RUSSIAN
ICON:
OUR
LADY OF VLADIMIR
ROBERT
TRABOLD
Soft touch, gentle head
bows touches baby’s face.
Mother’s eyes deeply mysterious
looking into eternity.
Baby looking up holding on to mom
mother’s head covered with black shawl
dropping down golden background
light from heaven shot through
with divinity!
I am touched, feel quiet beauty
wrapping around me
washing me in mystery
touches of the Divine
the Beloved!
Mother’s eyes reach me
include me in her meditation.
Wants me to stay quiet
not run away.
Mother loves me too, taking me
by the hand leads me to her son.
I feel delirious, ecstasy in my
eyes.
Mystery overwhelms me radiance
of Russian icon tells me
“You are loved!” “Do not worry!”
Mystery of the mother is beyond
me but her eyes watch me
holding me taking me by the hand
until my journey ends.
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MARIAN RUSSIAN ICON
– OUR LADY OF VLADIMIR
ROBERT TRABOLD
The Russian icon, Our Lady of Vladimir,
is a famous Russian one because of its beauty and meaning it can have in our
spiritual life. The mother and child sit with a wall of gold in the background.
The mother looks at the child with tenderness and the child feels this and
returns the gaze. The picture takes on meaning because this is the Virgin Mary
and Jesus is her son who was sent by the Father on earth to preach the good
news. The good news is that our Father in heaven loves us and wants us to reciprocate
this love. He sent his Son Jesus to teach and his message should help us learn
how we can reciprocate this love and become worthy sons and daughters of Our
Father. The icon with its beauty touches us and has us rest in this beauty. In
the beauty of the icon, the Virgin Mary is touching us and inviting us to follow
her Son. She wants us to contemplate this beautiful picture and listen to the
words and advice that she offers us. This is a very famous Russian icon and
through the centuries, Christians have looked on the picture and drawn
inspiration to advance and grow in their Christian life. Mary was close to
Jesus and was his mother and now she teaches us how we can be good disciples of
Him.
In our journey on earth, there are
many paths open to us and pull us to live in a variety of ways. However, Mary
wants to lead us and have us follow the Christian path. She encourages us to be
faithful in our meditation and good works so that we can overcome the confusion
of human life and find the path of her Son which cuts through this
confusion. Mary leads us to the real
path which opens up for us the knowledge of who we are and our place in the
world. We then understand and know the position of other people on earth. This
new vision of life grows in depth as we realize that we are to be rooted in
God. Mary encourages us to be constant
in our journey to base ourselves in the Divine and so overcome the different
ways that the world pulls us to lead our life.
In this journey to root ourselves in
God and the Christian message, our daily prayer and meditation are important
tools. For a while each day, we put aside our many activities and
responsibilities so that we can focus our attention on the presence of the Lord
who is present at our center and still point. We do this whether we feel like
praying or not. We discipline ourselves to get control of our daily routine so
that we can have time for meditation. We are already putting things into
perspective and making room for this important event in our life, our daily
meditation. As time goes on, other things will fall into place and we will see
how Jesus saw the world and life and this becomes our vision.
During the month of May which is the
month where we honor and think about the Virgin Mary, she offers herself to
help us grow in this Christian vision of ourselves and the world. Mary loves us
as she loved her son, Jesus. The same tenderness that she shows in the lovely
icon, she has for us. This is important for us to realize because in our
Christian journey through the years, we have Mary at our side and she encourages
us. We are not alone in this trip. This
Russian icon is famous not only for its beauty but because Christians during
the centuries have realized this role of the Virgin Mary and prized her
help. This is an example for us. Let us
use this beautiful Russian icon to lead us into the mystery of Mary and her Son
so that we can become faithful servants of the Lord in the years to come.
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QUESTION: Does
the Russian icon and perhaps other works of art touch you so that they give you
the inspiration and strength to grow in your Christian life, prayer and work? During the years, I have been very influence
by icons and other works of art encouraging me to grow in faith and prayer. Beauty
in the material world can impact our spiritual life.
I would be very interested if the
readers of this blog would leave a comment. I would like to know how others feel.
If you leave also your name and e-mail address, I will keep you posted on
announcements which may be of interest to you.
