The Icon of the Crucifixion of the Lord

Written By: John Menghini

Recently, we have installed three beautiful icons in our Adoration Chapel. The first icon, which was hung December 2022, is of the “Crucifixion of the Lord.” The second icon, “The Resurrection” was hung in April 2023. Our most recent icon, “Ascension of Our Lord” was hung in October 2023. All three icons were created by an iconographer from Coronado, California by the name of Maidie Weisbarth.

We invite you to come to the Adoration Chapel and spend some time in prayer and contemplation with our new icon of the crucifixion. Your contemplation may well be intensified by observing some of the mystical symbols and reflecting on their scriptural meaning. Listen closely because icons “speak” to us through the scriptures and they have much to “say”. Remember, icons are not primarily works of art but rather visual expressions of divine truth.

In this holy icon we see the death of Jesus on the cross. Jesus is flanked by His mother Mary and His beloved apostle, John. We can see and feel the pain on their faces and we notice that our Blessed Mother holds one hand to her chest signifying her distress but still points us with her right hand towards her Son. Clearly, Jesus is already dead and we can see the blood and water flowing from His side and down the cross from His hands and feet.

Beneath the cross, we can see that the earth has been cleaved apart from the earthquake that struck at the moment of Christ’s death. We can also see that a skull is clearly visible and represents the skull of Adam. Remember, Jesus was crucified on “Golgotha” which means “Skull Hill”. Golgotha was held in ancient tradition as the burial place of Adam and it was thought that Jesus was hung upon the cross directly above Adam’s grave. The sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross opened up the graves of the just and allowed them entry into the heavenly kingdom.

Behind the cross we see the city walls and the gates of the Holy City Jerusalem; this reminds us, that Jesus was crucified outside the gate and in strict conformity with the Passover sacrifice and underscores that the lamb was always sacrificed outside the walls of the city.

In an apparent paradox, Christ while dead, still has a bright halo around his head; a sign that he is both human (dead) and divine (eternally alive). This powerful truth is reiterated by the Greek letters IC and XC carved into the arms of the cross, which symbolize Jesus as man and also as Christ divine.

We are reminded of the words of Pope Saint Leo the Great who while gazing upon an icon of the crucifixion in the 4th century wrote: “Supreme Ruler and Lord of Heaven and earth, seeing Thee, the Immortal King, hanging on the Cross, all creation was changed, Heaven was horrified, and the foundations of the earth were shaken. But we, unworthy as we are, offer Thee thankful adoration for Thy Passion in our behalf, and with the robber we cry to Thee: Jesus, Son of God, remember us when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom!”

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