Sacred IconsIcons of the Virgin and Christ-Child in Marian lay devotion in Italy during the 13th and 14th centuriesDr Ursula Betka, an Iconographer and Art Historian who created the 2005 series of Christmas stamp icons, spoke to Marist Laity on Saturday May 20th at 2.30pm, in St Scholastica's Gathering Room on Sacred Icons. A number of small icons painted by Ursula will be on display. These formed the basis of the discussion on the origins, meaning, types, and role in prayer and worship of Icons which have emerged over 2000 years of Christian worship in the Byzantine (Orthodox) and Catholic Churches. A range of traditional materials, tools and techniques of Icon painting were also on display to add to the informative enjoyment and appreciation Ursula's expertise.
This Icon, Rucellai Madonna, Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1287. (Now in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence) was painted for the Laudesi Confraternity of the Virgin, at the Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. This Icon is historically relevant to the Marian Confraternity of lay People in Italy because it was used as a focus in paraliturgical services called the Laude Service, sung towards the painting by candlelight each evening, in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. 
The second Icon is a scan of Ursula Betka's own painting of The Virgin of the Sign, based on the prototype from Russia in the 16th Century.
Sr Marie Berise, sm, used this Icon to illustrate the front cover of her little book 'Bearers of Hope'.
The iconography emerges from the ancient Byzantine hymn: 'Your womb is more vast than the heavens, for it encompasses the one the heavens could not.'
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