We recently installed icon murals of the Ascension of the Lord and Pentecost, each eight feet high and four and a half feet wide, on the front walls of the Temple on either side of the Altar area opening.
The icon of the Ascension depicts the Lord’s mother and His disciples standing on the ground, with Christ above, enthroned on the clouds and flanked by angels, just as we are told we shall see Him when He comes again. (Acts 1:1-12; cf. Mark 13:26).
The icon of Pentecost shows the apostles seated in a semicircle as elders, but the center seat, where the teacher would be, is empty, as the Lord is no longer visible on earth. Instead we see a blue cloud at the top from which the “rushing mighty wind” of the Holy Spirit descends, and flames above each apostle’s head. At the bottom is a man wearing a crown in a dark space; he is this world and its rulers, now sitting in darkness, waiting to be enlightened by the Spirit-bearing apostles.
The murals were painted on canvas by Fr. Andrew Tregubov of Claremont, NH, a Russian priest and iconographer. They were installed by local wall covering installer Gary Atchley. Local artist Debbie O’Neill of Raymond painted red borders and trim to integrate them with the building and other icons. The icon of the Ascension is a memorial to our member Melinda Haddad, who fell asleep in the Lord November 26, 2009.
Icons (images) in Orthodox churches are not considered “art” as the term is used today, because they are not intended to express the painter’s personal creativity. They proclaim what the Church teaches about the persons or events depicted. Each must be painted according to traditions handed down for many centuries, as the icons are one of the ways the Faith is taught. When we stand in Church to worship, we are surrounded by icons of the “great cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1) of Christians who have gone before us, and the saving works of God in history, in which we now participate.
These icons are part of a long-range plan by which the whole interior of the Temple will be painted. Already there is a large icon on the ceiling of Christ Pantocrator (ruler of all things), and other large icons of his Mother, of the Raising of Lazarus, the Crucifixion, the Descent of Christ into Hades, the Appearance of Christ at the Sea of Tiberias (John 21:1), and St. John the Baptist, as well as many portrait-size icons of the saints.
We invite you to visit the Church and see these beautiful murals.
