Politicians, patrons and benefactors in Icons.

Rudny fresco of Entrance into Jerusalem showing Kazak Official. Click to see full fresco

An interesting story recently appeared about a district official in Kazakhstan being depicted in a fresco at the new cathedral in the city of Rudny. Sergey Kulagin – former akim, or governor, of the Kostanai region – is apparently found among the crowd of Jews welcoming Jesus in the fresco of the Entrance into Jerusalem, freshly painted above the church altar. The picture above shows the fresco in question, whilst below is a photograph of Mr Kulagin:

The Divinely-Revealed Appearance of Angels in Icons

Talk of God, of Jesus, and of the Saints may diminish, but the subject of angels always manages to capture popular imagination. They have a commonly understood form (a person with halo and wings) and so are not too abstract, yet they are ethereal enough to remain mysterious. These conditions are ripe for idle speculation.

In Orthodoxy, however, the purpose and even form of the angels are not the result of imagination, but revelation. Their depiction in icons reflects this revealed teaching of who the angels are.

The Menaion Icon for January

(Click to Enlarge)

The word Menaion (Gr: Μηναίον; Slavonic: Минея) comes from the Greek word meaning “of the month”. It is used to describe a way of grouping together liturgical texts, prayers and stories based on the order of Saints’ days and other feast days in the Church calendar.

A Menaion Icon is similar in that it is a pictorial grouping together of Saints and feasts, usually in rows, according to their order in the Church calendar. Menaion icons started to appear in Byzantium around the time of emperor Basil II (963-1025).

The January Menaion Icon

The icon above is from Russia and dates to the 16th century. It shows in five rows the Saints and Feasts associated with the month of January. The Saints and Feasts shown are by no means comprehensive, but are chosen according to their importance to the parish who owned the icon; because of this different Menaion Icons will not be identical in their list of Saints.

Tree of the Virgin | Russia’s Best Loved Icons of Mary

(Click to Enlarge)

The day after a major feast is often dedicated to a person who plays a central role in the preceding day’s narrative. For example, the day after the Theophany, Christ’s baptism, is dedicated to John the Baptist; whilst the day after the feast of the Annunciation is dedicated to the Archangels, particularly Gabriel. December the 26th, being the day after the Feast of Christ’s birth, is dedicated to His mother and birth-giver, Mary.

The icon above is not an icon for the feast, though it is both interesting and appropriate: the Tree of the Virgin Icon (in Russian Древо Пресвятой Богородицы or Древо Божией Матери).

Root of Jesse Icon | Christ’s Family Tree

Approaching the celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth, Christian’s remember those who preceded Him in the flesh. The holy forefathers of Christ, and all those who in other ways prepared for His coming, are brought together in the Root of Jesse Icon. In often elaborate ways, the Root of Jesse icons explain and celebrate the events leading up to the Nativity.

Called to Orthodoxy by an Icon | A Convert’s Story

A conversion story taken from the “Journey to Orthodoxy” website, describing how a Calvanist was brought to Orthodoxy by an icon. An excerpt:

After my first semester, I flew back to Hawaii for the winter break. While there, I was invited to a Bible study at Ss. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church. At the Bible study I kept looking across the table to the icons that were for sale. My eyes kept going back to this one particular icon of Christ holding the Bible in His hand. For the next several days I could not get that icon out of my mind.

I went back and bought the icon. When I bought it, I wasn’t thinking of becoming Orthodox. I bought it because I thought it was cool, and as a little gesture of rebellion against the heavily Reformed stance at [the theological college I attended]. However, I also felt a spiritual power in the icon that made me more aware of Christ’s presence in my life.

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Conception of the Theotokos | An Icon for Childbearing

Conception of the Theotokos (Зачатие Богородицы), 16th Century

Icons of Ss Joachim and Anna embracing each other tenderly are decorously showing the Conception of the Theotokos, Mary – their only child. The scene is part of the greater narrative of Mary’s origins, described in the 2nd century writing Protoevangelium of James and celebrated on the feastday of her birth: the Nativity of the Theotokos. However, in Russia especially, this specific scene – the Conception of the Theotokos – has become a focus of devotion for many of the faithful.

Why Christ and the Theotokos are in Icons of St Nicholas

Jesus and Mary flank St Nicholas (click to see entire icon)

In many icons of Nicholas, the Saint is shown flanked by Jesus Christ and the Mother of God either in medallions or, especially later, resting upon clouds. This is recalling a miracle from St Nicholas’ life.

Nicholas the Wonderworker | An Icon of a Bishop

St Nicholas of Myra (Constantinople, 10th Century)

“If anything happens to God, we have always got St Nicholas”
-Russian proverb

Throughout the Christian churches, it is difficult to think of a Saint as well-loved as St Nicholas the Wonder-Worker, honoured on Dec 6th and every Thursday of the week. A fourth-century Bishop of Myra famous for defending Orthodoxy against heresy during the First Ecumenical Council, there are also numerous miracles associated with his life. However it is the miracles wrought after his repose, even up to the present day, that lead St Nicholas to be honoured as a “Wonder-worker” and for many a cherished heavenly pastor of an earthly flock.

Prayer service opens Museum of Icons in Poland

On Tuesday evening (30 Nov) a new section of the Museum of the Warsaw Orthodox Metropolitanate dedicated to Holy Icons was inaugurated with a solemn molebien (a supplicatory prayer service).

In attendance at the service were Metropolitan Sawa, primate of the Orthodox Church in Poland, the deputy mayor of Ochota district Piotr Żbikowski, architect Andrzej Markowski, and Fr. Anatol Szydłowski – the priest of the Warsaw cathedral among other guests.

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