This month, I participated in an icon-writing workshop offered by artist Christine Simoneau Hales. Her icons will be exhibited until Easter at the Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. Peter in St. Petersburg, FL, if you would like to pray with them during Lent. You may also enjoy watching PBS's short introduction to Hales' iconography (6:23).
The process of writing an icon recapitulates the story of creation. It begins with a formless void, a birch plank covered in white gesso. Then the divine image is traced in dust, but it is soon overshadowed by the first flood of paint. Roskrish, the chaos layer, swirls over the icon, scarring the surface as it hardens. Upheaval carves out depths for light to infuse. As Leonard Cohen rasps in “Anthem,” “Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” The second layer of paint touches the pain, tenderly highlighting the wounds of the first layer. Finally, the Holy Face rises from the abyss. All is reconciled through the forgiveness layer, a healing balm that unites the icon, heaven and earth.
An iconographer is a midwife of Light. As labor progressed over the four days of the workshop, my fellow participants and I would gather in support to witness the birth of each new icon. We laughed and cried as we recognized the mysterious appearance of the iconographer’s own face in the Holy Face. At times, it seemed that all had been lost and chaos would blot out creation forever, yet Light shone in the darkness and was not overcome. At the end of the workshop, we sat for a group photo, cradling our icons on our laps. Each precious face beamed—living icons. When I returned home afterward, my daughter observed, “You’re glowing!” Seeking the face of Love in icons has transformed how I see the world.
The Face of Love: A Meditation Practice for Nurturing Your Light
To support your contemplation of the invisible through the visible, choose a symbol that evokes the face of Love for you (e.g., an icon, a rose, the ocean, the moon).
For five minutes, gaze into the face of Love.
Gently close your eyes, bringing your awareness inward.
For five minutes, receive the gaze of Love.
Gently open your eyes, bringing your awareness outward.
Filled and enfolded by the gaze of Love, let compassion overflow in your daily living.
Offer a loving gaze to all you meet.
Welcome the face of Love in all you see.
