1 This is the genealogy[a] of Jesus the Messiah[b] the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah[c] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12 After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14 Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.
St Joseph therefore being of the House of David was actual royalty and being the step father of Jesus (which in the tradition of the time was seen as real fatherhood) he steps back from his earthly kingship so that God can crown Jesus as THE King: “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” (Revelations 17:14; 19:16). Jesus is King not just for a time but for all of eternity. His kingdom will never come to an end.
Ever-glorious St Joseph, good and gentle saint. God was please to place his own family in your care. We thank you for being such a wonderful example of humility and faith, of prayerfulness and courage in your ordinary daily life.
And who are we, all of us gathered into this space today?
Growing up, we had an old leather bound photo album at home. Every so often it was taken it down to insert the most recent family photographic record; a first communion, a confirmation or some family event. I was always more interested in turning those board pages back, back to pictures that peered from the past; ones in which I wasn’t present, to people I never knew and places I’d never been. I loved mam and dad telling us about who and where and when, each remembering into life a particular photograph. When I look back, I think I deliberately used to lure them into story time. They were great tellers and I loved listening.
Icon of Saint Patrick, Glenstal Abbey Church, Murroe Co Limerick.Photo:Valerie O’Sullivan
Memory is central to who we are, to our identity and informs our experience of family, community, parish, world.
Today, as we do at every Mass we remember, we retell the story, that story that now, makes present the saving action of God in our life through Jesus Christ. We re-member ourselves, re-insert ourselves into this story. We re-present ourselves now that like the bread and wine offered, we too may now be transformed.
And on this day, as we remember, we open another page in our family album of faith.
Pádraig, Aspal mór na hEireann. Annually, we tell the story and keep the memory of Patrick, slave, keeper of sheep, bishop, miles Christi, Apostle and Patron of Ireland
We re-tell and in some cases rehabilitate his story, that we might understand something more of our own identity, of our own living, through the prism of his. This telling is complex, as much of what we have come to know of the man and his life is drawn from an amalgam of fact and legend. Many voices and causes have shouted down the centuries, rallying Patrick to their particular cause, painting him for their own image and likeness. But take away the air-brushing, the dear little shamrock, the crozier-stabbed snakes and the sweet-smiling mitred prelate, smash the glass and crumble the stone and all that is left is … well the man, as in his own words he reveals himself to us; Ego Patricius peccator – I am Patrick. a sinner, a simple country person, and the least of all believers, utterly worthless in the eyes of many.
His principal writing, his ‘Confession’, is far more than a mere apologia to his critics, but rather a testimony, a declaration of his faith, and of God’s grace at work in his life. Here we meet the raw humanity of a man bearing no resemblance to that caricature, absent again this year from public display. A man, whose struggle with life events resonates in a much deeper way in reality with ours, particularly during this time of pandemic.
Patrick was a man of the now. A slave for six years from the age of 16, his only day was today. Slaves didn’t have a future, they didn’t generally get away, so there was no wiling away his lockdown ’till it was over and he could get back to how things used to be. No. ‘today’ was all he had; life or death. And it was into this today of tedium and isolation that God became known to him. The trappings of what was a life of privilege at home now stripped, he had all the time in the world for nothing as it were, and God made his way in. Isn’t it often the case for us, that when all which is not essential has been stripped away, at our simplest, deepest, sometimes loneliest, and desolate selves we find God, or having cried out, we encounter the God who in fact has never been absent from us. Dia i gcónaí ar na sleibhte, na gleannta ‘s ar na maighe, that ever-present-God in the highs, the lows and the even-plains of our daily living. This is the God, that, for Patrick, as for us, truly frees us from our ‘stuck’ places; ‘..like a stone lying in the deep mud,’ Patricks describes it, ‘ the Lord heaved me up and placed me on top of a wall.’
And, it wasn’t just that God, for Patrick, was ever present. God was the centre.
Patrick was clearly well versed in scripture, and prayed by day and by night, in rain, hail, and snow. But beyond this, he was, I think, deeply contemplative. It’s clear that prayer was not simply an activity, but the very attitude of his being; as if his breathing pulse was the Spirit, and every moment, movement and word were of Christ. This God to Patrick, as to Jeremiah in today’s first reading, was the fount and source, the one who formed, who knew, who consecrated, who appointed, who commanded, who put his words in Patrick’s mouth…it was not by my own grace, but God working in me…Patrick regularly says.
Christ as centre, as Thomas Merton says, in whom and by whom one is illuminated.
Any missionary success, he credits humbly to this grace, the power of the Trinity working in him; that very foundation to mission underpinning Mark’s Gospel just read. But it is Patrick’s own life that was possibly the real landscape of mission. That wilderness where the outpouring of God’s unconditional love and grace was sown and rooted, for a lifetime of encounter. Here was the seedbed of God’s action. Patrick, a man all too familiar with adversity and suffering; loneliness for his own family and place, brokenness from betrayal, daily fear of enslavement and death; with God’s grace, becomes resilient, courageous and persevering. How beautiful became those muddied feet, the bringer of good news.
And this Good news, for us is not simply a memory recalled, it is rather as the Lenten antiphon sings; ‘Now is the favourable time. This, today, is the day of our Salvation.
I arrived to Dromantine to a dimming sunset lighting the very impressive building and this sacred place, a sanctuary steeped in history and still shaping futures and was greeted with a warm welcome from fellow Iconographers and a sense of excitement and knowing that this was going to be a very special weekend.
We met at breakfast and we were soon all aligning to our new routine. Break-times came quickly between the workshops. We would have happily worked from dawn to dusk, but the regular breaks and wholesome meals satisfied our inner hobbit needs. We lacked nothing and we were very well looked after by friendly and enthusiastic staff.
A collective mood alternated between concentrated silence and focus on the large bright workshop contrasting to giddy relief as the group opened to each other at mealtimes and the tempo could be felt rising to a great buzz and hum of happy friends exchanging stories, catching up and sharing tips. We went about the day like worker bees in a colony working in happy and busy unison, each totally immersed generating that which has already been written. Hands guided by our Creator, minds focused totally on the next stroke. Our mission is not personal expression but to write and preserve the word of God. News from the outside didn’t impose much on us, our gaze and minds remained steadfast on our task.
Springtime arrived in Dromantine! A light frost glistening in the mornings followed by glorious sunshine after a long dark wet winter. The woodland path revealed a potent sunbeam which had already awakened a Rhododendron (rose tree) growing next to a hand carved sculpture depicting the Crucifixion.
Extraordinary! the early crimson blooms signaling a spiritual rebirth and fast forward to spring.
Ethna provided us with spiritual nourishment and guided us through a meditation of an icon of the Transfiguration of Jesus as He spoke to Moses and Elijah on Mount Tabor with Peter, James and John falling down in terror at the sound of God’s voice from a Cloud, the mountain looking like hands joined in prayer. The past, the present and the future all contained in this icon.
Later at Mass the theme was sustained by a very in-depth homily leading us deeper into the meaning of the Transfiguration. Seeing and believing are intrinsically linked. “What has been seen cannot been unseen”. Icons ask us to pay attention to the Word of God: from Old Testament, the New Testament and the lives of the Saints. Iconographers see and read the world in a spiritual way.
For the Icon Blessing the Dromantine Priests gifted a special anointing oil blessed by three saints:
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (The Little Way), Saint Maria Goretti (Forgiveness, Purity, Trust) and St. Pope Pius X (To restore all things in Christ). Each Saint speaks volumes to us about the times we are living through now and provides us with necessary guidance to face any terrors in today’s world.
Learning in this environment is like learning to swim under the guidance of Olympic swimmers, our tutors are skilled, experienced experts, watching over us, extremely generous with their time and knowledge and support. It’s a very safe environment. I am at the stage of learning to let go and float.
I am so very grateful to every tutor and comrade and to our generous host at Dromantine. I left this experience with an overflowing cup of friendship and fellowship and precious blessed icon to watch over my family and my home. I am looking forward to more time together on this adventure, learning, reading and writing iconography. Forever grateful.
Ellen Troy comments on the Dromantine icon weekend 2011:
The tutors dedication to all of us and their endless patience was extraordinary. You just knew you were among holy people. Iconography must attract peace loving gentle people because everyone on the weekend was exceptionally kind and loving.
I liked to potter around looking at everyone’s work and we all shared notes and prayers, images and hymns. It was great to see Colette, Philip and Dick’s work for the Eucharistic Congress. They are an inspiration to us all.
I know the Lord truly has His hand in my work because I could not produce it on my own. I cannot leave Dromantine without mentioning the picturesque location and the most wonderful food. The staff could not have been more hospitable. I hope I have the chance to do another weekend. I just loved it! I thank and praise the Lord.
In 2017 course participants were asked to sum up their experiences of the course in three words:
Peaceful spiritual companionship
Peaceful relaxing prayerful
Spiritual, relaxing, moving
Renewal, prayer, silence
Gentle, caring, skilled
Peaceful, rewarding, very spiritual
Journey into peace
Time with like minded people, Contemplative, Helpful
The Association has complied a slide show of Icons created by members over the past year. The quality and volume of work is to be highly commended, a credit to all. Well done to all members, Outstanding Work!
Special Thanks to Colette Clarke for sourcing and compiling the Icons and photographs
Below you will find the booking form for the course at Dromantine.
There is an option to to book in on the evening of Thursday 26th February to facilitate setting up for tuition starting on Friday morning. An evening meal on Thursday is not included in the booking.
This course is for members who are improvers and experienced iconographers. Those who have attended as beginners at one of our August week-long courses or have attended classes with an Association tutor are very welcome to register their interest. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact the committee on [email protected]
The Information Sheet with course details and the Booking Form can be downloaded from the links at the bottom of this page:
In Jewish law, forty days after a child’s birth, the mother of a firstborn son was required to offer him to God when the baby was presented at the temple. The baby was “ransomed” by a symbolic sacrifice. In the case of the poor, which applied to Mary and Joseph, this symbolic ransom was “a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.”
Simeon the priest, who receives this offering (and Anna the prophetess), understands at once the wonder of what is occurring. Simeon has sought God all his life and he is now on the point of leaving it. Holding the Child Jesus not in his hands but in the liturgical cloth, we know what bursts from his heart, that great hymn of gratitude, expressing his readiness to die, “for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” (Luke 2:30-33).
The significance of the presentation of Jesus in the temple is the complete acceptance of the parents Mary and Joseph that their Child belongs to God. Of course, He is the Son of God, but Mary’s obedience to the law goes deeper than this. Mary’s gentle acceptance of Simeon’s right as priest, to take Jesus from her, and hold him up to the Father in heaven, recognises the state of every child- no baby belongs to its parents; every baby belongs to God.
Sr. Wendy Beckett
Are not the lyric lights in the outer garment of St. Symeon as he tenderly holds the Child Jesus not well named? Is it not as if the very fabric of the garment “sings” as it makes contact with the Christ Child?
This icon of St Symeon is by the hand of Paula Mc Hugh
The image here- the head of St Paul- is a detail of an icon painted by St Andrew (Rublev) between 1408 and 1425 for the iconostasis of the Zvenigorod Cathedral of the Assumption. If we compare this head with the head of Apostle Paul on the medal (to the left of the spectator), we shall see that both represent the head of the same man, on the medal in profile and on the icon in three-quarter face. Despite an interval of 12 or 13 centuries between the medal and the icon, the latter reproduces the same face with its characteristic peculiarities and even with a certain anatomical precision. There is the same shape of the head, the same high bald forehead, the same slightly protruding lower jaw, the same beard falling down in curly strands. This resemblance is proof of the reverent care with which the portrayed features of the saints are preserved in Orthodox iconography. There is no doubt that the Russian icon-painter of the XVth century had never seen the Roman portraits and probably did not even suspect their existence. In reproducing the portrayed features he was guided by the tradition of icon-painting, transmitted through centuries by the icon.
Below you will find the booking form for the course at Dromantine.
There is an option to to book in on the evening of Thursday 26th February to facilitate setting up for tuition starting on Friday morning. An evening meal on Thursday is not included in the booking.
This course is for members who are improvers and experienced iconographers. Those who have attended as beginners at one of our August week-long courses or have attended classes with an Association tutor are very welcome to register their interest. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact the committee on [email protected]
The Information Sheet with course details and the Booking Form can be downloaded from the links at the bottom of this page:
iconographers ireland 