16,951
edits
Changes
m
links
[[Image:Unburnt Bush.JPG|frame|right|Theotokos the Unburnt Bush icon]]
The Most Holy '''Theotokos the Unburnt Bush icon''' is commemorated by the Church on [[September 4]]. Sometimes it is called the '''[[Burning Bush]]''' icon.
==About the icon==
One of the earliest depictions of the Mother of God as the Unburnt Bush shows her holding her divine Son in the midst of a burning bush. Moses is shown to one side, removing his sandals, for that place was holy (Exodus. 3:5).
An icon from the [[Solovetsky Monastery|Solovki Monastery]], painted in the 16th to 17th centuries, shows the Heavenly Jerusalem depicted on the chest of the Theotokos. In the four corners of the icon are prophecies, the hierarchies of [[angel]]s and nature surround her. The presence of the [[Ancient of Days]] is in the eight-pointed star.
==Symbolism==
The symbols of the four [[Evangelist]]s: a man for St. [[Apostle Matthew|Matthew]], a lion for St. [[Apostle Mark|Mark]], an ox for St. [[Apostle Luke|Luke]], and an eagle for St. [[Apostle John|John]], are in the four corners of the green diamond. These symbols are derived from [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] 1:10 and [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] 4:7. The red diamond has [[archangel]]s depicted in its four corners.
The design of the icon has become more complex over time. Now we can see archangels, Moses and the burning bush (Ex. 3:2), [[Isaiah]] and the [[seraphim]] with the burning coal (Is. 6:7), [[Ezekiel]] and the gate through which only the Lord may enter (Ez. 44:2), and Jacob with the ladder (Gen. 28:12). The Theotokos is shown holding Jacob's ladder, which leads from earth to heaven. Sometimes the [[Root of Jesse ]] (Isaiah 11:1) is shown in the center of the icon's lower border.
==Theology==
