Cry not over me, Mother

"In my arms I hold thee as a corpse,
O Loving Lord,
who hast brought the dead to life;
grievously is my heart wounded
and I long to die with thee",
said the All-Pure,
"for I cannot bear to look upon Thee,
lifeless and without breath."

"Where, O my Son and God,
are the good tidings of the Annunciation
that Gabriel brought me?
He called Thee King and God
and Son of the Most High;
and now, O my sweet Light,
I behold Thee naked, wounded and lifeless."

"Release me from my agony and take me with Thee,
O my Son and God.
Let me also descend with Thee, O Master, into hell.
Leave me not to live alone,
for I cannot bear to look upon Thee,
my sweet Light."

--From the Good Friday Compline


Here we are, gazing through tears, at the foot of the cross bearing the extinguished body of Our Lord. Here the ultimate paradox in that the Creator, who descended from heaven and was born as man, allowed himself to be mocked, judged, tormented and killed by those he himself had created: "Today the Master of Creation stands before Pilate; today the maker of all things is given up to the cross. The Deliverer of the world is struck on the face, and the Creator of all is mocked by His own servants."
And the Sun disappeared. And the Earth shook.
"Holy Holy Holy!" cried the grieving cherubim and angels...

"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself"
(Jn 12:32)

(*side note~ Kenosis: He has emptied his body by submitting to death, expressed by the open wounds in the hands and side. The redeeming quality of the water and blood that ran out of the wound in his side, is passed on by the sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Eucharist.)


I wrote this icon of The Man of Sorrows before working with Ksenia, with egg tempera for the corpus and encaustic paint in the background. Here I know nothing. I want so badly to express my love, but it still falls so short, so burdened with flaws... But laying it out, is like exposing one's sin. I will look forward to the day of re-doing it under her tutelage.

As for now we await the Ressurrection...