Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church
Byzantine Rite
New Icons
Faith
Heritage
Community
All the new icons at Holy Trinity were "written" by
Mr. Dennis Bell of Mosack's Inc. in Painesville, Ohio.
Mr. Bell, B.M.E, M.Ed., has nearly twenty years experience in teaching public school music and art, painting icons, and directing choirs in Orthodox Churches. He has conducted seminars and workshops across the country and his icons can be found throughout America, in Europe and the Middle East.
Mr. Bell learned the spirituality and the technique of icon painting from a master iconographer, the Rev. Theodore Jurewicz. By watching Jurewicz, Bell learned to create the glowing quality Bell likens to that of a light bulb within a lampshade. "In an icon, you're showing what happens when a person reaches sanctity,"..."The Sanctified person radiates the uncreated light from within."
Mr. Bell also states, " Virtually nothing is left to the creativity of the iconographer, who never signs a painting. Since icon painting is sacramental in nature, like other sacraments it must follow guidelines established by the church and cannot simply express the feelings of the painter. Much to the contrary, the iconographer is called to surrender his imagination and will to the Divine Will, to become completely transparent to God and to convey the same divine truth as are revealed in Holy Scripture. "
Icon of the Holy Trinity
by Dennis Bell
Holy Scripture tells us that “God is spirit, and will be worshipped in spirit and in truth, ”and Christ Himself says in the holy Gospel, "No man hath seen the Father, save the Son" (cf. John6:46). We cannot depict what we cannot see. The church has declared that the icon of the Trinity as an old man, a youth and a bird, is not canonical, and should be avoided. We cannot show a depiction of God the Father. The Holy Spirit as a dove is appropriate only in the context where he actually appeared as such, namely, in the icon of the Baptism of Our Lord.
The proper icon of the Holy Trinity ironically depicts an event that took place in the Old Testament. In Genesis 18, the patriarch Abraham is visited by three angels, and he greets them in the singular (as one), *My Lord,* and welcomes them into his home by the Tree of Mamre. Sometimes Abraham and Sarah are shown waiting on the angels in this icon, properly known as the “Hospitality of Abraham.”
And so, even in the Old Testament, we have a depiction of the Holy Trinity, even though this dogmatic truth wasn’t spelled out until the end of the Gospels of the New Testament.
Composition-wise, this icon of the “Old Testament Trinity” shows the three angels seated around a table in front of Abraham’s dwelling and the Tree of Mamre. The angel on the left is wearing rather translucent robes, indicating his spiritual quality. The other two angels are bowing to him in submission, recognizing the Father as the source of all Divinity. The center angel is wearing the traditional blue and red robes (the colors of humanity and divinity) of Christ, and is giving his customary blessing; the angel represents the Only-Begotten Son, the second person of the Trinity. The angel on the right is wearing a green robe, the color of Pentecost, the feast of the Holy Spirit.
The footstools of the side angels, and building, tree, and mountains in the background together form an elongated circle, showing the eternal nature of the Trinity.
Icon of the Pentecost
The Pentecost icon depicts the descent of the Holy Spirit, in form of tongues of fire, on the heads of the Apostles.
Pentecost is "the birthday of the Church." On this day, with the descent of the Holy Spirit, Christ's mission is completed, and the New Covenant is inaugurated.
The Acts of the Apostles recounts the story of the original Pentecost as well (Acts 2). Jews from all over were gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish feast. On that Sunday, ten days after our Lord's Ascension, the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary were gathered in the Upper Room, where they had seen Christ after His Resurrection:
“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:2-4)
The design of this icon has the Apostles sitting, as on Mount Sion, representing the first Church community, the beginning of the Christian Church. They form a semicircle to express the unity of the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ. The icon is not a depiction of the historical events of Pentecost, but it signifies that this is a great event for all time.
As with many icons, the Apostles are pictured in an inverse perspective, the figures grow larger as they recede into the background. Also, the building that the Apostles were in, is shown as background.
At the top of the icon is another semicircle, with rays coming from it. The rays are pointing toward the Apostles, and the "tongues of fire" are seen descending upon each one of them signifying the descent of the Holy Spirit.
At the center of the group of Apostles, there is a place which is unoccupied but contains the gospel, The Word of God. This space is reserved for Christ, the invisible head of the Church.
The group of twelve represents the Church, but not just those mentioned in the book of Acts as being with the others on the day of Pentecost. Pictured in the icon is also St. Paul, who became an Apostle of the Church and the greatest missionary.
In yet another semicircle, at the bottom of the icon, is a symbolic figure of a king, *Cosmos*. He is in a dark place that represents the world enveloped by the darkness of sin. This one person represents the whole world that had formerly been without the light of faith. Through the power of the Holy Spirit the Church brings light to the whole world by her teaching. The figure of Cosmos is shown coming out into the light having a cloth containing 12 scrolls which represent the teaching of the 12 Apostles.
Icon of the Baptism of Ukraine
According to ancient tradition it was St. Andrew, the apostle, who brought Christianity to Ukraine. Saint Andrew is believed to have traveled up the western shores of the Black Sea, to the area of present-day southern Ukraine, while preaching in the lands of Scythia. In preaching to the Greek colonists, he traveled along the coast of the Black Sea and then continued north along the Dnipro River, reaching the mountains of Kyiv until he came to the location of present-day Kyiv in 55 AD, where he erected a cross and prophesied the foundation of a great Christian city. Belief in the missionary visit of St. Andrew became widespread by the Middle Ages, and by 1621, a Kyiv synod had declared him the "Rus' (Ukrainian)-apostle". Prior to the conversion to Christianity, the area of current day Ukraine (Kyivan Rus’) was pagan, with strong beliefs in various gods and goddesses tied into nature.
It was St. Olha, wife of Prince Ihor, who was the first to convert to Christianity from paganism and was baptized by the Patriarch of Constantinople in 945.
Her son, Sviatoslav continued to worship pagan gods of the Slavic pantheon. He remained a stubborn pagan all of his life. Olha died in 969 and it was her grandson, Volodymyr, who embraced Christianity and discarded all his pagan beliefs. And, since he was married to the sister of the Greek Emperor of Constantinople, Volodymyr was influenced by the Greeks, not only in trade but also in religious customs.
The Primary Chronicle (a history of Kyivan Rus' complied around 1113 by a monk named Nestor) reports that in the year 987, Volodymyr sent envoys to study the religions of the various neighboring nations whose representatives had been urging him to embrace their respective faiths. They studied and reported back to him on Islam, Judaism, & Christianity. When the pagan messengers of Prince Vladimir attended the Divine Liturgy in St. Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople, they were deeply impressed and unutterably excited.
His envoys stated that this ideal was found in Constantinople at the Church of Hagia Sophia: *We no longer knew whether we were in heaven or on earth*, they reported, "nor such beauty and we know not how to tell of it.* Ultimately Volodymyr settled on Christianity.
At first Volodymyr baptized his 12 sons and many boyars (highest ranking officials). He destroyed the wooden statues of Slavic pagan gods. He then exhorted the residents of his capital to the Dnipro River for baptism.
This mass baptism became the iconic inaugural event in the Christianization of the state of Kyivan Rus' in 988. The chronicle describes this event as follows: *When Volodymyr returned to Kyiv, he ordered that the idols be overturned.....and be thrown into the Dnipro River. Thereafter, he sent the trumpeters to spread all over the city: “If someone does not come to the river tomorrow, be they poor or rich, of lowly or high birth, they will be my enemies.” Hearing these words, the folks were coming gladly, saying to each other: “Should this not be good, the Prince would not accept it and the boyars either.” On the day of baptism, Volodymyr and the Queen’s Byzantine priests appeared above the Dnipro River, where an innumerable multitude had gathered. They descended into water and remained standing there, some to the neck, others to the breast, the youth standing in water by the riverside likewise to their breast, and still others holding their children. The priests were standing there praying, and one could see and feel joy coming from heaven and spreading here on earth over the salvation of so many souls.”
To commemorate the event, Volodymyr built the first stone church of Kyivan Rus' called the Church of the Tithes, where his body and the body of his new wife were to repose. Christianity in Ukraine was first spread through the towns, and later on through the villages. The devotion to the Mother of God became a guarantee of the nation’s Christian future.
The baptism of Rus’-Ukraine is valued as the most significant event ever in the history of the Ukrainian nation; it is considered the “birth of the Ukrainian church”.
The icon of the Baptism of Ukraine depicts the mass baptism of the Ukrainian people (Rus’) on the banks of the Dnipro River. In this icon, the central figure holding a cross, is St. Andrew who brought Christianity to Ukraine and is the patron saint of Ukraine. The figure on the left is St. Volodymyr and on the right is St. Anne, Volodymyr*s wife. Below them is a Byzantine bishop and three Byzantine priests who baptized the people in the river. In the background is the city of Kyiv.
Angels
In our vestibule are two new icons of Angels that greet people as they enter the church.
The angels are holding two orbs...the one on the left has the letters IC XC and the one on the right,
the letters NIKA.
The letters IC XC are Greek letters from the abbreviation of Isus Christos (Jesus Christ), and the Greek word NIKA means “Conquer”. The two angels in the back are, like all angels, ministering to Christ, and their orbs (symbols of their authority as ministering spirits) include the declaration that Jesus Christ conquers.
The same symbol appears throughout the church, on Gospel covers, banners, and on the prosphora bread that is used for communion. It is reminiscent of the symbol that St. Constantine saw in the sky the evening before a critical battle; a cross, with the inscription “EN TOUTO NIKA”, meaning, “by this (sign you will) conquer”. Accordingly, he had the sign of the cross emblazoned on all his troop’s armor and went on to become the sole ruler of the eastern Roman, or Byzantine Empire.
Toweling (Curtains)
In our Sanctuary, Toweling, or Curtains, have been added.
In the Old Testament, at the beginning of the Jewish Exodus from Egypt, when Moses was leading Israel on its wanderings for forty years in the desert, they needed a visible means of worshipping their God. God gave to Moses specific instructions to construct a tabernacle in order to conduct proper worship during their wanderings. It would have to be portable to be carried on the journey, and then erected when the nation came to a resting place. (see Exodus chapter 26 and especially 27:9-19)
A series of curtains was to be set up in a rectangle about 25 yards by 50 yards, with an inner curtain to designate the Holy Place in which was kept the candle stand, altar of incense and the Ark of the Covenant. The draped curtains designated sacred space within which God encountered man, and man offered sacrifices to worship his God.
When the permanent temple was built in Jerusalem at the end of the Exodus, the curtain was still used to separate the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. It was this curtain that was rent in twain during the resurrection of our Lord. (Matt. 27:51)
This depiction of curtains or toweling, to delineate sacred space in which God is worshipped is a very common element in Byzantine iconography, and is found in eastern churches of all nationalities.
Blessed Sunday, July 11, 2010