How much do we really know about the All Saints Icon
After Pentecost, remembering the descent of the Holy Spirit, the Church celebrates the Sunday of All Saints. This is fitting, as the Saints are the result of the Holy Spirit being given to the Apostles, the fruits of that “grain of wheat, which fell into the earth and died”(John 12:24).
The current feast of All Saints came to
prominence in the 9th-century, under the patronage of Byzantine ruler Leo the
Wise. Upon the death of the emperor’s devout wife, Theophano, he wanted to
build a church named in her honour, but was forbidden from doing so because
Theophano was not a canonized saint. Instead, Leo dedicated the church to “all
saints”, therefore including the pious Theophano among their number. There was
already a day dedicated to the Christian martyrs. The patronal day for Leo’s
All Saints church became this day, and the celebrations expanded to commemorate
not just the martyrs, but all righteous Christians who were glorified in
Heaven. Theophano, as it happens, eventually was counted among the Saints, and
her feast day is the 16th of December.
The icons for this
feast developed from the 9th-century onwards, and do not vary much. The setting
of the icon is Paradise, identifiable by the abundance of trees and shrubery.
In the bottom-left of the icon is Abraham holding a righteous soul to his
chest, which also identifies the place as Paradise: the Bosom of Abraham is a
name given to the place where the righteous dead rest until Judgement Day (Lk
16:19-31). To the right of the icon is Jacob, holding the “Twelve Tribes” in a
cloth, whilst in the centre is Dismas the penitent thief who was told by Christ
on the cross that “this
day you will be with me in paradise”(Lk 23:39-43). These figures at
the bottom of the icon can be seen to represent the saints of the “old
testament”, before Christ’s Resurrection.
Central to the icon is
the great “cloud of witnesses” described by St Paul in his letter to the
Hebrews (11:33-12:2). The Saints are gathered around Christ, Who is seated in
glory on a rainbow. Beneath Him is the Throne of Preparation, before which Adam and Eve prostrate
themselves, whilst the Cross is also present (sometimes supported by Ss
Helena and Constantine). These are all images present in the Last Judgment.
The Saints themselves are gathered into
ranks according to their “type”: martyrs with martyrs, ascetics with ascetics,
holy fathers with holy fathers, Apostles with Apostles and so on. Some of the
Saints are usually recognizable, but the idea is always that the number of
Saints present is beyond counting, as was beheld by the Apostle John in the
book of Revelation:
After these things I looked, and behold,
a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples,
and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white
robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice,
saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living
creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
-Revelation 7:9-11
The “four living creatures” can be seen in the icon, along with
the various kinds of angels. The resemblance between the iconography of
All Saints and the vision from Revelation is another clear reference to the
Last Judgment. The Christian cannot escape such constant reminders of the need
for repentance, even in triumphal icons like All Saints.
Often in the top corners of the icon are
images of King David the Psalmist, and King Solomon. The psalmist writes “But
to me, exceedingly honorable are Thy friends, O Lord” (Ps. 138:16), poetically
describing one reason for honouring them with a feast-day. The writings of King
Solomon are used for two of the readings for the feast of All Saints. Of the
Saints, the wise king says: “But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of
God, and no torment will ever touch them… In the time of their visitation they
will shine forth, and will run like sparks through the stubble;” and “the
righteous live for ever, and their reward is with the Lord; the Most High takes
care of them.” Any of these verses could describe the scene observed by the two
prophet-kings in the icon.
Surrounding the
multitude of Saints is a mandorla of light. This shows the communion
of Saints: communion with each other and with God. The holy fathers describe
how the Saints in heaven can hear our prayers through the grace of the Holy
Spirit. Modern fathers like Silouan the Athonite and Theophan the Recluse
explain especially well how the Holy Spirit envelops the Saints and allows them
through grace to share the percipience of God in hearing the multitude of our
feeble prayers. The cloud of light surrounding the angels, saints, and Christ
not only show the unity of the saints with God, but the true depth of communion
and shared conscience: real theosis.
There are some icons
of All Saints that show a more “organized” hierarchy of the saints in
heaven, such as
this one.
This gives the impression of an ordered Heaven, a completed Heaven, like a
great heavenly temple with Christ reigning over all. This is not a wrong vision
of Heaven by any means. However, the more common All Saints icon shows a
circular mandorla of light surrounding the ranks of saints and angels around
the throne of God. The circle is a perfect shape and does not look
“unfinished”, yet the potential is there for the circle to grow larger: to
encompass yet more souls and bring them into the Heavenly realm. The icon
reminds us of the Last Judgment in many of the details, yet this great shining
cloud also reminds us that there is still room there for us.
Source: https://iconreader.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/all-saints-icon-the-great-cloud-of-witnesses/
