Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 7—The Georgia Bulletin, May 30,1985
St. Paul Of The Cross To Hang Icon Of Ugandan Saints
BY RITA McINERNEY
An icon depicting the martyrdom of St. Charles Lwanga
and 21 companions in Uganda in 1886 will be dedicated and
hung in St. Paul of The Cross Church, 551 Harwell Road,
NW, Atlanta, on Sunday, June 2 during the 11:30 a.m.
liturgy. The feast day of the saint is June 3.
The icon was painted by Brother Michael Moran, CP, of
the Monastery of Our Lady of The Isle, Shelter Island, N.Y.,
at the request of Father Tom Brislin, CP, pastor, who
wanted something that would appeal to the youth of the
parish. Brother Moran researched and worked on the paint
ing for almost a year.
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Of IS
“I asked him to do
Charles as someone who
would evoke pride in their
blackness and also in their
Catholicity,” Father
Brislin said.
According to “Saints of
The Day,” Vol. 1, by
Leonard Foley, OFM,
Charles and the 21 other
young men were pages at
the court of the Bagandan
ruler, Mwanga. The ruler,
angered at the young men’s
refusals to submit to his
immoral desires and
demands, had them im
prisoned. Charles, a
catechumen when he
entered the royal
household as assistant to
Joseph Mukaso, head of the
court pages, encouraged
the others to reject the
ruler’s demands. Later,
when they were jailed, he
encouraged and instructed
them in the Catholic faith.
On the night Mukaso was
martyred for encouraging
the African youths to resist
Mwanga, Charles re
quested and received bap
tism. Imprisoned with his
friends, his courage and
belief in God inspired them
to remain chaste and
faithful.
For his own unwill
ingness to submit to im
moral acts and his efforts
to safeguard the faith of his
friends, Charles was burn
ed to death at Namugongo
on June 3, 1886, by
Mwanga’s order.
The 22 martyrs were
canonized by Pope Paul VI
on Oct. 18, 1964. On his
African tour five years
later, he told 22 young
Ugandan converts that
“being a Christian was a
fine thing but not always an
easy one,” in recalling the
19th century young men.
Today the republic of
Uganda has 5,504,000
Catholics, or 40 percent,
among a population of
13,620,000 according to the
1985 Catholic Almanac.
Brother Moran used
acrylic paint and 23K gold
leaf for the 24 by 26 inch
painting done on a poplar
panel. The figure of St.
Charles dominates the
Russian-style icon. He
wears traditional Ugandan
dress in red, yellow and
black, colors of the Ugan
dan flag. In his right hand
he holds a flame, which
stands for his burning love
for Christ and also the
manner in which he died.
In his left hand he carries a
scroll on which are written
some of the words of St.
Paul’s message of love to
the Corinthians. The com
panions who surround him
hold in their hands the
spears and clubs symboliz
ing how they were killed.
In describing his work,
Brother Moran says, “I
have tried to depict St.
Charles as a gentle young
man who radiates an inner
r*- 1
m
Icon Painted by Brother
(Photo by Mclnerney)
Michael Moran.
strength flowing from his
religious convictions and
his deep love for Christ. He
gazes straight out at the
veiwer to both confront him
with the fact of his own
witness to Christ and at the
same time to bring the
viewer into the whole
mystery of the icon.
“I would hope it would
provoke the viewer to take
stock of the depth of his or
her own commitment to
Christ and to enter into that
loving relationship with
Christ from which St.
Charles drew his
strength.”
Brother Moran goes on to
say that he tried to capture
a sense of the Africanness
of the saint by the native
dress and ornaments as
well as the tribal nature of
the clustering of his
companions around him.
“As in all icons, the gold
background and the
golden-yellow and white
highlights on the painting
indicate that this is a man
touched by God,” the ar
tist continues in the written
description of his work that
he sent to Father Brislin.
“The two-dimensional
quality and stylized render
ing of the many elements
stand for the fact that what
is being represented is on
another plane of reality
than our everyday human
existence.”
“While we can recognize
these figures as human,
and we know that St.
Charles and his compa
nions really did exist, they
are here depicted in an
other than earthly way, in
dicating that they now en
joy a spiritual existence
which is equally real, but
wholly other than what we
live, but to which we are
also called.”
With his written explana
tion, the artist included a
passage from “Festal
Icons of the Lord,” written
by Sister Helen Weier,
OSC: “A person encounter
ing an icon for the first
time may experience am
bivalent feelings, a
simultaneous attraction
and resistance. The pro
found beauty of the icon is
gentle. It does not force its
way; it does not intrude. It
asks for patience with the
uneasiness of early ac
quaintance. It asks for time
spent before it in stillness
of gazing. More important,
it asks the one praying to
allow himself to be gazed
upon by it.
“One must yield space
within himself to the icon
and its persistent beauty.
An icon is prayer and con
templation transformed in
to art. When exquisite art
combines with prayer to
become a work of worship
and wonder, the art has
become sacramental. It
manifests to us the God
who breaks through all
signs and symbols with
truth.”
When the vivid icon is
hung in the front of the
church, on the wall by the
sacristy door, Father
Brislin is hopeful that
many of the parents among
the 700 families in the
parish will take pride in
relating its story to their
children. He also expects
the icon to serve the school
students as inspiration for
essays and talks.
He has already asked
Brother Moran to paint an
icon of St. Benedict the
Moor, son of black African
slaves converted to Chris
tianity. St. Benedict lived
and worked in Italy during
the 16th century as a Fran
ciscan lay brother. He is
called the patron saint of
black Catholics in North
America.
“American black
Catholics think of the
church as a white church,”
Father Brislin says. He is
trying to dispel that belief
in his own parish.
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