By Dan Sullivan
Catholic Herald
Retired editor-priest now writes icons, not news
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Fr. Robert Urban, a priest of the Diocese of Superior, and former editor of the Catholic Herald, displays some of his work. He is spending his retirement writing icons. (Catholic Herald photo by Dan Sullivan) |
SUPERIOR -- Fr. Robert Urban served as editor of the Catholic Herald from 1963 until 1987. With retirement from active ministry in 1997, Urban traded in his editor's pencil and began learning a different writing process. He has begun to write icons.
"They say writing because form, color and design are to the icon what words and paragraphs are to Scripture," Urban said. "That's why they say writing because you are writing with shapes and colors."
Urban calls icons the most authentic form of Christian art that exists and said their origin extends far back in history.
"St. John Chrysostom (born in 347 and died in 407) would always write his sermons with an icon of St. Paul in front of him," Urban said. "(Icons) developed in Egypt, in Alexandria. If you look at newer mummy cases, they always had pictures of the person. The Roman and Greek style added to it."
Urban is trained in a Russian style of icon writing.
Not only does he write icons, but over the years Urban has collected a number of them that now hang on the walls of his apartment.
"I started out with one called Face of Christ or the Holy Napkin and that's my favorite," Urban said.
Biblical characters or saints are often the focus of icons and can bring personal lessons of faith to the iconographer or icon writer.
"It's a tradition in the Byzantine church that the person portrayed in the icon exists in that icon," Urban said.
Icon writing uses set patterns and styles.
"You stick to a color scheme and form," Urban said.
Icons are also symbolic.
"They have big eyes and that means they contemplate God," Urban said. "They have long noses because they are ascetical. They have a small mouth because they don't speak."
Icons often come complete with names of the person depicted.
"The reason they put names on them is to get around an injunction of having idols or false Gods," Urban said.
Byzantine icons of Mary are written using the colors of red and blue. The red stands for Mother of the Redeemer and blue is for maternity. Icons of Mary often come complete with three stars. One over each shoulder and another over Mary's heart.
"The stars stand for Mary as the Virgin Mother, Mother of Redeemer and Mother of the Catholic Church," Urban said.
With icons of Christ, Urban said, his hands are often up. Two fingers on one hand are raised, symbolic for humanity and divinity. The three raised fingers on the other hand symbolize the Trinity.
Icons are an aid to center prayer.
"Take a lit vigil light, set it in front of an icon in a dark room and all of a sudden you start meditating," Urban said.
It was about two years ago that Urban began his training to become an iconographer with Br. Joseph Larson, a member of the Institute of St. Joseph in Tilden, Wis. He also has attended additional training seminars at the Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
Urban has completed icons of the Good Shepherd, St. Mary Magdala, Christ, St. Paul, St. Francis and the head of Christ from San Domiano's cross. An icon of St. Anthony de Padua, for St. Anthony Parish in Lake Nebagamon, is among Urban's works in progress.
Urban also plans to do another icon of Bishop Fredric Baraga, an early missionary who ministered across the Upper Great Lakes region of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan.
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2005