Jesucristo El Lucero Radiante del Alba

Litany To
Jesucristo El Lucero Radiante del Alba
(Jesus Christ Morning Star)

Jesus Christ, Star rising
from Jacob, Radiant
morning light.

Jesus Christ,
Holy Wisdom enfleshed,
Son of Mary,

Jesus Christ, Humble mirror
of Joseph, Guardian of
youth.

Jesus Christ, Beloved Child of
the Father, Gospel to the
world.

Jesus Christ, Ocean of
mercy, Ocean of love,
Tree of healing leaves.

Jesus Christ, Bread
from Heaven, Holy
Communion. Mother
Pelican, Precious
Blood.

Jesus Christ, Shepherd of
the despised and rejected,
Lamb led to slaughter.

Jesus Christ, Word of God,
Eyes of Fire, Prophet in
Exile, Garment of Blood.

Jesus Christ,
Lamb of God,
Lamp of the
Heavenly City.

Jesus Christ, Bridegroom
and Lover, Faithful and
True.

Jesus Christ, Evening Star,
firstborn of the
dead, Alpha and
Omega, Beginning and
end.

Amen

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Following the murders of the children at Columbine High School in Colorado, I began to imagine creating an Icon of Jesus Christ as a teenager. It seems that the world these children have inherited is increasingly impossible for them to bear. With the recent massive numbers of deaths in September. 2001. we all feel the stalking presence of evil.

Olga Torres-Reid's invitation to create an altar for the Day of the Dead, in the Exhibit "Sobre Muerte" placed me directly at the center of this present tension. Death itself is not evil. St. Francis of Assisi spoke of death as the final friend... our Sister Death. However, the deliberate murder of innocent people is evil. How to respond to this conflict:' Bringing the Icon of the teenage Christ into the world, gave me an opportunity to respond to this tension.

The frame was carved for this occasion by my friend, the plaster woodworker and Santero, Roberto Lavadie. I had seen the haunting image of the skull with wings during my years in New England, on the old Puritan grave stones. What does it mean for a skull to have wings?

I painted the frame in black and white and brought a Taos teenager, as Christ, into the ominous landscape, as the color, the light, and the life in the midst of death. "Jesucristo El Lucero Radiante del Alba" comes from the last chapter of the Apocalypse (Revelation), chapter twenty two, verse sixteen:

"I am the light of the dawn
(or)
the bright morning star."

Though surrounded by darkness and bearing death's wounds. death has no dominion over the Lord of Life.

William Hart McNichols SJ

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• Other Icons by Fr. William McNichols

• Information about Fr. William McNichols and his Icons

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This page is managed by Fr. Raymond A. Bucko, S.J. of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Creighton University. E-Mail: bucko@creighton.edu Page Last Updated: March 15, 2002

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