Icon Gazing Visio Divina

Visio divina has its roots in the ancient practice of icon gazing, so for this visio divina I thought I'd harken back to that tradition by adopting some of the text from Rowan Williams, Ponder These Things: Praying with Icons of the Virgin in which he offers reflections on three icons of the Virgin.

As you gaze at an image of the icon at the bottom of this page, you will be offered some questions and prompts for silent reflection and a few short selections from Rowan Williams’ text.  You may pause for silence at the dots. Some of the words may speak to you, while others you may choose to ignore. At the end of the visio divina, you will be invited to share a word or phrase to express your experience of the image.

Please note that Williams does not use inclusive language to describe God, which I would usually change but various things about this text make that more complicated, so I left the male language for God, which is appropriate when it refers to the Christ child, and hope it does not distract from your experience.

The icon offered below is not the same as in Williams’ book but very similar for the purposes of the reflections.

A video version of this visio divina can be viewed here.

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As you gaze at the image, notice your breath and your body. 

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Simply be present to the image and allow it to speak to your heart, without any particular agenda. It might speak to you in words or wordlessly. 

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from Rowan Williams, Ponder These Things: Praying with Icons of the Virgin

“If we begin, as most of us tend to, with a notion that God stands at a distance waiting for us to make a move in his direction, this image should give us something of a shock. The Lord here does not wait, impassive, as we babble on about our shame and penitence, trying to persuade him that we are worth forgiving. His love is instead that of an eager and rather boisterous child, scrambling up on his mother's lap, seizing handfuls of her clothing and nuzzling his face against hers, with that extraordinary hunger for sheer physical closeness that children will show with loving parents.”

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“This is a child who cannot bear to be separated from his mother. . . God is not ashamed to be our God, to be identified as the one who is involved with us; here, though, it is as if he is not merely unashamed but positively shameless in his eagerness, longing to embrace and be embraced. It is not simply that God will deign not to mind our company: rather he is passionate for it. The image of God's action we are presented with here is of a hungry love.”

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“God simply “needs” what we are, no more, no less; he needs us to be . . . He loves the reflection of his love within creation; he cannot bear to be separated from it and goes eagerly in search of it, hungry to find in the created “other” the reality of his own life and bliss.”

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If you choose, share aloud a word or phrase to express your experience of the image.