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 St. John of Damascus (676-749), also known as St. John Damascene or Chrysorrhoas ("streaming with gold"), served as Chief Councilor ( Protosymbullus ) of Damascus under Muslim rule before later retiring to live the monastic life in the Monastery of St. Sabbas near Jerusalem.  He was a prolific writer whose work was incredibly influential, even to this day.  A particularly important note about his work was his exposition of the theology underlying icons: his work was thus key to the Seventh Ecumenical Council, Nicea II (787).  The Eastern Church often refers to him as "the last of the Fathers," and he is a Doctor of the Church often referred to as the Doctor of the Assumption.  His feast day in both the Western and Eastern Churches is December 4, though from 1890-1969 it was celebrated on March 27 in the Western Church. St. John was brought up under Muslim rule in Damascus, where his strong Christian family held high hereditary public office under the cali...

In celebration of Trinity Sunday in the Western Church today, I decided to write a short post on the history of artistic representation of the Most Holy Trinity, especially in the East. Nowadays, there are many representations of the Trinity showing the Three Persons as an old man (the Father), Jesus Christ, and a dove (the Holy Spirit).  Before these were in vogue, the Trinity was often depicted symbolically (especially in the Western Church) in forms such as a triangle-encased All-Seeing Eye (a symbol adapted and Christianized from ancient Egyptian symbolism that is, sadly, now usually connected with Freemasonry).  In the earliest days of the Church, though, there were no representations of the Trinity apart from the Second Person Incarnate. Eye of God , Mission San Miguel, California (19th century) Why was this?  One main reason was the theological reasoning behind having any images of God in the first place.  The Pentateuch declares that we shall ha...

Χριστος ανεστι!  Byzantine psalmody has its oldest roots in ancient Greek music, the music of modes such as Dorian, Ionian, Lydian, Phrygian, Mixolydian, etc.  (Not being versed in ancient Greek music, I cannot say any more than that.)  The main Christian roots are traditionally linked with St. Ephraim the Syrian (306-373), Doctor of the Church: some claim that he originally created Christian chant and that even Gregorian chant had its roots in his work.  No real method of Byzantine psalmody begins to be expounded in writing until St. John of Damascus (676-749), the great defender of icons.  Byzantine notation , the unique style of writing music used by Byzantine psalmody (very different from Western styles, both modern "European" notation and Gregorian chant notation), began to be written (from what we know) with the work of this great saint.  Though his system was complex, it was usable.  Over time, though, Byzantine notation became so convoluted th...

The original icon  The original icon without its riza (the metal covering revealing only the faces) The Axion Estin (Αξιον εστιν), "It is truly meet," is an icon of the Theotokos (Eleusa-style) located in the the Protaton, a church in the Karyes settlement of the famous Mount Athos in Greece, home to many ancient monastic communities.  The event which the icon takes it name from occurred in 980, so the icon was written sometime before then. The name of the icon comes from the opening words of a Marian hymn in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.  Up until this famous event, the hymn only included the latter half, starting at "More honourable than the Cherubim," which was written in the late 700s by St. Cosmas the Hymnographer, foster-brother of St. John Damascene.  This section of the hymn reads thus: More honorable than the cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim. Without corruption thou gavest birth to God the Wo...

The Virgin with Three Hands (or Three-Handed Theotokos) is known with many names: being from Serbia, it is commonly known by its Serbian name, Bogodorica Trojeručica (Богородица Тројеручица) or Trojeručica for short. It is also known by its Greek name, Panagia Tricherousa (Παναγια Τριχερουσα). It is a hodigitria icon of the Theotokos, and it is the most important icon of the Serbian Orthodox Church (according to Wikipedia, at least). The story is that this icon was made famous by its connection to St. John Damascene, the great defender of icons of the seventh and eighth centuries, whose theological thought was the basis of the defeat of iconoclasm at the Seventh Ecumenical Council. In 717, St. John Damascene was falsely accused of being an enemy of the state (by who is debated: some say the Caliph under whom he served, some say Emperor Leo the Isaurian, an iconoclast), and for punishment, his right hand was cut off. In response to this horrific event, St. John prayed before an...

The Holy Trinity, three Divine Persons sharing one Divine Essence, is the basis of Christianity (followed just slightly by Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity Incarnate). Despite Its necessity for the understanding of Christianity, for centuries It was represented in iconography. The Incarnation is the theological basis of iconography: because Christ had a human body, "when Christ is seen, then His image is potentially seen, and consequently is transferred by imprint into any material whatsoever," as St. Theodore the Studite says (3.D.2). St. John Damascene states this even more obviously: "Therefore I boldly draw an image of the invisible God, not as invisible, but as having become visible for our sakes by partaking of flesh and blood. I do not draw an image of the immortal Godhead, but I paint the image of God who became visible in the flesh" (1.4). It is only because the Second Person of the Trinity became Incarnate, taking on a human body, that H...

I already discussed the defense of icon veneration in my post on a writing by St. Gregory Palamas , who succinctly summarized the arguments of icon defenders against iconoclasts. I just wished to add a few more thoughts on this topic taken from two of the true victors against the iconoclasts: St. Theodore the Studite, with his Refutation of the Iconoclasts , and St. John of Damascus, with his Apology Against Those Who Attack the Divine Images . One of the very common arguments make against icon veneration is that through it we "worship the creature rather than the Creator," "bestowing on objects of stone or wood the name that ought not to be shared," "appealing for health to a thing that is weak, praying for life to a thing that is dead" (cf. Rom 1:25, Wis 14:21, 13:18). Iconoclasts accuse us of praying to idols made with our own hands, praying to the material itself, believing the icon itself to be a god. That is not the way of the faithful, thoug...

"You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God" (Ex 20:4-5a). God's forbidding of graven images is a part of the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments) that I do not hear mentioned often among Catholics. Since the Decalogue does not have a strict division in the Scriptures themselves, there are multiple ways to divide them. The division commonly used by the Orthodox and most Protestants lists "I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before Me" and "You shall not make for yourself a graven image" as two separate commandments, while combining "You shall not covet your neighbor's goods" and "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife" into one commandment. The division commonly used by Catholics and ma...

The seeking of knowledge is something that has always captivated man. Man wished to know time, so he recorded it and created calendars based on his recordings. Man wished to know the patterns of the stars, so he watched them each night and grouped them into constellations based on what he saw. Man wished to know the workings of animals, plants, and men themselves, so he studied them and wrote books of anatomy and biology based on his observations. Yet even beyond the seeking of this knowledge and information, which can have value in a man's labors in the fields, man sought wisdom, which, as Aristotle says, "exists for its own sake"; "we do not seek [wisdom] for the sake of any other advantage" ( Metaphysics , I.2, 982b24-27). Aristotle remarks on why men philosophize, although his remarks can be broadened to refer to any seeking of wisdom: "It is owing to their wonder that men both now begin and at first began to philosophize" (ibid., 982b12-13). ...