extinguished, needs to be protected. When I was a boy, after each Sunday Mass, the county police kindly directed traffic onto the main road at the exit of the large parish parking lot. At some point the police stop showing up, having been worn down by the abusive curses of parishioners who felt they were not being exit-ed fast enough. 

This little light of mine...let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

Mother of God ~ The Joyful

THIS ICON IS CALLED SIMPLY, Mother of God ~ The Joyful. But what's the joy? Jesus has told us in chapter 15 of St. John's Gospel that he is the vine and we're the branches. It's a wonderful passage about his and our mutual love - symbolized by the intertwining one-ness of grape vines and branches. You really can't tell one from the other, there is such a unity in the plant.

And at the end of that passage Jesus shifts a bit, saying: "I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete." Receiving the love of Jesus and offering Jesus my own love results in joy. Don't we need joy!?

Then we are reminded of something Jesus said earlier in the same Gospel - John 14:28 - "If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father..." Lots of Christians say they love Jesus - but we could ask, Do I love Jesus because loving Jesus might benefit me somehow? or Do I love Jesus simply for Jesus' sake - because Jesus has the good work of the Father's purposes to accomplish?

Often in icons of the Mother of God, while Jesus is playful in her arms, she has a faraway look in her eyes. She already holds in her heart the separation - the God-purpose that will take her Son from her. 

I might come before this icon asking what it means that I say, I love Jesus. People seldom ask questions about meaning.

Mother of God ~ Rescuer of the Drowning

ON THE RIVER DEVNO there was a dangerous and deadly whirlpool which even the most experienced sailors found difficult to navigate. Quite often large barges would become victims to the treacherous waters which carried under crew and cargo.

It was at that dangerous site that the icon of the Mother of God appeared. Subsequent to the icon being brought to the nearby church facing the whirlpool, the Devno became calm and safe. Proclaimed Wonder-Working and Rescuer of the Drowning, large numbers of pilgrims visited the church which housed the icon - patroness of those in need including many who were undertaking dangerous journeys.

In the 18th century the icon was transferred to the Monastery of the Savior's Transfiguration, remaining there until the 1917 Russian Revolution, during which time it disappeared. In 2003 the Monastic Church of the Mother of God, Unexpected Joy was consecrated whereupon a  pious Christian gave an exact copy of the icon to the monastery.

But there must be more. To live on this planet is to have set out on a dangerous journey. Frightful dangers seem poised to take us under. In our prayer we might entrust the whole of humankind to the protective care of the Mother of God and Her Divine Son, while at the same time reflecting, Is there some way that I might change my own thinking or become involved in an organization or group that proposes to address some life-threatening human problem?

Drowning in

discrimination,

global disease,

greed,

hunger and poverty.

Drowning in 

the militarization of our planet,

the enslavement of persons for sex-work and soldiering,

guns which take the children away.

Drowning in

the blood of innocence,

truth-speakers 

protesters 
and prophets.

Drowning in

garbage,
toxins which poison

the land, the water, the air ~

the plants,

the animals,

the people.

Drowning in

deceptions,

protections,
false promises,
ads and proposals,

secrets and deals.

Drowning in

fears,

addictions,

loneliness, 

hatred,

egoism,

ignorance and disbelief.

The River Devno was calmed

at the appearance of Your icon, O Lady.

So now, Rescuer of the Drowning,

still the swirling death-menace of our minds,

You, who with us glorify God,

Creator and Sustainer of all life.

Prayer to the Mother of God in a Time of Distress

THIS ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD is found painted on a cement wall of separation at Bethlehem. It's symbolic of the profound struggle Christians and other minorities are suffering in the Middle East these days (and in parts of Africa and Asia).

Below is a prayer written by Father Arseny, an Orthodox priest who was held prisoner in a Soviet Gulag. Someone wrote suggesting the readers of this blog might enter into a nine day disciple of prayer (a novena) holding this Christian crisis before heaven. I have adapted Father Arseny's prayer slightly (he'd approve) to reflect the communal dimension ~ the solidarity we feel with Christians whose suffering is indescribable. 

O our beloved Queen, our hope, O Mother of God, protector of orphans and of those who are hurt, helper of those who perish and consolation of all who are in distress ~ you see our misery, our sorrow and loneliness. Help us who are powerless, give us strength. You know what we suffer, you know our grief. Lend us your hand, for who else can be our hope but you, protector and intercessor before God? The world has sinned before your Son, and before all people. Be our Mother, our consoler, our aid. Soften hearts that are hardened in deadly hatred. Protect and save us, chase away grief and despondency. Help us, O Mother of God.


CNEWA is the papal humanitarian assistance agency to Christians in the Middle East. It does important work.

The Donskaya's Invitation

A RUSSIAN ORTHODOX BISHOP gave an exceedingly long sermon on the Feast of Our Lady of Kazan reminding the faithful that the icon had held back the Tartar invaders centuries before, protecting the Fatherland from the enemy and preserving Holy Russia. When Our Lady was done with the Tartars (for the time being) she managed to keep Russia pure again, this time from the Poles, "Imagine, Latin services in the Kremlin Cathedral of the Annunciation!" the bishop proclaimed.

In my view this kind of religion manipulates divine things, fostering the fevers of nationalism, xenophobia and every kind of hatred. It encourages the imaginings of exceptionalism, arrogant pride and isolation. It's magical, un-spiritual and alienated from the gospel.

If the Mother of God assumes the role of protector and guardian, then we must ask Where's the real enemy? Some Christians would never ask this question because the real enemy is interior and the face-off can be terrible indeed - for the individual, the local community, the nation or church. Jesus tells us:

"Avoid greed in all its forms," (Luke 12:15). 

In a recent TV special, a 30-something Canadian Inuit man is seen driving a reporter around his small arctic city. Along the way he laments the changes he's seen in the city during his young lifetime - the growth and disappearance of its indigenous culture due to the new presence of mining, oil and gas drilling companies. He believes the Inuit have sold out to these incomprehensibly rich businesses who are ruining the land, the water, the animals and air. He said, "Only when the last tree is gone; the last drop of water, will people realize we can't eat money." Greed is a real enemy. 

But the image here is of another Tartar-defeating icon: The Donskaya Mother of God or simply Our Lady of the Don - the Don being the River where Our Lady won yet another Fatherland victory.

The icon is of the Eleusa type giving expression to the most affectionate love between Mother and Child. Notice that while the Mother of God wears a modest cap under her maphorion, her left ear lobe is seen. This isn't a cute detail but rather, she is always listening to us and for us, like the mother of an infant sleeping in the next room.

But there is more: Mary, good Jew that she was, and having been trained in God's Word as she lived in the temple as a young girl, listens attentively to God's Word - the word of Proverb, Psalm, Prophet and History. Faith comes to us by listening. We might listen with her. 

"You will not not oppress the alien; you know how an alien feels, for you yourselves were once aliens in Egypt." (Exodus 23:9)

"The crime of your sister Sodom was pride, gluttony, calm complacency; such were hers and her daughters' crimes. They never helped the poor and needy; they were proud.." (Ezekiel 16: 49-50)

I hate, I scorn your festivals,

I take no pleasure in your solemn assemblies.

When you bring me burnt offerings...

your oblations, I do not accept them

and I do not look at your communion sacrifices of fat cattle.

Spare me the din of your chanting,

let me hear none of your strumming on lyres,

but let justice flow like water

and uprightness like a never-failing stream! (Amos 5:21-24)

Open your mouth on behalf of the dumb,

in defense of the rights of all who are unwanted.

Open your mouth on the side of justice,

and defend the rights of the poor and wretched. (Proverbs 31: 8-9)

The Muromsk Mother of God

ATMOSPHERE IS EVERYTHING in our culture. Moonlight, candles, flowers and a white tablecloth create atmosphere. A woman's perfume in a designer bottle. A men's stick deodorant packed with sex-exciting pheromones. The laughter of a bar. The chandeliers going up at the opera house. The period costumes in Downton Abbey. The crunching sound and smell of fallen leaves. Antique ornaments on a live Christmas tree. The fireplace inside the lodge. The soft jazz performed on a CD titled Two A.M. The resort that offers old world charm. Herbal tea.

This icon of the Muromsk Mother of God was transferred by Prince Constantine from Kiev to Murom where the prince urged the unbelievers to embrace Christianity. When Constantine learned of the crowd's plot to murder him, he came out to the unconvinced mob carrying the icon of the Holy Mother and Child. At once their hearts were turned.

Mary creates an environment of light  and joy around Jesus ~ her gift to the world. Her clothing is radiated with heaven. Her mind is expanded with the best thoughts. She holds the Child as if rocking him while she looks at you - at me. She invites intimacy, offering peace, hospitality and friendship.

The Constantine story is almost 900 years old, but she is still alluring. Gazing at her long we can inhale the atmosphere she creates. Notice everything: the Child's comfortably crossed ankles and rolled up sleeves. The little scroll of teaching he holds. Her knowing eyes and soft smile. The inclination of her head towards the Child. That he plays with her chin.

Ask her to steal your heart away, and with the Child in her arms to heal that heart: stubborn in ideology, fevered with imaginings, diseased thoughts and toxicity.

Portatissa ~ The Iveron Mother of God

HOW WONDERFUL IS THIS: like a foreshadowing of Google Earth, an ancient icon featuring an aerial view of the Iveron Mother of God Icon floating on the Mediterranean Sea on Her way to Athos! Here's the story:

A pious woman, desiring to safeguard her icon of the Mother of God during the period of iconoclasm (icon smashers) prayed a night vigil asking heaven for direction. She was instructed to place the icon on the Mediterranean, letting it float away, leaving it in God's care.

The woman's son soon left home to become a monk at Mount Athos, the Greek peninsula monastic-state, called "Our Lady's Garden". At Athos the young man related the story of his mother's ardent devotion and how she saved the icon from the destructive hands of the iconoclasts. Then in 1004, on Bright Tuesday of Easter Week, the holy monk Gabriel saw the icon coming towards him, standing upright on the sea, whereupon he retrieved it and took it to the monastery church where it was venerated.

The following morning the monks found the icon missing from the chapel. After a search they discovered it hanging over the monastery gate. This strange movement occurred several times until Gabriel received a vision of the Mother of God in which she related to him that she didn't want to be kept contained by the monks, but to preside as Portatissa (Keeper of the Gate) over the monastery's entrance.

I love the stories surrounding wonder-working icons - how they were created or came to their final destination, or the miracles that surround them. While I don't linger in doubt, I rush to ask the most important question, "What does it mean for us?"

She is called Portatissa (Gate Keeper), and gates are places that invite passage - movement from here to there. Sometimes the passage is an outer place ~ St. Louis, the Gateway to the West, or we go in through the Garden Gate. 

But perhaps more importantly there is that psychological/spiritual gate which calls us to an interior movement. We speak of rites of passage. The Sacrament of Confirmation should be something like that - an individual making Christ his or her own and subsequently living as a new spirit-endowed person. Sadly, it seldom happens. I expect the same could be said of a Jewish bar or bat mitzvah. Each reception of the Eucharist ought to be an occasion of passage into Christ which grows and changes us.

Maybe we should all just look after our own passages as they appear and occur in our lives. I know a young man who lived a troubled, dangerous and unlawful life who has been utterly changed by the birth of a daughter. That's a passage.

Or perhaps the movement is the getting free of addictions, resentment, lying, obsessive fears and anxieties, a depressed life, an un-evolved personality, the trauma of abuse, accident or horror. Becoming an individuated person is a major and ongoing passage which many people never set out upon. One minister speaks of individuation this way:

The process by which the individual in the course of his/her life is pressed to realize his innate capacities to the full and become what he has it in him to become.

This takes a life-time of work and we seldom can do it alone. Spouses and good friends can be helpers in this passage. Sometimes the helper needs to be a professional. The Iveron Mother of God is a survivor who floated on the tempestuous sea for years before taking up residence over the monastery gate. We might ask her to help grow-us-up ~ all of us ~ and to point us in the direction of the passages that will lead us to an inner land of healing and wholeness.

Having survived the waves of the sea,
You came to Athos,
establishing yourself
as encouragement and guide
to those who come and go.
O Mother of God,
now bless our own entrance into the life
of conforming ourselves to the image of Christ our God ~
which leads to our salvation.

Mother of God ~ Joy of All Who Sorrow ~ July23

HERE IS THE WONDER-WORKING ICON of the Mother of God ~ Joy of all Who Sorrow. Some icons have more than one day of remembrance. This July feast remembers a church which housed the icon being struck by lighting and burning to the ground ~ the icon remaining safe and sound. 

We all have moments of rescue or safe-keeping and we turn around, even stunned, looking for a place to put our surprised gratitude.  We might keep the image of the icon on file in our minds ~ Mary in a super-abundant garden. Is she doing a little dance-for-joy on her red platform? Even the sun and moon and all the plant world have gotten in on the celebration of thanks. 

We see angels with little shout-outs, expressions of gratitude offered up by the faithful ~ happy recipients of favors. We might take up our own place before the icon and call to mind some time of joy restored ~ when we were pulled up out of sorrow and restored to a happier place.

But what about the others - the families of those who lost loved ones on the downed Malaysian flight, or the displaced residents of Gaza and those who mourn the loss of their children to rocket fire? This is impossible to answer. Wherever there are human beings, there is sin. And sin gets in the way of God's purposes.

A nun who lived through the Nazi occupation of France told me, "Then, we had each other, you can't count on that today." But there still are places on the earth where people find their joy and gratitude in the presence of each other, however great the losses. And there are still people whose believing holds them up in a tempest-tossed world.

Here's the Troparion-prayer for the icon's feast.

For those in great sorrow, you are joy,
for the oppressed, a protector,
for the hungry, their food
and comfort for the estranged.

You are a staff for the blind,
visitation for all the sick, 
to those held by pain,
shelter and comforting
and to the orphan, an aid.

Mother of God in the highest,
You who are the spotless one, 
hasten, save your servants from their fears.

Kostroma ~ The Fyodoroskaya and Summer Phlox

IN 1996 - just a few years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, I took a seventeen day trip up the Volga River from Moscow to St. Petersburg. The journey was billed as A Tour of Old Russia, the German built ship stopping along the way at Medieval villages, towns and cities - all of which featured some famous shrine, church, palace or monastery. 

Docking for an afternoon at Kostroma, we visited this restored convent which was established in the 1400's. The centerpiece of the monastic complex is the Epiphany Cathedral built between 1559 and 1565. It houses the Wonder-working icon of the Mother of God under the title Fyodoroskaya. I remember the yellow cupola got my attention.

Upon entering through the monastery gate the group was escorted to the chapel where the icon is venerated. But even before seeing the icon we were greeted with the most amazing scent of summer phlox coming in from the adjacent garden and filling the church. The scent was more powerful than incense, and I immediately responded, feeling, Oh thank you for this!

Here is a photograph I took of the bright shrine which houses the Miraculous Icon of the Fyodoroskaya Mother of God. The icon is approached through the opening on the right and the entire front of the shrine is covered with phlox and other summer-garden flowers. 

Russia is replete with wonder-working icons. The veil between heaven and earth is very thin over them. We might offer our own heart-felt prayer as the Fyodoroskaya Icon is revealed to us here ~ asking not only for the safety and health of our own loved ones but for the re-creation of a world that would be welcoming and safe for all children.

Feast of the Vladimir Mother of God Icon ~ Feast May 21

It is truly meet

 to call thee blessed, the Theotokos, 

the ever blessed.

All immaculate and the Mother of our God.

More honorable than the cherubim

 and incomparably more glorious

than the seraphim, 

who without defilement

gave birth to God the word

true Theotokos we magnify thee.

Byzantine Liturgical Hymn

Mother of God Merciful and of the Dawn

THIS ICON FROM CYPRUS is titled Mother of God, Merciful. It is of the Hodegetria type: The Infant Christ looking like a little man (he is always the Lord), is seated on his Mother's throne-like left arm. His feet suspended, with one arm he cradles his Word from heaven while blessing us.

With her right hand the Holy Mother indicates or points not to herself, but to him. Hodegetria is sometimes translated Shower of the Way.  Both the Christ and his Mother look, not at each other, but at us. They wish us all-good.

But Mary's great gold-trimmed Maphorion is lovely shades of pink - color taken from the dawn sky - color which signifies the new day. But spiritually new day means renewal, restoration, beginning again and transformation. Color psychology indicates that rose and pink have anti-depressant energies. That's interesting, as one of the first things a depressed person says about his or her symptoms is I have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning.

We might print small copies of this soft-smiling Mother and her Son - wrapped in the warm tones of  new beginning, the new day and persevering attempts at growth and change. Tape the Mother and Child up everywhere.

Having said that, I'd like to offer the icon and prayer here to priests all around the world. The clergy is/are in need of a new day. Fathers, let's put her on our shaving mirror.

More than a few of us need help with our depression ~ pray God a new day.
Many of us suffer untreated addictions ~ pray God a new day.
Some priests have lost their interior Christ-life  ~ pray God a new day.
There are rectory tables where Church things are talked about but not Jesus ~ pray God a new day.
Some of us burden and sadden the people with our moodiness ~ pray God a new day.

Some priests think more about money and time-off than anything else ~ pray God a new day.
Some priests make it clear they don't want to be bothered ~ pray God  a new day.
While priests claim high job satisfaction, many don't do very much that's priestly ~ pray God a new day.
Some priests have become liturgical fashion plates and interior decorators ~ pray God a new day.
There's  the expression: From the bed linen, to the altar linen, to the table linen ~ pray God a new day.

There are priests who work only on their duty day ~ pray God a new day.
Some priests preach everything but Jesus ~ pray God a new day.
Not a few priests live in their offices or in living rooms watching daytime TV ~ pray God a new day.
Some rectories are effectively hotels ~ we talk secretly about the sick men we live with ~ pray God a new day.
Some of us are kingdom builders and power-abusers ~ pray God  a new day.

Too many of us are waiting for the people to come to us ~ pray God a new day.
Many of us would rather bury the dead than work creatively with the engaged ~ pray God a new day.
Some priests live in sarcasm, bitter and low-end humor ~ pray God a new day.
Lots of us don't know who we are when we're not wearing specialized clothing ~ pray God a new day.
Some priests don't believe anymore and have become dispensers of piety, cliche and dead religion ~ pray God a new day.

Many pastors act like General Managers instead spiritual guides ~ pray God a new day.
Priests often do nothing to heal their loneliness ~ pray God a new day.
Priests often feel entitled and have become pompous ~ pray God a new day.
Some priests live with deep resentments ~ pray God a new day.
Older priests and younger priests sometimes think they've got it over the other ~ pray God a new day.

O Lady, grant me compunction and contrition of heart,

humility in my thoughts,

a healing remedy for what ails me,

release from the slavery of my own reasonings
and the light of a new day.

Mother of God, Soothe My Sorrows

POOR MARY, THE DARK CIRCLES BENEATH HER EYES suggest sleeplessness. She holds her left hand to her temple. Perhaps she has a headache - considering the separation of her Son in the sadness of his bitter rejection. But she contemplates our sorrows too, and the Holy Child seems suspended, as if hovering in love over the world's grief.

On a Saturday morning,
Sister Eunicia
phoned my mother
that I had failed arithmetic and
would need to go to summer school
to be promoted to seventh grade.

And I listened from the dining room
to the scary news and ran
from the house
hiding myself
in the locked car.

And my mother came after me,
and coaxed me out,
and took me to her room
where we sat on her bed.

And I liquefied, crying,
"I can't do anything right."
And she put her arms around me and
said, "That's not true, Stephen,
no one can grow tomatoes like you do."

What  a stretch!

But echo-like,
indeed a voice,
that tiny annunciation,
for a moment at least
putting me back together -
soothing my sorrows.

Have you seen the news about the little four year old boy who got up on the platform where Pope Francis was giving a talk? And the four-year-old stood in front of the pope and waved to the tens of thousands. And he hugged the pope's legs and sat on his chair. And the pope welcomed him and blessed him. And the boy's mother said that the little guy had been adopted from Colombia a year ago and she believed the pope's blessing was for all the abandoned children of the world. How gracious and spiritually awake is that!

Troparion Before the Icon of the Mother of God ~ Assuage My Sorrows

Sooth the pains of my much-sighing soul,

O Thou who hast wiped away every tear flowing

from the face of the earth:

for Thou dost drive away the sickness of humanity;

and quench the afflictions of the sinner.

We have obtained hope and support in Thee,

O Most Holy Virgin.

There's More!

During the Seven decades of Soviet Rule the Russian Orthodox Church endured a persecution like that of believers in the first centuries of Christianity's existence. One of Josef Stalin's first directives was to silence the voice of the Church by pulling down and melting all of Russia's church bells. If churches weren't blown-up they were put to secular purposes - even installing toilets over the place where the altar had been.

In one night all of Ukraine's bishops were arrested, killed or exiled. Icons beyond counting were burned, priests and their families disappeared, monastic communities were dispersed. 

Yet after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 warehouses were opened containing thousands of neglected icons. The 2005 cleaning and restoration of one icon of the Mother of God proved to be of particular significance. The story of the discovery can be found online: Russia Peels the Veils from Antiquity and Gazes, Awed.

Above is the icon with its riza (decorative metal case) removed. Below is the icon fully restored. The Russian restorer likens the knowing smile of the Mother of God to that of the Mona Lisa with this one important difference: We don't know why the Mona Lisa smiles, but with her Son cradled in her left arm, we know why Mary does.

But what's to be learned from this discovery? The Virgin's smile is a knowing smile: God knows us as his children, even when we're soiled or fallen, sleepy, restless or even covered in recklessness and error.

But the wonder of this icon coming to us after seventy hidden years is in the getting to the underneath. We can live surfacey lives in this country: the talk shows and interviews, the commercials and sitcoms, roaming up and down aisles of things to buy. The icon with the charred and opaque surface seems to say, "There's more; get at the more."

Or sometimes disappointments overwhelm us and life can seem to be ruined and without purpose. Or we feel burned out, like the blackened board.  But the icon says, "Go deeper, peel away the surfaces. There's more." So many people are afflicted with bad cases of "What's the use?" But the icon, once cleaned and patched reveals yet again, "You can heal - you can dream again, there's more."  

There's radiance in every human person - it can be shelved, masked, forgotten, or stolen away,  but it's there waiting to be discovered and shared. This marvelous icon of bright joy - it's all of us! Ponder the icon in its transformation. But ultimately the peeling away and the discovery of the more is about each of us even more than it is about the icon. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When she saw the pictures and heard the story about the icon, my nine year old friend, Katie, wrote this dear poem, Lost and Forgotten. We can realize the poem as about ourselves as well and our churches, our nation, our communities, our families.

"Lost and Forgotten"

Veiled in darkness,

Lost and forgotten,

Falling apart, piece by piece.

A Mother and Son 

to be discovered

Restored back to

Heavenly glory.

Golden light, jewels, wondrous colors,

All together in one

Little Family of love.

Lost and Forgotten,

A Mother and Son

Now discovered

And crowned with

Eternal Glory.

Mother of God Ozeryanskaya

THE OZERYANSKYA ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD dates to the end of  the 16th century. A farmer in Eastern Ukraine was mowing a summer field with a scythe when he heard a human groan and found an icon of the Mother of God split in two on the ground. He took the halves to his home, lit a candle and prayed before the pieces which he had placed among his other icons. The next day, the icon having disappeared from his home, he returned to the field and found the icon spliced together with only a thin scar indicating where the cut had occurred. 

Soon the icon became notable as wonder-working and a chapel within a monastic complex was built to which people in need began to pilgrim. In 1930 the icon was destroyed by the Soviets and the monks dispersed who had become its custodians.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the monastic property has been returned to the Church and the Monastery of the Holy Protection revived. Though the original icon was destroyed, new copies have been painted, though the icon shown here seems to bear a closeness to the original. The Mother of Jesus is sought as an intercessor of those with serious diseases, especially "where medicine is powerless." In the west we might say, hopeless cases. Many pray before the icon in hope of healing where there are serious injuries, bone breaks and fractures. 

In this icon the Mother of God is decorated very beautifully. Stars cover her mantle. Both she and her Son wear crowns—the gift of love from us. Halos indicate the illumination of their thoughts, knowledge and insights. Jesus sits as teaching-Lord, supported on the left arm of his Mother. In humility, with her right hand, she indicates Jesus. He blesses us and holds the little gospel book he hopes we will open.

We're told the Ozeryanskaya's specialty is broken bones. But as we come before the icon with physical complaints, perhaps all the more we should fly to her asking for the healing of broken hearts, broken trust, the healing of broken or fractured relationships—marriages, friendships and family unity. We might go to her where countries, parishes and local communities need healing, where we feel divided, hypocritical or at odds within ourselves—wherever we need help putting life back together. 

Jesus and Mary of Ethiopia

An icon invites us to pray with our eyes

ETHIOPIA IS SUCH A TERRIBLY POOR COUNTRY its icons are more likely to be painted on sheets of cardboard than wood. Still, despite the crushing poverty, the images of this ancient Oriental Church reflect a brilliantly colored, exuberant, bright joy. Mary looks a little surprised here. What has Jesus just confided to her? Perhaps the news of the Resurrection and the secret of eternal life? Perhaps the role she will play as Mother of the new humanity whose fundamental invitation will be compassionate and merciful love?

Jesus looks playful here, doesn't he? He's got his book of teachings, but the book  is closed. At present he is more interested in bestowing his blessing and smile. Is this the "fragrance of the Gospel" Pope Francis had in mind when he gave his recent  interview which has gotten so much attention?

One of the most striking features of this icon is the nimbus around the heads of Jesus and Mary. A nimbus is usually golden or ochre, but these are highly decorated and even layered. Why the nimbus?

Theology distinguishes faith of two kinds. First there is the faith which simply and freely believes the doctrines or teachings of the Church: the teaching of God as Creator, that of the Blessed Trinity and the Incarnation, the teachings regarding the Seven Sacraments and the moral teachings.

The second and higher kind of faith is possessed by those who have been illumined (enlightened) by God's energies and knowledge. This is the faith spoken of in the Letter to the Hebrews:

The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

The first kind of faith, which is higher than simply human knowledge of a scientific or academic kind, is still merely believing. The second belongs to the person who can say from a personal place, I see, however that personal knowledge of the mysteries is still partial, like the dark glass St. Paul refers to in 1 Cor. 9-12.

The nimbus around the heads of Jesus, Mary, the saints and angels, symbolizes this second faith of illumination - the higher knowledge of heavenly things and personal holiness and even one's living in the Pascal Mystery of the Lord's dying and the victory of his rising. Isn't this the faith symbolized by the lighted candle given to us at Baptism?

I would add that while illumination may refer to knowledge of the heavenly mysteries (not at all the same as knowing a lot about religion) illumination also speaks to knowledge of human things as they are suffused with God's presence.

I was recently speaking with a contractor of home improvements and repairs who told me about the marvelous workers who form his team, almost all of whom are young men here legally from Mexico. He related that at times he is told by customers, "I don't want those people working in my house." Clearly there's no inner illumination in this kind of person - no knowledge of divine and deeply human things - and for all the church-going and even weekly professing of the Nicene Creed - maybe not even much of the simpler just believing kind of faith.


Young Jesus,
Divine,
Ethiopian Christ,
turn your bright face
toward me -
the blaze of your
nimbus
to penetrate my mind,
gifting
that
alive light -
the joy of
confident resting
in you -
the inner balance
of my emotions
like the autumn equinox -
the light of knowing
none of us brings God anywhere
nor to anyone,
but that God is already there.

Praying Before the Mother of God ~ All Perceiving

O Lady,
your portrait
has found its way -
all the way
from Russia
to my hands.
How has this happened so wonderfully:
that your icon should come to me
who has touched
and held
things
unworthy of one
thought of
and created in a
God-breath?

O Lady,
your veil is dark and of the earth.
And I am of the earth too.
And I want to know myself
by the illumination of my mind,
to my own short-comings
and the life of holy perfection
God has prepared for me
and to which God calls.

O Lady,
your face is pressed against the forehead of your Son.
Do you see the danger which already surrounds your Child?
See the dangers that surround me too, Holy Mother,
and protect me from everything
that could steal goodness
away.

O Lady,
Your eyes - wide awake;
you have nothing to hide.
Wake me up to faith,
that God has a plan and purpose for me,
wants me to be happy,
holds no grudges against me,
but wants me healed and whole
and full of life that will last
even forever.

O Lady,
Your mouth is small,
and inviting:
Shhh!
To be a listener,
to the drip of rain,
the music of morning birds
and evening insects,
to the sighs of my heart
and the tears of those who weep.

O Lady,
Your Son's forehead
so strangely
enlarged.
But he holds my name
and the names of all the others
in his mind,
and all our stories with their
twists and turns,
advances and set backs,
foolish,
even deadly choices,
and still
good hope.
His mind, large and filled
with the events of human history,
even the barriers against Jesus
not yet in place -
Jesus,
who only carries a heart of love
and the invitation of his eyes
to come in close to his
warmth and light.

O Lady,
Your Son's robe is filled
with sparks
from heaven
that dart about,
that can set my heart
glowing.

And finally, O Lady,
framed in silver,
reflecting light,
holding you and your Son,
and all the more
my heart,
O Mother,
shining and
bright,
embracing and
decorated
with love for you
and all the good
of heaven
and here,
this earth-paradise.

Father Stephen P. Morris

Mother of God ~ All-Perceiving

NOT APPEARING IN ANY OF THE BOOKS I use to identify icons, this Mother of God comes to us in mystery. A friend who was staying at a Russian monastery found it outside the door to his room one morning. The kind giver remained anonymous. 

So I have taken the liberty of giving her a title, which is not hard to do. Considering the Holy Mother's attentive locked-on gaze, I have called the icon Mother of God ~ All Perceiving. 

Here it seems that Jesus' Mother has perhaps become aware of some danger: raising herself a bit to observe and encounter, her chin and cheek pressed against the Infant's head. In some cultures a mother will look directly into the eyes of any person who steps up to address the baby she holds, intending to ward off any dangerous power or intent present in false words. Mothers can be very sensitive to danger or evil lurking.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

When someone makes this kind of eye contact it suggests that he or she has nothing to hide; there are no masks. Masks of course leave us wondering, who is really there? Some masks are necessary as when a priest, who knows himself to be sinful, has to present himself as confessor, healer and reconciler. The school teacher who carries personal burdens at home  needs to wear the mask of a confident, happy, put-together leader in the classroom.

But then there are the masks we wear protectively everyday and  behind which we hide. The masks of:

pretending, posing and posturing,

grandiosity, vanity and name-dropping,

incessant talking and boisterous laughter,

false smiles,

obvious and emphasized sexuality,

power-titles and displays of wealth, 

vulgarity,

to-be-seen religion,

lies and living on the level of surfacey conversations,

showing-off,

the zany girl and the laugh-a-minute guy...

In the 1988 film, Dangerous Liasons, the Marquis Isabelle de Merteuil (Glenn Close) and Vicomte Sebastien de Valmont (John Malkovich) are bored, pre-revolution French aristocrats who, rather than expressing and accepting their love for each other, set out in a destructive game to destroy the love of those around them. They are ugly characters hiding behind wigs, decorative fabric, entertainments, social refinements, fans and clouds of powder.

In the last scene the Marquis has been exposed for the vile person she is. Removing her thick make-up-mask, she sits framed in darkness before her mirror. We see her real skin (her underneath) for the first time and the first of her painful tears.

The friend who shared the print of the All~Perceiving Mother of God told me when he prays or sits silently before the icon he can feel uneasy or troubled - as if the Holy Mother sees past the masks he wears to his own underneath - the raw, concealed or vulnerable place where many people never go.

But heaven doesn't leave us lost in desperate guilt. We weren't made for that. Rather, the Holy Child of the icon, protected by his Mother, is covered in rays and sparks of light. Jesus keeps nothing for himself, but shares everything, including the divine energies of God Himself. Scroll back up to the top and draw near!