Our Lady of St. Demetrius, 2005

Private Collection, Ontario

A label on the reverse of the artwork with explanatory text from William Kurelek reads: “Our Lady is shown presenting Christ while still in her womb, offering Him to us as his Saviour, just as the angel had announced to her, ‘He shall be the most High and will save His people.’ The three stars on her shoulders and forehead symbolize, as in all icons, Mary’s being a virgin before, during and after Christ’s birth. Her eyes are lowered thereby, directing our attention to her child. Her hands direct our gaze to the two Churches, together with their respective crosses, representing Christianity in Eastern and Western Ukraine. The infant Jesus is preaching repentance and the return of God the Father for He points to the man and woman on their knees beating their breasts at the pig trough, just as the Prodigal Son, who sought the pleasures of the world, only to be disappointed, returned to his father. Between them is a parallel scene. It is that of St. John the Baptist warning of the wrath to come is we don’t cease crucifying Christ with our material pursuits. our spiritual bareness is represented by the rocky landscape. The Nemesis of mere materialism in our day is that of nuclear warfare. Old Kosmos, the centuries old symbol of the world offering worldly riches but actually weary of them and hoping for a saviour, is shown in a modern bunker. This is the state of the world today. We concentrate on immediate pleasures because we sense the impending destruction and loss of them. Ukrainians have fallen victim to the way of the world just as much as other North Americans and need to return to a life in Christ. The words of life are offered in the Gospels presented to us by the four evangelists in the traditional guise of an eagle, lion and bull. behind Our Lady we have a glimpse of the souls of the damned drowning in Hell. But they are not as obvious as the souls of the saved at the top, in heaven. This is because the Church today stresses the happy rather than the unhappy ending. The souls of the saved are depicted in ecstasy in the Beatific Vision. god the Father is pictured turned from us because it is impossible to depict the beauty of His face. Also, as scripture says, ‘A veil, a veil between You and me dear God, lest I unto madness see!’ In our fallen condition here on earth we simply aren’t equipped to take such a large dose of happiness all at once. On the back of God’s cloak it the isosceles triangle, a symbol of the Blessed Trinity. Inside it is the heart, a symbol of love. It radiates graces all the time, but is a vigilant, all-seeing, non-sentimental love which is represented by the eye in the middle of the heart. Green is the colour of hope so the bar which separates heaven from earth and hell is in that colour. Passing through this divide is the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove and it radiates itself in the form of tongues of fire to all who would receive it. Our Lady was most receptive to the Holy Spirit of all mankind and she now is mediatrix of that Spirit. Finally, in the upper two compartments, Art and Nature are represented giving glory to God via the Psalms.”