Lot number 1696 - Auction 142
SEHR SELTENE, DATIERTE IKONE MIT DEM PREDIGENDEN CHRISTUS IM TEMPEL (BEGINN DES KIRCHENJAHRES)

A VERY RARE, DATED ICON OF CHRIST PREACHING IN THE TEMPLE (BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH YEAR) Russian, dated 1907 Tempera on wood panel. The haloes and border made of gold. Cyrillic inscription and date '7416' on the lower right edge. Two selected saints on the borders: Guardian Angel and Maxim. Every year on September 1, the Orthodox Church celebrates the beginning of the Church year with a cycle of prayers and commemorations. For the first day of the liturgical year, eight readings are appointed: three from the Old Testament and five from the New Testament, read during the morning service and the Divine Liturgy. The Gospel reading in the Divine Liturgy is taken from the Gospel of Luke (4:16-22). This passage recounts the first public appearance of the Lord, where He reads from the book of the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue and explains the prophetic words. In Christ, all the prophecies and predictions of the Old Covenant seekers of God are fulfilled. This symbolizes the alignment of the beginning of Christ's public ministry with the start of the Church year. According to Orthodox liturgical tradition, Jesus came to Nazareth on September 1 to proclaim the Good News, the Euangelion of His saving work. The Church makes an important spiritual and theological connection between the start of the liturgical year and the first day of Christ's public ministry. Through liturgical commemoration, this event in Nazareth is made present for the congregation. The Church allows the faithful to experience, both pedagogically and liturgically, that Christ speaks to them today just as He spoke to His contemporaries in Nazareth.