Presentación sobre icono de Edmundo rice

Un PowerPoint donde se detalla cada aspecto del icono de Edmundo rice con el significado de cada objeto o acción que se puede presenciar en el icono dividiéndolo en partes y contando como influyo Dios en la vida de Edmundo rice y a la vez contándonos algo sobre la vida de Beato Edmundo Rice alguien muy amado y respetado en muchas partes del mundo.

1. The
Icon
of
Edmund Rice
1

2. a likeness, an image, a symbol;
a picture of a sacred Christian personage,
especially in the tradition of the Eastern Churches.
Many people now think of the
little symbols on a computer
desktop when they hear the word
ICON.
Sometimes we get words confused with similar-sounding
words
Sports stars and pop musicians :
Are they IDOLS or ICONS?
Either? Or neither?
Heritage Dictionary
You click on one of them and it opens up
a programme or a file
Icon:
Some words acquire new meanings
with the passage of time.
Icon
What does the dictionary say?

3. The Turkish city of
Istanbul was formerly
called Constantinople.
Originally it was
known as Byzantium
and was the capital of
a great empire which
lasted from about
330 to 1453 A.D.
Icons made of splendid
materials and painted
in rich colours were
designed to tell the
stories of the saints
through illustrations.
This has been a
tradition in the Eastern
Church from very early
times.
The icons were often stylised rather than realistic
Various symbols were used to highlight events which were of special importance in the life of the
holy person. Learning from these stories people drew inspiration from the lives of the saints whom
they venerated and strove to imitate in their own lives.
Iconography, the art of making icons, flourished throughout the empire about a thousand years ago.

4. St. Muiredach’s
Cross
Monasterboice
Cross of the
Scriptures
Clonmacnoise
The arrest of Christ
Book of Kells
Ireland’s Golden Age closely paralleled that of the Byzantine Empire and the Celtic artists made
their own distinctive contribution to iconography from the 6
th
to the 11
th
centuries.
The Book of Kells has colourful, stylised
illustrations of events recorded in the Gospels
interspersed with the manuscript in beautiful
calligraphy
Many of the High Crosses at the early monasteries have Bible illustrations carved on the panels.
These were important educational aids, presenting the Bible story visually to people who were not
able to read.

5. Desmond Kyne
Iconographer
Desmond Kyne, an Irish iconographer
from Swanlinbar, Co. Cavan, created
the Edmund Rice Icon.
His work is inspired by the icons of
both the Byzantine and Celtic
traditions, but it is also distinctively
modern in appearance.
Many of the Byzantine icons were
painted on wood or fresh plaster, or
made up of thousands of tiny, coloured
tiles.
Desmond Kyne uses kinetic stained glass as his medium.
Unlike the glass in the familiar stained glass windows in our
churches, the glass in Desmond Kyne’s icons is not
transparent but reflects the light.
As we explore the illustrations and symbols in the various
panels of the Edmund Rice Icon we begin to appreciate how
events and people in his life led Edmund to a deep love of
God.
In what was arguably the most miserable period of Ireland’s
history Edmund Rice responded to the needs of people less
fortunate than himself, practising the second great
commandment, love your neighbour.

6. 6
In many portraits the eyes are fixed on the
viewer. Edmund’s eyes look towards a
horizon, towards something distant which
only he sees.
A great, coloured spiral surrounds
Edmund’s head.
The spiral was an ancient Celtic symbol of
divinity and infinity.
The artist has flames intertwined in the
spiral to remind us not only of the divinity
and infinity of God but also of His love.
A mysterious symbol in blue,
suggesting a dove, a flame, air, water,
represents the Holy Spirit.
It appears within Edmund and yet is
emanating from him.
God the Son is shown realistically –He
became man, one of us.
Edmund is totally immersed and enveloped in the Blessed Trinity
Central in the icon is the portrait of
Edmund Rice.

7. 7
Muire, Mathair De -Mary, the Mother of God –is portrayed
in a prominent position. She held a very important place in
Edmund’s life.
The image of Mary and her Child is a
familiar one. Several earlier iconographers
and artists have portrayed them in a similar
way.
The lilies and the star on the head dress call
to mind the Litany of Mary:
Virgin most pure, Morning Star…..
The coloured dots around the edge of the
halo suggest the Rosary –An Coroin
Mhuire,the Crown of Mary.
The child Jesus is looking directly at
Edmund.
Trust, confidence and expectation are
suggested in the expression on His face.
Edmund can be depended on to do the will
of the Father.
The right arm outstretched towards His mother suggests the words Jesus later spoke from the cross:
“ Son, this is your mother. Mother, this is your son.”

8. 9
As well as the Mother of God, two other
Marys were dear to Edmund.
In 1785 he married Mary Elliot in
Waterford. Four years later their only
child, also named Mary, was born. The
child was handicapped and her mother
died shortly afterwards.
The artist portrays Edmund lovingly
drawing his daughter close to him. With
the aid of his sister Joan, Edmund cared
for the child in Waterford into her
teenage years. Later he entrusted her to
his brother Patrick and made
arrangements that she would be provided
for all her life. She lived to be seventy
years old and died in Carrick-on-Suir in
1859.
Young Mary’s prominent place in the
icon reminds us of the profound if
mysterious part that handicapped people
play in God’s plan.
Throughout his life Edmund was tender, loving and protective of disadvantaged children.
His experience as a husband and father was important in drawing him closer to God and to his
neighbour in need.

9. 10
Understandably, the death of his young
wife and his child’s disability caused
Edmund intense sorrow.
He did not, however, become morose or
introverted. He became more aware of
and more open to the misfortunes and
sufferings of others and involved
himself in helping the poorer people of
Waterford in various ways.
For a while he thought of going to
France to enter a monastery as a
contemplative monk or of joining his
brother John as an Augustinian priest.
There is a tradition that a friend
convinced him that he should instead try
to help the young people of Waterford
who were living in great poverty and
unable to obtain an education.
As Edmund drew his daughter Mary
close to him so too he reached out to
these disadvantaged children.
Before many years had passed his life and theirs would be transformed by this decision.

10. 11
The lamb is a
familiar symbol of
Christ.
At communion time
the priest holds the
sacred host and tells
us
“This is the Lamb of
God who takes away
the sins of the
world.”
The seven flames are a symbol of the gifts of the Holy Spirit
which we receive at Confirmation.
In the Acts of the Apostles we read that on the day of Pentecost
“tongues of fire” appeared to the Apostles and “they were all filled
with the Holy Spirit.”
The artist has included numerous symbols of God throughout the icon, reminding us that
Edmund was very much aware of God’s presence and of being called to do God’s work.

11. Four green fields represent Ireland –the four
provinces.
Rivers flow through them, they are well
watered and fertile, but they are desolate,
empty of people or cattle or crops.
A dark monster hovers threateningly over
the land.
Towards the centre of the icon the coils of a
serpent are barely distinguishable.
Edmund Rice lived at a time when Irish
people were enduring abject misery.
The penal laws then in force were the
culmination of five centuries of oppression
and were designed to reduce the people to
virtual slavery. Hunger and violence and
extreme poverty were the monster which
was destroying the country.
Like a serpent, evil of a less obvious but
equally vicious kind insinuated itself.
Enticements were offered to people to
abandon their religion; trust was
destroyed; disunity prevailed.
We will understand better the magnitude of what Edmund Rice achieved when we realise the
appalling social conditions in Ireland at that time

12. Edmund Rice was born in Callan,
Co. Kilkenny in 1762. The local
landlord disagreed with the harsh
laws against Catholics and
Edmund’s father was able to lease a
substantial farm from him.
In contrast with the majority of Irish
Catholics the Rice family were
comfortable. The well-built
thatched farmhouse where Edmund
spent his youth still stands to-day,
beautifully maintained and
furnished as it was when Edmund
lived there.
Edmund attended a local ‘hedge-
school’ where he got a sound –if
illegal –basic education. A
Catholic who taught even as a
tutor in a private house was at that
time liable to be transported
without trial to a penal colony in
Australia.
Br. Patrick Grace, an
Augustinian friar known
as An Braithrin Liath,
frequently visited the Rice
home. He had been a
wandering schoolmaster
before he became a friar.
He taught the Rice children through Irish which was widely spoken in the Kilkenny area at the time.
He made a great impression on the boys and Edmund’s brother John later became an Augustinian priest.

13. An Braithrin Liath would have taught the Rice children about
the golden age of Irish Christianity, so different from the time
they lived in.
Symbols of this golden age are found at the bottom of the icon.
From about 500 to 1000 A.D. Ireland was renowned for
missionary activities. Columbanus, Feargal and others
established monasteries in Europe.
Colmcille, the
warrior monk, is
seen setting sail
for Iona with his
companions
The monasteries in Ireland, notably Clonmacnoise, were great centres of learning and
were attended by many scholars from continental Europe.
Art, with its distinctive Celtic shapes, flourished and beautiful manuscripts, sacred
vessels and carvings from that age are treasured in Ireland today.
The portrait of a blind harpist,
probably Carolan (1670-1738),
reminds us of Ireland’s musical
tradition which survived even in the
darkest periods of our history

14. Though there was much unrest and even violent
disputes over land at that time, Edmund’s father, a
hardworking, thrifty farmer, provided well for his
family.
The good management Edmund learned from him was
influential in his own very successful business career.
Farming neighbours formed a “meitheal” and helped
each other at the harvest and other busy times of the
year, a custom which still prevails.
Their work done, they celebrated with a drink, a meal,
and enjoyed each other’s company.
There is a hint of the changing seasons, and God’s
blessing on them, in the symbols above the men’s
heads.
Neighbourliness and hospitality were of great
importance to Edmund.
Several instances of his willingness to help others are
known; there were many other times he helped in
secret.

15. Edmund’s mother, Margaret Tierney, was a widow
with two daughters, Joan and Jane, when she
married Robert Rice.
They had seven children, all sons. Edmund was the
fourth son. Edmund’s stepsister Joan later helped
him rear his handicapped daughter Mary.
The Rosary has been a traditional prayer in Irish
families for generations. When it was possible to
attend Mass only very infrequently and at great risk,
the family Rosary, recited in the home each evening,
was a great influence in keeping the faith alive in
Ireland.
Praying the decades, the family recalled the birth of
Christ, His passion and death and resurrection, and
Mary’s part in our redemption.
Edmund’s mother and many like her taught their
children to pray, by word and example.
In the icon we see the spiral symbol of the Divinity inside the family circle.
Family prayer ensures God’s welcome presence in the home.

16. Edmund studied commercial subjects at a school in
Kilkenny for a short time. When he was seventeen he
moved to Waterford and joined his uncle’s ships’ chandlery
business.
Reginald’s Tower, built in the 12
th
century by the Norman’s
was a familiar sight to Edmund as he went about his daily
work along the quays.
He was a keen and very successful businessman and
eventually took over from his uncle.
He travelled to markets and fairs to buy cattle and
provisions for the ships in Waterford and colleagues have
recalled how he prayed the Rosary on his journeys.
Whenever possible he began his day by attending early
Mass in a church in a side lane in the city.
Edmund was well known and befriended by many of the
wealthy families in Waterford. He used his influence with
them to help the less well-off, the widows and orphans,
obtaining and delivering food, fuel, bedding and medicine
and finding lodgings for the homeless.
Debtors were thrown in prison at this time and Edmund visited
them there in an effort to arrange their release.
Prison visitation brought him in contact with prisoners under
sentence of death. He did what he could to comfort them and
accompanied them to the scaffold at their execution.

17. Though running his business was very demanding,
Edmund made time to study the Bible and other
religious books.
One of her sayings was :
“The prayer most pleasing to God is that which
produces the best good works.”
St. Teresa of Avila (1515 –1582) influenced him
greatly.
She is portrayed in the icon holding one of her
books The Interior Castle.
Behind her are her symbols for God: mountains,
rain, a river.
One of Edmund’s sayings is reminiscent :
“Were we to know the merit of only going from one
street to another to serve a neighbour for the love of
God, we should prize it more than gold or silver.”

18. Nano was born in Ballygriffin, near Mallow in Co. Cork, and like
Edmund she grew up in comfortable circumstances on a farm. She
also attended a hedge school as a child but was more fortunate than
Edmund in being smuggled away to France where she was
educated by the Benedictine nuns. She returned home when her
father died and some years later went to live with her uncle who
was a lawyer in Cork.
Nano Nagle was a contemporary of Edmund Rice. They never met,
but she had a profound influence on his life.
She began visiting and caring for poor, elderly sick people in the
city. The lantern she carried to see her way through the streets at
night became a symbol of hope for many.
But it was her work among the children that later influenced
Edmund Rice. Though it was completely illegal to do so because
of the penal laws, Nano set up little schools for young girls in
different locations in the city.
By 1755 she was running five schools for girls and two for boys.
Twenty years later, with three companions, she founded a
congregation of Sisters in the hope that the work would continue
after her lifetime.
She had great trust in the Sacred Heart of Jesus : note the heart
symbol with the familiar spirals of the Divinity and the cross
formed in the centre.
Nano’s hopes were realised: today her congregation known as the Presentation Sisters has communities
and schools in nineteen countries throughout the world.

19. In this image in the icon the Virgin Mary is shown as a young
girl, her pose suggesting an offering of herself, a readiness to
serve. There is a tradition that Mary, while still a child,
presented herself in the Temple in Jerusalem and served there
until she was about fifteen, the age when girls then usually
married.
Mary stands behind the traditional Jewish seven-branched
candlestick, the menorah, a symbol of the seven days of
Creation. Above her head a little cross, the symbol of
Redemption, is visible at the centre of the spiral, as if it were
still a distant object. Mary is in her unique place, between the
Old and the New Testament, between the expectation of the
Redeemer and the realisation of His coming.
The tradition of Mary’s Presentation appealed to Nano Nagle
and her companions and they named their congregation the
Presentation Sisters. Their first convent, in Douglas Street,
Cork, is known as the South Presentation Convent of the
Sacred Heart.
In 1798, twenty-three years after the congregation was founded
and fourteen years after Nano Nagle’s death, Presentation
Sisters first came to Waterford. Edmund Rice, then a widower,
father and successful businessman, found a site for them and
helped them build their first convent.
Seeing the work they did among the girls of the city influenced Edmund to do similar work for boys.

20. A bishop’s crozier with the initial H at its base is a
reminder of Thomas Hussey who became bishop of
Waterford in 1796. He was very outspoken, particularly
about the restrictions on the education of Catholic
children imposed by the penal laws. Catholics who
wanted their children educated in the city had little
choice but to send them to Protestant schools where
proseltyism was the priority.
Bishop Hussey’s words and the example of the
Presentation Sisters provided the impetus for Edmund
Rice to put his ideas into practice.
He rented a stable and converted it into a classroom and
began teaching the boys from the locality. Finding them
very wild and undisciplined he paid others to help him
but they found the work too difficult and left. However
some friends from his hometown of Callan joined him
and they managed to keep the classes going.
In 1802 Edmund and his friends formed a community.
They lived in the loft above the stable, praying together
and sharing their possessions. This was the simple
beginning of the congregations known today as the
Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers.

21. The new community adapted the Rule of the
Presentation Sisters and followed it as their rule of
life. They became known as the Society of the
Presentation.
Edmund Rice sold his business and in 1803 began to
build a monastery and school on a hill outside the
city. It was named Mount Sion by Bishop Hussey.
In the icon it is shown with lighted windows, a
symbol of hope against the black clouds of
oppression.
Two other little houses can be distinguished. These
represent the Presentation Sisters’ convent on
Hennessey’s Road and the stable in new Street.
The pathway symbolises the link between them and
Mount Sion.
Seven stars represent Edmund and his first six
companions who formed the Society of the
Presentation.
In 1808 with the bishop’s approval they made vows
of poverty, chastity and obedience. A year later
they got official permission to become a Diocesan
Congregation with the Bishop as their higher
superior.

22. Edmund spent much time in prayer before the Blessed
Sacrament. The Host is at the centre of the spiral of the
Divinity, symbolising the spiritual power of the
Eucharist expanding outwards to encompass all things
and drawing them all inwards towards God.
Above the Host the seven flames, symbol of the gifts
of the Holy Spirit, are descending towards Edmund.
The Star of David rests like a bookmark on the Bible,
open at a verse which Edmund often quoted, probably
remembering the loss of his young wife:
“The Lord gave and the Lord taketh away so blessed
be his name forever and ever.”
In another part of the icon we see the letters A.M.D.G. –the initials of
the Latin phrase Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam–For the greater glory of
God.
This became Edmund’s motto. The businessman who once spent his
days working to make money now did everything entirely for God.
The time Edmund spent in prayer was the source of his inspiration
and energy. There were many problems, one of which led to the
Congregation becoming divided, but Edmund placed his trust in God
in all these difficulties and his trust was rewarded.

23. We remember the words of St. Teresa of Avila: “The prayer most
pleasing to God is that which produces the best good works.”
Edmund Rice was a man of down-to-earth spirituality. He knew
that Christ was to be seen in his neighbour as surely as in the
Blessed Eucharist; God was in the classroom as surely
as in the chapel.
Edmund’s good works were the fruit of his prayer.
When the new building at Mount Sion was opened there
were already 300 pupils enrolled and extra classrooms had
to be built. The Brothers were soon asked to open schools
in various other parts of Ireland. This led to a problem:
bishops were not willing to let Edmund transfer Brothers
out of their diocese to another location.
In 1822 Pope Pius VII granted them permission to become
a Pontifical Congregation –the local bishop would no
longer be their superior. Br. Rice was elected Superior
General and a new rule was adopted. From this time on the
Brothers were known as Christian Brothers.
Bishop Murphy of Cork forbade the Brothers there to
accept this new arrangement, but by 1826 most of the
Brothers in the North Monastery had begun to follow the
new rule and had taken the new name.
A few Brothers chose to follow the old rule at the South Monastery at the other side of the city and
continued to be known as Presentation Brothers. Thus there are now two congregations, both owing
their foundation to Edmund Rice.

24. Edmund was always alert to the sufferings of others. His efforts
to help people in need though often done in secret, won him the
respect of even the enemies of the Church so that he was allowed
to carry on his work though it was illegal under the penal laws.
Realising that many of the pupils attending Mount Sion came
to school hungry, he built a small bakery and provided a
simple daily meal of bread and milk for the boys.
In a room above the bakery tailors worked making shirts and
trousers. These were in several different styles and colours so
that the clothes did not distinguish the boys wearing them
from boys who were better off.
The little building which housed the bakery and tailors’ room
still stands today near the main building at Mount Sion.
Edmund was headmaster in Mount Sion for several years.
To him religious education was the most important subject,
indeed the chief purpose of the school.
Edmund’s expertise in business management and the contacts he
had were of great importance in providing equipment, obtaining
sites, building new schools and other organisational matters.
By 1843 Christian Brothers had communities and schools in 19 localities in Ireland and were also
established in England, Gibraltar and Australia.
The Presentation Brothers, fewer in number, had two schools in Cork and also had communities and
schools in Killarney and Miltown, Co. Kerry.

25. Edmund Rice died on August 29
th
1844.
His body rests in a beautiful memorial chapel
close to the little bakery building in Mount Sion,
Waterford.
Edmund’s heroic holiness has been confirmed
by Pope John Paul II who beatified him in
1996.
His official title now is Blessed Edmund Rice,
and he is commemorated annually on May 5
th
.
In this panel in the icon the artist has combined
many symbols:
the great spiral of the Divinity, with the
Eucharist at its centre;
the Sacred Heart;
the Holy Spirit.
Edmund stands in their midst on a globe
representing the world.
A prayer he hoped would become universal is
inscribed on the globe:
Live Jesus in our hearts forever

26. For the icon of Edmund, we
are indebted to Br. Titus Coffey
C.F.C. who, when Provincial in
England in the early ’eighties,
stimulated interest in the project
among the Brothers;
to Br. Ligouri Gillespie C.F.C,
who, in collaboration with
Desmond Kyne, ensured that the
planning became a reality;
and to the late Br. Leonard
O’Toole C.F.C, whose
knowledge and love of Edmund
influenced the content and form
of the icon.
28

27. Edmund Rice
The Man and His Times
Desmond Rushe
G & M 1981
Edmund Rice
1762 –1844
Daire Keogh
Four Courts 1996
Edmund Rice
The Icon Story
Kyne & Rushe
Columba 1996
Edmund Ignatius Rice
A Story of Compassion
Hurley & Feheney
Sadifa 1983
Overcoming Evil with Good
The Edmund Rice Story
James A. Houlihan
New Rochelle, NY 1997

28. In
Memory
of
Brother
Jerome
Kelly
1926 -1999 A Journey inFaithA Journey inFaith
An Adventure in HopeAn Adventure in Hope
A br ief Hist or y of t he
Pr esen t at ion Br ot her s
A br ief Hist or y of t he
Pr esen t at ion Br ot her s The
Icon
of
Edmund Rice
1 C.A.R.E.C.A.R.E.
A new start
for disadvantaged adolescents
St. Lucia, West Indies The Presentation Family
A brief history
With illustrations from the tableau in the
Edmund Rice Heritage and Study Centre
MardykeHouse, Cork The
Nano
Nagle
Icon
The
Nano
Nagle
Icon S.H.A.R.E.
Students Harness Aid for Relief of Elderly
There was no room at the inn on
the first Christmas night.
A stable was the best shelter
Joseph could find for Mary and
her Son.
This is the story of SHARE,
a student organization which sees Christ
in elderly poor people.
It has provided over 200 little homes for
them in Cork in its first thirty years.
1970 -2000 The programme you have viewed is one of a series of scripted PowerPoint
programmes relating to the Nano Nagle –Edmund Rice Family.
To open another programme click on the thumbnail and wait a few moments.

29. Mardyke House,
Mardyke,
Cork
March 2001
Script added December 2004