St. Francis Retreat Center, DeWitt, sponsored a religious icon painting retreat. The ecumenical icon retreat included religious and laity of various beliefs: Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Episcopal, American Baptists and Methodist.
Jean Schaub, a parishioner from St. Mary on the Lake, Manitou Beach, attended with 19 others. “It was an ecumenical adventure. We did a meditative chanting prayer called the Taize every day and with every stroke of the paint brush, we prayed for someone in need,” says Schaub. “We are a very ecumenical Christian community, much broader than we think.”
Jeanette Aleo, a parishioner from St. Joseph Parish in Battle Creek, shared that she painted an icon of St. Francis that was taken to Rome, blessed by Pope Francis and then given to the Kalamazoo Diocese. Later, she created another St. Francis icon as a gift for the pope.
Diane Hammel instructed those attending. She studied fine art at Michigan State University and received a bachelor degree in arts in theology from Aquinas College, Grand Rapids. Her love of icons inspired those attending to paint thirty icons during the retreat.
For future retreats, contact Rev. Timothy Chon at the St. Francis Retreat Center at 517.862.3060, or woongsikchon@yahoo.com.
By Jan Hoffbauer