July 17

Andrei Rublev (ca. 1360-1427) monk and iconographer

Today the Orthodox churches commemorate the monk and iconographer Andrei Rublev.
Born around the year 1360, Rublev was initiated into the art of iconography by Theophan the Greek. According to tradition, he became a monk sometime between the years 1380 and 1405, and lived first at Merciful Savior monastery in Moscow, which had been founded by a disciple of Sergius of Radonezh. Andrei's life was deeply marked by the desire to convey to those who looked at his icons a profound inner life of communion with God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
At the St. Sergius - Trinity Lavra, where Andrei spent much of his life, he left what is considered his masterpiece: the icon of the Trinity, which can be seen today in Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery. Inspired by the biblical scene in which Abraham offers hospitality to the Lord's three angels, Rublev expresses the love that flows among the divine Persons by inclining the faces of the angels so as to suggest a circular movement. Through his use of reverse perspective, which makes the scene converge upon the heart of the observer, Rublev reminds those who contemplate his Trinity that every person is called to take part in the mystery of divine communion, the Lamb's wedding feast.
Andrei Rublev died in 1427, and in 1551 the Council of the One Hundred Chapters proclaimed his Trinity "a model for every Orthodox icon."

LETTURE BIBLICHE

Heb 13:7-16; Lk 6:17-23

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THE CHURCHES REMEMBER...

WESTERN CATHOLICS:
Marcellina (d. ca. 400), virgin (Ambrosian calendar)
Justa and Rufina of Seville (5th-6th cent.), virgins and martyrs (Spanish-Mozarabic calendar)

COPTS AND ETHIOPIANS (10 abib/hamle):
Theodore (3rd-4th cent.), bishop of Pentapolis, martyr (Coptic Church)

LUTHERANS:
Scillitan martyrs (d. 180), witnesses to the point of bloodshed in North Africa

MARONITES:
Marina of Antioch (4th cent.), martyr

ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS AND GREEK CATHOLICS:
Marina of Antioch, megalomartyr
Andrei Rublev, iconographer (Russian Church)