I would love to see this carving in Alabaster as well. Side by side they comment on each other exquisitely. Perhaps if the Orthodox could look at The Holy Family in the way I described, they would not consider it “heretical”. It’s only when you confuse them with a natural family that heresy becomes a worry.
I caught the resemblance to your Trinity icon immediately. I think the Holy Spirit was guiding you. St. John Paul II speaks of the family as the primordial sacrament. He explains that God built a trinitarian system in the family so that all of humanity could have a concrete example of what the trinitarian love of God looks like. The love of a man and a woman united in the marital embrace have the capacity to bring forth new life. Of course this is an imperfect image of God as all material examples are. However, it is the closest and most intimate expression of trinitarian love since we all originate in this manner, at least before IVF, surrogacy, and artificial insemination. This is the primary reason the Church condemns these modalities of conception because it is not in accordance with natural law and it destroys that trinitarian expression that images God.
St. John Paul II describes the Trinity as God The Father pouring out his love to the Son whom he eternally generates and God the Son, in turn, pouring out his love to The Father. This love between Father and Son spirates the third person of the Trinity, The Holy Spirit.
Of course The Holy Family didn’t follow the natural pattern. They were a family of supernatural design. I think this is the main reason some Orthodox decry the image of the Holy Family. However, when looking at the image from the supernatural plane and remembering that each member of The Holy Family were and remain virgins. The Love that they shared corresponds more closely to the three persons of the Trinity and image for us the kind of love we will be able to share when we are swept up into beatitude and share in the Divine Life of The Trinity.
We can all share a foretaste of the Divine Life when partaking of The Holy Eucharist. Indeed, in Holy Communion God’s Holy Family is enlarged and we are allowed to share in The Divine Life of The Holy Trinity at the same table.
I love your work and hearing about how you go about it. I also very much like your words about not picking an icon to pieces but experiencing the moment it depicts
I would love to see this carving in Alabaster as well. Side by side they comment on each other exquisitely. Perhaps if the Orthodox could look at The Holy Family in the way I described, they would not consider it “heretical”. It’s only when you confuse them with a natural family that heresy becomes a worry.
I caught the resemblance to your Trinity icon immediately. I think the Holy Spirit was guiding you. St. John Paul II speaks of the family as the primordial sacrament. He explains that God built a trinitarian system in the family so that all of humanity could have a concrete example of what the trinitarian love of God looks like. The love of a man and a woman united in the marital embrace have the capacity to bring forth new life. Of course this is an imperfect image of God as all material examples are. However, it is the closest and most intimate expression of trinitarian love since we all originate in this manner, at least before IVF, surrogacy, and artificial insemination. This is the primary reason the Church condemns these modalities of conception because it is not in accordance with natural law and it destroys that trinitarian expression that images God.
St. John Paul II describes the Trinity as God The Father pouring out his love to the Son whom he eternally generates and God the Son, in turn, pouring out his love to The Father. This love between Father and Son spirates the third person of the Trinity, The Holy Spirit.
Of course The Holy Family didn’t follow the natural pattern. They were a family of supernatural design. I think this is the main reason some Orthodox decry the image of the Holy Family. However, when looking at the image from the supernatural plane and remembering that each member of The Holy Family were and remain virgins. The Love that they shared corresponds more closely to the three persons of the Trinity and image for us the kind of love we will be able to share when we are swept up into beatitude and share in the Divine Life of The Trinity.
We can all share a foretaste of the Divine Life when partaking of The Holy Eucharist. Indeed, in Holy Communion God’s Holy Family is enlarged and we are allowed to share in The Divine Life of The Holy Trinity at the same table.
Beautiful work; I love the Romanesque influence.
I love your work and hearing about how you go about it. I also very much like your words about not picking an icon to pieces but experiencing the moment it depicts
Thank you Jane!