The Icons

by the Rev'd Lloyd Prator

St. John's parish is decorated with seventeen magnificent icons painted by Deacon Christopher Kosmas, an icon painter who died about 1992. He was a deacon in the Greek Orthodox Church. His painting style, while reminiscent of traditional iconography, is unique.

There is a triptych at the east end of the church picturing Christ ruling over the earth, the Christos Pantokrator.

The Christos is pictured atop a curving rainbow which suggests not only the symbol of peace between God and creation, but also the curvature of the earth, over which Christ reigns in glory.

On the north side of the church is an icon called The Harrowing of Hell, and on the south side is another of the Exodus at the Red Sea. Both are types of the resurrection of Christ, because both are illustrations of the saving power of God -- over death and over captivity. The harrowing of hell shows Jesus reaching down into the place of departed spirits and calling up those who went before him, including Adam, our first ancestor. The fragments of chain represent liberation. The exodus shows the waters piled up left and right and Israel passing through as on dry land.

The other icons are the traditional stations of the cross, beginning with the conviction of Jesus before Pilate on the north side and ending with the entombment on the south side.

There are some interesting things to notice about these icons. In the first two on the north side, the flooring pictured in the icon is the same slate flooring as appears in the church, thus connecting our church to the events of our redemption. Notice the indifference of Pilate. In the icon representing the crucifixion, station eleven, note that the hillside and field upon which the event is pictured is rendered in somewhat distressed paint. The artist explained that this treatment of creation was meant to suggest that the world was fallen and in distress.

In the icon of the burial of Jesus, station fourteen, note the herbs and spices in the small urn and in the arms of Jesus; these are meant to suggest the herbs which were used in Jewish rites of burial.

The Hanging Pyx

The blessed sacrament, that is, the consecrated bread from the Eucharist, is reserved in most churches using a small cabinet called a tabernacle or an aumbry. In our parish, we reserve in what is called a hanging pyx. The pyx consists of an orb, surmounted with a maltese cross containing a cabochon lapis. Above the pyx is a dove, suggesting the Holy Spirit of God. The pyx is lowered by a mechanical device when the sacrament is needed to take communion to the sick or shut-in. Inside the orb is a canister called a viaticum, which contains the consecrated bread. The pyx is an adaptation of a medieval mode of reserving the sacrament and may have developed as a way of securing the sacrament at a protective height so it could not be vandalized or eaten by animals who might wander into the church.

The pyx was designed and crafted by Christopher den Blaker,
a Village artist.