- NEWS -
Lecture by Mrs. Mirana Abdelnour
Spouses in Orthodox Iconography
Expressions and Meanings
|
- NEWS - Lecture by Mrs. Mirana AbdelnourSpouses in Orthodox IconographyExpressions and Meanings
|
On
Thursday,
May
12,
2005,
Mrs.
Mirana
Abdelnour,
M.A.
in
Family
Sciences
from
The
Lyon
Catholic
University,
made
a
presentation
on
“Spouses
in
Orthodox
Iconography”
as
part
of
a
series
of
public
lectures
on
Family
and
Pastoral
Care
organized
by
the
MTh
Program
for
this
academic
year
2004-2005
(see
full
program
here).
During her conference Mrs. Abdelnour projected a sequence of Orthodox icons that represent spouses in different scenes. The icons of the Creation, Resurrection, Wedding of Cana, osculation of the righteous, and many others were interpreted from this very particular perspective.
God blessed the union of man and woman in marriage. Icons depict this union respecting a vital space between the two spouses. These holy images do always call the beholder to discern between union and fusion. Hence, each individual remains independent, though united to the other one. To rediscover the prosopon in the neighbor permits a reassurance of the self and incites to the search of the Divine.
Mrs. Abdelnour concluded her conference naming some issues that still need to be studied in the Orthodox iconography and exhorting the attendance to engage themselves in a pastoral work that reinterprets the tradition for a flock living in the modern world.