Viriditas - Finding God In All Things

Viriditas : Finding God In All Things
An image with Icons too, created for Loyola Chicago University
5ft x 10ft
When Fr Mark Bosco, SJ commissioned me to paint his dream of these saints holding up the World, my question to myself was
� How do they hold up the World? �
The answer you see right here, is a kind of Map which might tell you where to go, but you have to actually make the journey. The Map is a prayer, and the journey, I pray will give you continual insights which will lead to action, so that with the holy three of Ignatius, Hildegard, Francis and the Holy Child Jesus, you might learn something about how the Holy Spirit continues to Green the World.
The Saints are grounded in the Blood of Christ which feeds the World as our Mother�s own blood feeds us in the womb.
If you look at nature closely in the early spring, all green things begin with red (wounds) buds, shoots, and branches. Then they flower into green and abundant colors of infinite life. The leaves, vibrant rocks and stones are living examples of how nature praises the Creator. Earth�s atmosphere, usually a thin line of blue is, in this version green , with the life of the Holy Spirit . Twelve tongues of the Spirit�s flames hover round the World as in a New Pentecost which St John the XXIII and St John Paul II prophesied for the 21st Century.
The Holy Spirit is seen just at that moment when God speaks the Word from Genesis : � Let there be Light � and life as we know it began to swirl from the void.
The gorgeous frame by Master woodworker Roberto Lavadie of Taos, chants the Holy Holy Holy...as with Hildegard�s inspired chants, she claims to have heard immersed in God, the Living Light; Heaven and Earth are full of God�s glory. Christ the Deer, or hart, is at the bottom standing in precious water which nourishes all life.
There is so much more to say, but I think that�s enough to begin to lead you into a contemplation of Viriditas: Finding God In All Things.

Fr William Hart McNichols
August 2015