Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ to my right, Christ to my left.
CHRIST WITHIN ME.
This icon is precisely about that last line: the fulfilment of it all, the calling of all creation, the true self of each of us: my Creator within my being.
Press your hands against your heart and feel Christ – I’ve seen the old fathers in my monastery make this gesture as they were praying the Jesus prayer. Completely unaware of what they were doing, entirely caught up in the reality of whatever they were experiencing – something almost like an unwilling confession, they were pointing to their heart as if to say: here, here is where Christ lives. I remember feeling ashamed to witness this. I remember looking down, as if trying not to stain what I was witnessing with the unworthiness of my own heart. That gesture of theirs, those fingers pressing against their chest have been with me ever since, and this icon is about THAT.
Press your hands against your heart and feel Christ. He is already there, His Kingdom has always been there. Not as a metaphor, not as a symbol, but Christ-God Himself, as real as His Body and Blood.
For more detailed photographs, follow this link.
Thank you very much for the icon of Saint Patrick! Blessed Feast. We look forward to worshipping with you this weekend and next in Indianapolis.
Thank you for the comment, dear Amy, and I am so glad that you like the icons. They are a great challenge for the Monastery, in more than one way, but I feel we have done more good (assuming there is anything good in what any of us do) through this project than anything else before. I look forward to seeing you too!
Can the Icon be purchased
Dear Mark, forgive me for not getting back to you sooner; I was caught with our third pilgrimage this summer and that takes all my time. Yes, of course the icon can be purchased – it will be a new commission, though, which means that it will not be an identical copy of the one on the site.
We purposely try not to make identical copies, but to think and pray for each new commission, to approach each icon as if it is the first one. The advantage of doing this (which takes more time and more effort on our side) is that you will have an entirely personal and unique icon. It also means that we enrich the iconographic tradition concerning the Celtic Saints with one more composition, which is the main purpose of this project.
Send me an email ([email protected]) to talk about it in more detail. It has a lot to do with your personal relationship with St Patrick.
Thank you for your message – may God bless us all.
In Christ,
fr s