The Iconic Monstrance

Exodus 20
1 And God spake all these words, saying,
2 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

This is the word of God. As believers who have received salvation through Jesus, and have been regenerated by the power of the Holy Ghost we are to have no other gods before our Lord. No other gods in place of our Lord. No other god seated upon the throne that belongs to Him alone. And the Scriptures make it clear that there are indeed other gods. As Christians we are not to make for ourselves any (I REPEAT. ANY.) graven images to bow down before them or serve them. No icons. No statues. I'm bringing this up because a pastor I listen to from time to time has recently called attention to the following image at a parish in Chicago.

The iconic monstrance, Our Lady of the Sign – Ark of Mercy, was unveiled and blessed by Cardinal Francis George, May 31, 2008, on the Feast of the Visitation. The idea of the iconic monstrance was conceived nine years prior to its unveiling. At that time a call was heard which resulted in the entrustment and consecration of the parish of St. Stanislaus Kostka to the Blessed Virgin Mary. A discernment led by Fr. Anthony Bus C.R. inspired a parish wide response to establish in the heart of Chicago, a Sanctuary to The Divine Mercy. The doors of the parish were opened and eyes were turned to Mary, Holy Queen and Mother of Mercy, that the “cacophony of the world not shout into silence the voice of the living God.” It was accepted that the Blessed Virgin Mary had asked for and created space for sacred silence that the voice of her Son would be heard anew and that He would be adored in the Blessed Sacrament

Link: http://www.sanctuaryofthedivinemercy.org/Our-Lady-of-the-Sign/Our-Lady-of-the-Sign-Ark-of-Mercy-12.html

 Now, one of the first arguments I come across from those in Catholicism is...

"This isn't an idol! We don't worship these things! We venerate... we use them as a focal point in our prayers. They help us to focus."

Really? Prayers are said before them and to them. Knees are bowed before them. Gifts are left before them. Incense is burned before them. They are often kissed... I would submit that someone needs to sit down and explain to these people what worship is. Just look up the word venerate and you'll find that worship is actually a synonym for venerate. They mean the same thing.

 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them...


So in looking at the Iconic Monstrance what are we seeing here? An image of the Ark of the Covenant as mentioned in the book of Exodus.

Exodus 25
10 And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
11 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.
12 And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it.
13 And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.
14 And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.
15 The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.
16 And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.
17 And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
18 And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
19 And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.
21 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.
22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

The box upon which the woman sits is supposed to be the Ark of the Covenant. Notice the three things depicted below the woman on the face of the box. The two tablets of the Law, Aaron's rod that budded, and the golden pot that held manna. This is indeed a depiction of the Ark.
 

 Hebrews 9
3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.

The mercy seat as mentioned in the Scriptures, was simply the top covering of the Ark upon which the cherubim were. It was from this place between the cherubims that God Almighty would commune with Moses.

Exodus 25
22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

Now in looking at the iconic monstrous, what do we see between the cherubims above the mercy seat? A woman arrayed in gold and scarlet. Who the heck is this woman and why is she resting in a place reserved for God Almighty? Apparently she wants to replace or be equal to the Most High God... or at least someone wants her to hold such a position it would seem. According to the website, this woman was fashioned after the image of the woman travailing in birth pains revealed in the book of Revelation.

Revelation 11

19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

Revelation 12
1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

The website claims that the woman depicted in the book of Revelation is none other than Mary the mother of Jesus. However, I don't believe there to be any truth to that claim at all. This woman is not Mary the mother of Jesus, nor is she the Church as I've read that some have claimed... It is agreed upon across the board that the child being given birth to is Jesus Christ. So how on earth could this woman be a picture of the Church when the Church did not give birth to Jesus Christ? It's quite the opposite.

The Scriptures themselves reveal who this woman is. But to gain understanding of the end, we must first go back to the beginning. Back to the book of Genesis. Jacob, who's name was changed to Israel, was also a prophet and had an understanding of dreams and visions... as did his son Joseph.

Genesis 37
9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

Jacob understood that within this dream he was represented by the sun, his wife was the moon, and the rest of Joseph's brothers were the stars. The nation of Israel came out of this family. So I feel confident in stating that according to the interpretation of the Scriptures, the woman in Revelation travailing in birth is none other than the nation of Israel. So it would seem that the woman displayed in the iconic monstrance cannot be the woman depicted in the book of Revelation. Especially seeing how as one is pregnant and the other is not... as well as one being clothed with the sun and the other scarlet. This woman bears no resemblance to the Mary of Scripture that she is claimed to be either. No where will you find Mary decked out in gold and scarlet. Nor does this woman bear any resemblance to the Church, as the bride of Christ will be clothed in pure white... not scarlet and gold.

There's only one woman in Scripture that seems to bear a resemblance to the iconic monstrance.

  Revelation 17
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth.