Exhibit will look at the changing view of Mary

From Massachusetts-

The Museum of Russian Icons will open a new exhibit, "Pondering Mary: Her Story Through Icons," on Saturday, March 18. A symposium, presented by three local scholars, will precede the opening reception.

The exhibit, curated by the Rev. Chris Visminas, features 38 Russian icons (sacred art used for veneration by the Orthodox Church), some of which date back to the 1500s. The exhibit tells the story of Mary, the Mother of God, as portrayed in icons and how views of her differ distinctly in different cultures.

Visminas is an ordained Episcopal minister. She holds a bachelor's in theology from Duquesne University, and a master's in theology from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.

"Over the centuries, as Western devotion to her grew, Mary was depicted as a slim young woman with flowing hair, who was both sweet and compassionate with demure humility," Visminas said. "In the East, however, she was portrayed as one who is in full possession of her powers. She is a woman who has born life and death, seen joy and grief and has 'pondered all these things in her heart.' "

More here-

http://www.telegram.com/news/20170307/exhibit-will-look-at-changing-view-of-mary

Del Mar’s ‘Mother Paige’ makes news with her hand-painted icons

From Delmar-

Despite the more casual, contemporary use of the word “icon,” icons are actually part of an ancient tradition of Christian art, inspirational paintings of sacred subjects that may date back to the time of the apostles, when St. Luke was said to have painted images of the Virgin Mary. Icons were particularly popular during the Byzantine Empire, when frescoes flourished, and the art of iconography spread across Europe to Russia.

These days, icons are being painted locally by the Rev. Paige Blair, rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Del Mar. Her works recently gained wider attention when several were chosen as cover art for “Forward Day by Day,” a national quarterly published by the Episcopal Church.

How did Blair, who was born on March Air Force Base in Riverside and dreamed of being the country’s first woman fighter pilot, become “Mother Paige,” a parish priest with a talent for iconography?

More here-

http://www.delmartimes.net/2014/02/05/del-mar’s-‘mother-paige’-makes-news-with-her-hand-painted-icons/

Orthodox Christian iconographer in Boise is part of an ancient tradition

From Kansas City (but from Boise)

Matthew Garrett makes a living from the tip of his paintbrush.

The 34-year-old paints nearly every day, re-creating scenes from the Bible and heavenly images of the risen Jesus, Christian saints and angels on wood and canvas. He carries forward the ancient tradition of Orthodox Christian iconography in a modest West Boise, Idaho, house that he shares with his wife, Lisa, and her cat, Cecelia.

Garrett has been commissioned by individuals and churches all over the country over the past 17 years, finding jobs through old-fashioned word-of-mouth and through his website. His work is in several churches, among them, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Boise.

With a parishioner's donation, the church commissioned an icon of the Martyrdom of Stephen. After 40 days of prayer, the church unveiled the 3-by-4-foot icon at its 49th anniversary celebration in September.

"It is splendid. ... I think a lot of people in the parish were moved by how beautiful it was," said Father David Wettstein of St. Stephen's.

Iconography isn't part of the Episcopal tradition, but it's not uncommon to find icons in Protestant churches, Wettstein said. He sees icons as "windows to Heaven." "They teach us about holy living and holy lives," Wettstein said. "A lot of people learn best visually, or their hearts are captured visually by painting.

Read more:

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/11/09/3256034/orthodox-christian-iconographer.html#ixzz1dIqz9NzR

Orthodox icons are seen as 'theology in color'

From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Antiochian Village is just up the road a bit)

On a wall behind the altar of an Orthodox camp chapel near Ligonier is a larger-than-life icon of Jesus freeing souls from Hades.

The 8-foot Jesus, robed in white, stands on his broken cross. Its shards also represent the shattered gates of Hades, which in Orthodox theology is where the righteous and unrighteous await judgment. Grasping the hands of Adam and Eve, he raises them from a dark pit.

The icon illustrates an ancient understanding of Jesus' resurrection as the gift he offers to all humanity on a renewed Earth. While all Orthodox churches are filled with icons, the Resurrection icon in the camp chapel at Antiochian Village retreat and conference center is one of the largest in Pennsylvania and possibly the United States.

"An icon is theology in color," said Mother Alexandra, founder of the Convent of St. Thekla, which also is on the grounds of Antiochian Village in Bolivar, Westmoreland County. The center, which also houses a museum and bookstore, is a ministry of the Antiochian Orthodox Church.

Today Eastern and Western Christians all celebrate Easter. Most years the Orthodox celebrate after Catholics and Protestants because they use a different formula to calculate the date of Easter and also observe it according to the Julian calendar. The Orthodox and Catholic churches were originally one, but split in 1054. Orthodoxy is dominant in the east, Catholicism in the west. Protestants split from Catholicism centuries later.

Read more:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10094/1047845-455.stm#ixzz0k7zPzGz7

Icons: an Evangelical Anglican perspective

The word ‘icon’ has been popularised through it use in modern computers. We understand the phrase, ‘click on the icon’. Apple Macintosh developed this way of highlighting the meaning of a computer application by focusing on an ‘icon’, which is a recognisable pictorial symbol of it, and provides access to it. Currently, we see adverts for the iPhone which feature the screen of the phone ablaze with icons. An interesting secular echo, perhaps, in word and image, of the screen across the sanctuary of an Eastern Orthodox church, the iconostasis, on which the icons are positioned…?

Church icons are, of course, different from computer icons – they are personal rather than impersonal – but they are still vitally symbolic and, for many, provide some sort of intriguing access. Traditionally, evangelical Anglicans have been wary of icons, though many now appreciate them for prayer. The second of the ten commandments, warning against idols and the consequent concern about veneration turning into something akin to worship, are all taken seriously.

‘You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them’ states the second commandment (Exodus 20:4).

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5895214.ece

Good Stuff in TEC: North Carolina

Episcopal rector faithfully teaches about icons

In the cold back room of the Church of St. Peter the Fisherman, three women are coaxing images etched on a board from darkness into light.

Sunlight glints off of gilding as Jesus, John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene slowly take shape under the watchful eye of retired Episcopal rector Timothy Dols, who teaches the "Images of the Holy" icon-writing class here every Saturday.

The materials are tricky and the pace is slow, but students say it's worth it.
"A lot of paintings, to me, are on the surface," student Pamela Stringer said. "These are like the night sky in the Sinai Desert - you can almost see the layers."

The Star-News of Wilmington reported that icons, stylized religious images that usually depict saints or Biblical figures and events, "use the symbols of faith to help people understand the presence of God," Dols said.

http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/4288836/