Chris McDonnell, UK
chris@mcdonnell83.freeserve.co.uk

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February 2, 2017:

The mystery in the image  

Around our homes are photographs of our families, our own children, their weddings and the grandchildren it has been our blessing to have. Their images remind us of many shared occasions when we have been together, enjoyed each other’s company and celebrated family events.  

In placing pictures on tables or hanging them on walls they are there to remind us of a greater reality that goes beyond the framed photograph. Beautiful though they are, they are, in reality, nothing more than memory.  

A bare house, without ornaments or photographs would offer cold comfort for the place we call home. We like to have around us things we associate with good memories, places we have visited, gifts we have been given. We make our nest and we feel at home.  

In the same way the design and decoration of our churches offer that same homeliness, familiarity and warmth. But there is a difference. The items we find in church are not there purely for decorative effect, but have primarily a liturgical significance.  

Look around your own church. There will be a large crucifix over or behind the main altar, the tabernacle for Reservation lit by the sanctuary lamp, statues relevant to the Church and along the walls, the Stations of the Cross. It is the familiar interior of a Catholic church that is our heritage.  

Over recent years the icon image, so central to the Orthodox practice, has gained acceptance in the Western Church even though they are not liturgically venerated as they are in the East. The place of the icon in Orthodox liturgy is part of a long tradition.  

In the early Church, images became items of veneration associating communities with saints and martyrs. Confusion arose when the accusation was made that such images were being ‘adored’, in other words seen as a replacement for the one God to whom adoration was owed.  

This led to the actions of those whom we call iconoclasts, who destroyed or defaced such icons with brutal efficiency. They were restored to use in 843, a date celebrated in the East as the Triumph of Orthodoxy.  

Such destructive activity has occurred often, taking the form of a vindictive movement in times of extreme change. The years of Reformation in Europe saw the removal of so much liturgical art. Great treasures and historical references were lost in consequence.  

It happened again during the Revolution in France in the late 18th century, in a defiant move against the Church by those seeking a new order of government.  

In our own time we have seen attacks on churches and mosques as part of a terrorist movement and once again objects of beauty and value have been desecrated and destroyed.

 Hitting where it hurts, the history and association with artefacts of faith, causes great pain and suffering for many peoples.

 Returning to our churches and their embellishment, we would do well to pause for a moment to ask a few questions before we add or take away details of the environment in which we celebrate prayer.

 First of all, we should question why we wish to add something of significance or change a pattern accepted over many years. After Vatican II the re-ordering of churches called for through new liturgical insights often upset those familiar with old ways. When the changes were explained, when people were brought into the discussion we, by and large, succeeded. That was not always the case.

 Secondly, we should ask whether or not change supports our faith and our life of prayer. And that is a difficult one, for artistic taste is a personal matter. We should at least have an expectation of quality in whatever we bring to our church buildings.

 And that takes us back to icons for their design and preparation is in itself a matter of prayerful concern. The image designed within an activity of prayer is then offered to us to assist in our prayer.

 The icon in its gentle serenity, offers a gracious resemblance of love and helps us focus on the beauty of God. Often candle-lit, an icon encourages contemplation and brings to us a stillness that is quietly centred. My interest in icons has extended over many years. I recently came across a newly published book ‘Icons in the Western Church : Toward a More Sacramental Encounter’  by Sr Jeana Visel which I have found both enjoyable and informative. If you want to explore icons further, I recommend her book.

 With Lent approaching the liturgical place of icons would make an interesting and informative topic for parish discussion, opening up threads that may lead to the placing of an icon in your church. Why not give it a try?

 

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