Dear Friends of St. Rafael,
Happy Ascension Day! (At least, in my diocese!)
Recently, I was blessed to receive a new icon of St. Rafael as a gift, commissioned and crowdfunded by a group of friends who were incredibly generous and inspired to do this. Here he is:
The artist is Cecilia Lawrence, an iconographer whose work I recognized immediately from her outstanding Saint Catherine of Alexandria! But nothing prepared me for how much her Saint Rafael was going to completely blow me away:
The superficial things are worth praising, actually, because they matter to nerds like me, especially after a year swimming in the details of historical research! So yes, I’m happy the icon looks like the photographs we have of the real him. I’m relieved the artist got the habit right, too. I’m glad his first name is spelled correctly and the accents are in the right place in his last names. That stuff matters. An image preaches about someone’s life so eloquently, even and especially to those who know nothing about its subject. This image tells those who don’t know Rafael: here is a novice or oblate who is happy to have Jesus close to his heart. (Also, vegetables?) (We’ll get there.)
Of course, there’s more to it than that. I’ve always found Lawrence’s portrayals of the saints to be old-school glorious, like walking into a church covered in mosaics or watching the sun set over a new-to-you-but-old-as-time mountain. Some stuff is just good, and her stuff just is. But the best part of this icon isn’t its “accuracy” so much as its truth: she really captured the warmth and joy of St. Rafael, who was so cheerful in life and fancied himself a bit of a fool-for-Christ. I think, out of deference to Rafael’s monkish silence and tragic earthly ending, that people often assume he was serious and heavyhearted. But he wasn’t at all. The saints teach us that joy and suffering are not mutually exclusive. Rafael found his joy on the cross in the heart of Jesus. Look how happy he is here to clutch that cross tight!
And then of course, there are our precious turnips. If you know, you know. I am just giddy with the knowledge that there is officially a saint out there whose iconographic attribute is a bunch of turnips. We are making Catholic history right now here, people. And we are making it so freaking awesome.
If you are interested in purchasing a print of this icon of St. Rafael, consult the artist’s ordering information here. She takes orders over email (theophilia.art@gmail.com), and accepts payment by check or PayPal. The link to the icon itself is here for your reference.
My deepest thanks to everyone who contributed to this gift, and to Leah Libresco Sargeant for leading the pack. I am blessed to have such holy, generous, kind friends. Every time I look at this icon, I will think not just of our friend in heaven, but of the many wonderful people God has given me as companions on earth. You are the BEST!!
Ascension blessings,
Catherine
P.S. There’s still time to get questions in for “Ask St. Rafael” later this week :)