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By G. Jeffrey MacDonald

The Rev. Warren Hicks of-ten has a lot on his mindas rector of an urban con-

gregation, St. Luke’s Church inWorcester, Massachusetts. Hecan sense when he’s wearingthin and needs a block of timealone with the God who calledhim into ministry.

When those moments comearound about once a month, hesets off for an hour or two inthe presence of the holy. Hetravels 12 miles up the road tothe Museum of Russian Icons,where Orthodox pilgrims ven-erate artwork from centuriespast and growing numbers ofEpiscopalians find their soulsrenewed.

The city priest has his choiceof 300 displayed icons to ex-plore at this unlikely repositoryof sacred art in tiny Clinton,Massachusetts. Each imageawaits, ready to inspire or re-veal divine mysteries in two-di-mensional depictions of Christ,

‘Traces of the Holy’

(Continued on next page) Photos courtesy of the Museum of Russian Icons “Three Marys”

biblical figures, or Russian saints.The collection of nearly 1,000 iconsis the largest in the United States.Only in Russia can one find moreRussian icons in one place.

Hicks does not try to take in every-thing but concentrates on just a fewicons. Lately he’s been drawn, hesays, to a panel of 12 scenes fromthe lives of the prophet Elijah andhis successor, Elisha. Letting his eyewander until it’s “arrested,” he pon-

ders the nature of mentoring, whichhe’s learning to do as a spiritual di-rector.

“I try not to look at it with an ana-lytical eye, but rather with an eye ofreceptivity,” Hicks said. “I thinkabout what the cost of recovering aprophetic vision for the church is. …What is our engagement with thereal stuff of the world to be?”

When the Museum of RussianIcons opened in 2006, a handful ofcurious Episcopalians made the trek

with their respective church groupsto what was then a 3,000 square-footfacility. Inside they found a fractionof what founder Gordon Lanktonhad collected on frequent businesstrips to Russia in the 1980s and ’90s.Economically desperate Russianssold him icons from family collec-tions; sometimes deals happened onthe street for a few dollars. Lanktonappreciated the icons’ artistic valueand bought them like hotcakes.

Now expanded to 16,000 squarefeet, the museum has grown instature to match its size. About 4,000visitors per year arrive in churchgroups, according to CEO and cura-tor Kent dur Russell. About 1,000 ofthese are Anglicans; most of the oth-ers are Orthodox or Roman Catholic.

Though the museum is a secularnonprofit organization, the Orthodoxregard it as a home of sacred treas-ures. Orthodox priests have blessedthe collection on multiple occasions.Orthodox believers make pilgrim-ages to visit from points all along theEastern seaboard. The museum al-lows church groups to worship onsite in the presence of icons.

For Episcopalians, the art istreated largely as a resource for pri-vate prayer, Russell said. It’s also away to engage with Christians ofother traditions.

“Sometimes, with both the Epis-copalians and the Roman Catholics,it needs a degree of translation,”Russell said. “For the Catholics, it’san Aha! moment when you point outthat the Stations of the Cross areicons, basically. That’s their origin.”

With Episcopalians, he added, theAha! tends to come when they arereminded that giant icons adorn pil-lars flanking the entrance of West-minster Abbey.

Unlike Eastern Orthodox Chris-tians, curious Episcopalians do nottypically have much backgroundknowledge of icons. That’s becausevarious strains of Anglicanism di-

(Continued from previous page)

What began as a museum of 3,000 square feetnow spans 16,000 square feet across two floors.

May 4, 2014 • THE LIVING CHURCH 31

verge in how they understand theart’s spiritual value. While some seeit as a portal to higher wisdom andtruth, others reject it as a violation ofthe Second Commandment, whichforbids worshiping graven images,said the Rev. Canon J. Robert Wright,an icon collector and professoremeritus of church history at Gen-eral Theological Seminary.

Attitudes have shifted, Wright said,since his days as a student at Generalin the early 1960s, when courses paidno attention to icons. Now Generalstudents learn about icons and seekthem out in visits to Armenian, Ser-bian, and Greek Orthodox cathedrals

in New York City. In February, Gen-eral hosted a three-week icon exhibitfeaturing Wright’s former collection.

“The icons are regarded as tracesof the holy,” Wright said. “When youpray in the presence of an icon,touch an icon, or kiss an icon, youare making contact with the holy.”

New England Episcopalians nowrely on the Museum of Russian Iconsin part to fill gaps in their under-standing of icons, Russian culture,and Orthodox spirituality. In tourstailored to group interests, docentsdiscuss how icons are made withsimple essentials: a wooden block,egg tempera paint, and prayer. Forgroups with advanced knowledge,docents delve into finer points of artand culture.

Through arrangements with theSociety of St. John the Evangelist inCambridge, a monk will sometimeslead the Episcopal faithful in a work-shop at the museum in how to praywith icons.

But amassing information is notthe central point when Episco-palians visit. They come primarilyfor quiet retreat, and they find theart leaves them refreshed.

Groups commonly arrive duringstressful seasons, when they cravereconnection with the holy. DuringAdvent 2013, for instance, clergyfrom the Central and West WorcesterDeanery gathered for openingprayers at Church of the Good Shep-herd in Clinton. Then they went nextdoor to the museum to “completetheir own liturgy of the Word amongthe icons,” Hicks said.

When candidates for Bishop ofWestern Massachusetts were in thearea for meetings, they found themuseum provided just the respitethey needed to renew their souls.

“The candidates were able to getnext door, be quiet, spend some timein prayer, and appreciate the icons,”said the Rev. William Bergmann,Good Shepherd’s rector. “Each one

of the candidates said it was just theperfect opportunity to gather theirthoughts and get centered in theirprayer.”

Pilgrims who come for a spiritualexperience often accept offers ofChristian hospitality from nearbycommunities. For Anglicans, GoodShepherd is a staple stop. In an aver-age month, Bergmann opens thesanctuary for two or three groupsfrom Episcopal congregations. Usu-ally they’re on a day trip to the mu-seum and welcome the chance topray or reflect in a pew, either beforeor after an encounter with sacred art.

“You’ll very often see people whoare really intensely focused on a par-ticular icon or a particular area,”Bergmann said. “You sense there’ssome real prayer and reflection go-ing on. People are almost treatingthis like church.”

Hospitality for pilgrims can alsofeed the ecumenical yearning thatdraws many to seek the holy throughart from a faraway, largely unfamiliarChristian culture. Pilgrims from alldenominational backgrounds arewelcomed as overnight guests at St.Benedict Abbey, a Roman Catholicmonastery in nearby Still River.

That a museum would become ade facto sacred site for many Chris-tians is no surprise to museumstaffers. They’re delighted to seeEpiscopalians using it both for edu-cation and spiritual growth.

“The opportunity to physically en-gage with spiritual objects that havebeen around since the 1400s is a pro-foundly moving experience,” Russellsaid. “It seems to be comforting thatthere is that continuity, that touch-stone with the past, with somethingthat has not changed.”

G. Jeffrey MacDonald is a freelancejournalist and author of Thieves inthe Temple: The Christian Churchand the Selling of the American Soul(Basic Books, 2010).

“Not Made by Hands” (top) and “Archangel Michael”