I painted this Crucifix over several months while preparing to make a Life Confession. Working on the image of Our Lord’s dead body made vivid to me the need to let our sins die, to cut off the unfruitful branches of our lives, that we might be raised to new life in Christ. As is traditional, the grieving Virgin Mary and John the Evangelist gesture towards Christ. In addition, since this Crucifix will hang in my “chapel” at home—a space for prayer and lectio divina—I chose to include two other saints who are important to me. St. Jerome, the Biblical scholar par excellence, is on the right, an open book of Holy Scripture in his hands (and the lion traditionally associated with him at his feet). On the left stands St. Benedict, whom I chose because I am an Associate of the Order of the Holy Cross, a Benedictine community. He holds his Rule and an abbot’s staff. In the bottom panel, at the foot of the Cross, is a cavern containing a skull. This iconographic motif represents Christ’s victory over death and hell. As early as the fifth century, St. John Chrysostom mentions the belief that Golgotha, “The Place of a Skull,” was the burial place of Adam. Iconography quickly adopted this detail because it provided a clear visual means to illustrate redemption:  as Christ’s blood flows down onto Adam’s skull, the first Adam (symbolizing the whole human race) is redeemed.

I began writing icons in 2003, in some hesitation and confusion. A scholar by inclination and professional singer by training and choice, I was called to iconography specifically and insistently, and much against my better judgment. But God as always knows best, and I am thankful to have been led to a calling I find full of wonder and peace. I am deeply grateful to Father John Walsted of New York for taking me on as a student and teaching me so much.

Community:  Brattleboro, VT
Email:  sacredicons@mac.com