Holy Family Icon – Walking the Road to Bethlehem – Our Advent Journey
During Advent, throughout our 7 parishes, the icon of the Holy Family will be travelling around groups & family homes – being hosted in a different place , by a different group or family each night. With preparation already begun for the upcoming World Meeting of Families to be held in Dublin in 2018, it is a chance to come together as a community that prays together and symbolizes our Journey as a family travelling the road to Bethlehem as we pray for all families at this busy and sometimes pressured time. The Icon will being its Journey in the Village Church at the masses of the weekend of the 26th/27th Nov, before going out into the local community and being brought Rowlagh-Quarryvale & Neilstown Churches for masses weekend of the 3rd/4th Dec. It goes out to the Community again before going to Sruleen for masses on the 10th/11th. It goes back into the community – being also hosted by The Parish of the Travelling People in their Chapel of Ease (St. Oliver’s Park, Clover Hill Rd, D. 22) on Tuesday of that week – and arrives in Bawnogue & Deansrath Churches for Masses on the weekend of the 17th/18th. Going back into the community for one last time it concludes its journey at the Christmas Eve Mass in the Village. There is a simple prayer that follows the Icon and which we hope will be said by parishioners in the hosting Churches at each of the masses during the weekend they are hosting it –
O God our Father, in Jesus you call all Christian families, homes & communities to be signs of living faith, to be signs of your true love and mercy. By the light of the Holy Spirit, this Advent lead us to be thankful for the gift of faith, and by that gift may we grow in our relationship with Jesus, your Son. May we follow the example of the Holy Family and be confident witnesses to Christian hope, peace, love and joy to all we meet. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
We encourage you to participate in this small initiative during Advent by taking time to say this little prayer each day, either on your own or with your family.
Background of the Icon
“The Holy Family” icon is beautifully painted in iconographic style, but the composition is from western rather than from eastern Christianity. The young Christ Emmanuel is surrounded in love by Mary and Joseph. The Holy Family serves as an example and a reminder of the importance of family in both human and divine existence..
This icon is one of the most famous and earliest depictions of the Holy family, painted before any Italian painter ever began. In this depiction both Mary and Joseph are holding the Christ Child. It seems that both Mary and Joseph are standing but the Child seems to be sitting. With one hand Jesus is holding His Mother’s hand, and with the other He is blessing His Mother. The halos symbolize holiness and the three stars, one on each shoulder and the other on the forehead symbolize Mary’s ever virginity before, during and after the birth of Christ. The Greek inscriptions symbolize Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
Image Origins
There are hundreds of variations on the theme of the Madonna and Child in traditional iconography, but Joseph is never included. He appears in the Byzantine composition of the Nativity, but is portrayed sitting in the corner of the picture, looking quite puzzled about his role as God’s foster father. Most conservative Orthodox Christians would not be comfortable with this icon of the Holy Family because Joseph’s arm is around the Virgin Mary with his hand actually touching her shoulder. The Orthodox tradition has always emphasized the virgin birth of Jesus and Joseph has been relegated to the background.
In contrast, Saint Joseph has always enjoyed considerable popularity among western Christians. He played no biological role in the Holy Family, but he was the father in every other sense; the protector, the bread winner, source of love and support to Mary, and the educator of his child. He was also a strong example for us of faith in God, willing to trust in the messages sent to him via dreams.
The pattern for this icon is of uncertain origin, probably Russian, and dating from after the time of Peter the Great (eighteenth century) when western Christianity began to influence iconography.
Symbolism
In these modern times, non-traditional families are becoming more common than traditional ones. Our Heavenly Father has provided for us via the Holy Family an example that relates to both. On the one hand, God found it necessary to provide an earthly foster-father for His Son, affirming that fathers are needed as well as mothers for nurturing children. On the other hand, Mary endured the potential shame and risk of being pregnant before her marriage (Matthew 1:18-19) and many years of life as a widow.
In this beautiful icon of the Holy Family, we see the holiness of the parents and their sense of wonder at their calling. Their heads are inclined together in a posture of mutual support and affection. At the bottom of the picture, three hands touch in unity and love.
Joseph is portrayed as a strong, handsome man, his arms protectively enveloping both Mary and Jesus. His face shows love, but also concern. We can sense his wonder and fear at being called to be the earthly father of the Son of God. Mary’s face shows peaceful acceptance of her place as wife and mother. The stars on her robe are symbols of her perpetual virginity. In the upper left corner of the icon, the Greek letters MP ØY stand for Meter Theou, “Mother of God.” The Greek letters in the upper right spell out “Saint Joseph.”
Jesus is presented to us in a posture of strength. Unlike the adults, He isn’t leaning on anyone. He is their centre and the centre for all humanity. He looks directly into the soul of the viewer, his hand raised in blessing. He wears a royal robe, symbolic of His dominion over all the universe. On his halo, Greek letters omicron, omega, nu, spell out “HO ON.” In English, this becomes “Who Am,” the name used for God in Exodus 3:14.