The Meaning of Icons

On 25th January about fifty people, members of the NKA and friends, met in the beautiful setting of St Woolos Cathedral for a talk by Archimandrite Father Deiniol, of the Wales Orthodox Mission.

Welcomed by Rev. Mark Soady, cathedral chaplain, and Bernard Tyson, vice chair of NKA, speaking on behalf of Catherine Philpott, he fascinated his audience by demonstrating the spiritual and liturgical significance icons have in the Christian Orthodox tradition.

Western art was similar in style to icons until the Renaissance when artists became interested in perspective and portraying subjects realistically. Father Deiniol explained that the apparent naivety and ‘flatness’ of icons is to highlight the point that the saints they portray exist outside human time and space, in an eternal dimension. Because of this, saints from different historical periods appear together. In the liturgy Christians enter eternal time, and so surrounded by the icons of the saints in their churches, saints and people worship God together. He passed around an icon of a saint holding a bible and showed that the bible was painted in reverse perspective, the viewer becoming the ‘vanishing point’, drawing the viewer into the saint’s presence. He then showed a larger icon of the trinity and showed how each detail had its timeless spiritual meaning.

There were many interesting questions and answers before Bernard Tyson, thanked Father Deiniol and presented him with a book about Newport. The audience then moved to the St Mary Chapel for refreshments.

The evening raised £253.00, which is to be presented to St Woolos Cathedral for the Cathedral Rescue Appeal.

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the success of the evening: the providers of the refreshments, ticket sellers, supporters and especially Derek Butler, the organiser.

Sylvia Mason (NKA Press Officer)