Picture in Focus: St. Catherine of Siena at the Feet of Christ by Jodi Simmons

April 9, 2017

Picture in Focus: St. Catherine of Siena at the Feet of Christ by Jodi Simmons

As we enter Holy Week and my series on new images of the Crucifixion from the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection comes to an end, I've selected a different kind of depiction of the Crucified Christ by Massachusetts Icon-maker Jodi Simmons to inspire meditations on the mysteries of his Passion. Simmons presents the 14th Century Mystic St. Catherine of Siena holding onto the feet of Jesus, whose full body on the Cross is out of view. This striking image of prayer and adoration illustrates a key passage from St. Catherine's devotional work, The Dialogue, describing how we draw closer to God by contemplating the Crucified Christ.  The medieval Sienese saint envisions Jesus on the Cross as a bridge reaching from Heaven to Earth with three steps for us to climb. We begin by renouncing our sins and all wordly distractions at Christ's feet. Then, we move higher to encounter the love of God, revealed in his pierced heart. Finally, we receive the kiss of peace from the mouth of Christ, which tasted bitter gall for our sake. Simmons beautifully captures the first of the three stages in St. Catherine's account of the soul's progression toward union with God in this new icon, which joins nine other contemplative images in the gallery of her profile page in the Sacred Artists section. It's a good place to pause and reflect during these final days of the Lenten season. (John Kohan)