Dear parishioners and friends of our parish,
I am overjoyed to present to you the next stage of iconography of our Church. For the last year and a half, Fr. Peter and I have been working on a plan for the iconography in the remainder of our Church, striving to integrate the current icons we have together with new icons that will adorn the walls of our Church, further beautifying it but also opening to us the Gospel in colour. The following stage proposes first the completion of the east wall followed by iconography on the north and south walls (excluding the barrel vaults). Allow me to briefly explain these three walls and the proposed icons.
THE EAST WALL
On the pillars immeditely to the left and right of the iconostasis, we have pairs of saints which were chosen because of their importance for us as Eastern Christians and because we have parishioners who are named after these particular saints.
On the far left and far right, we have Gospel encounters between Jesus and women (left side) and men (right side) that are life changing. You have Jesus encountering those who are unclean but are made clean by physical contact with Him: the woman with the flow of blood (Luke 8:43-48) and the cleansing of a leper (Matthew 8:1–4, Mark 1:40–45 and Luke 5:12–16). Next, we have an encounter with Jesus that leads to repentance and a change of life: the Samaritan Woman (John 4:5-42) and Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10). Finally, we have Jesus appearing after His resurrection to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18) and Thomas (John 20:24-29).
THE SOUTH WALL
On the left hand side of this wall, we first have the icon of the Nativity (Matthew 2:1-12 and Luke 2:1-20) at the top left. Below it, we have the Flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-23), and below that, we have the Elder Simeon and the Prophetess Anna with the child Jesus (Luke 2:22-38). Next to them, we have an icon of St. Joseph the Betrothed (Matthew 1:18-25). These icons give us the main events and persons associated with the Nativity of Christ.
On the right hand side, we begin with the Theophany of Our Lord (Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, and Luke 3:21-22) which is followed by two important events at the beginning of our Lord's ministry: His temptation in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, and Luke 4:1-13) and reading from the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah in the synagogue (Luke 4:14-29). In between these two sides, we have two angels holding a scroll which will read "Слава во вишніх Богу...” (Glory to God in the highest...) which is the angelic hymn of the Christmas season.
THE NORTH WALL
On the left hand side of this wall, we first depict the Crucifixion of Jesus (Matthew 27:34–36, Mark 15:23–25, Luke 23:33–34, and John 19:18, 23–24). Below it, we have the Betrayal of Judas (Matthew 26:47-56, Mark 14:43-50, Luke 22:47-53 and John 18:1-11) and the Anointing at Bethany (Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:1-11, Luke 7:36-50 and John 12:1-8).
On the right hand side, we have the Descent into Hades which is the icon we use for Pascha. Below that, we have the Myrrhbearing Women arriving at the Tomb (Mark 16:1-8) and below that icon, we have depictions of three other Myrrhbearers: Joseph of Arimathea (Matthew 27:57-60, Mark 15:43-46, Luke 23:50-53, and John 19:38-40), and the sisters Mary and Martha of Bethany (Luke 10:38-42 and John 11:1-45). In between these two sides, we have two angels holding a scroll which will read "Воскресення Твоє Христе Спасе...” (Your Resurrection, O Christ our Saviour...) which is the angelic hymn of the Paschal season.
SPONSORSHIP
As you can see in the attached file, these icons are not inexpensive to sponsor. Due to the height of our Church, the scenes will be between 9 and 10 feet tall. In order to make sponsorship more accessible, we propose two possibilities:
1) Sponsor an icon together with other parish families.
2) Divide your sponsorship contribution between 2023 and 2024.
If you have any questions or other ideas about sponsorship, please email Fr. Tom (pastor.stsvowindsor@gmail.com)
TIMELINE
Once all the icons have been sponsored, we hope to havre the work begin in the late summer. We are hopeful that the East Wall will be completed by the end of 2023 and the north and south walls in 2024.
Sponsorship Price List v.6
To view icons written by Stefanov Icon Studio (formerly Artsome Studio), visit their: