The Myrrh-Bearing Women: a sacred art workshop

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” Then they remembered his words.

~ Luke 24:1-9 NIV

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb  and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

~ Mark 16:1-4 NIV

An icon of the traditional eight myrrh-bearing women

Scripture names Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome, and Joanna among the myrhh-bearing women who went to the tomb on the morning after the Sabbath to anoint the body of the crucified Lord. Christian tradition also includes Mary the mother of Jesus, Susanna, and Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus, among the group, making eight.

This September I was invited to offer a sacred art workshop at the Porter’s Gate Worship Project’s bi-annual retreat at the beautiful Waverly Springs, VA. At this retreat musicians were writing and recording songs about grief. I was asked to offer a complimentary opportunity for prayer and visual art connected to the theme of grief. I brought this to prayer and in conversation with my friends and was riveted by the idea of doing an icon of a myrrh-bearing woman. Painting an icon was a clear choice as it is form of art embedded in every level of production with prayer and contemplation, while the Scripture of the myrrh-bearing women remained with me as way to enter into the experience of grief with the holy women who went to the tomb after their Lord was crucified and buried and before the glory of the resurrection was revealed to them. I wondered: What did these women feel at that moment? What hope or enduring love did they hold onto even after witnessing their beloved’s violent torture and death? What did the act of anointing the dead body mean to them?

In Elissa Bjeletich Davis’s book, The Art of Myrrhbearing: Encountering Christ through Serving Others, she reflects on these questions. She writes:

As the sun rose on that Sunday morning, the women were finally released from their Sabbath vigil; they waited exactly as long as God required and not a minute linger; emerging in the earliest moments of the day. They knew they weren’t welcome at the Tomb, that both a tremendous stone and armed guards stood in their way. Without a plan, without any tool or weapon to force their way in , they simply showed up with arms full of myrrh and spices. One cannot guess how they hoped to gain access, but these women were not crushed, and they were not finished. Their stubborn love compelled them, and as the sun began to rise, they arrived, ready to prepare the body of their beloved Jesus.

She continues:

[…] on that morning, the women were showing up in protest; they refused to bury their love for Christ, and they refused to stop following Him. The authorities could beat Him, could kill Him, but these women were not deterred. Armed with myrrh and spices, they arrived at the Tomb to prepare His body as one would honor a king; they came to the Tomb to proclaim the glory of the Lord.

Thus, with the idea of an icon of the scripture of the myrrh-bearing women, I began to pray and draw. I needed to design a simple image because the time constraints would not permit us to do a multi-figure painting. After I drew one figure representing any one of the women, I placed her in front of the Anointing Stone. This is when the Holy Spirit powerfully manifested and led me to the other symbols in the image. I was near tears and trembling with the power of this image as I completed the drawing of it. I remembered when I visited the Anointing Stone in the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

The Anointing Stone at the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem

Every morning this stone which symbolically represents the place where the crucified body of Christ was lain is anointed with perfumed oil. It is slick with fragrant oil and as I knelt to venerate the stone, the oil clung to my fingertips, my lips, and its smell and taste remained with me throughout the day. Here is what I learned at the Anointing Stone just one year after I was baptized into the Church: the body of Christ, the Church, is still wounded and crucified; I am called to anoint His wounded body with my gifts and with my life. What is the fragrant oil that I have which can be poured out onto my Bridegroom? It is the actual oil of my oil paints, and it is the oil of my life, a life contrite (crushed) like a seed that is pressed until it exudes oil. I want to be completely poured out for Him and crushed with Him. I want to console Him in His wounded body, the Church.

My design for the workshop

So I drew the woman with her jar of oil, and I drew the anointing stone with its diagonal crack so apt to represent the wounded Church, and I drew the five holy wounds of Jesus to represent His crucified body, but also to show how His holy wounds are transfigured and become precious jewels representing His victory over death and the way that He heals and transfigures our wounds when they are united with His. Then I drew the myrrh and aloe plants in their beauty as symbols of the anointing oils.

Painting the icon in my studio

The Holy Spirit always knows best. I brought this project to the Waverly Springs farm, and the first workshop began on Saturday afternoon. Isaac Wardell, director of the Porter’s Gate Worship Project, joined us at the beginning of our session and read the lyrics of a song that they had written and recorded the day prior. The lyrics corresponded perfectly to the symbolism in the icon I had designed. They spoke of anointing and the transfiguration of our wounds…

The Saturday workshop participants in the barn at Waverly Springs

Eight women joined me to paint the myrrh-bearing woman with me on Saturday. Eight women whose hearts know how to love, suffer, grieve, and hope. The next day, Sunday, the same scripture passages had the added poignancy of speaking appropriately of the day of the Resurrection. I was joined by two mother with their daughters, and we prayed and painted together, sharing a touchingly intimate time. I was so honored to be among the living myrrh-bearing women in the church today!

Mothers and daughters painting together at Sunday’s workshop

All this spiritual and artistic fruitfulness was enveloped in the beauty and hospitality of the place and community at Waverly Springs. I am so grateful to have been invited to this magically-beautiful place! Around my art workshops I strolled the historic property (founded 1762), enjoyed a genuine feast of exquisite food prepared by the award-winning chef Tarver King, was consoled by the fellowship among Christians across denominations, and was ravished by the music and poetry offered in Saturday night’s concert in the barn. If you know me, you know my love of classical music, and the apex of the performances was for me this work by the celebrated cellist Amit Peled.

The same barn hosting the Saturday evening concert