Cushman: Praying with Icons

Guest Writer Susan Cushman

“I have chosen icons because they are created for the sole purpose of offering access, through the gate of the visible, to the mystery of the invisible. Icons are painted to lead us into the inner room of prayer and bring us close to the heart of God.” —Henri Nouwen in Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying with Icons (Ave Maria Press, 1987).

For four years in a row, in the 1980s, Henri Nouwen spent time at a spiritual retreat in France. Each year, someone placed an icon in the room where he would be staying. At the end of these visits, he wrote a book about his experiences with these icons—Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying with Icons. He gazed at these four icons for hours at a time, and, after patient, prayerful stillness on his part, they began to speak to him. As a man who loved the art of Michelangelo, Rembrandt, and Marc Chagall, he could have chosen any of these Western treasures for his meditations. But he chose icons.
When I became an Orthodox Christian, I embraced icons as “windows to heaven,” and have prayed before them for many years. As an iconographer, I have written many icons—some commissions, some as gifts, and some that I have kept in our home—and found the process to be very much like a prolonged prayer. These images of Christ, the Mother of God, and various saints and angels, draw my heart to God in a way that nothing else does. In addition to the “set” prayers I pray in the morning and evening, sometimes I pray specific prayers to saints depicted in the icons. Here is one to the Mother of God:

“Forasmuch as thou art a well-spring of tenderness, O Theotokos, make us worthy of compassion; Look upon a sinful people; Manifest thy power as ever, for hoping on thee we cry aloud unto thee: Hail! As once did Gabriel, Chief Captain of the Bodiless Powers.”

—St. John of Damascus, quoted in “Icons Will Save the World” in First Things (12/20/2007) by Susan Cushman.

Susan Cushman

Signs Too Deep for Words

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” —Romans 8:26.

milada vigerova

Trent Palmer reminds us in a recent post about this Daily Lectionary reading from Romans1—how this Romans passage has changed his prayer life. He is trying to wait for the Holy Spirit to lead him in prayer, knowing that God is doing for all of us far more than we can pray for or imagine ourselves.2 I need to hear this from The Daily Lectionary, Romans, The Book of Common Prayer, and Trent each week.

My prayers, especially for others, are a way to move out of the orbit I live in and know there is something going on greater than my mind, my feelings, my world. The space I live in is only a small piece of God’s world, perhaps like a grain of sand. But still, the God who loves us so much cares deeply about us, each grain of sand, each hair of our head, and loves us beyond what we can imagine. It is comforting to know that no matter what we pray for, the Spirit is there to guide our prayers. Sometimes I try to remember this by leaving a period of silence in prayer, followed by a few sighs of my own, hoping they will catch up with the sighs of the Holy Spirit!

I have friends who simply say to God, “I turn this day over to you for your care.” I admire them. It takes me more than ten words to turn over my day as well as those I care for and those I pray for. That is why intercessory prayer has become so important in my life. I aim for the shorter versions, but for today I am praying in long division.

1Trent Palmer, “Morning Reflection” from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas, Monday, July 9, 2018.

2 “Prayer for Those We Love,” Book of Common Prayer, p. 831.

Joanna joannaseibert.com

Name Day June 24

“On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, ‘No; he is to be called John.’ They said to her, ‘None of your relatives has this name.’ Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And all of them were amazed.” —Luke 1:59-63.

If your name is John or some derivative, June 24 is your name day. It is also celebrated as the birthday of John the Baptist. In some countries such as Greece, this is even more important than your regular birthday. When our daughter, Joanna, and her dad were in Greece on this, her name day, their guide Maria did not charge them for taking them around that day. When others heard that it was her name day, they gave her gifts.

Just as important as this name day is to our family is the remembrance that June 24 is the birthday of Bob, my husband’s father, who showed us and our children so much unconditional care and love. More and more in my life, I find it important to remember people who taught us about unconditional love. As we remember the person, we can feel that love they brought into our lives.

Consider finding out about your name, how you got your name, and even your name day.

On June 24, I also remember my grandparents Joe and Anna, as I was named after them. Again, these were two people who taught me about love without conditions. I was the “apple of their eye.” They loved me no matter what I did. They did not always condone what I did, but they still loved the sinner. Through their love, I learned about the unconditional love of God.

Honor and remember those who have brought the presence of love into your life. My experience is that in bringing them back into our memory, we can still feel and experience that love—even if they are not with us and are now living in eternal life. The God of my understanding does not give us this love and then stop it at death. Love lives on. Love never dies.

Joanna. Joannaseibert.com