St. Elias
posted by Peter @ 10:37 PM
Monday, December 12, 2005
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2 Comments:
Pete,
Cool pics. I'm indignantly envious.
For those of us who know enough about the Catholic faith to be dangerous, in your own words what exactly is this a picture of and what is the signifigance?
Matt,
Sorry I did not post a response, for some reason I didn't note your post until tonight.
The picture is of course of front of the sanctuary of a Ukrainian Catholic Church facing the altar (which is hidden behind the icon screen/iconostasis in the background of the picture.)
In the foreground in the Bema (center of the sanctuary) is an icon stand containing the principal
icon. The principle icon is the icon for the feast or holy day being celebrated, therefore it changes frequently.
There are candles surrounding the primary icon and the icon(s) off to the right of the picture. These candles are lit as an "offering of light" and placed in the candle stands by the parishoners as they enter the church and venerate the icons.
The "offering of light" symbolizes primarily that Christ is the Light, and secondarily that He is our Light (that we and the Saints depicted have been enlightened by Him by being joined to the Light through the waters of Baptism).
Jn 1:4-12 (RSV)
"In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God."
Jn 8:12 "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
The candles in an Byzantine parish somewhat similar to holy water fonts in a Latin parish. Crossing oneself with holy water as one enters a Latin church should remind one of their baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity and the living we have been given through Christ.
Jn 4:10-15 "Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, `Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?" Jesus said to her, "Every one who drinks of this water will thirst again,
but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."
Candlelight and holy water, very Gospel oriented I say.
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