Project: Our Lady of Fatima Russian Byzantine Catholic Church, San Francisco, CA
THE BENEDICTION OF THE APOSTLES
Pigment and acrylic binder on gessoed canvas
82" x202" (2021)
At center, the Lord Jesus Christ is seen giving a blessing with raised hands in a scene of the Benediction, the event which was to precede His glorious Ascension to heaven. He has now given His Disciples the power to forgive sins in His name. Christ blesses them, with the inscription: 'Peace be with You.
(ohn 20:19, Luke 24:36.). The next translated inscription reads: "When they saw him, they worshipped but they doubted. "referencing Matthew 28:17 in which Christ commissions His Disciples: And Jesus came and said to them "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always to the close of the age.
The Apostle's number has increased to fifteen. The figures on each end with raised hands represent all those latter Apostles who, like us, may come to the faith through the hearing of the Word alone. Although Paul is shown present in this scene, and John is depicted as an older man with white hair, this is understood a symbolic inclusion made by the original artist meant to represent the unity of the Disciples and entire Catholic Church.