www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Icon of Our Lady Of Fatima

It took me long enough, but I finally managed!
As far as I know, there are no reproductions available of this icon, and I never found any images on the net. So eventually I just went to the Byzantine chapel in Fatima and took some photographs of my own, had them edited and straightened out here at the magazine I work for, and asked a friend to put the best one on-line.
Today I managed to shrink it so that I can use it as an Avatar.
I thought you might be interested in seeing it. For a "larger than avatar" image you can try:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v653/pipos/blogsantiago.jpg
I have high definition images as well, in case anybody wants them.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
Filipe

Dear Filipe:

Can you give us a brief sketch on the origins of the Icon of Our Lady of Fatima?

Was the writer an Eastern or Western iconographer?

Thanks.

Amado

I for one have asked the leadership of Our Lady of fatima Russian Catholic parish to produce one for commercial sale. So far nothing yet.
Stephanos I

I am afraid I cannot provide you with much more info. I am pretty sure that it was written by an Eastern Iconogrpher, specially since the writing is in Cyrillic. But I am guessing.

I LOVE IT!

Does anyone know what the words say? I notice that there are more words on top, but has been cut off?

Also, I've seen an Icon of the Divine Mercy, in a very pure Byzantine style (not the "modern" style by this unusual icon company, I forgot the name of it).

SPDundas
Deaf Byzantine

It is lovely.

Just for fun, I plugged in 'Russian icon of Our Lady of Fatima' this is what I found out of San Francisco, it shows a large portion of the icon on its home page.

Out �in the Avenues�, in the middle of San Francisco�s Richmond District, sits the Byzantine Catholic Russian Center/Our Lady of Fatima Byzantine Catholic Parish, at the corner of 20th Avenue and Lake Street. Once an old mansion, it was converted for parish use in 1945, and we have been here ever since.

We are a parish of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, and an apostolate of the Society of Jesus. For almost 40 years, we have functioned as both an educational center and a parish community. In the words of St. Basil, we pray that the Lord will �preserve this holy house unto the end of the world.�
http://www.byzantinecatholic.org/

Dear Friends,

FYI, that icon is available at the Russian Catholic Chapel's bookstore and through the Blue Army, at least last time I checked.

The lettering at the top says, "Icon of the Fatima Theotokos."

This is a classical "Oranta" type icon of the Theotokos based on the Ascension prototype where the Mother of God is seen raising her arms up to the ascending Christ.

The most famous Oranta icon is that in Kyiv's Sophia Cathedral, the "Unmoveable Wall" which is miraculous.

That icon has an embroidered cloth on Our Lady's belt.

The people of Kyiv have always said that Our Lady uses that cloth to wipe away the tears of all those who come before her to invoke her help in their necessitites.

Alex

As a former pilgrim to Fatima, I love that icon! I have a copy of it in my prayer corner at home.

Our Lady, Thetokos of Fatima, pray for us!

Gordo

Thank you all for adding important information.
I have asked several times at the shop of the Blue Army residence in F�tima and not only do they not have copies but always seem amazed that I should even ask. It is great to know that there are copies available! Any idea if I could order one?
Also, would the one in F�tima be the original? or a copy? In which case, where is the original?

Filipe

I just looked in the current Blue Army catalog, and it's not there.

Did you notice that they celebrate Pascha on the same day that the Orthodox do?

Dear Elizabeth Maria,

Don't all EC's celebrate on the Orthodox Pascha?

Alex

Ah, yes, the Fatimskaya icon. I too love this icon.

The first time I saw the Fatimskaya was in a special issue of SOUL magazine. It shows the late founder of the Blue Army, Monsigner Harold Colgan, holding it in his hands. (I have the image as a JPEG, but am unable to upload it to this post)

The first time I saw the Fatimskaya icon in person was during my first visit to Our Lady of Fatima Russian Byzantine Catholic Church in San Fransicso in 1995. At the time, the parish bookstore did sell holy card versions of the icon, however, I didn't see anymore of them at my last visit three years ago.

As to the origins of the Fatimskaya icon, here is what I have collected from personal research:

"The titilar eikon of the center, Our Lady of Fatima, is a contemporary work, executed in Paris according to the classic canons of Russian eikon painting, that is to say, applying egg tempura to a carefully prepared wood surface. Our Lady appearing to the three children in the elongated hieratic form associated with high Russian iconographic art." - The Russian Catholic Center in San Francisco, California, Eastern Churches Quarterly

So, according to the article, the icon was written in Paris according to the traditional manner.

Here is more info about the icon from the booklet, Welcome to the Byzantine-Russian Catholic Chapel in Fatima, written by the late Mitred Archimandrite John Mowatt, former rector of the Byzantine Chapel at Fatima:

"This particualr icon is of an ancient Russian source and in copying the icon the artist just added the figures of the three Seers, Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta. It is interesting to note here that the Russian Church already had an icon of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, clothed in white, and appearing on top of a tree as she radiated and drew the peoples of the world towards her. This is more than just a mere coincidence as, generally speaking, most Russian and other Byzantine icons of Our Lady always portray her as holding the Divine Child."

According to this article, another icon served as the basis for the Fatimskaya. From my research, that "ancient icon" of the Theotokos appearing in white above a tree was a variant of the "Joy of All Who Sorrow" icon.

Below is a version of the "Joy of All Who Sorrow" Icon".
[Linked Image]


Notice the position of Christ above Mary. He is depicted much like on the Fatimskaya. Also, notice the similarities of the people on both sides of the Theotokos. Again, much like the Fatimskaya.

Unfortunately, there is no mention of who the iconographer was, and Archminadrite John passed away before I could contact about it.

I hope this helps.

I too have e-mailed them in the past about that, but have never received a reply.

I am guessing that the icon of Our Lady of Fatima at OLF Russian Catholic Church in San Francisco is the original since the parish was dedicated on October 13th 1956, while the Russian Byzantine Chapel at Fatima was dedicated on August 28th, 1963.