Recently I’ve become fascinated by the Book of Kells—a visual interpretation of the four Gospels based on the Latin Vulgate translation by St. Jerome. The book was created by Irish monks in Iona around the year 800. When the Vikings raided the area, the monks moved to Kells and brought the manuscript with them. The Vikings would later raid Iona, but amazingly the book was kept in tact and safe. Finally, in 1661, the book was sent to Trinity College in Dublin, where it still remains to this day.
The book itself is a gorgeous compilation of bold, illuminated imagery along with small, intricate details. The celtic knots are easily seen throughout these intricate details, showcasing how God can easily plant himself within the confines of unique cultures and show himself in a way that everyone can understand.
Page from the Book of Kells
Researching this book makes me think about how images affect our understanding of the world around us and our faith. In our modern, highly literate age, we search for hard truth about situations. In the western culture, the battles line are drawn using well-crafted rhetorical arguments with a firm knowledge of grammar and sentence structure. While our world is becoming increasingly multimodal with through social media, memes, images, colors, and design, our instinct is to seek as much detail as possible through the written and spoken argument.
And mostly that is a good thing. Written and spoken arguments are the best way to show others who we are and what is important to us. However...when it comes to our faith, I think it's easy to put too much importance on that type of expression.
For example, when it comes to figuring out what God wants us to do with our lives, it's easy to desire God to give us an answer in a well-crafted written or audible argument with beautiful grammar, bells, and angels. When God doesn’t do that, it seems like He isn’t paying attention to us. The more likely scenario, however, is that we aren’t paying attention to Him. God can show the goodness of His truth in a myriad of ways besides words and sentences. He can speak to us through His creation, in colors, shapes, movements, smells, sounds, and textures. God speaks to us through the rational and the abstract.
Another example of visual prayer is the gorgeous iconography that is showcased throughout the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches. These churches have emphasized the importance of praying and listening to God through visual media for thousands of years. They believe that icons are windows into the mystery of heaven, which further emphasize the mysterious nature of the Kingdom of God. Sometimes the greatest form of peace is just sitting in silence and being in awe of the mysteries of God. Sometimes the best thing we can do is stare at a picture of the gospel messages and see where we fit in those pictures. Without words. Without speaking. One of the greastest penance’s a priest gave me after confession was to sit in front of a picture of the Divine Mercy image of Jesus. That’s it. Sit and stare at a picture of Jesus.
Icon depicting Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem
The Book of Kells and Eastern Iconography remind us that the gospels are not only imperative to read and hear, but also see through shapes, colors, and visual metaphors. Language is the best means of producing a message to the world, but sometimes people will not truly understand the meaning of purpose to your words without further elements such as the visual art form.