Nativity
Given by Betsy and Paul Rogers
This icon has wonderful symbolism – much of it is unique to Sister. First there is the shape of the cave. It is heart shaped and shows us that Jesus should be born in all our hearts. In the cave, the manger is in the shape of a sarcophagus –foreshadowing His death and resurrection.
Notice the light on the figure of Mary. Her head is slightly turned to the left and so casts light along her left side – leaving the right in shadow. (See explanation of iconic light in Annunciation information). She is holding Jesus who is blessing us. Joseph is kneeling in the background with his right hand up shielding his face from the glory of his Son.
Over the wise men we have the turquoise stone within the 8 pointed star. This is, of course, the star that guided them to Jesus and is set on an axis pointing to the Child. The center King is mirroring Joseph’s pose.
The Shepherds are to our right and the angels are above the cave. The left Angel is blessing us and the scene.
Notice the closed, locked gate in the wall and all the dark windows in the town. There was no room for them in the inn or the town.
Sister often includes “talents” in her Nativities. Talent means vocation towards Christ. We all receive in the moment of our baptism more talents or less. Some people have more passion for Jesus, others have less, and there is also another category where people do not have faith at all or their faith is so small that the only talent that they have, they put into the earth.
The five talents shown are painted as gold discs near the magi’s because they pray and call Jesus Christ’s name all the time. They represent the hermits, people who usually live in the desert, out of this world. They love to live all their life with Jesus and pray to Him unceasingly. They have a strong faith and passion for God and the only thing they do is to pray for the entire creation.
The three talents are given to the shepherds. They represent the priests of the Church, who worship God during the services of the Church and propagate God’s words, teaching people about the truth of the Church and about the faith. They have a hard mission in this world, working with all kinds of people, trying to help them and bring them closer to God.
The last category, those who receive one talent represent the people who have only a little bit of faith and they do nothing to improve it. They prefer to live only for themselves in this world, and in this way they bury the talent.
The one in the sky represents those people in Bethlehem who did not receive Jesus to be born in their city, actually in their heart.
-Sandy Kezar
Notice the light on the figure of Mary. Her head is slightly turned to the left and so casts light along her left side – leaving the right in shadow. (See explanation of iconic light in Annunciation information). She is holding Jesus who is blessing us. Joseph is kneeling in the background with his right hand up shielding his face from the glory of his Son.
Over the wise men we have the turquoise stone within the 8 pointed star. This is, of course, the star that guided them to Jesus and is set on an axis pointing to the Child. The center King is mirroring Joseph’s pose.
The Shepherds are to our right and the angels are above the cave. The left Angel is blessing us and the scene.
Notice the closed, locked gate in the wall and all the dark windows in the town. There was no room for them in the inn or the town.
Sister often includes “talents” in her Nativities. Talent means vocation towards Christ. We all receive in the moment of our baptism more talents or less. Some people have more passion for Jesus, others have less, and there is also another category where people do not have faith at all or their faith is so small that the only talent that they have, they put into the earth.
The five talents shown are painted as gold discs near the magi’s because they pray and call Jesus Christ’s name all the time. They represent the hermits, people who usually live in the desert, out of this world. They love to live all their life with Jesus and pray to Him unceasingly. They have a strong faith and passion for God and the only thing they do is to pray for the entire creation.
The three talents are given to the shepherds. They represent the priests of the Church, who worship God during the services of the Church and propagate God’s words, teaching people about the truth of the Church and about the faith. They have a hard mission in this world, working with all kinds of people, trying to help them and bring them closer to God.
The last category, those who receive one talent represent the people who have only a little bit of faith and they do nothing to improve it. They prefer to live only for themselves in this world, and in this way they bury the talent.
The one in the sky represents those people in Bethlehem who did not receive Jesus to be born in their city, actually in their heart.
-Sandy Kezar
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St. Mary's Episcopal Church - Tampa, FL
4311 West San Miguel Street Tampa, FL 33629 (813) 251-1660 [email protected] Summer Worship Schedule 10 a.m. Blended Sunday Worship Schedule 8 a.m. Contemplative 10 a.m. Blended |
