Letters from the Edge of Elfland
Surrounding Myself with Beauty to Stave Off Sin
This is one of my favorite new icons. The iconographers who produced it call it The Unwithered Rose. I love this icon. When lust is creeping toward me, the simple (yet ornate) beauty of the Virgin convicts me. Both she and Christ are crowned and angels are surrounding her with a wreath of roses. The roses remind me that God upholds all of creation. It reminds me that Christ has become the ultimate microcosm, that all of creation is now, eternally, united to the second person of the Trinity. It reminds me that Mary is Our Lady of Elfland.
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