The Sixth Sunday of Easter
The Pantocrator With Archangels, (Icon written by Steve Knight of the Epiphany Sacred Arts Guild, Lower Mainland, British Columbia)
The word “Pantocrator” means ‘almighty ruler’, ‘Lord of the Universe.’ Today in the Gospel we read what Jesus, our Pantocrator, urges us to do: “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.”
In Iconography, an icon is “written” not painted. The following description is from Steve Knight who wrote this beautiful icon:
The icon of the Pantocrator with Archangels is based on a 12th Century Russian icon entitled Emmanuel with Angels. These images tell us everything about Who Christ is in the story of Salvation. The IC XC inscription is an abbreviation, in Greek, of Jesous Christos, “Jesus the Anointed”, and tells us who is being depicted. The halos symbolize eternity and the inscription on Christ’s halo, O WN, is the name of God in Sacred Scripture (Exodus 3:11-14). It literally means “the being” or “He Who is”. We loosely translate it as “I Am”. The cross in Christ’s halo is the “Cross of Salvation” by which we are saved.
The colours of Christ’s garments tell us more about who He is. Red is the symbol of the earth and humanity and represents his human nature. Blue symbolizes the heavens and Christ’s divine nature, which is tightly wrapped around his humanity and the two cannot be separated. The golden strip on His right side, the stole, is a symbol of the priesthood. Christ is thus our eternal high priest (Hebrews 7: 26-28). In this contemporary image there is an addition strip of vine leaf recalling Jesus’ statement to the Apostles, “I am the vine, you are the branches” (John 15:5). (5th Sunday of Easter)
His right hand is raised in the blessing position. The finger positions are also important. There are variations on the arrangement of the fingers. If you look closely at the finger positions they spell out the IC XC. See if you can figure it out. In addition, in this image, the ring finger and pinky finger indicate Christ’s two natures, human and divine, while the remaining three signify the Holy Trinity.
The Pantocrator image shows Jesus holding a book. When the book is open, the image is called “Christ the Teacher” because there is a scriptural passage written there for us to meditate on. In this case, it is the A and W, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. In Revelations 1:8, 21:6, and 22:13, Christ says, “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.”
The Archangels Michael (“He who is like God”) and Gabriel (“God is my strength”) flank the image of Christ, with bowed heads and hands held out in supplication. Each carries a staff, the symbol of their authority and power as God’s heralds and messengers. Early iconographers took the richly dressed court figures of the Byzantine court as their inspiration for the dress and hairstyles of angels. They hold a sphere with Christ’s monogram contained within. Michael’s is the XP (Chi-Rho) and Gabriel’s is X (Christos). The sphere represents the created cosmos of which Christ is Lord Almighty. Wings have been part of many religious traditions and are associated with messengers of the gods. In this case, wings were adopted from Roman art.
I invite you to reflect on this beautiful icon – what does it mean to abide in our Pantocrator’s love? Each of us have been included in the life of Christ as a friend, if we follow his commandments. He chose us!
What an honour!
For further information on the Epiphany Sacred Arts Guild – especially check out their ‘gallery’: https://www.epiphanysacredarts.com/
For more information on the ‘Pantocrator, a description of the Sinai Christ Icon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfMbRRFc30k
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