A Curiously Beautiful Picture

Had I been really up on my Calendar of Church Feasts, I would have timed the launch of this blog with today's feast in honour of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It would have been appropriate since the image of a luminous heart is most adequately expressed in His Luminous Heart. Unfortunately, I only found out about it this morning. Oh, well! A quick online survey of information regarding the feast revealed that it's existed in the church since 1856, that it is celebrated 19 days after Pentecost, that it always falls on a Friday, and that it is honoured by Roman Catholics, Anglo-Catholics, and Lutherans alike!

But what I'm really excited to share today is the picture which accompanies this post. In the Eucharistic Chapel at Annunciation of the Lord Parish in Ottawa East, this very image hangs over the tabernacle. To this day, I have no idea who painted it. In the gloom of the chapel, it almost seems to be emerging from the wall itself, like a vision. When Annunciation first became our home-church, I remember going into the chapel and looking at this image. I found it austere, gruesome, even ugly! You can almost feel the sharp edges of the crown of thorns poking into the tender skin. In some masterstroke, the painter has been able to capture the effect of eyes welling with tears. It's a little eerie....The whole body, although seemingly draped in a robe, could just as well be scorged flesh. At the centre of it all is a luminous heart, gashed, spouting flames, crowned with a simple cross, and surrounded by a halo of light and thorns. The Latin incription, translated "God so loved the world", forces you to raise your eyes again to the heart, to the eyes. The eyes...They look at you with a soft intensity. I've sat in there and gazed and felt gazed back at. They are soft, but firm, loving, but sad. They are the kind of eyes you can drown in.

At Pentecost, I walked into the chapel and the painting was gone. Periodically, someone changes the pictures around. I'm always thrown for a loop when they do that. It's disconcerting. It's as if someone came into your home, rearranged your furniture without asking and left! The image of the Sacred Heart has not been returned, but I'm sure it will. It always does. I never learn my lesson....I'm always secretly afraid they won't bring it back. I don't find it ugly anymore. In fact, it's become, for me, the image of God's personal love. If you're ever in the East End, drop by Annunciation, look for the chapel and kneel there a while. With Jesus in the Tabernacle and this beautiful image just above, it's a sacred holiday for the soul!