A year of suffering, misery, death, and blood. That is what Putin has brought the world in his massive invasion of the independent country of Ukraine, following on his earlier illegal seizing and occupation of Ukrainian Crimea. Great sorrow and loss of life for Ukraine, including the kidnapping of Ukrainian children and their removal to Russia, and thousands upon thousands of Russians dead for no reason other than Putin’s deranged ambition. And it still goes on. But Ukraine, in spite of all obstacles, stands firm for its rightful independence. The courage and steadfastness of the Ukrainians reminds me of these lines from the U.S. National Anthem:

And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there ….

Today’s icon will look familiar to those of you who are long-time readers here:

It is obviously a Marian icon of the “Soothe my Sorrow” type.  The child Jesus holds a scroll with the standard text for this type:   “Judge Righteous Judgement.”  In the four corners we see the floral ornamentation so often found and beloved in Ukrainian folk icons.

This particular 19th century example, from the Kherson Oblast Art Museum in Ukraine, is not an Old Believer work, as we see from the IHC XC abbreviation for Jesus Christ.  The Old Believers would have used the IC XC form.

If you would like to read more about this Marian icon type, you will find a previous posting here:

THE “SOOTHE MY SORROWS” IMAGE

 

A reader asked me if there are icons of the Syrophoenician woman as described in Mark 7:24-30:

And from thence he [Jesus] arose, and went into the region of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid.

²⁵ For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet:

²⁶ The woman was a Greek [non-Jew], a Syrophenician by nation; and she implored him to cast forth the demon out of her daughter.

²⁷ But Jesus said to her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not right to take the children’s bread, and to throw it to the dogs.

²⁸ And she answered and said to him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.

²⁹ And he said to her, For this saying go your way; the demon is gone out of your daughter.

³⁰ And when she was come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.

Well, such images do exist, but they are apparently not as common as those of the other reputed healings by Jesus. A possible reason is the general discomfort felt at Jesus basically calling this woman and all other non-Jews “dogs.”

Here is a Serbian fresco example:

The title inscription reads “Christ Heals the Daughter of the Canaanite Woman.”

We see the disciples at left, and Jesus leaning toward the imploring woman.

At right — in spacial shortening — we see the black little demon leaping out of the daughter’s mouth.

Now you probably noticed that the fresco inscription calls the woman a “Canaanite,” not a Syrophoenician. Why is that?

It is because the fresco follows the revised account of the incident as given in the gospel called “of Matthew.” We find it in Matthew 15:21-28

²¹ Then Jesus went from there, and departed into the region of Tyre and Sidon.

²² And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same region, and cried out to him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, you son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.

²³ But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she cries after us.

²⁴ But he answered and said, I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

²⁵ Then came she and prostrated before him, saying, Lord, help me.

²⁶ But he answered and said, It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.

²⁷ And she said, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.

²⁸ Then Jesus answered and said to her, O woman, great is your faith: be it to you even as you will. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

There is a lot of talk among interpreters of these two accounts, trying to soften the obvious harshness of Jesus’ basically calling the woman and all non-Jews “dogs.” Most try to de-emphasize that portion and place more emphasis on the faith of the woman, as well as her humility in seemingly accepting being called a dog. Some point out that the Greek term here refers to “house” dogs, and not to “wild” dogs, as though that somehow lessens the cruel impact. Others try to excuse the unkind words by saying the mission of Jesus was to Jews, not to non-Jews (which raises all kinds of interesting theological problems). And some say Jesus was being deliberately nasty just to test the woman. Nonetheless, in spite of all efforts to soften the tone of Jesus, this is one of those stories that many wish had not said what it does.

The 17th Sunday after Pentecost is called the “Sunday of the Canaanite Woman” in the Eastern Orthodox calendar.