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Mr. Robert J. Andrews was born in Haverhill, MA in
1925 and raised in Dover, NH. Upon graduating high school he served as a fighter
pilot in the US Navy. Following his military service, Mr. Andrews pursued art
training and worked as a portrait artist and potter before becoming an art
teacher and department head in schools and colleges. A Greek Orthodox Christian
now living in Pembroke, MA, Mr. Andrews has created mosaic iconography for more
than a dozen churches across the US in California, Arizona, New York,
Washington, Utah, Indiana and Massachusetts as well as the St. Sofia (Holy
Wisdom) Cathedral in London.
Mr. Andrews was chosen by
St. Paul’s to create mosaic icons of four saints for the exterior of our new
education center: St. Leonidas of Athens, St. Olga of Kiev, St. Irene
Chrysovalantou and St. Hannah the Prophetess. Working with Anthony Callas, an
architect and member of the parish, Mr. Andrews and his son, Tim, arrived in
November, 2005 to install the icons over a five day period.
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Tessarae ready
for inspection
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Mr. Andrews unveiling the icon of St. Irene
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What
is the process of creating a mosaic icon? First, Mr. Andrews prepares a
"cartoon", a drawing on paper of the proposed design. These drawings
are then sent to a studio in Italy that specializes in preparing the tesserae,
small glass pieces for the mosaic itself. Andrews sends his order for glass
mosaic pieces to Italy, to a studio located in Tuscany about 80 miles from
Florence and 120 miles from Rome. It is there, at the Citta d'Arte -- a center
and school for smelting and hand-cutting the glass pieces called tesserae –
where the spiritual vision begins to take form.
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Tim Andrews unveiling the icon of St.
Olga
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The artisans take drawings by
Andrews and directions for color, and begin to fit the mosaic together. Their
guide is a hand painted icon of the panel by Mr. Andrews. In order to adhere to
his artistry, they select from over 5,000 different colors of glass pieces.
These glass tesserae are carefully set in and glued to the reverse side of his
line drawings. When completed, the icon is carefully divided into units for
shipping. Hauled to the west coast of Italy by truck, they are then sent by
ship, and
sometimes by air, to the US.
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It is a gripping experience of
anticipation to see Mr. Andrews open the crates and lay the mosaics out on the
floor for careful inspection. He must inspect the work for any changes or
corrections in reverse, since it lies face down on the paper backing. Only after
the process of spreading the mortar on the wall and using special tools to beat
and butter the icon into position, does he finally peel off the paper and see
the result of his vision.
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St. Hannah the Prophetess
Her memory is celebrated on December 9th
St. Hannah was the mother of
the Old Testament prophet Samuel and, in the life of the Church, she also bears
the title of “prophetess.” Living in the 11th century BC in the town of
Ramah in the hill country of Ephraim, she grieved at being childless and her
husband, Elkhanah, was unable to console her. Elkanah’s second wife, Peninah,
by whom he had children, would often taunt Hannah about her childlessness,
leaving her in despair. When the family went on their annual pilgrimage to
worship and offer sacrifices to God at Shiloh, Hannah, in tears, prayed that God
would give her children. She promised the Lord that if He gave her a son, she
would dedicate him to His service. Eli, the priest of Shiloh, assured Hannah
that the Lord had heard her heartfelt prayers and that she would be given
children. Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son whom she named Samuel, a name
that means “the Lord has heard my prayer.” True to her word, Hannah
returned to Shiloh and dedicated her son to the Lord. Samuel grew up serving Eli
the priest at the shrine at Shiloh until the Lord called him to be a prophet to
the people of Israel. Each year, Hannah made a pilgrimage to the shrine at
Shiloh and she would bring Samuel a little robe that she had made for him. In
addition to the prophet Samuel, Hannah was blessed by God with three more sons
and two daughters.
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St. Irene of Chrysovalantou
Her memory is celebrated on July 28th
St.
Irene of Chrysovalantou was the daughter of an aristocratic and deeply religious
Cappadocian family. When the Empress Theodora (reigned 842-855 AD), the
woman who restored the use of icons to the Church, desired a bride for her son,
the prince Michael, women were gathered from all over the Empire, including the
young Irene. But, upon her arrival in Constantinople, Irene discovered that
prince Michael had married someone else only a few days before. This left her
free to pursue her heart’s desire: the monastic life. Irene entered the
Monastery of Chrysovalantou and soon became known for the depth of her prayer,
humility and compassion for others. When the abbess of Chrysovalantou died,
Irene was chosen to be the new abbess by St. Methodios, the patriarch of
Constantinople, who also ordained her as a deaconess. A woman who saw visions of
her fellow countryman from Cappadocia, the 4th century bishop St. Basil the
Great, she also developed prophetic insight and soon became known throughout the
city for her holiness of life. She lived to be 101years old. Following her
death, miracles of healing were attributed to her by those who came to visit her
gravesite. Today, in New York, there is a weeping icon of St. Irene
Chrysovalantou at the Greek Orthodox Monastery that bears her name in Astoria,
Long Island.
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St. Leonidas of
Athens and St. Olga of Kiev
St. Leonidas of Athens
His memory is celebrated on April 15th
St. Leonidas was the bishop of
Athens in the middle of the third century AD. Arrested shortly after celebrating
Pascha in the spring of 250 AD during the persecution of Christians carried out
at the orders of the Roman emperor Decius, Leonidas and a group of women who had
been arrested with him were transferred to Corinth, the governmental seat for
the Roman province of Achaia, where they were tried by the Roman proconsul
Benoustos. Refusing to renounce his faith in Christ, Leonidas and the seven
women with him – Charissa, Galina, Nike, Kalisa, Nunekhia, Basilissa and
Theodora – were found guilty of the crime of Christianity, the punishment for
which was execution. After being beaten and then tortured, they were executed by
having large stones tied around their necks, taken out to sea on the Gulf of
Corinth and then thrown overboard to drown.
St. Olga of Kiev
Her memory is celebrated on July 11th
St. Olga of Kiev, honored in
the memory of the Church as Equal-to-the-Apostles, was born in the city of Pskov,
in 879 AD, a descendant of Vikings. The wife of Prince Igor of Kiev, she became
the first recorded female ruler of Russia following the assassination of her
husband in 945 AD. Ruling for more than 20 years as regent until her son
Svyatoslav could assume power, Olga became the first of the Kievan royal family
to convert to Christianity. She was baptized in Constantinople, probably in 957
AD, and given the name Helena by her sponsor, the Byzantine emperor Constantine
Porphyrogenitos. When she returned to her homeland following her baptism she
tried to introduce Christianity on a wide scale but her efforts were resisted by
her son Svyatoslav and other nobles who remained outside the faith. Olga died in
969 AD and her son, although an enemy of Christianity, allowed his mother to
have a Christian burial. It was Olga’s grandson, Vladimir (who died in 1015
AD), who ultimately led the people of ancient Rus’ to Christianity. And her
grandsons, Sts. Boris and Gleb, are remembered in Russian history for their
non-violent resistance to evil, even to the point of sacrificing their lives
rather than engaging in a bloody civil war with their brother. St. Olga and her
family mark the transition between pagan and Christian Russia and the faith that
she worked so hard to plant took root after her lifetime and is still bearing
fruit to this day.
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