The icon of the Holy Family, through the representation of Mary, Joseph and the Child Jesus, expresses the mystery of the espousal between God and his creature.
After many requests and many attempts, this icon of the Holy Family was created in our workshop in 1984. Since then, this icon has been reproduced many times and has been a source of healing, conversion and reconciliation for many people.
What does this icon represent?
This icon expresses the mystery of the marriage: total communion, in tenderness. The marriage of Joseph and Mary - "Do not be afraid to take Mary to your home as your wife" (Matthew 1:20) - is more real than the carnal marriage, which is only the figure, the sacrament, of the covenant that the Lord wants to make with each of us. The whole Bible is summed up in this plan of marriage between God and his creature - "Your Bridegroom is your Creator" (Isaiah 54:5) - between God and his people, in tenderness, for God has revealed himself as "God of tenderness and love" (Exodus 34:6). Tenderness is the gratuity of love.
How can we pray before this icon?
Look at it in silence to become aware that everything it represents is within us. In us, we have the masculine priestly, the feminine royal and the prophetic child: "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation? (1 Peter 2:9) (cf. Revelation 1:6; Exodus 19:5,6). When God, in his tenderness, unifies our being, the Son of God appears in us and we can thus radiate him.
Sister Marie-Paul
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