12th century icon The Virgin of Vladimir.
By Roland Ashby
An icon is a window onto the divine, and the word ‘iconic’ has become a favourite word to describe our heroes. One of the most famous icons is the 12th century Byzantine icon, The Virgin of Vladimir, as shown above. It depicts Jesus as a child being held in the arms of his mother Mary, and it still speaks poignantly to us today.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, writes of the icon:
If we begin, as most of us tend to, with a notion that God stands at a distance, waiting for us to make a move in his direction, this image should give us something of a shock. The Lord here does not wait, impassive, as we babble on about our shame and penitence, trying to persuade him that we are worth forgiving. His love is instead that of an eager and rather boisterous child, scrambling up on his mother’s lap, seizing handfuls of her clothing and nuzzling his face against hers, with that extraordinary hunger for sheer physical closeness that children will show with loving parents.[1]
This Christmas, the icon invites us to find a time of quiet amidst all the frenetic activity, and to silently gaze on it with the eyes of the heart.
Abbess Christine Valters Paintner says this is a “gentle, receptive gaze, not a hard, penetrating gaze.”
She continues:
Move your eyes over the image, taking in all the colours, shapes, and symbols.
Bring a sense of curiosity to this image, exploring it with reverence, noticing all the textures and features that come with seeing more closely.
As your eyes wander around the image in a brief visual pilgrimage, notice if there is a particular area or feature of the icon that draws your attention, that stirs energy for you. Allow your eyes to rest gently there.
Be present to this place on the icon that is calling for more attention. Open your imagination to memories and other images that want to stir in you in response. Allow this place, these symbols or colours, to unfold, to make other connections. Savour what emerges. Notice if there are any feelings rising within you.[2]
What is the Spirit, through the icon, offering you, or calling forth in you?
The icon invites us to gaze on Mary’s eyes. “In the meeting of the eyes, hers and His and ours, the mother becomes the one who introduces the Holy One to us”, spiritual teacher and retreat leader Penny Sturrock said recently.[3]
The icon also invites us to gaze on Mary’s hands. Spiritual teacher and author Henri Nouwen writes:
As our attention moves from her eyes to her hands, we slowly recognise her profound patience … she is mother not only to her crucified Son, but to all men and women who suffer in this world … she invites us, suffering people, to come to Jesus … [she] fully knows our fears, hesitations, agonies, suspicions and insecurities. She is the patient mother who waits for the right time to receive our “Yes”.
Nouwen continues:
Notice that one of her hands supports the child while the other remains free in an open gesture of invitation to us, to move closer to Jesus and discover in that movement the God to whom we belong. That free hand simply offers the child as Saviour of the world to all who are open to seeing Jesus with the eyes of faith.[4]
Rest gently in the icon, and you may wish to spend some time in prayer and give thanks for the way Spirit has touched you.
Dear Reader,
If you live in Melbourne, Australia, you may be interested in the following course that Ottavia Pittella and I (Roland Ashby) are offering, starting in February 2025:
Meditation and mindfulness in the Christian tradition –
a 10-week course at Wellspring Spirituality Centre,
10 Y Street, Ashburton, Victoria
Saturdays 11am-12.30pm, followed by optional BYO lunch,
Dates: 8 Feb-3 May 2025.
Tap into a deep spring of love, joy, peace and compassion at the centre of our being. Jesus called it Living Water, with which we will never thirst.
Cultivate a Christ-centred mindfulness, a transforming, healing awareness of the
Divine in daily life, and learn how to meditate:
on Scripture and other sacred texts;
by using a prayer word or mantra;
through mindfulness of the breath and body;
on icons and other art works;
by using visualization.
Focussing on the practice of meditation, the course will be largely experiential. The course will introduce and draw on the ancient wisdom of several traditions of contemplative prayer, including Lectio Divina, Visio Divina, imaginative contemplation, mantra meditation and centring prayer. No previous experience is necessary.
Roland Ashby, who is a writer and author (see www.thelivingwater.com.au), spiritual director, and the Coordinator of the World Community for Christian Meditation in Victoria, has an MA in theology, majoring in contemplative spirituality. He has nearly 25 years’ experience as a meditator and is an experienced facilitator of meditation.
Ottavia Pittella is a spiritual director and meditation teacher. She holds a Certificate in Guiding Meditation in the Christian Tradition from the Australian Catholic University and she brings the experience of her personal practice and in-depth study of the tradition for over twenty years.
To register, please click here:
https://www.wellspringcentre.org.au/index.cfm?module=event&pagemode=indiv&page_id=2497435
References:
[1] Rowan Williams, Ponder These Things – Praying with Icons of the Virgin (John Garratt Publishing, Melbourne, 2002) 22
[2] Christine Valters Paintner, Lectio Divina – The Sacred Art (SPCK, London, 2012) 151
[3] As said in a retreat organised by the World Community for Christian Meditation in Victoria, Australia, at Pallotti College, Victoria 29 November to 1 December 2024.
[4] Henri Nouwen, Behold the Beauty of the Lord – Praying with Icons (Ave Maria Press, 2007), 52, as cited by Penny Sturrock in a retreat organised by the World Community for Christian Meditation in Victoria, Australia, at Pallotti College, Victoria 29 November to 1 December 2024.