The eight members of the first propaedeutic immersion year at Saint Mary Seminary concluded their yearlong program with a special project: creating an icon of Our Lady of Vladimir. The icons are based on one of the oldest known depictions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Father Patrick Anderson, who worked with the group on the project, showed a sketch of the image on a blackboard in the classroom where they worked. Each seminarian received a booklet with instructions for creating the icon, from sketching the image on a sheet of tracing paper to transferring the image onto a Gesso board, which has a rigid, smooth surface. They used tubes of acrylic paint to color the image, which featured a gold halo. Father Anderson said sheets of 24-karat gold leaf were applied to the halo.
(See photo gallery above.)
Once the paint dried, the icons were sealed with a polyurethane finish that was applied with a foam brush.
The seminarians, Father Mark Ott, who guided them through the propaedeutic year, Father Anderson and Father Andy Turner, president/rector of Borromeo and Saint Mary seminaries, showed off their completed icons.
The icon project followed the group’s return from a monthlong pilgrimage during which they hiked the Camino and visited the tomb of the apostle St. James in the crypt of Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Spain.
After the Camino pilgrimage, they returned to the seminary at the Center for Pastoral Leadership in Wickliffe to process how they grew and what they learned during the yearlong program.
Father Ott said the propaedeutic year is a new stage of formation mandated by the Vatican for all seminaries. The program began in August 2024 at Saint Mary Seminary. During the program, participants live in community in a separate building on the CPL campus, focusing on prayer, trust and fraternity.
They “fast” from technology most of the week during the program, instead learning to cultivate a good prayer life, a love of learning and a deeper appreciation of the human dimension in their formation, Father Ott explained. They also experienced a poverty immersion last January.
Father Ott said the men are enjoying a few weeks off before resuming their formation and studies in August.
An icon is a type of religious painting, often done on wood, that depicts Jesus, the Blessed Mother, saints and/or angels in a portrait style. Icon is derived from a Greek word. Icons are popular in Orthodox and Catholic churches, especially Eastern denominations.