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:

Since the story appeared, Sergey Kulagin has denied having anything to do with putting himself in the fresco and has even ordered the image to be repainted. He is quoted as saying:

“When we opened the church… I noticed a certain likeness. Of course, I told them to remove it immediately, to paint it over. Such things are unbecoming and unattractive, further still this is blasphemy.”

Donor portrait of Kalojan and his wife Desislava; Boyana church (Bulgaria, 13th century)

Neverthless, Sergey Kulagin is not the first living politician or ruler to appear in church iconography. It is a common feature of medieval churches, particularly those within the old Byzantine Empire, for those who paid for the building to be honoured in the frescoes. Quite often, as in the example of the 13th century Boyana church shown, the patron of the church is shown in profile, holding a model of the building in offering to Christ. Another example of this form is in the Chora church in Constantinople, where the 14th century court advisor Theodore Metochites donated substantial funds for restoration and is therefore honoured in this mosaic.

This image of benefactor offering a church building to Christ is very common in medieval churches and so is easily recognizable. It is a more striking and visible form of a foundation stone or plaque with the patron’s name engraved upon it.

Mosaic of Justinian I in Basilica of San Vitala, Ravenna

However, like a foundation stone or plaque, its position in the building is key. In all the examples given above, the images of still-living church patrons all appear in towards the west of the church building, near the entrance. In the case of the mosaic of Emperor Justinian, made during his own lifetime, the image appears in the narthex – i.e. the porch of the church, outside the main building. The patrons are remembered in images, as much so they can be prayed for after death than anything else, but these images are not placed near the altar, on the iconostasis, in the sanctuary, or often even in the nave at all. These places are where images of the Saints, the angels, the Mother of God and Our Lord Jesus Christ are placed.

In the case of the “Kulagin fresco”, however, the image appears in the main dome of the church. This is surely what the official was thinking of when he called the fresco of himself as “unbecoming and… blasphemous”. During the Liturgy, the words “Lift up your hearts…” are sung. Worshipers should look up and see paintings of Christ’s life which move them to remember the truths these events reveal. They should not look up and be distracted by thoughts of “Who’s that slightly pudgy guy without a beard? He looks familiar…” This is not how anyone who donates toward the building of churches would want to be remembered.

Probably the most complete news article on the subject.

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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.

What are Angels?

The word angel, used throughout the Bible, comes from the Greek word meaning messenger. The name reflects the nature of angels with regards to humans and God: i.e. they are messengers from God, sent to us. They are sometimes described as Bodiless Powers: bodiless meaning they are purely spirit, rather than material, and power meaning they have their own will and intellect, rather than being an aspect of God. This last part is important: angels are spirits, and “God is spirit” (John 4:24), but angels are still created beings in their own right. St John of Damascus sums up the angels’ spirit nature by writing:

Now, compared with us, the angel is said to be incorporeal (bodiless) and immaterial, although in comparison with God, Who alone is incomparable, everything proves to be gross and material – for only the Divinity is truly immaterial and incorporeal.
(from Exact Exposition)

There are many other articles on line which deal with the orthodox teaching on angels, and I include a few links below, including The Celestial Hierarchy, attributed to St. Dionysius the Areopagite, who puts forward the most detailed and influential teachings on angels. The above is enough of an introduction to the subject here, which is specifically angels in iconography.

Iconography of the Angels and Other Bodiless Powers

In The Celestial Hierarchy, St Dionysius derives nine ranks (or angelic choirs) from Scripture into which the angels fit. Listing the nine ranks here is not important, as not all of the different ranks are commonly depicted in icons. In addition, whilst no Church Father denies Dionysius’ classification – and many affirm it – other Church Fathers admit that the nine ranks may only be those that have been revealed to us, and not be a “complete” list.

The reason for bringing up the angelic ranks is to say that angels and bodiless powers are catch-all terms for heavenly beings which are quite different from each other in terms of role and appearance. The role of an angel is defined by its proximity to the throne of God, and it is the proximity to the throne of God that forms a natural hierarchy. Now onto the different appearances of angels revealed in this hierarchy.

The Seraphim: On Fire for God

“[God] maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire” (Ps 103:4)

Seraph, 14th Century by Theophanes the Greek

The form, function and position of the Seraphim were revealed to the prophet Isaiah who ‘saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “ Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”‘ (Is 6:1-3).

The name given, seraphim, is Hebrew and means “burning ones” (plural; the singular form is seraph). They are the closest to the throne of God, and as such are flame-like, “For our God is a consuming fire.” (Heb 12:29); “His throne was a flame of fire” (Dan 7:9); “the appearance of the Lord was like a blazing fire” (Ex 24:17). The seraphim, then, are usually painted in icons in red, signifying this flame. The six wings are arranged in a particular way: two pointing down (covering the feet), two up (covering the face), and two outstretched (in order to fly). They are also frequently found surrounding images of Christ in glory. In the 14th century fresco by Theophanes, the Seraph is shown holding a flabellum or hagion ripidion (lit. “sacred fan”) upon which are the words “holy, holy, holy” in Greek: the same thrice-holy hymn used in Isiah’s description of these angels.

As a side-note, these “sacred fans” are still ceremonially used in the Divine Liturgy today, to protect the body and blood of Christ and as a sign of honour (think of Cleopatra reclining whilst a flunky next to her waves a huge fan). Often these Liturgical fans have an image of a seraph on them, to remind us that God is indeed present in the chalice; the same God who is surrounded by the seraphim who fly about Him. (A 19th century Russian example of a ripidion)

The Cherubim: Many-eyed

Cherub from the Cathedral of Cefalu, Sicily (c. 1200)

The first record of man’s interaction with an angel of God comes in the Book of Genesis, after Adam’s temptation and fall. Driven from Eden by God, Adam and Eve are prevented from returning by cherubim placed to guard the gates with a flaming sword (Gen 3:24 – see also this mosaic of the scene). So much for the post-Renaissance inspired image of the cherub as a cute baby with wings!

In Hebrew, Cherubim means “great understanding” or “effusion of wisdom”, and are so described because of their closeness to God: the Lord is described as dwelling “between the Cherubim” (2 Sam 6:2). Because of their proximity to God, and the description of them guarding Eden with “flaming sword”, the cherubim are, like the seraphim, often depicted in a fiery red. Nevertheless, they can also be depicted in greens or blues; the former is the colour of the Holy Spirit and spiritual growth, the latter the colour of the heavenly realms. The cherubim are also often shown as all-seeing with numerous eyes on their wings, relating to the aforementioned “effusion of wisdom” revealed by their name.

It is worth noting that in the Old Testament figures of cherubim decorated the sanctuary, by the decree of God Himself. A pair of cherubim made by gold was ordered to be placed on the mercy seat and between them the Lord spoke to his people (Exodus 25:17-22), and figures of cherubim were woven on the veils of the tabanacle. Therefore a revealed image of the cherubim has been passed on to Christians, which is still used today.

An image of the cherub not passed on from the ancient Christian faith is that of a young, chubby, infant with tiny white wings. This image crops up in Italy during the Renaissance and is wrongly named a cherub, spreading throughout Europe, and even influencing a minority of Orthodox icons in the 18th and 19th centuries. In fact, these chubby winged babies are actually called putti.

In the Orthodox tradition, both seraphim and cherubim are characterized by their proximity to the throne of God. In the Divine Liturgy, the priest at one point prays:

We also thank You for this liturgy which You are pleased to accept from our hands, even though You are surrounded by thousands of Archangels and tens of thousands of Angels, by the Cherubim and Seraphim, six-winged, many-eyed, soaring with their wings…

Who are “six-winged and many-eyed”, the cherubim or the seraphim? Orthodox iconography reveals to us: both! Seraphim are also sometimes shown with many eyes on their wings, whilst cherubim can sometimes be shown fiery-red and “six-winged” but without eyes (for practical purposes). This is because the meaning of the fiery-red colour and the multiple eyes signify something which is true of both seraphim and cherubim. Inscriptions on icons reveal whether a seraphim or cherubim is being depicted.

The Thrones or Ophanim: Shimmering Wheels

From the John the Baptist Church, Kratovo, Macedona

The thrones are described as “God-bearing” since on them, as on intellectual thrones (as writes St Maximus the Confessor) God intellectually resides. They are not God-bearing by nature, but by the grace of God; therefore, like all the names of the celestial bodies, Throne describes this particular rank of angel’s function more than its nature.

As for their curious appearance, this was revealed to Ezekiel who saw:

one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel… As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.
(from Ezekiel chapter 1)

The “living creatures” Ezekiel described are a type of angelic being – sometimes thought to be a type of cherubim, but commonly known in Orthodoxy as the Tetramorph. The tetramorph is also shown in the icon surrounding Christ at the top of this post. As for the “wheels”, in Hebrew these are “Ophanim”, another name for the Thrones. These angelic beings are rarer in iconography than the seraphim and cherubim, but where they are shown they are usually the “colour of beryl” (white, with highlights of the already oft-mentioned “fiery red”), many-eyed, and with wings to denote their swiftness; they are also shown at or around the feet of Christ (in the icon at the top of this page they are shown around a footstool).

Angels and Archangels: the Heralds of God

Archangel Michael (14th Century, Byzantium)

The fiery ministers of God described above are common enough in Orthodox hymnography and iconography and their form is well-known, yet their appearance is not that which immediately comes to mind when we hear the word angel. We tend to think first of a winged-man, and this form comes from what has been revealed to us regarding the Angels and Archangels.

Although all the bodiless powers are known as angels (because they are all messengers), the name is specifically given to the “ministering spirits” at the bottom of the celestial hierarchy, i.e. those closest to Man. These angels appear throughout Scripture – indeed throughout history – to people, to bring messages from God, to guide us, and even to protect us. With so many recorded manifestations, a general appearance of an angel is formed: a youthful man, often with a light-bearing countenance, frequently wearing white robes.

St John Damascene says that the angels “do not appear exactly as they are to the just and to them that God wills them to appear to. On the contrary, they appear under such a different form as can be seen by those who behold them” (Exact Exposition).

Therefore we can say that the revealed image of the angel, like the name, tells us more about their role than their nature. As Dionysius writes, they are depicted “under the likeness of men, on account of the intellectual faculty, and their having powers of looking upwards, and their straight and erect form..” and “the figures of manhood and youth denote the perpetual bloom and vigour of life”. And so, whilst angels themselves are not divided into “male” and “female”, they always appear in Scripture and in Icons as young (beardless) men. Statues and images of angels as young women with wings appear only much later in churches, and are not based in Christian tradition.

“The shining and glowing raiment”, continues Dionysius, “signifies the Divine likeness after the image of fire, and their enlightening, in consequence of their repose in Heaven, where is the Light, and their complete illuminating intelligibly, and their being illuminated intellectually.”

In all the divine revelations of angels as young men, they are never described as having wings. Indeed, the earliest depictions of angels in the first centuries of the Church show them as wingless young men in white robes. Nevertheless, it is now common to show angels with wings. The wings can be understood in the same way as halos. Halos on Christ and the Saints (and also on angels) are not photo-realistic, but symbolize the holiness of the subject, a holiness which is undeniably real. The wings of the angel symbolizes swiftness and “the lightness of the wings denotes their being in no respect earthly, but undefiled and lightly raised to the sublime” (St Dionysius, The Celestial Hierarchy). The wings also indicate the relationship of these beings with the Heavenly ranks of the Seraphim and Cherubim, which in Divine revelation are indeed shown with wings.

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The Divinely-revealed appearance of the Heavenly Powers is to be found in the meaning of their names, their descriptions in holy Scripture, and their depictions in iconography. It can be seen from the above that for all the vivid appearances of angels to men, such revelations only show us how these beings relate to us, and how they can bring us closer to God. Beyond this, looking at their innate nature, little has been revealed. And as Dionysius says in the conclusion to “The Celestial Hierarchy”, anything regarding the Heavenly that hasn’t been revealed by God can only be “honoured by silence”.

We are left, then, with distinct forms and images of the Heavenly Powers which teach us that around God and around us are innumerable created spirits which reveal the things of God to us, guide us, and protect us from harm. Recognizing the need for all the divine help we can get, Christians direct honour and supplication to the divinely-revealed images of the angels.

O Lord Jesus Christ…
Compass us about with Your Holy Angels
That guided and guarded by their array,
We may attain to the unity of Faith
And to the knowledge of Your unapproachable glory.

(from the Prayer of the Hours)

The Church’s Teaching Concerning Angels, a short article from Orthodoxinfo.com

Concerning Angels, taken from An Exact Exposition by St John Damascene; quoted in this post.

The Celestial Hierarchy, by Dionysius the Areopagite.

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(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.

The top left corner marks the beginning of January with the Circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ; next to the scene is St Basil the Great (both remembered Jan 1). The large panel on the first row showing many saints is the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles (Jan 4).

At the beginning of the second row is the Baptism of Jesus Christ, or Theophany (Jan 6), whilst next to it is a scene of St John the Forerunner baptizing converts in the same river Jordan. This is because the day after Theophany is dedicated to St John the Baptist (Jan 7).  At the end of this row is St Theodosius the Great the Monk (Jan 11).

The third row begins with Martyr Tatiana of Rome (Jan 12), whilst the four men being beheaded are the Father slain at Sinai and Raithu (Jan 14). The second panel from the right shows the miracle of the Apostle Peter’s release from prison (Acts 12:1-19), which is remembered on the feast of the Veneration of the Precious Chains of St Peter (Jan 16). Next to this panel is St Anthony the Great (Jan 17).

On the left of the fourth row are the two bishop-saints Athanasius and Cyril of Alexandria (Jan 18), with the Ss Macarius the Great (Jan 19) and Euthymius the Great (Jan 20) next to them. In the fourth panel from the right is the Apostle Timothy holding a gospel book (Jan 22) and in the next panel is Clement of Ancyra (Jan 23). The woman next to them is St Xenia of Rome (Jan 24). St Xenia of St Petersburg is a better known saint in Russia today, and is also remembered on Jan 24, but the icon predates her repose (c 1803). Finally on the fourth row is St Gregory the Theologian (Jan 25).

At the bottom of the icon is the family of martyrs: Xenophon, his wife Mary, and their sons Arcadius and John (Jan 26). Next to this is a scene of the Translation of the Relics of John Chrysostom (Jan 27). Also on the bottom row are the Three Holy Hierarchs (Jan 30), and in the final panel are the Unmercanaries Cyrus and John, next to St Nikita of the Kiev Caves (all Jan 31).

The icon has inscriptions for all the Saints and Feasts, though the resolution of the image makes them impossible to read. In the corners of the panels are Cyrillic Numerals, indicating the date, though these are also difficult to discern. Looking at an Orthodox calendar (see link below) along with an icon such as this, and remembering that the Saints are grouped in date order, helps to identify who is who.

Cyrillic Numerals (used in Russian Icons to indicate dates and often the year an icon was painted)

“Complete” List of Saints, from the POMOG Church

More about the Menaion

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(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).

This icon is modern, and is basically an image created to display a tiny fraction of the most popular icons of the Mother of God in Russia, which are hanging from the branches.

At the centre of the tree is an image of Mary with Jesus in the cave, the main detail from the Icon of the Nativity (and the reason I chose to post this particular icon today). Above the tree is a heavenly vision of the Holy Trinity. Moving clockwise from the Holy Trinity, the icons on the branches of the Virgin Tree are:

1. Axion Esti Icon. This is the name given to an icon of the Mother of God before which, according to tradition, the hymn “It is Truly Meet” (in Gr. Axion Estin) was revealed. The original icon, which still exists, depicts Mary and Christ embracing, cheek-to-cheek, a type of icon known as eleousa, meaning “merciful”. The Russian version of the icon (Достойно есть – Dostóino yesť) has the added detail of two angels crowning Mary, and this is the version of the icon shown on the Virgin Tree. Here is a larger version of a Russian “Axion Esti” Icon.
Article on the Axion Esti Icon

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2. The Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God

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3. Icon of the Theotokos “of the Don”

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4. The Feodorovskaya (Theodore) Icon of the Mother of God – this is a style of icon that featured heavily in the Romanov’s collection, and is loved by many Russians for this reason. Article about the icon from the Alexander Palace website.

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5. The Milk-Giver Icon of the Mother of God

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6. Icon of the Theotokos “Assuage my Sorrows”

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7. Mother of God “of the Sign” Icon (in Russian: Знамение – Znamenie)

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8. The Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. Possibly the most famous of Orthodox icons – if you’ve never heard of the name, you’ll probably have seen the image before; it is used as the logo for Mel Gibson’s production company (see here). The name Vladamir was given to the icon later, as it is certainly older and of Byzantine origin. Tradition states that the icon was one of the original images painted by the Evangelist Luke. It is probably for this reason that the icon is places on the trunk of the Virgin Tree, as it is the prototype for countless numbers of other icons. Whilst the image has been heavily restored over the centuries, the faces of Mary and Jesus – the most striking part of the icon – are original. Article on the history of the Vladamir Icon in Russia.

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9. “The Inexhaustible Cup” Icon. Similar in style to the “Znamenie” icon, this shows the Mother of God with arms raised in prayer, whilst before her is the Christ-child in the chalice giving a double-handed blessing. It is an icon with obvious Eucharistic overtones, but because of the name it has also gained popularity in Russia as an icon through which God can heal alcoholism. Special prayers to be said before this image have been specially composed for the purpose. Akathist in honour of the “Inexhaustible Cup” Icon.

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10. Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God – another icon reputedly painted by St Luke, and also a wonder-working icon.

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11. Mother of God “Quick to Hearken” Icon. The original is from the 10th century and now resides on Mt Athos, however copies of this icon became widespread in Russia during the 19th century. Many miracles have been attributed to these copies. The composition of the icon is similar to the 18th century Chernigov-Gethsemane icon (see below)

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12. Chernigov-Gethsemane Icon of the Theotokos

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13. Our Lady of Kazan – distinctive because of its small size and in showing the Christ-child shown standing instead of seated in Mary’s lap. Though the original is now lost, the Kazan “style” remains popular and copies are often given in Russia as wedding gifts.

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14. Smolensk Icon, also known as the “Directress”. Another Byzantine icon brought to Russia during the medieval period, the Smolensk icon has protected the Russian people from invasion throughout the subsequent centuries. It is known as “directress” (in Greek Hodigitria) because the Mother of God is shown directing our gaze to Jesus Christ with her hand. This style predates the Smolensk icon, and is one of the original “types” traced back in Church tradition to St Luke. History of the Smolensk Icon.

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15. The Iveron Icon. The Greek original is called Panagia Portaitissa (“Keeper of the Gate”) and is kept in the Iveron monastery on My Athos. The icon shown on the Virgin tree is an exact copy of this icon commissioned in the 17th century and sent to Russia, where it was known as the Theotokos Iverskaya, or Theotokos of Iveron. This copy is a miracle-working icon in its own right. More recently, copies of this copy in Canada and Hawaii have streamed myrrh, also being acclaimed as wonder-working. For these reasons, the Iver icon is one of the most famous miraculous icons in Orthodoxy, both inside and outside of Russia. About the Myrrh-Streaming Hawaiian Iver Icon.

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The use of a tree, stylistically similar to the Tree of Jesse, simply shows the relationship between these various images. The largest central image is of the Nativity, and from this central event all the other icons of the Mother of God blossom forth. With the incarnation of God as the man Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin, we have the basis for all iconography. Revealed in the person of Jesus Christ, we have an image of God. All icons, but especially icons of Christ with His mother, are related to the historical event of Jesus’ birth in the cave. Without this event, there is no justification for painting holy images of Mary; with this event, there is no excuse for not painting, and honoring, images of the Mother of God with her Son.

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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.

Composition of the Root of Jesse Icon

15th century Greco-Italian Fresco

Known in Greek as the Root of Jesse (Ρίζα Ιεσσαί), this icon is also known in Russian as the Tree of Jesse (Древо Иессеево). It’s therefore unsurprising that most images of this type depict a large tree springing forth from Jesse, who is often shown reclining.

Jesse was the father of King David and though we know little else about him, this fact alone is significant. In Jewish prophecy the Messiah was supposed to be descended from David, and David himself is considered as a foreshadowing of the person of Jesus Christ. And so Jesse is shown as the root of this line of descent which culminates in Christ, who is depicted centrally within the tree as a child, sitting on the lap of His mother.

Jesse is shown asleep as though dead, perhaps because it is through the legacy of his offspring, rather than any recorded deeds during life, that Jesse is called righteous. More likely is that the imagery of the tree sprouting from Jesse’s side as he lays in slumber deliberately echoes the sleep Adam was put under before God brought forth Eve from his side.

Modern fresco from Vatopedi monastery

The branches surrounding Jesus and His mother depict smaller images of Christ’s forefathers along with those who prophesied of His coming. These can be as simple or as complicated as the iconographer wishes, but usually contain King David and his son Solomon along with a few of the prophets. Each of these predecessors of Christ is often shown with a scroll containing the relevant prophecy, and sometimes an accompanying image. For example, Jacob will be shown with a ladder, recalling his vision (Gen 28:10–19) which foretold of Christ’s birth. A fuller explanation of various Old Testament prophets and how they appear in icons is given in my post on the Akathist Hymn | Prophecies and Praises. The arrangement of the prophets around the Mother of God in the Akathist Icon is deliberately meant to imitate the Tree of Jesse.

Regardless of the “tree’s” complexity, the many branches surrounding the dominating figures of the Theotokos and Christ are clearly intended as a glorification of Jesus’ origins as well as a celebration of His birth.

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Origins of the Imagery

Jesse sprouting forth David, Solomon, the Theotokos and from her: Jesus Christ. Surrounding them are the prophets. (c. 1195)

Most icons of the Tree of Jesse date from the 12th to the 16th centuries yet the imagery which the icons are based upon is ancient. The reason the mysterious figure of Jesse is used as the root of the tree (why not Adam if it is a genealogy?) is because of Isaiah’s prophecy:

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” (Is 11:1)

The genealogy of Jesus given at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel, as well as Luke’s genealogy, confirm that Christ’s earthly heritage can be traced back to Jesse, the father of King David. The “stump” – the trunk of this family tree – is therefore the House of David, which is why David and his son Solomon are sometimes shown centrally, one above the other, as in the Psalter illumination above.

Most icons depict the Mother of God at the centre of the tree, as the “Rod of Jesse”, with Christ sat on her lap, as though blossoming forth from her. This imagery too is ancient, described as early as the 2nd century by Irenaeus of Lyons:

“Thereby the prophet says that it is of her, who is descended from David and from Abraham, that He is born. For Jesse was a descendant of Abraham, the father of David; the descendant who conceived Christ, the Virgin, is thus become the ‘rod’. Moses too worked his miracles before Pharaoh with a rod; and among others too of mankind, the rod is a sign of empire. And the ‘Flower’ refers to His body, for it was made to bud forth by the Spirit.”

Later in the 4th century, St Ambrose of Milan writes:

“The root is the household of the Jews, the rod is Mary, the Flower of Mary is Christ. She is rightly called a rod, for she is of the royal lineage, of the house and family of David. Her Flower is Christ, Who destroyed the stench of worldly pollution and poured out the fragrance of eternal life. As He Himself said, ‘I am a flower of the plain, a lily of the valleys’”

By the eigth-century, St Cosmas has enshrined this belief in hymnography, confirming it as more than simply an opinion, but as a confessed belief of the Church:

“Rod of the root of Jesse [Is. 11:1], and flower that blossomed from his stem, O Christ, You have sprung from the Virgin. From the mountain overshadowed by the forest You have come, made flesh from her that knew not wedlock, O God, Who are not formed from matter.”
(First Canon, Ode Four, Nativity Matins)

The painted images of the Mother of God as the “Rod of Jesse” that survive from the 11th and 12th centuries onwards is a further “enshrinement” of this belief. Not only do the Holy Father opine that the Mother of God is the “Rod of the Root of Jesse”, but the faithful as a whole confess it in hymns and in paint.

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A joyous and peaceful Christmas to everyone!

Extracts from the Prayers and Hymns for Christmas (contains the hymn mentioning the “Rod of the Root of Jesse”)

Wikipedia entry on the Tree of Jesse image. The article dwells on the Tree of Jesse in Western art (where it is more common), and is interesting for this reason. There are also many more examples of this image in art.

An excellent example of a Tree of Jesse Icon (with the prophets labelled!). The icon is modern, but based on a late 16th/early 17th century version painted by Michael Damaskinos.

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 (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.

The key to understanding such focus on this particular feastday is to remember that Joachim and Anna were an elderly couple who had all but given up hope of bearing a child. In Jewish culture at the time, to be unable to bear children was considered a great shame, and even a sign of God’s displeasure. Through the couples’ entreaties to God, Joachim and Anna were granted a child, and not only that, but a child who would give birth to the Saviour of the World. For this reason, St Anna has long been understood by Christians to answer the prayers of women wishing to become pregnant. Moreover, in Russia it is towards icons of the Conception that such entreaties have been directed.

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The Conception Icon used in Prayers for Children

The Conception of the Theotokos icon shown at the top of this post is late-16th century, from the region of the Ipatiev monastery in Russia. A well-painted and decorated icon such as this would not have been cheap, and so it is believed to have been commissioned by a noble family. Given its date and location, it is probable that such an icon belonged to Queen Irina Fedorovna Godunov, the wife of the physically-weak Tsar Feodor, son of Ivan the Terrible. Her life was overshadowed by ever-increasing pressure to produce a male heir to carry on the royal-line. Ultimately she was unsuccessful, and on the death of her husband she retired to a convent. This icon may have been the one before which the Queen prayed earnestly for a child. Her prayers for a child were not answered, but many Russian women from the middle ages until the present day have had their prayers answered after praying before icons such as these.

The hymns and prayers of the Church are inexhaustible, but it is a common feature that prayers asking for something also contain a confession of faith. Even the simplest of entreaties: Lord have mercy! is also a confession of God’s sovereignty, because it calls Him “Lord.” By directing prayers for conceiving children towards icons of St. Mary’s Conception, we are also confessing that God can and has done this in the past, granting the barren Anna a child. Before such an image, it is easy to imagine how a childless couple may empathize, and pray for a similar miracle in their own lives.

Since thy prayer was heard by God
When thou wast barren and full of grief,
Do thou entreat Him, O righteous Anna,
For those women who are with child.
- From the Canon to the Righteous Joachim and Anna

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Composition of the Conception Icon

The icon of the Conception of the Theotokos is very simple. Joachim and Anna tenderly embrace, standing before a bed. Without being explicit, it is boldly confessed that, whilst a miracle granted to a barren couple, the conception of St Mary happened through natural means. This can be compared with Icons of the Annunciation, which could be described as the Conception of Jesus Christ: in those icons Mary is not shown with Joseph; Mary remained a virgin.

In the corners, Joachim and Anna are shown separately. According to the Protoevangelium, in his grief Joachim retired to the desert in fasting and prayer for forty days, whilst Anna remained lamenting at home. An angel was sent to each of the holy couple announcing that their entreaties had been heard by God and that they should return to each other to conceive: the main scene shows the happy meeting.

In the background are the walls of Jerusalem, with the bed placed before the Royal Gates. The gates are a prefiguration of Mary, who by being the Mother of God is the royal gates through which the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, enters the world. (See also: Akathist Hymn in Icons | Praises and Prophecies).

Today the bonds of barrenness are broken,
God has heard the prayers of Joachim and Anna.
He has promised them beyond all their hopes,
To bear the Maiden of God
By whom the Uncircumscribed One was born as mortal man,
Who commanded an angel to cry to Her:
Rejoice, O Full of Grace, the Lord is with You!
(Troparion of the Feast)

More about the Feast of the Conception of the Theotokos

Protoevangelium of James

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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.

At the First Council of Nicea (325 A.D.) the anti-Trinitarian heresy spouted by Arius so angered Nicholas that he walked over to Arius in mid-speech and struck him in the face. The scene is shown in all its glory in this fresco.

For his transgression, Nicholas was evicted from the Council, stripped of his bishorpic, and thrown in prison. Whilst there, Nicholas was visited one night by Jesus Christ and the Mother of God: Jesus holding a Gospel book, Mary a bishop’s stole. Christ handed the book to Nicholas, whilst the Theotokos offered the omophorion, restoring Nicholas to the rank of bishop, as it were, by Divine decree. The next morning the gaoler was astonished to find Nicholas miraculously unchained and dressed as a bishop. The First Ecumenical Council ultimately condemned Arius as a heretic, and St. Nicholas was indeed restored to the episcopacy. And so in icons of the Saint, Christ and St. Mary are shown giving the Gospel book and omophorion to Nicholas.

See also: “Bishop Nicholas Loses His Cool”, from St Nicholas Center

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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.

At the top of this post is the oldest surviving icon of St Nicholas, painted in Constantinople sometime during the 10th century. It is currently stored in the monastery of St Catherine in Sinai. Later icons of St Nicholas show him slightly older than here, with whiter hair and a receding hair-line.

St Nicholas is dressed as a bishop, characterized by the white stole embroidered with crosses over his shoulders. Called an omophorion in Greek, omophor in Slavic, and pallium in Latin, the bishop’s stole represents the lost sheep carried over the shoulders of the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-21) and thus signifies the bishop’s pastoral role. In St Nicholas’ time, it would probably have been made from lamb’s wool.

Luke 6:17 (19th century Russian icon)

As a bishop, St Nicholas also holds a copy of the Gospels in his left hand. Another ministry of the Church’s bishops is to preserve and proclaim the Gospel (see: “Gospel Book” in The meaning of objects held by Saints in Icons). In later Russian icons, the Gospel book can be shown open, and when it is a variant of Luke 6:17 is usually written upon it, the prelude to Christ’s Sermon on the Plain. His right hand is not shown in a blessing in the 10th-century icon, but is depicted this way in near-contemporary icons of the Saint (and other bishop-saints).

In medallions around the border of the Icon are the busts of Christ and His Saints. Christ Himself is in the centre at the top, flanked by the Apostles Peter (left) and Paul (right). On either side of St Nicholas are four Warrior-Saints, dressed in the Roman Imperial armour and cloaks of their time, holding spears and swords. On the left are the martyrs Demetrius and Theodore Stratelates, whilst on the right are the martyrs George and Procopius of Scythopolis. At the bottom are three Holy Unmercenaries (healers): Cosmas, Panteleimon, and Damian.

None of these Saints particularly relate to the life of St Nicholas, but taken together they can be regarded as comprising the different ranks of the Sainthood: the Apostles, the Martyrs, the Holy-Warriors, and the Healers are all represented here, overlooked by Jesus Christ. At the centre of all these famous Saints (and they were all incredibly well-revered in the 10th century) is St Nicholas. He is therefore shown not only as the archetypal Bishop, but the archetypal Saint. The icon represents what the faithful in the ancient Church thought of Nicholas of Myra, and such reverence is preserved in later icons too.

St Nicholas the Wonder-Worker (Св. Николай Чудотворец), Moscow 1677

The truth of thy deeds
hath revealed thee to thy flock as a canon of faith,
an icon of meekness,
and a teacher of abstinence;
for this thou hast achieved the heights by humility,
riches by poverty,
O Father and Hierarch Nicholas,
intercede with Christ God that our souls may be saved.

-Hymn for St Nicholas (and the basic hymns for all holy hierachs: that’s how archetypal St Nicholas is)

See also: Why Christ and the Theotokos are in Icons of St Nicholas

Brief life of St Nicholas the Wonderworker and Archbishop of Myra in Lycia (from the OCA).

The St Nicholas Center – a wealth of information on the Saint.

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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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