Kirkepiscatoid

Well, at this point we finish with all the “beseeching,” and we’ve moved on to the Agnus Dei:

Son of God, we beseech thee to hear us.
Son of God, we beseech thee to hear us.

O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy upon us.

O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy upon us.

O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world,
Grant us thy peace.

I’m so familiar with the Agnus Dei, have always loved the Agnus Dei for its simplicity, but I really don’t know much about its origins. So...I Googled a while.

The Agnus Dei was introduced in the Roman Mass by Pope Sergius (687-701). It may have been added as a defiant act against the Byzantine empire. The Byzantine church had ruled that Christ shall not be depicted as an animal. It was one of the last things to be added to what we now recognize as the modern Eucharistic liturgy, as was the Nicene Creed.

By guidelines of ecclesiastical art, at the bare minimum, the iconic figure of the Agnus Dei should include a lamb crooking a cross aloft with its foreleg. Later, the Anglican tradition was to add the Cross of St. George flag, the original flag of England, but other countries in Europe use other colors for the flag. Some renditions show the lamb atop a book with seven seals as in the book of Revelation. Some versions show the lamb with a halo and others show a gash in its chest with its blood flowing into a chalice, as in the cup of communion.

I learned something new and kind of cool, too. From the ninth century, onward, “Agnus Dei” can also mean a disk of wax made from last year’s Paschal candle stamped with the familiar “Lamb of God” icon. Historically, the archdeacon manufactured the Agnus Deis on Holy Saturday from wax taken from last year’s Paschal candle, mixed with chrism, and blessed. Then they were distributed by him to the people on the Saturday following Easter. In ancient days, these wax Agnus Dei medallions were thought to protect the owner from perils from storm and pestilence, from fire and flood, and also of the dangers to which women are exposed in childbirth.

It is also interesting that the various Eastern Orthodox churches, although they have no problem with using the phrase “Lamb of God,” in keeping with the original Byzantine belief, do not use the iconography of the Agnus Dei because of their prohibitions on depicting Christ as an animal.

I have, as long as I can remember, been more drawn to the icon of the Agnus Dei as a symbol of Jesus than any painting, icon, or statue depicting Jesus, even as a child. I am sure some of it is that even my childhood brain looked at renditions of “Truck stop Jesus” and “Jesus on the wall of every old lady’s house” and knew somehow these were not “real.” As a child the only rendition of Jesus I was drawn to was the one where Jesus was holding a lamb. But for me, oddly enough, the icon is more “real” to me than human depictions of Jesus. Part of it is the Lamb holds the cross on a staff in victory. There is a part of me that wants to believe that, ultimately, the holy and innocent parts of us will triumph over evil and death. The Lamb of God, I believe, is the only “innocent” thing that resides in me. But for some reason, an iconic representation of Jesus seems more real to me than a human artistic representation of Him. Maybe that is because any human representation, I know that no one really knows what Jesus looks like, therefore human representations of Him seem "not authentic." However, an iconic representation of Him shows what He is really about, and is therefore more "real."

I like to think that all the jading of the world cannot take this holy and innocent spotless white bit of my soul from me. The Lamb is the holy Christ that lives within me. Some days, it is the only spotless pure thing I have. I may be dark with sin on some days, yet, even in my dark days, inside me is still the purity of the snow white Lamb. Frankly, it is hard to imagine the purity within myself; I am not sure I even could if not for the fact the Lamb lives within me. It is the part of me that can accept mercy. It is the part of me that can grant me peace.

It is how I CAN offer myself as a living sacrifice to God; the Lamb has been there before me. Just as it seems that the Holy Spirit can be seen more or less directly by me, and is at least perceived by my five senses through the actions of others, The Agnus Dei is the only direct line I seem to have on Jesus. I can touch the Lamb of God. I can eat and drink the Lamb of God. Jesus, in some ways, seems a dim shadow of history to me...but the Lamb of God is very, very REAL!