Showing posts with label Rublev Trinity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rublev Trinity. Show all posts

Friday 28 February 2014

Rublev. Henri Nouwen, Meditation 'Praying With Icons'

In the course of encountering of the Icon Trinity of Rublev, the books of Henri Nouwen included the meditations on Icons.
It was bequeathed to by the late, "Ex Libris, Canon Daniel Mc Guiness, 1925-1997. D.D.D."
 _____________________________________________


Behold the Beauty of the Lord. Henri Nouwen
LIVING IN THE HOUSE OF LOVE (Conclusion)

While Jesus predicts that people will die of fear as they await what menaces the world” (Lk 21:26), he says to his followers: “Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen, and to stand with confidence before the Son of Man” (Lk 21:36).

After I gazed for a long time at Rublev's Trinity these words spoke to me with new power.
“Praying at all times” has come to mean “dwelling in the house of God all the days of our lives.” “Surviving all that is going to happen” now tells me that I no longer need to be a victim of the fear, hatred and violence that rule the world.

“Standing with confidence before the Son of Man” no longer just refers to the end of time, but opens for me the possibility of living confidently, that is, with trust (the literal meaning of con-fide) in the midst of hostility and violence.

I pray that Rublev's icon will teach many how to live in the midst of a fearful, hateful and violent world while moving always deeper into the house of love.

 p.27  

Wednesday 19 February 2014

Rublev Trinity Icon line drawing, and artist colouring


 Rublev Trinity Icon line drawing
William J - Email
Dear Father Donald,

Lovely to be drawn into the mind of the artist and into the mystery hidden in the painting!

I have found two 'versions' of the image (mesmerizing), and a 'pattern' to print (for colouration) in order to experience its creation - that I might perhaps discover in the recreation OF the image the mystery IN the image for myself.http://www.betsyporter.com/patterns.html
Painting it oneself causes one to follow every line, establish every colour, and realize every position.

That will be a joy! as indeed it is to share in your (nocturnal) meditations!

With ... ,
William

Dear William,
Thank you for the three Icon versions.
  And in particular, the line drawing has the challenging possibility.
Am I to think that you are yourself is ‘painting’ or creating as, “Painting it oneself causes one to follow every line, establish every colour, and realize every position”.
We will be excited by the creation.

In a different genre, Henri Nouwen shows his breaching of the Benedictine and the Byzantine spiritualities – a forceful insight. St. Benedict, calls us first of all to listen, the Byzantine fathers focus on gazing. See below.

Other amazing avenues. The tapestries in our Sacristy are in new situations.; the Leonardo Last Supper above Fr. Raymond’s collection of the our Liturgy Booklets,
  
and in the Sacristy id the tapestry of ‘the lord calming the waves  in Galilee.

Not surprising, I wondered about the tapestry of Rublev Trinity Icon, and the discovery is beautiful. See Link and pictures below. http://www.worldwidetapestries.com/tapestry/holy-trinity-icon.html




Granted to look further, and we find the McCrimmon Church posters of Rublev
mccrimmons.com  

Enough, William, for the moment.
Question: The previous BlogSpot is not broadcast yet.
I hear the drafts all together may seem entirely incoherent.

Looking forward to your praying with Icons.
Donald

Henri Nouwen – Behold the Beauty of the Lord,Praying With Icons, extract ...
“But I can still look at these images so intimately connected with the experience of love.
Acting, speaking and even reflective thinking may at times be too demanding, but we are forever seeing. When we dream, we see. When we stare in front of us, we see. When we close our eyes to rest, we see. We see trees, houses, roads and cars, seas and mountains, animals and people, places and faces, shapes and colours. We see clearly or vaguely, but always we find something to see.
But what do we really choose to see? It makes a great difference whether we see a flower or a snake, a gentle smile or menacing teeth, a dancing couple or a hostile crowd. We do have a choice. Just as we are responsible for what we eat, so we are responsible for what we see. It is easy to become a victim of the vast array of visual stimuli surrounding us. The "powers and principalities" control many of our daily images. Posters, billboards, television, videocassettes, movies and store windows continuously assault our eyes and inscribe their images upon our memories.
Still we do not have to be passive victims of a world that wants to entertain and distract us. We can make some decisions and choices. A spiritual life in the midst of our energy-draining society requires us to take conscious steps to safeguard that inner space where we can keep our eyes fixed on the beauty of the Lord.
Page 12
I offer these meditations on four Russian icons as such a step. By giving the icons long and prayerful attention-talking about them, reading about them, but mostly just gazing at them in silence-I have gradually come to know them by heart. I see them now whether they are physically present or not. I have memorized them as I have memorized the Our Father and the Hail Mary, and I pray with them wherever I go.
For you who will read these meditations it is important to gaze at the icons with complete attention and to pray with them. Gazing is probably the best word to touch the core of Eastern spirituality. Whereas St. Benedict, who has set the tone for the spirituality of the West, calls us first of all to listen, the Byzantine fathers focus on gazing. This is especially evident in the liturgical life of the Eastern Church. The words in this book come from my own gazing at these icons. They may or may not touch you. But if they help you only a little to start seeing these icons for yourself, my words will have fulfilled their purpose and may be forgotten. Then these icons will have become yours and they can guide you by day and by night, in good times and in bad, when you feel sad and when you feel joyful. They will begin to speak of the unique way in which God has chosen to love you.
Why icons? Would it not have been better to use more accessible paintings such as those by Michelangelo, Rembrandt or Marc Chagall? The great
Page 13
....”.

 

Dear William,
Something of a P.S.
It was at the point of downloading your glorious 'water colour' creation, hit the Exit button. And it was late to open again.
Attached now and cropped  or 'hue&saturation' view.
Your water colour may actually prove to be better than the possible oil painting.
Water colour by William
Edited - hue & saturation 
Added is ATTACHMENT of the Icon geometric interpretation. 
http://thebyzantineanglocatholic.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/rublevs-sacred-geometry.html  
Another clue - geometric.
Yours ...
Donald


http://www.worldwidetapestries.com/tapestry/holy-trinity-icon.html

Holy Trinity (Icon)

Worldwide Tapestries
Tapestry of Rublev Trinity icon


This religious art tapestry "Holy Trinity (Icon)" shows the work of Andrei Rublev from 1410. This work of Rublev shows The Old Testament Trinity. The original is in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, Russia. He was considered one of the most influential artists of the medieval Russian period of Orthodox frescoes and icons. The old testament trinity refers to the appearance of three angels to Abraham at Mamre while he was in his tent in the heat of the day. He offered them food and to wash their feet. One of the three angels told Abraham that his wife Sarah would have a son. Sarah overheard what was said and was doubtful due to her age. The angel then declared that nothing is too hard for God. This religious art tapestry "Holy Trinity (Icon)" is lined and has a tunnel for easy hanging.


&&&&&&&&&&
McCrimmonds Church Posters

The Holy Trinity - Rublev icon. A superb reproduction of Rublev's image of the Holy Trinity, now available as a wall hanging banner or foamex board. Printed using a dye-sublimation process on a 100% polyester material with a natural feel that hangs well. Size: 52" x 37". Larger sizes are available.Order Ref: MB-BANHT455 £234.00. Foamex Boards £39.95 medium, £49.95 large.
    mccrimmons.com

Monday 17 February 2014

Rublev's Icon of the Trinity


On Friday, 14 February 2014, 22:17, Donald ... wrote:
 Dear William, 
Late evening, and simply sent some drafting from the Rublev Trinity pasture.
God bless.
Donald  
 
Google surfing - About 218,000 results  (0.27 seconds)
Knowing the mass of the Rublev ‘Trinity’ resources or Websites, we can only dip into the digital ocean.
1. English Anglican Ann Persson is the author of The Circle of Love:  Praying with Rublev's Icon of the Trinity 
Ann Persson’s lecture at St. Paul’s retells of her experience of viewing the Rublev Icon in Russia. She learned to know a Icon maker, a Sister in Oxford. And they both made the ‘pilgrimage’ to Rublev in Moscow.  Some reflections echo Henri Nouwen
 

2. Enjoy the Hospitality of the Trinity (with Rublev’s Icon)    

 Bill Gaultiere    www.soulshepherds.org

Henri Nouwen’s Meditation on Rublev’s Icon

What a joy it is for us to be drawn into this circle of divine love portrayed in Rublev’s icon!  In the words of Henri Nouwen:
The more we look at this holy image with the eyes of faith, the more we come to realize that it is painted not as a lovely decoration for a convent church, nor as a helpful explanation of a difficult doctrine, but as a holy place to enter and stay within.
As we place ourselves in front of the icon in prayer, we come to experience a gentle invitation to participate in the intimate conversation that is taking place among the three divine angels and to join them around the table.  The movement from the Father toward the Son and the movement of both Son and Spirit toward the Father become a movement in which the one who prays is lifted up and held secure…
 
... We come to see with our inner eyes that all engagements in this world can bear fruit only when they take place within this divine circle… the house of perfect love (Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying with Icons, p. 20-22).
Praying to the Lord before Rublev’s icon painting can help us to join Abraham in hosting the Lord in our hearts.  As we do we discover that the Father, Son, and Spirit were already inviting us to join in their circle of love! “We love because He first loved us”  (1 John 4:19).
When we participate in “The Hospitality of Abraham” to the Lord we discover that really we are responding to “The Hospitality of the Trinity.”
 3. Finding this reference to Henri Nouwen, after lunch I checked the library shelf. There is the well copy of ‘Behold The Beauty of the Lord – Praying with Icons’, right into our lectio alley.  
 

4. 4. Natan Duffy Dogmatic Enigmatics   

 http://nateduffy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-rublev-trinity-icon.html

On the Bunge book:
Extract – last paragraph
In The Art of the Icon: A Theology of BeautyPaul Evdokimov reads the Rublev Trinity in an extremely bizarre manner, completely out of sync with everything I had come to understand about it and seemingly contradicting some of these these obvious facts about the icon, especially in the context of the iconographical tradition. Specifically, Evdokimov identifies the central angel as the Father, rendering his reading quite incoherent, from my perspective. Which is not to disparage that text as a whole, as it is quite profound, but Bunge's The Rublev Trinity provides a richer and more accurate reading of this particular icon, substantiated by tracing the tradition that lead up to its production.
Posted by Nathan Duffy 

4.Next we investigate into the above interpretation. and the Dogmatic Enigmatics
              Sancta Maria Abbey: http://www.nunraw.com.uk (Website)    
Blogspot :http://www.nunraw.blogspot.co.uk |
domdonald.org.uk 


On Thursday, 13 February 2014, 8:18, William  ... wrote:

Dear Father Donald,

I love that icon, and Wiki offers an interesting comment on its composition:

"The only work authenticated as entirely his [Rublev] is the icon of the Trinity, ca. 1410, currently in the Tretyakov GalleryMoscow. It is based on an earlier icon known as the "Hospitality of Abraham" (illustrating Genesis 18). Rublev removed the figures of Abraham and Sarah from the scene, and through a subtle use of composition and symbolism changed the subject to focus on the Mystery of the Trinity. In Rublev's art two traditions are combined: the highest asceticism and the classic harmony of Byzantine mannerism. The characters of his paintings are always peaceful and calm. After some time his art came to be perceived as the ideal of Church painting and of Orthodox iconography."

I wonder what else you will discover!

In the love of Our Lord,
William


From: Fr Donald ...
To: William.....
Sent: Thursday, 13 February 2014, 5:42
Subject: [Dom Donald's Blog] Vigils Doxology
Night Office 
Rublev icon, TRINITY
Doxology of Hymn of Thursday B Glory be to God, 
Father, Son and Dove, 
Three and One in Love, 
now and evermore. 
I had forgotten where the  Icon in the monastery. 
Yesterday there it was on one of the pillars in the cloister. opposite the Pieta alcove.   Above is the photo taken there. And there must be some commentary crying out for, e.g., the nearest YouTube:  
  http://blueeyedennis-siempre.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/solemnity-of-holy-trinity-2012.html   -- Posted By Fr Donald to Dom Donald's Blog on 2/13/2014 05:42:00 am