Holy faces and faith

By Bogdan Mohora

Painter Garabet Salgian at work in his studio in Woodside, Queens. | Photo by Bogdan Mohora.

Every Sunday afternoon St. George’s Episcopal Church on 14-02 27th Avenue in Astoria, Queens transforms into Sts. Peter and Paul Romanian Orthodox Church. Shortly after noon, after the Episcopal congregation has cleared out, the Very Rev. Theodor Damian arrives to arrange all the various icons and ritual items that are so distinctive and vital to all Orthodox churches.  With shaggy hair hanging just above his eyes, he places a roughly four feet tall painting of the Madonna on an easel to the left of the altar and another of the Savior to the right, the customary placement in all Orthodox churches.

As Damien begins the service, his gold trimmed robes faintly reflect the candles offered in prayer below the golden icons. He begins to sing the opening prayers and, as congregants enter the church and find their seats, most come up and kiss the images of Mary and Jesus. A young boy of around 12, in a black shirt and jeans with long hair, nearly identical to Damian’s, begins to arrange a collection of icons depicting Jesus, Mary and an assortment of saints on a table.

“They remind you to pray and to keep the promises you make to God,” said Nicolae Dendiu who recently emigrated from Constanta, Romania. “And they remind you of the promises you didn’t keep.”

Icoană in Romanian literally means “the face of a person” and the history of icons is as old as the Orthodox Church itself. Their function has remained virtually unchanged since the earliest centuries of Christianity: to make the divine accessible to human understanding. Perhaps the most important story about the church’s history and its relationship with holy imagery is about the Icon-Made-Without-Hands.

According to tradition, Abgar, a ruler of Syria was afflicted with leprosy and he had heard stories of miracles performed by Jesus so he sent his court-painter to paint an image of Jesus.  The painter wasn’t able though because too many people surrounded Jesus. But then Jesus washed his face with water and wiped his face with a cloth leaving his “Divine Image” in it, which the painter then took back to Abgar who, after being healed, hung the cloth above the city gates.

Icons depicting Christ and the Madonna painted by Garabet Salgian hang in his Woodside, Queens studio. | Photo by Bogdan Mohora.

After the slujbă, or service, the icons of the Orthodox faith are perhaps the most visible and accessible teaching tools of the church. According to the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of the Americas, the church has avoided extensively defining its faith. Teachings are given word-for-word from the Bible and the church won’t define itself dogmatically unless it feels that fundamental truths are threatened. One of these truths is the vital importance of icons in worship. The Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America believes that not venerating icons of Christ, Mary and the saints is the same as refusing to worship God.

The images are so crucial to the faith that they are made only by authorized artists who have completed the proper theological and technical training.

Garabet Salgian painted the icons adorning the altar at Sts. Peter and Paul. He smiled while recollecting how he began his career as an artist, which started in 1934 in Odessa, Ukraine when he was four years old. “When I was good my mother would read to me before bed.  When I was bad she wouldn’t so I would draw in the book instead,” Salgian said from his drafting table at his studio apartment in Woodside, Queens. The roughly 400 square foot apartment doubles as his workshop and the air is thick with the sticky scent of oil paints. His work dominates the scarce wall space.

Salgian’s oil paints. | Photo by Bogdan Mohora.

Salgian also fell in love with an icon his mother brought from Ukraine when they immigrated to Romania. From then on he knew he wanted to be an artist. In 1977, he became certified as a religious painter by the Romanian Patriarchy in Bucharest. In his opinion, there’s no way to concisely explain the theories and functions behind the holy imagery. “It’s impossible to say in one conversation what they all mean,” said Salgian. “The technique and philosophy behind the paintings have taken thousands and thousands of years to develop.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 7th, 2012 at 4:52 am. It is filed under Bogdan Mohora, News, View From NYC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.