“Reading” a Marian Eucharistic Icon

Scripturally, Theologically, and Liturgically

This icon has a double appellation. The first is that of place, Our Lady of Connecticut, because its basic symbols are derived from the state’s shield and motto. Its second designation is that of grace, Virgin Mother of the Holy Vine, from w … [Read more...]

The Interface of Spirituality and Theology in Leontius of Jerusalem and Theodore the Studite

Lex orandi, lex credendi: the law of prayer is the law of belief. This maxim, attributed to the fifth century writer, Prosper of Aquitaine, pithily expresses the inherent link between theology and spirituality. The way in which one connects … [Read more...]

Worth a Thousand Words: Iconography as Language

“A picture is worth a thousand words,” as the saying goes. This common phrase hints at something deeper: the profound ability of images to communicate ideas. This should not surprise us. Words are signs, pointing to something beside … [Read more...]

Scriptural Iconography Communicating Our Vision of God

Literature, whether in the form of narratives, plays, autobiographies, biographies, or histories, is a question-raising work of art for the inquisitive mind seeking understanding. As such, it presents what scholastic philosophy called “the s … [Read more...]

Lowliness of the Forerunner

THE FRIEND OF THE BRIDEGROOM: On the Orthodox Veneration of the Forerunner. By Sergius Bulgakov; translated by Boris Jakim, (Eerdmans Press, 255 Jefferson Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49503, 2003) PB $28.

The classic Deisis icon depicts the intercession of the Blessed Mother and John the Baptist. With Christ firmly at the middle, the Deisis represents the consummation of the old covenant and the beginning of the new, the first fulfilled by … [Read more...]