There are over 400 occurrences of the word “joy” in
the Bible, most of them referring to what awaits those who become close to God.
So why do icons – portraits of people who have been received by Christ into
Heaven – show the Saints looking sombre?
It is certainly the case that there is a tradition
within Orthodoxy of a continual grieving over our sins that leads to
purification. Indeed, St James states it quite clearly in his epistle:
Submit yourselves therefore to
God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will
draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you
double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your
joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight
of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. (James 4:7-10)
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St Silouan |
There are numerous
examples of ascetic Saints who pursued this path of mourning, both for their
own sins and the sins of others, being granted the gift of tears. Saint Lazarus
of Bethany, who was raised from the dead by Christ, was famous for not smiling
in all the thirty years of his life lived after the joyous Resurrection of
Christ. The twentieth-century Saint, Silouan the Athonite (pictured above),
wrote: “The Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, accords the monk the love of the
Holy spirit, and because of this love his heart continually sorrows over people, because not all will be saved.” (emphasis mine).
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St Anthony the Great |
Yet for all this,
there is no suggestion from the Holy Fathers that smiling or laughter is
somehow sinful, nor that the Saints themselves did not smile. A story about the
father of monasticism, Anthony the Great, relates how a hunter discovered him
laughing with the other monks. The hunter was shocked to see such behaviour from
the great ascetic, but St Anthony showed by the example of the hunter’s bow
that it was sometimes necessary for the monks to relax in their labours, so
that they do not “snap” under the strain. It is also true that despite injunctions from St
James to mourn over our sins, the ultimate aim is for the Lord to “lift us up”
to heavenly things. With this undoubtedly comes “joy”.
The question, then, becomes: what is this joy that we
Christians are promised? Monk Moses the Athonite writes about what true joy is
not: "Some think that joy will be
found in unbridled fun, shameless revels, the overnight hunt for pleasure, the
celebration of drunkenness, the drunkenness of luxury, extravagance and
indulgence. If one could photograph the depths of the hearts of these patrons
of so-called entertainment centers, we would observe an abyss of pain,
desolation, coldness and hard loneliness. Joy is not sold in any store nor
bought with little or much money….. They return from secular entertainment
jaded, downcast, sad, more alone. Some think that all rich people are quite
happy. This is a big lie, which often is confirmed by the same".
True joy is
something that comes from God and is therefore eternal. Fleeting pleasures are,
by definition, temporary and do not bring true happiness. The smile is a
reflection of fleeting happiness, because it too is temporary. There are many
examples of “good” smiles – the pure smile of a child, the loving smile of a
mother, the sincere smile of a friend – but nevertheless the smile is something
belonging to worldly life. No worse, nor less useful, than eating or sleeping,
smiling is along with those things something that is done while we are in the
flesh, but something not required once we are purified and worthy of Heaven.
Maximus
the Confessor summarizes the state of those who complete this purification:
"The rewards for the toils of virtue are dispassion and spiritual
knowledge. For these are the mediators of the kingdom of heaven, just as
passions and ignorance are the mediators of eternal punishment".
And according to
the same saint: “Dispassion is a peaceful condition of the soul.”
It is this
“peaceful condition” that is communicated in the countenance of Saints in
icons. It is far above the fleeting happiness of the world and the ceasing of
sorrow over sins, and is what can truly be called joy. It is the transfigured,
revealed, reality of the blessed, joyful, heavenly state. It is a reflection of the peace
Christ promised to His disciples; the peace which belongs to Christ Himself
(John 14:27).
This
heavenly dispassion is present in all well-painted icons. Emotion can be
depicted in bodily gestures, or in the colours used, or especially in the eyes
(again, see the Epitaphios with the mourners’ tear-tracks).
Yet
through all this the general countenance of Christ or His Saints remains calm,
clear, peaceful and dispassionate.
Despite all that is
written above you may still not be convinced that the Christ and His Saints
look all that happy in icons of them. Well, there is an extra point to
consider. Icons depict the heavenly reality of God, His Holy Mother, and the
Saints, and effectively present them to us. When we stand before an icon of
Christ, for example, and see Him “looking at us”, we are to be reminded that
Christ is always present and looking at us. The clairvoyance of Jesus is shared
by His Mother and the Saints too. Given that they all know our sins, sorrows,
and frailties, why should we expect them to look happy? To see any sadness in
their gaze is a reminder of their love for us and should act as a spur to our
own repentance and sorrow over sin. Lord have mercy!
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