Iconic Icons Supplement: Icons of the Trinity

In celebration of Trinity Sunday in the Western Church today, I decided to write a short post on the history of artistic representation of the Most Holy Trinity, especially in the East.

Nowadays, there are many representations of the Trinity showing the Three Persons as an old man (the Father), Jesus Christ, and a dove (the Holy Spirit).  Before these were in vogue, the Trinity was often depicted symbolically (especially in the Western Church) in forms such as a triangle-encased All-Seeing Eye (a symbol adapted and Christianized from ancient Egyptian symbolism that is, sadly, now usually connected with Freemasonry).  In the earliest days of the Church, though, there were no representations of the Trinity apart from the Second Person Incarnate.

Eye of God, Mission San Miguel, California (19th century)

Scripture Hidden in Prayers

 Scripture is obviously the basis for many prayers: the Psalms themselves are prayers, the Our Father are the exact words of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and the first half of the Hail Mary is directly from Scripture.  Many prayers in the liturgy are taken from Scripture as well: the Sanctus is from Isaiah, the Agnus Dei is based in the preaching of John the Forerunner and the Book of Revelation, and the prayer immediately before receiving the Eucharist are derived from the words of the faithful centurion.  Many other prayers, from all traditions, have their basis in Scripture, though the passages are not always as well known.  Below are just a few of these.

Openings to the Liturgy of the Hours.  Two short prayers of opening,  used at different Hours, are taken directly from the Psalms: "Lord, open my lips / And my mouth will declare Your praise" (Ps 51:15) and "God, come to my assistance. / Lord, make haste to help me" (Ps 70:1).

The Franciscan Blessing.  A blessing used by Franciscans all the way back to St. Francis (he wrote it on a short manuscript given to Br. Leo, which is the only piece of writing we have in Francis' own hand) seems to be merely a part of Franciscan tradition.  However, the three-fold blessing was not created by St. Francis, but instead derives from the words of God Himself, spoken to Moses. 

"The Lord said to Moses, 'Say to Aaron and his sons, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

The Lord bless you and keep you:

The Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you:

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.

So shall they put My Name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them"

 (Num 6:22-27).

Prayer to the Venerable Cross.  This prayer, a popular prayer used before sleep in the Eastern Church, derives its opening from the Book of Numbers: "Arise, O Lord, and let Thy enemies be scattered; and let them that hate Thee flee before Thee" (Num 10:35).  The prayer is as follows:

Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered; and let those who hate Him flee before His Presence.  As smoke vanishes, so let them vanish; and as wax melts before the fire, so let the demons perish before the presence of those who love God and who sign themselves with the Sign of the Cross and say in gladness: Hail, most precious and life-giving Cross of the Lord, for You drive away the demons by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ Who was crucified on You and Who went down to Hell and trampled on the power of the devil, and gave us You, His venerable Cross, for driving away all enemies.  O most precious and life-giving Cross of the Lord, help me, with our Holy Lady, the Virgin Mother of God and with all the Saints throughout the ages.  Amen.

These are only a very few examples of the countless prayers in the Catholic tradition that derive from Scripture.  As Scripture is the basis of our faith (for even Tradition grew out of the events related in Scripture and out of the words of Scripture), it follows that it would be the basis of our prayers as well.  Though Christianity is a "religion of the 'Word' of God," and not a "religion of the book," that does not mean that we are not devoted to Scripture (vid. CCC #108).  Let us always remember the reverence we owe to the Holy Scriptures.

Nota Bene: The "Prayer to the Venerable Cross" is taken from p. 69 of the Publicans Prayer Book by the Melkite Catholic Eparchy of Newton, published by Sophia Press.

 

Text ©2012 Brandon P. Otto.  Licensed via CC BY-NC.  Feel free to redistribute non-commercially, as long as credit is given to the author.

 

Iconic Icons: The Ascension

 Ascension Icon by Andrei Rublev (late 14th - early 15th century).

The Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ is traditionally celebrated, following the detail of Acts 1:3, on the Thursday 40 days after Pascha (Easter), which was last Thursday, though most Latin Rite dioceses (at least in the U.S., if not in other countries as well) transfer the celebration of this feast to the next Sunday, which is today.  In Greek, this feast is called 'Η Αναληψις: analepsis means a "taking up," although the term is used in narrative analysis (of films, novels, and other works) to indicate a flashback. 

The events of this feast are outlined in Mark, Luke, and Acts:

"So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into Heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God" (Mk 16:19).

"Then He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands He blessed them.  While He blessed them, He parted from them, and was carried up into Heaven" (Lk 24:50-51).

"And when He had said this, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight" (Acts 1:9).

 The Ascension of Our Lord by the Novgorod School, in the Malo-Kirillov Monastery (1543).

The festal icon incorporates some of the details of these accounts, but it is more meant to be a representation of the Church than the event per se.  The main figure is, of course, Our Lord Jesus Christ in a mandorla (though it is usually more round than almond-shaped) flanked by angels, giving a blessing with His right hand (as Luke relates) and holding a scroll in His left hand.  Though the icon is of the Ascension, there is no directional movement explicitly depicted, so it could also represent His Second Coming (since, as angels told the apostles, "This Jesus, Who was taken up from you into Heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into Heaven" (Acts 1:11)). 

Below the Lord is the Theotokos, Mary the Mother of God, flanked by angels and surrounded by disciples.  The icon is not strictly historical, thus Mary is present, as is St. Paul--usually found just to the right of the Blessed Mother--who had not been converted yet.  While the disciples are in confusion at this event, the Theotokos is calm and in a posture of prayer.  She is in the center of the icon, below Jesus.  Mary together with the disciples represent the entire Church as she celebrates the Lord's Ascension and awaits His Second Coming.  The angels in white garments both represent the angels who appeared to the disciples after the Ascension (vid. Acts 1:10-11) and the angels who constantly guard the Church at the Lord's command.

 Ascension Icon by a Coptic Christian artist (14th century).

The Ascension by Christo Dimitrov of the Samokov School, 

in the Church of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Gabrovnitsa, Pazardjik, Bulgaria (19th century).

"May Almighty God bless you,

for on this very day His Only-Begotten Son

pierced the heights of Heaven

and unlocked for you the way

to ascend to where He is.

Amen."

--Roman Missal, Solemn Blessing 7: The Ascension of the Lord

 The Ascension of Christ by Pietro Perugino (late 1490s).

[Though not a traditional icon, it follows the same general structure.]

 The Ascension by Theophanes the Cretan, in Stavronikita Monastery on Mount Athos (1546).

"After fulfilling for us Your Plan of Redemption

and joining the things of earth with those of Heaven,

You gloriously ascended, O Christ our God,

without abandoning us, but remained with us forever

and proclaimed to those who love You:

'Behold, I am with you;

no one has power against you.'"

--Kontakion of the Ascension of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ (6th Tone)

Ascension icon on Folio 13v of a Syriac Gospel book by the Scribe Rabbula

 from the Monastery of St. John of Zagba (586).

[Information found here.]

 

 Ascension icon from Sinai (9th century).

O All-Blameless Theotokos, pray for us to your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Ascended One!

Nota Bene: Biblical quotations are all from the RSV-CE published by Ignatius Press.  Quotation from the Roman Missal was found at CNP Liturgical Planning.  The Kontakion was found in the Publican's Prayer Book published by the Melkite Catholic Eparchy of Newton.  Other sources of information for this post were OrthodoxWiki, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and Answers.com.

 

Text ©2012 Brandon P. Otto.  Licensed via CC BY-NC.  Feel free to redistribute non-commercially, as long as credit is given to the author.

 

A Companion Blog: ܫܰܦܝܽܬ ܠܶܒܒܰ (Luminous Heart)

In addition to this blog, I have recently started another blog: ܫܰܦܝܽܬ ܠܶܒܒܰ (Luminous Heart).  My introductory post explains it well: while this blog is more strictly a theological and informational blog, ܫܰܦܝܽܬ ܠܶܒܒܰ will be much more personal and opinion-oriented.  I encouraged you to read both blogs.  God Bless, and thank you for reading.

St. Ephraim the Syrian, pray for us!