Sanctify Those Who Love the Beauty of Your House.

Planning a mosaic icon above the entrance to the Church of St. Demetrios, NSW.

A visitor to an Orthodox Church building is often struck by the extraordinary beauty of the structure and it's furnishings. Despite centuries of suffering of the Orthodox Church throughout the world (last century alone saw the slaughter of 50 million Orthodox Christians), Orthodox Christians have insisted on making their church buildings, or more correctly, their "Temples" (Gk: "ναοί"), as beautiful as they could. This is how it has been for the two millennia of the Church's history, beginning with the frescoes which adorned Christian catacombs in ancient Rome. There is even a reference to Christian love of beautiful places of worship in the ancient prayers of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom which the Church has used in it's for 1600 years:

"O Lord Who blesses those who bless You and sanctifies those who put their trust in You, save Your people and bless Your inheritance. Protect the whole body of Your Church. Sanctify those who love the beauty of Your house..."
(From the Dismissal of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom)

 "Ὁ εὐλογῶν τοὺς εὐλογοῦντάς Σε, Κύριε, καὶ ἁγιάζων τοὺς ἐπὶ Σοὶ πεποιθότας, σῶσον τὸν λαόν Σου καὶ εὐλόγησον τὴν κληρονομίαν Σου. Τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς Ἐκκλησίας Σου φύλαξον, ἁγίασον τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας τὴν εὐπρέπειαν τοῦ οἴκου Σου..."
(Από την Απόλυση της Θείας Λειτουργίας του Αγίου Ιωάννου του Χρυσοστόμου)

 It is with this in mind, that permission was sought and granted from the Archdiocese of the Greek Orthodox Church in Australia for the installation of a Mosaic Icon of St. Demetrios above the main entrance door of the Church of St. Demetrios in St. Marys, NSW, Australia.

Currently, the entrance door to the Church of St. Demetrios looks like this:

Main entry door of the Church of St. Demetrios

The potential is amazing given the large, flat surface of the wall and the beautiful arched shape of the door as well as it's centrality between two identical doors. Interestingly, the three entry doors reflect the three doors of the "Iconostasis" or Icon Screen which separates the Holy of Holies (altar area) from the Nave of the Church:

Iconostasis of the Church of St Demetrios

Above the central door of the Iconostasis (called the "Beautiful Gate") is the icon depicting the Mystical Supper when Our Lord instituted the Eucharist, which links what is happening in the Icon with what is seen happening below it on the Altar or "Holy Table".

So, what icon should go above the main entry door of the Church? Since the Church building is dedicated to St. Demetrios, the logical answer is that the Icon should depict St. Demetrios. In order to make the icon unique to the Church, it was decided to depict St Demetrios actually holding his Church building . After much research into various mosaics and several attempts at preliminary sketches, the iconographer came up with this sketch:

Preliminary sketch for Mosaic

The sketch depicts the Saint dressed as a warrior, holding the Church in his left hand while his right hand holds his spear. In the icon sketch, you can see the three entry doors of the Church.

The aim is to make the icon as large as possible without interrupting the arch of the church entrance, but rather, enhancing it. Here is an idea using raised borders that highlight both the entry door and the icon:

This is the plan. May The Lord bless our efforts!