Source: Ahwatukee Foothills News
October 17, 2016
Photo: http://www.ahwatukee.com/
Orthodox Christians consider icons “windows to heaven,” according to Father Philip Armstrong of St. Katherine Greek Orthodox Church in Chandler.
“They connect the world of the visible to the invisible,” he said.
That connection was made in a dramatic way Tuesday night when an icon from Russia visited the Chandler church.
“This is special,” said Zagorka Malinovic, who brought her son Rade, 15, in a wheelchair. He has cerebral palsy.
“It is close to my heart,” she said.
The icon, called “Mother of God the Softener of Evil Hearts,” was brought from Moscow by Sergei Leonidovich Fomin and his wife Margarita Vorobyev. The icon is visiting churches around the United States.
According to the church, the icon streams myrrh, a fragrant oil.
Icons are important to the Orthodox church, and each visitation is greeted with ceremony. The Chandler visit was accompanied by an Intercessory Canon to the Theotokos, or Mother of God.
“Icons remind us that visible creation is not evil,” Armstrong said. “This gives us a glimpse of the heavenly kingdom.”
This is the second icon to visit the Chandler church. A Mother of God icon from Hawaii has been through, and will come again soon.
At this event, more than 100 people greeted the icon. Young to old, from America and around the world, people were touched by the solemnity of the event.
Diamantis Orfanos, originally from Greece, was taking videos of the icon.
“This reminds us that whatever we do in our life, nothing is going to work without blessing,” he said. “We need love. We need to get together.”
His joy was apparent was he was speaking.
“I feel it in my soul,” he said with a wide smile. “I explode in my soul.”
The healthy crowd demonstrated the strength of the Orthodox church in the East Valley.
The others in the East Valley are St. John the Evangelist Orthodox Christian Church in Tempe and St. Ignatius Antiochian Orthodox Church in Mesa.
The Orthodox church is represented by different nationalistic branches. Armstrong says the differences in Greek, Russian, Serbian and other churches are small.
“We are unified in the same doctrine, in communion with each other,” he said.
Armstrong emphasizes that although ancient, the Orthodox church is not irrelevant.
“We try to communicate that orthodoxy is timeless. The tools don’t change. They are still as effective,” he said.
“The teachings of Jesus are relevant to all ages. It doesn’t have to be modern to be relevant.”
He finds that people who end up in an Orthodox church are seeking a connection to antiquity.
“They are tired of constant change in the world and in the church,” he said. “If we have the fullness of Christ, we don’t have to reinvent ourselves.”
Armstrong, from Castro Valley, California, has been the head priest at St. Katherine for 23 years. His staff is small—the church relies mostly on volunteers.
St. Katherine’s sanctuary itself is a bright white room with touches of blue, maroon and gold, representing a king’s palace.
At the front are colorful paintings of the apostles, and scenes of Jesus’ baptism and transfiguration. Also pictured is what the Orthodox church calls the “Mystical Supper,” also known as the Last Supper.
High above the front is a half dome, with gold leaf and more icons. They were painted by a professional iconographer from Cyprus.
Armstrong explains that the icons all have the same expression of contemplative prayer. They’re flat-looking also, so the observer is not drawn to the humanity of the figures themselves but to the thought of what they represent.
“There is a spiritual sobriety to it,” he said.
Even the music is selected carefully. It’s worshipful, but doesn’t draw attention to itself.
“The goal of Orthodox worship is not to entertain you,” Armstrong said. “It is to show holiness and reverence.”
At the icon event, bells, incense and music connected the people to the icon.
Heads bowed as a liturgy was sung in English and Greek.
Armstrong then spoke of the icon softening hearts, providing healing and restoration. People then lined up for a blessing with oil and to venerate the icon.
Afterward, people were given cards with the icon on it. They carried them out, kissing them.
Malinovic, originally from Serbia, was beaming in the moment.
Asked if she was there to pray to the icon for healing for her disabled son, she shrugged and said, “God knows. I just want the best for everybody.”
