August 11, 2017

My Journey to God

The Assumption Icon of Hope

The year was 1985, and I was 15. I stood in a centuries-old orthodox church in the Soviet Union, mesmerized by the candles, icons and paintings adorning every inch like a blanket of holiness. I looked up and saw an image so unusual, so striking that I can see it clearly in my mind to this day. Across a portion of the ceiling was an image of Jesus as if ascending toward his Father in heaven. Cradled in his left arm was a swaddled baby—his own mother, Mary.

I puzzled over the image. Why was Mary shown as an infant? Why wasn’t she depicted being taken to heaven as a beautiful young woman, like all of the Assumption images I had ever seen?

I carried the image in my mind and reflected on it over the years. As both I and my faith matured, I came to see it as a depiction of “death as rebirth,” with Christ himself taking his most beloved “reborn” mother—the purest of all souls—to her heavenly home.

I didn’t see a similar image again until 30 years later when I visited another foreign land—the Holy Land.
When we entered Dormition Abbey in Old Jerusalem, I wondered … . I searched the walls, and there it was. Jesus wasn’t ascending in this image, but rather standing over the deceased body of his mother. Still, he held in his arms the pure soul of the reborn Mary in swaddling clothes, like the Madonna and Child reversed.

I learned that this image is called the “Assumption Icon of Hope” (a search on the Internet returns several variations of this image). And it does give me hope: hope in the intercession of a mother so pure, her soul was assumed straight into heaven by her Son; and hope that, if I follow her example, proclaim my “Yes” and live for Christ, I too might one day be carried to heaven by his strong, beautiful arms as a joyful child, anxiously waiting to meet my Father.

By Natalie Hoefer
 

(Natalie Hoefer is a member of St. Monica Parish in Indianapolis and a reporter for The Criterion.)

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