Christ of the Divine Mercy (v.2)

Adapted from Cole

Size:          12 x 24 inches

      Media:        Acrylic Gouache 

Gold:            23.75 K Gold 

                             Style:             Contemporary Original:                  

Private commission,      Christmas 2010

The Icon Story

The Divine Mercy is the vision of Jesus as he presented himself to the Polish nun, Saint Sister Maria Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938).  In her visions, Jesus told Sr. Faustina, “ I am Love and Mercy itself.”

The image is well known among Catholics.  The right hand of Jesus is raised in blessing and the left is touching his heart, from which emanate two rays, one red and the other crystalline.  The rays are remembrances of water, which washes and blood, which is the life.

Jesus, as the Divine Mercy, stands before a door – the Holy Door – a common iconic structure.  The Holy Door represents the separation between the Divine and the human, the connection between heaven and earth, and the reconciliation possible between God and man.  As Jesus stands before this door and announces that he is Love and Mercy itself, he serves as the doorman – opening the door for our reconciliation.

Now, it is just this moment in the developing narrative within my head that I realized, “Whoa! Jesus told Sr. Faustina that he was total love and total mercy.  It is that love and mercy standing as the “door opener” into the realms of the Divine, the realms of heaven.  So, this is what Jesus meant when he said, “You go to the Father through me.” We go to the Father through total love and total mercy. We experience the Divine when we live the total love and we live the total mercy. (Note: these thoughts are offered only as an illustration of how the icons stimulate my contemplative life. They are not meant to espouse dogma, nor anybody’s theology. The thoughts are examples of how the Holy Spirit (through the icons) helps me understand this life and its callings.)

The value and purpose of an icon

The value of an icon lies not in its being beautiful in itself – in its appearance as a beautiful object, but in the fact that it depicts Beauty – the Beauty of the acquired likeness of God.  Henry Nouwen said that to pray with icons, to gaze within the icon, is to behold the beauty of God. By praying with icons, we choose to take conscious steps to safeguard our inner space where we can keep our eyes fixed on the beauty of the Lord.

The task of the icon is not to provoke human emotion but to guide all the faculties of human nature toward its own transfiguration.  Icons are created for the sole purpose of providing access, through the gate of the visible, into the mystery of the invisible.  They lead us into the inner room of prayer and bring us close to the heart of God.

About the author and this icon

This icon is an adaptation of an earlier one written during an icon workshop. In workshops, one paints according to the skill and patterns of the instructor.  I have taken numerous workshops from a variety of teachers and several iconographic masters.  I have learned there is a supreme difference between people who teach iconography workshops; there are those who teach because they can, and more ideally, those who teach because they are gifted in painting skills and in connection to the spirituality behind the icon.  One should always try to learn from the spiritual master of iconography.

This version of Christ of the Divine Mercy reflects my own progress in sorting the skills and knowledge of various teachers. It also reflects the improvement of my own painting skills over the course of these years.  I dare say, if another commission for this icon presents itself, that version will be different, more spiritual, and more moving to the heart.

It took 3 times longer than usual to paint this icon because I had an extreme foot surgery during the course of painting. I was unable to stand for more than 5 to 10 minutes at a time. Since I paint standing up, it was a long and painful process to complete this icon.  As I neared completion, I noted that the feet of Jesus were reflecting what had happened to my own foot! With 5 large pins/screws in my foot, I felt a very small understanding about the pain of nails through feet.

There are no prints of this icon available.