Windows of the Divine
Icons are not simply works of art but they are places where we can use
our eyes in prayer to contemplate the things of God, said the
celebrated Orthodox Bishop and Theologian, Bishop Kallistos Ware of
Diokleia when he visited St George’s, Warminster during March.
It is unusual for Orthodox Bishops to speak in other churches and the people of St George’s were pleased that he agreed to complete this year’s Lent course on Icons, entitled “Windows of the Divine” with a talk on Icons of the Transfiguration. He explained how children are often taught to pray by closing their eyes but that we should learn to use our eyes in prayer. Icons were, he suggested, places where we can gaze at Heaven and Heaven can gaze at us. In the Icons of the Transfiguration, Bishop Kallistos said, we are shown the glory of the Cross, the glory to come to us in the uncreated light of God.
The series of talks began with an introduction to Icons by Mother Sarah of the Orthodox Community in Bath, who urged Catholics and Orthodox to come together for prayer and study of their common faith. In the second talk, Father Deacon Richard Downer, of the Melkite Greek Patriarchate of Antioch, spoke of Icons as demonstrations of belief in the incarnation, that God became Man in Jesus Christ. Then Father John Baggley of Oxford introduced St George’s to the tender Icons of the Mother of God who shows us the way to her Son. Total attendance at the course of talks was over three hundred, with people coming from as far a field as Salisbury, Gillingham, Glastonbury, Bath and Bradford on Avon.
Father Christopher Whitehead, Parish Priest at St George’s, said, “People have a hunger to understand more about the Faith, Catholics and non-Catholics alike. By putting on courses like these and our immensely successful PAX series last year which attracted well over a hundred regular participants, we seek to introduce people to the richness, truth and beauty of our life-changing Faith.”
Continuing along this path, in the autumn of 2004, St George’s will be hosting a course introducing the various books of the Bible, entitled “The Diary of God” and led by Scripture Scholar, John Huntriss.
Stephen Morgan
It is unusual for Orthodox Bishops to speak in other churches and the people of St George’s were pleased that he agreed to complete this year’s Lent course on Icons, entitled “Windows of the Divine” with a talk on Icons of the Transfiguration. He explained how children are often taught to pray by closing their eyes but that we should learn to use our eyes in prayer. Icons were, he suggested, places where we can gaze at Heaven and Heaven can gaze at us. In the Icons of the Transfiguration, Bishop Kallistos said, we are shown the glory of the Cross, the glory to come to us in the uncreated light of God.
The series of talks began with an introduction to Icons by Mother Sarah of the Orthodox Community in Bath, who urged Catholics and Orthodox to come together for prayer and study of their common faith. In the second talk, Father Deacon Richard Downer, of the Melkite Greek Patriarchate of Antioch, spoke of Icons as demonstrations of belief in the incarnation, that God became Man in Jesus Christ. Then Father John Baggley of Oxford introduced St George’s to the tender Icons of the Mother of God who shows us the way to her Son. Total attendance at the course of talks was over three hundred, with people coming from as far a field as Salisbury, Gillingham, Glastonbury, Bath and Bradford on Avon.
Father Christopher Whitehead, Parish Priest at St George’s, said, “People have a hunger to understand more about the Faith, Catholics and non-Catholics alike. By putting on courses like these and our immensely successful PAX series last year which attracted well over a hundred regular participants, we seek to introduce people to the richness, truth and beauty of our life-changing Faith.”
Continuing along this path, in the autumn of 2004, St George’s will be hosting a course introducing the various books of the Bible, entitled “The Diary of God” and led by Scripture Scholar, John Huntriss.
Stephen Morgan
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