The icon depicted above is called
“Christ our Bridegroom”. It’s rather wonderful I think. Look at the way Christ is looking down from heaven ( so to speak), eyeing his bride, longing for a fuller union with her. He is properly in love, exhilarated by the thought of his bride - you and me! He delights in her. He is enraptured. The icon marvellously depicts our Saviour praying for us, anticipating our welcome, desiring our becoming one with him, and here he looks at all that is going on in our lives, working out his best for us. It’s a pictorial exposition of the deep joys of what the Bible promises.
Like my last post, here is Beauty in flecks and strokes of the paint brush. We need Beauty. We need to find ourselves elevated beyond our dusty lives. We need to have our hearts and minds drawn higher.
The Eastern Orthodox talk about the necessity for the mind to descend into the heart for prayer to take hold in our lives. We are summoned “further up and further in” ( to quote the near ending words of the Narnia Chronicles).
And just think… what an undeserved precious joy to gaze upon our Saviour! Seeing the face of the Bridegroom will be the fullest and best joy of our lives, and we shall never get over being fascinated in worship and devotion and awe.
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