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The Orthodox Pages
CHAPTER THREE BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS |
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I mentioned earlier that the Icon is the word of God represented in images. When we learn how to read the Icon, we see that it is also a dogmatic statement confirming the very beliefs of the Church. Let us take a look at the Icon of the Nativity of Christ [See plate 2] and see what we can learn from it. We see that Christ is wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger within a dark cave. This immediately brings to mind the account given in the Gospel of St. Luke 2: 12, where the swaddling clothes and the manger were mentioned by the angel to the shepherds as a sign by which they were to recognize the Saviour. They also have a deeper meaning: the cave, the manger and the swaddling clothes suggest poverty and represent Christ’s extreme humility. Christ could have chosen to be born in great wealth, but instead humbled Himself so that even a simple human dwelling place seemed like a great luxury in comparison with the cave He chose as His birthplace: a cave which served as a stable for dumb animals. Instead of a baby’s crib, He chose to place Himself in a manger where the animals took their feed, and instead of a royal garment, He selected for Himself swaddling bands. It is not surprising that the Jews failed to recognize the Messiah in such a lowly birth: they were waiting for Him to come in great glory as their King, to deliver them from the tyranny of the Romans. We see that from his very birth, Christ teaches us that humility and poverty lead man to salvation, whereas pride and riches lead man on the road to destruction.
The cave also symbolizes the tomb where Christ will be laid after His saving death on the Cross, and the swaddling clothes foreshadow His burial clothes. The interior of the cave is painted in black and this represents the world living in sin and therefore in darkness. Christ in the midst of this darkness is the light that is come into the world to deliver man from the darkness of sin. In the Gospel of St. John we read many times of Christ as the light of the world: “and the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” [1: 5], “I am the light of the world: he that Followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” [8: 12], “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” [9: 5], “I am come a light into the world that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness” [12: 46].
Next to Christ, we see an ox and an ass. We do not read of this in the Gospels: this detail is taken from the prophecy of Isaiah: “The ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master’s crib but Israel doth not know me and the people hath not regarded me” [Isaiah 1:3]. This prophecy is fulfilled in the Nativity of Christ: the animals recognize their creator but the people of Israel, waiting for the Messiah to come in glory, failed to recognize him because they did not understand the prophecy concerning the lowly birth.
In the centre of the Icon, we see the Virgin Mary and Mother of God, relaxing on a bed similar to the type the Jews carried with them in those days. She can be shown either in a sitting position or lying down, but should always be seen to be in a relaxed state to indicate the painless birth and that Christ the New Adam, has restored in His incarnation, the union between God and man, lost by the fall of the Old Adam. The position of the Mother of God indicates to the two natures of Christ: in the seated position we are reminded again of the painless birth and therefore the divine origin of Christ, and in lying down we are reminded that Christ is like one of us, a human being.
When a woman gives childbirth, she is normally very exhausted by the pain in giving birth. This is not how God intended woman to be, but because Eve, the first woman, accepted sin, God punished woman through childbirth. We read in Genesis 3: 17 [Septuagint version], that God said to Eve, “I will greatly multiply thy pains and thy groanings; in pain thou shalt bring forth children”. Pain in childbirth is therefore a curse from God because of sin. Having chosen the Jewish nation and setting them apart from other nations, God elected within this nation a royal line from which He would receive flesh from one of its descendants. The Mother of God was at the end of this long lineage of ancestors prepared for His incarnation, where by constant trials by God, some failed and some acquired holiness. The Blessed Virgin was a part of fallen humanity even in her election. Election does not mean exception from ‘original sin’. The Mother of God, free from all personal sin, and giving her humble consent to receive in her womb the Son of God, was prepared by the Holy Spirit as it is told to us in the Gospel of St. Luke 1:35. The Archangel Gabriel said to Mary, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee”. In Eve who accepted sin, childbirth was accompanied by pain, and all men and women born of the seed of man inherit the consequences of sin. Christ is the only exception; He was not conceived by the seed of man. His birth was without pain and He came forth while still keeping intact the seal of His mother’s virginity. Both the conception and the birth of Jesus are a great mystery to us and reach beyond our understanding.
It would seem right to mention here that Christ, born outside of original sin and had no part with sin during His life, was a ‘perfect’ human being and therefore was not subject to decay, hunger, pain and other conditions we are subjected to, and which eventually lead us to death. The fact that Christ suffered all these conditions was that with His incarnation, He freely accepted the ‘consequences of sin’ so that He could be like us and suffer like us. His acceptance of the ‘consequences of sin’ manifests His utter humility and self-abasement in what He did for us, and His great Love for mankind.
In the bottom right hand corner of the Icon, we see two women washing the child. The Gospels do not speak of this detail, the scene is based on a tradition and from the apocryphal gospels of St. James and St. Matthew, which say that when it was time for the birth, Joseph went to the town and found two midwives to help. Although these apocryphal gospels are held apart from the canonical gospels, the Church has silently accepted many of the stories they relate, especially on the Nativity of Christ and the conception, birth and death of the Mother of God, When stories handed down through tradition are in agreement with the apocryphal stories we usually find references to them in the liturgical hymns for the festival. In this case, we find no mention of the two midwives in the hymns and so we are left with the question of ‘why are they represented in the Icon’? St. Meletius the Confessor considered this tale spurious [not genuine] and placed it with the other false writings of heretics. To take its representation literally, as found in the apocryphal., would insinuate that the Mother of God underwent the pain and discomfort of natural childbirth and needed assistance, but as we have already seen, this was not, the case: the birth was without pain and in a way that surpasses the human intellect, It seems doubtful then that the midwives were present at the birth and so the event seen in the Icon should only be seen as having a symbolic meaning, for it serves to show that the child is like any other new-born baby and that having freely accepted the fallen nature of man and the consequences of this state, He is subject to the natural requirements of fallen human nature. One of these requirements is the need for bathing.
In the other bottom corner, we see Joseph in a sitting position and in deep thought. Unlike western art, which depicts a family of Joseph, Mary and the child, here Joseph is separated from the central group of the mother and child. This is to show that Joseph is not the father. Standing next to Joseph is an old man holding a walking stick, The old man represents the devil disguised as a shepherd and tempting Joseph by telling him that a virgin birth is not possible because it is opposed by the laws of nature, This event is again taken from tradition and the apocryphal. Here Joseph can represent every one of us, for just as Joseph was confused and troubled by the virgin birth, in a like manner; we too have difficulty in accepting situations that reach beyond our logical reasoning. Joseph overcame this temptation and so we too should pray to overcome similar temptations, and to always remember that nothing is impossible with God.
Above Joseph, we see the three wise men bringing their gifts and being lead by the star. They are sometimes represented on horseback and at other times on foot walking towards Christ. They are represented as men of different ages thereby showing that God reveals Himself to men without regard to their age or worldly experience. The wise men also represent the church among the heathen showing that Christ came to save all nations that will accept Him and not only the chosen people of Israel. In the top corners of the Icon, we see angels. Some are seen praising and glorifying God while another faces towards the shepherds bringing them the glad tidings of the incarnation. The shepherds are shown opposite the wise men and often one of them is portrayed playing a reed pipe, thus adding to the choir of the angels, the art of human music. We often find, scattered around the Icon, sheep and sheepdogs, which signify the shepherds’ occupation and adding the reality and simplicity of their normal day-to-day life. The shepherds are also a representation of the first men and women among the Jews who came to believe in Christ.
We have in the wise men and the shepherds another understanding. The shepherds are simple unsophisticated men in whom the angel brings the glad tidings in direct communion. The wise men are cultivated and of great worldly learning, which hinders them from direct communion and instead have to make a long journey guided by the star [of which was the object of their study and adoration], so as to learn of the same mystery that was revealed to the shepherds. In this, we also see that the Church accepts human science provided this science bring those who serve it to the worship of the One True God, the Holy Trinity. When we compare the simple shepherds to the wise men, we see that the poor and simple, having no worldly learning or substance to hold them back, can more freely accept Christ, whereas the rich and learned, having their minds filled with worldly matters and loving great possessions which they cannot bear to part with, have made for themselves obstacles on the road leading to Christ. Christ Himself testifies to this when a young man asked how he might find eternal Life. Jesus said unto him, “If thou wilt be ‘perfect’, go sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had many possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” [St Matthew 19:21]. He does not say that rich men cannot be saved, for when asked, “Who then can be saved”? He replied that, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” [St. Matthew 19:76].
On the top centre of the Icon, we see a long ray directed to the cave. The ray connects the star to a semi circle [sphere]. The sphere represents the heavenly world and the fact that the ray connects this sphere to the star, tells us that the star is not only a cosmic phenomenon, but also a heavenly messenger proclaiming the glad tidings of the incarnation of the Son of God.
SUMMARY
With the exception of the two scenes based on tradition, the Icon expresses the words of the Kontakion [short hymn] of the festival:
‘Today the Virgin gives birth to Him who is above all being, and the earth offers a cave to Him whom no man can approach. Angels with shepherds give glory, and magi (wise men) journey with a star, for unto us is born, a young child, the pre-eternal God’.
Apart from the face value of the details, the Icon has a deeper theological significance and is a dogmatic statement of the incarnation and the two natures of Christ, the divine and human. It also underlines the state of the world living in the consequences of fallen nature and that Christ came to sanctify the whole world for which its final end is to be transfigured. The Nativity of Christ is not a festival of creation but a festival of re-creation. Christ came to renew nature: to transfigure the fallen state of creation to the state that it will receive in the new age. The Icon shows representatives of all forms of creation: mineral, vegetation, animal, cosmic, human and heavenly, each giving service according to their kind and each taking part in this re-creation made possible by the incarnation of God. To this, all creation responds by giving thanks as expressed in another hymn sung during vespers for the festival:
‘What shall we offer Thee, O Christ, who for our sakes appeared on earth as man? Every creature made by Thee offers Thee thanks, the angels offer Thee a hymn, the heavens a star, the magi gifts, the shepherds their wonder, the earth its cave, the wilderness the manger, and we offer to Thee a virgin mother. O pre-eternal God, have mercy upon us’
Saints are usually painted so that they are turned towards the spectator showing a full or a three-quarter face. Faces in profile [half face] are rarely seen The few exceptions to the rule are usually found in Icons involving a very complex composition where the saint would have to be seen looking at a very specific part of the Icon, and by showing him with a full or three-quarter face, he would lose the general meaning of his actions These difficult situations can be overcome if the iconographer is determined not to break the general rule. If we take a look at the Icon of the Mystical Supper [See plate 3], we see that the third Apostle nearest to Christ’s feet has his back turned toward us. In a realistic situation, he would actually be facing toward Christ or to the centre of the table where we see the Eucharistic Supper. If the iconographer were to have followed this path, the Apostle would have his face completely turned away from us and so would be quite unacceptable to the iconographic rule. In this situation the iconographer chose to turn his head completely around to make him appear as though he is talking to the Apostle on his right. He preferred to turn the Apostle’s head to an abnormal position and make him appear as some sort of contortionist than to sacrifice the general rule of showing at least a three-quarter face. This is because even a face in profile is turned away from us and in a certain sense, it breaks the communion between that person and ourselves. In the general rule of iconography, a face in profile is allowed only with the persons the Church has not recognized as saints, such as the traitor Judas Iscariot and with those, we definitely do not wish to have communion with: the devil and his demons.
The way in which Icons are painted is not so much a written law, but a traditional law soaked in theology and dogmas. We do not paint the image of a saint in the same way he looked as when he was alive, that is to say, we do not paint his portrait. We try to keep away from earthly naturalism and human beauty. This is extended to clothes, mountains, buildings, animals and vegetation. The face, while stilt keeping the same features, is spiritualized to show that the saint has been glorified by God. The eyes are larger than natural eyes and are animated. The large eyes express that the saint sees in spiritual purity and are the spiritual eyes of the soul that see God. They have been opened to see wondrous things [open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law (Psalm ll9:18)]. Like the eyes, the ears are larger to express that the saint hears and obeys the commandments of God and that he has heard the mystery of the divine economy. The nose is long and thin giving the face a noble character, moreover the nostrils seem to vibrate with the movement of the spirit, expressing the saints dedication and love for God, and indicating that he smells the spiritual fragrance of the Holy Spirit. The lips/mouth, being the most sensual part of the face, is rendered smaller and thinner to minimize the natural sensuality. It also shows that the saint has kept the commandment: “Take no thought saying what shall we eat, or what shall we drink?”[St. Matth. 6:31], but limited himself to what was required to stay alive. The mouth also represents the saints inner state of prayer and contemplation and this is also why the mouth is always shown closed, in spite of the fact that in many scenes, we have the need to show someone in a dramatic pose to express that he is speaking, singing, crying or other emotions like fear, grief, shock, pain, etc... The closed mouth also brings to mind that we should only speak when we have something positive to say, keeping with fear the Lord’s saying: “That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement” [St. Matth. 12: 36].
The forehead is sometimes enlarged to express wisdom and knowledge. This we often see in the Icons of the Mother of God holding the child Jesus in her arms. Jesus is no longer portrayed as an infant, but as a mature young person. His forehead can at times dominate over the rest of his face: this overemphasis is to show Him as the Christ Emmanuel, the pre-eternal God, filled with knowledge and wisdom. This overemphasis of the forehead is also given to many of the saints, especially to the great teachers and theologians as St. Paul and St. John the Evangelist.
As we have already mentioned, other elements in the Icon are also spiritualized, e.g. the clothes, mountains, animals, etc..., this is to show a belief that when man fell from the grace of God, all creation [except the angels] fell with him, and with his salvation and transfiguration, all creation is saved and shares in the light of transfiguration, thereby showing the future union of the whole of creation in the Kingdom of the Holy Spirit. In the Icon, no shadows are permitted, showing again that everything is bathed in light. This light is shown externally by the halo around the saints face, but also in everything else, by starting with a dark base colour and gradually adding lighter shades onto this dark base and at the same time reducing the area covered, until we finish with a few very thin and delicate white lines. This method of gradually building up the light gives the impression that the light is glowing from within and not from some external source like the sun.
Buildings are depicted in a very unnatural way. Their role in the icon is to show the historical truth with a given place, but the event is never shown inside the building, which serves only as a background. This is to indicate that what we see is not limited to the time or place of the event: time, as we know it ceases to exist and is replaced by a non-temporal time of which we partake now in the present. But what does this actually mean and what do we understand of the very essence of time? In Genesis, we read that the heavens and the earth were created ‘in the beginning’. Time therefore began from the onset of creation, but there is an earthly time and a heavenly time, a temporal and a non-temporal. Earthly time is measured by change and motion. Its nature is to begin, to endure and to have an end. Heaven and the angels, exist outside of earthly time. They are not eternal, for they have a beginning, but have their existence ‘in the age’ [aeon, αιώνι], which according to St. Maximus is motionless time, for it remains without any change. God Himself, being uncreated, exists outside of time as we know it and outside of the aeon, for God has no beginning or end, but is eternal. All events of the past, present and future are merged into this "non-temporal time", which is motionless. The Church participates in this "aeon" in her services and through the Icon, which manifest this teaching. Therefore, through the Church we live in the "aeon" as one continuous present. To help us understand this more fully, let us take the event of the Mystical Supper and see how it teaches us of this timelessness that exist in the Church and the Icons.
The Mystical Supper was performed in a large room by Christ himself [Mark 14: 15]. He took the bread and the wine and transmade them into His Body and Blood. This event is united to the "aeon" and what Christ performed that one time, was performed for all times. Christ had only one body and so when the priest re-acts the same event, in the Divine Liturgy, he does not make another body because then we would have millions of bodies and would be quite absurd. He prays that the bread and wine become the same Body and Blood that Christ Himself offered to His disciples. When we attend the Liturgy and partake of His Body and Blood, it is as if heaven and earth have been joined together and we are at that same upper room participating at the some table and of the same Sacred Supper as did the Apostles. In this same way, all the events of Christ’s life, from His Birth to His Resurrection and Ascension, are re-acted by the Church, but they cease to be just an act and become a reality in that all the events are forever taking place in the motionless time of the Kingdom of heaven. Therefore, we become witnesses of His birth together with the wise men and the shepherds, we follow His earthly life, hearing His divine words of salvation and bear witness to the countless miracles He performed; we stand and gaze at His crucified body, in pain and disbelief that the Jews preferred the murderer Barrabas to Christ; and we become co-mourners with the Mother of God, the Apostles, the Myrrhbearers and all His followers; we follow Mary Magdalene and the Apostles to the empty tomb and rejoice with them at the news of the Resurrection.
In the Icon of the Mystical Supper, we see the building of the upper room in the background where it serves to confirm the historical event. Draped across two stated roofs is a red cloth and is used in iconography as a symbol to signify that in time, the event took place inside, but the Mystical Supper itself is seen celebrated outside and not kept closed within the building. This helps to show us that it is not confined to the actual time and place of the event, but that it reaches beyond time, as we know it, and is joined the the "aeon". It is also for this reason that the buildings in Icons are painted contrary to the human Logic. We often find doors and windows in wrong places, or their size does not correspond to their function, whereas in the human body and clothes, in spite of their unnaturalness, they are constructed correctly and are logical, The buildings are the only element in Icons which assist us to show that what we see is outside of the laws of human understanding and outside of earthly existence. Sometimes we see in Icons that different times and different places of action are joined together in one composition as we see in the icon of the Nativity or the Icon of Pentecost. This is sometimes to show again the timelessness of the Church, or to transmit the full meaning of the festival as we hear it in the divine services for that day. |
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