The Day of the Lord

Today begins a truly sacred time in the Church. My day started off gloriously with a stop by the chapel to pray the Rosary & was accosted by this glorious sight! It looked & smelled wonderful!

Also, since I will refrain from any blogging from Good Friday until probably Easter Monday, I offer now these images ("icons"?) of a pair of icons of the Crucifixion & Burial of Jesus. There are all kinds of fascinating details in them.

On of my favorites is the depiction of Jerusalem in the background, not as the ancient Roman-occupied city, but more like the glory days of Constantinople; ditto the soldier to whom pious tradition has assigned the name Longinus (I believe he has a feast day in the Roman Martyrology?). I ponder the exact point that iconographer wished to make.

Also striking is the sun & moon in the Crucifixion, a passage predicted by Joel (3:3) & preached by Peter as fulfilled by the Passion & Resurrection of Christ Jesus (Acts 2:20-21) - "The sun shall be turned into darkness & the moon into blood before the Day of the Lord comes, that great & manifest day, & it shall be that whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved." RSV
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Fr. Romano Guardini said that the heart of the Pater Noster is "Fiat voluntas tua" - "Thy will be done". I propose it is "Sanctificetur nomen tuum" - "Hallowed be thy Name". We are baptized in his Name; we are blessed in his Name; we call on his Name; we are saved in his Name; we are sent in his Name - all to do his will, of course. But it seems that God's ineffable Name is immediate to - almost the same as - who he is, which becomes the starting point of all the other petitions & aspirations of the Lord's Prayer. Also, the Name & the Word seem to be related to each other in a special way, as are the Name & the Image. The Israelites who would not speak the holy Name also longed to see God's holy face. In Christ Jesus, both have been revealed. I suppose I'm lost now, but a good icon will do that to you.
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May your Holy Days be blessed &
Have a very blessed Easter!