Icon of the Encounters of Married Couples

Ventzislav Piriankov "ICON OF THE ENCOUNTERS OF MARRIED COUPLES"

The Icon is painted by Bulgarian artist Ventzislav Piriankov, VENTZI, it depicts  the encounter of husband and wife with each other and with Christ. When put together, the husband and wife’s profiles make  the face of Christ who says to them: Now remain in my love (Jn. 15:9b). Christ remains in the married couple. And we, as a married couple, remain in his love through dialogue with each other and with him, through dialogue that leads to an encounter.

One of the Icons as a gift to Pope Francis

STORY OF THE ICON OF THE ENCOUNTERS OF MARRIED COUPLES

In 2003, Zbigniew Nosowski, editor of the 'Więź' magazine, visited Ventzi in his Poznań studio. At the time, he was writing a wonderful book titled "Parami do nieba" (In Pairs to Heaven). Enchanted by the message and beauty of the images, he proposed illustrating the book with Ventzi's paintings. This came to fruition in 2004 when the book was published with one of the Marriage Icons on its cover.

As soon as the book appeared that same year, Irena and Jerzy Grzybowski visited us. They were then establishing the foundations of the MARRIAGE ENCOUNTERS movement, and the Marriage Icons they discovered through Nosowski's book felt like a sign from heaven. Following inspired conversations, an icon dedicated to Marriage Encounters was commissioned, named the ICON OF MARRIAGE ENCOUNTERS – "ABIDE IN MY LOVE." The icon was blessed by Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, Metropolitan of Poznań, in 2005 during the 11th International Convention of Marriage Encounters Animators in Poznań. Its purpose is to encourage all married couples to pray and meditate on their own relationship.

The Icon was consecrated by archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, metropolitan archbishop of Poznań, at the 11th International Convention of the Animators of the Encounters of Married Couples held in Poznań in 2005. We invite all married and engaged couples to pray to Jesus, through the Icon, for the gift of dialogue and so, for remaining in his love.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ICON OF THE ENCOUNTERS OF MARRIED COUPLES

Christ’s face is not necessarily clearly visible from the beginning. It is like in real life when sometimes it is hard to see Christ in a marriage. Christ reveals himself gradually, he does not impose himself, but he is there. The cross inscribed within the halo, according to the principles of Byzantine iconography, makes the Icon explicitly Christ-centred. The arms of the cross are placed at the level of the couple’s heads. They carry the cross together but each of them experiences it individually.

The Icon depicts symbolic and mystic reality. The calm, spiritual peace and dignity of the couple shown in the Icon create favourable conditions for fruitful dialogue, while they themselves are a fruit of dialogue, too. The Icon symbolizes a marriage about which Jesus says: ’So they are no longer two, but one’ (Mt. 19:6), both in the spiritual and physical sense. It symbolizes a communion of persons. The marriage in the Icon is a model for a marriage in Christ. It symbolizes the sacrament of matrimony as Christ’s gift that is realized through dialogue and so it makes the human love of husband and wife more perfect, strengthens their indissoluble unity and sanctifies them on their way to eternal life. For those who can read and accept it, it is the Icon of Christ who is the source of marital dialogue and who is present in the married couple. (Irena and Jerzy Grzybowski, September 23rd, 2005)

Remain in my love (Jn. 15:9b)

Lord Jesus, please endow our marriage with the gift of dialogue. Help me to hear my husband/wife out better, help us to understand each other better, help us to share what is inside us and, first of all, to forgive each other. Give us gentleness and sensitivity in our conversations and make them lead us to a true encounter with each other and with you. Please help us to receive and accept each other more and more fully and to make a unity in which we will both remain ourselves. Please heal all the difficult matters that divide us and let us enjoy our marriage and always remain in your love. Amen.