 The
Slavonic Icon of the Crucifixion
The
inscriptions and abbreviations of the Slavonic icon of the Crucifixion
proclaim the central truths of the Gospel and the liturgical worship of the
Eastern Church. Those appearing on this depiction include: Jesus of Nazareth,
King of the Jews; He-Who-Is; The Crucifixion of the Lord, the King of Glory,
Son of God; We Bow Before Your Cross, O Master, and Glorify Your Holy
Resurrection; Jesus Christ – The Conqueror; and The Place of the Skull Becomes
Paradise. The other inscriptions likewise draw our attention to the key
aspects of Christ’s sacrificial death: The Hill of Golgotha; The Skull of
Adam; The Spear; The Sponge; The Sun; The Moon; The Image-Made-without-Hands;
The Archangel Gabriel and The Archangel Michael.
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 The
Slavonic Cross
Prominent
on every Slavonic icon of the Terrible Judgement (in Slavonic Strashnuiy Sud)
is the representation of the merilo pravednoe - the just balance or “the just
scales.” It appears as a small iconographic detail – the sloping lower
cross-bar on the cross. One of the prayers for the Ninth Hour of the Church’s
liturgy clarifies its importance: “In the midst of the two thieves, Thy Cross
was found to be a just balance: the one was brought down to Hades by the
weight of his blasphemy, while the other was lightened of his transgressions
unto the knowledge of theology: O Christ God, glory to Thee.”
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The
Sign of the Son of Man in Heaven
The Slavonic
inscription on this icon reads: “And then shall appear the Sign of the Son of
Man in heaven.” (Matthew 24:30) Origen, St. Cyril of Jerusalem and St. John
Chrysostom based their end-time teaching on this passage from Scripture.
According to their understanding, immediately prior to Christ’s Second Coming,
darkness will cover the earth, but humanity will still vaguely see the sun and
moon, the planets and the stars wildly careening across the heavens, their
transits totally without pattern or design. This horrifying scene will be
followed by the appearance of a blazing cross piercing the darkness shrouding
the entire world.
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 A
Modern Day Miracle
One of the most
remarkable apparitions of modern times (and yet one of the least known) took
place (according to the Old Calendar) on 14 September 1925, the Feast of the
Elevation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross. Since the Eastern Church’s
liturgical day begins at sundown, the first service of the day is Vespers. On
this occasion, for that service more than 2,000 faithful had gathered at the
Church of St. John the Theologian on Mount Hymettus, a suburb of Athens.
Because the church was too small for all the worshippers, many were in the
courtyard outside, and they were the first to see this apparition. It appeared
in the sky above the church about 11:30 p.m. and lasted until midnight.
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 The
Image of Christ Made-Without-Hands
The title of the icon
known as “The Image Made-Without-Hands” (in Slavonic Nerukotvorrenuiy Obraz –
the inscription below Christ’s face) is based upon an ancient prototype
venerated in Constantinople and believed to have been “made without hands,” in
other words, of miraculous origin. Northern Russian iconographers developed a
particularly beautiful form of this icon, one which tempered the severity of
the Pantocrator with the tenderness of the Lover of Mankind “Who has filled
all things with joy.” This drawing depicts a twelfth-century icon in Moscow’s
Cathedral of the Dormition.
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Our
Lady of Hrushiv
On 26
April 1987, one year to the very hour after the huge nuclear explosion at the
Chernobyl reactor in northeastern Ukraine, the Mother of God appeared to a
schoolgirl in a small western Ukrainian village. Perhaps not since the time of
Joan of Arc had a supernatural visitation so quickly and so completely
reshaped the life of a nation. A little more than a year later, the Greek
Catholic Church re-appeared; then came the fall of the communist empire.
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 The
Holy Apostle Peter as Bishop of the Universal Church
On this icon we see St.
Peter wearing the episcopal vestments of both the Eastern and Western
Churches. These are a reminder that before he became the first bishop of Rome,
he was the first bishop of Antioch, capital city of the “Eastern” province of
the Roman Empire. He was martyred in Rome and buried on Vatican Hill. The high
altar of St. Peter’s Basilica stands directly above his grave.
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