The St. John's Bible-The Psalms Frontispiece

Psalms Frontispiece, 2004

Psalm 1:1-6

Donald Jackson

 Vellum, with ink, paint and gold

"Only in the Psalms do all the illuminations 

consist of abstract, non-objective designs.

 In the bible, the whole book of Psalms, 

is divided into five books, and this frontispiece

 visually reflects that structure.

 The five books are represented by five overlapping 

book-shaped panels, each a different combination

 of the same colors. 

A gold roman numeral identifies each panel. 

These panels appear at the beginning

of each book in a progressive accumulate 

corresponding to the numbers of the books.

Superimposed on this image are digital 

voice prints (electronic images of sound) 

of sung chants, hinting at the way we "see" psalms

 if they are sung or read poetically. 

The voice prints come from recordings of the monks

 at St. John's Abbey singing Gregorian chant, 

as well as other musical offerings. 

The voice prints of the Saint John's monks

 appear on every page, 

moving horizontally throughout the Psalms in gold."

An up close view of the incredible 

hand done calligraphy in this Bible.

How interesting to think of the psalms sung

 and the picture of that added to the visual reading.

Many times I think that the music we hear offers 

so much to the experience of reading Scripture.

The St. John's Bible-Vision of Isaiah

 Vision of Isaiah, 2005

Isaiah 6:1-13

Donald jackson

Scribes: poetry Sally Mae Joseph; 

text, Susan Leper

Vellum, with ink, pain and gold

"Isaiah envisions God enthroned in the Temple, 

here sown with its bricks and arches outlined in gold.

 Smoke from the altar veils the image of God, 

which would overcome his mortal servant. 

Gold letters repeat the words "Holy, Holy, Holy"

 in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, 

echoing the words of the angels 

who act as God's servants and as heralds

 of his magnificence. 

One angel holds the terrified prophet 

in his many wings and purifies his mouth 

with the touch of live coal, 

preparing him to receive God's word."

This illustration certainly shows

 just a bit of the incredible work

 in the temple of the priest and prophets there.

A tribute to this time 

of the Old Testament Temple.

The St. John's Bible--Valley of the Dry Bones

Valley of the Dry Bones, 2005

 Ezekiel 37: 1-14

Donald Jackson

 Scribe: Susan Leiper

Vellum, with ink paint and gold

"In Donald Jackson's contemporary rendering

 of Ezekiel's vision, 

abandoned eye-glasses recall images

 from the Holocaust, white smashed windows

 appear as the aftermath of terrorism. 

The automobile graveyard suggests ecological disaster. 

Yet despite these horrors, God promises Ezekiel

 that when the Jews have their homecoming,

 even the dead will rise. "Thus says the Lord God: 

I am going to open your graves 

and I will bring you back

 to the land of Israel." Ezekiel 37:12

 Ezekiel's ultimate message of hope and survival

 is indicated by the garland of rainbow,

 traditional symbols of god's covenant, 

framing the text and reflected 

in the images of violence."

When we were in Israel

this last trip we had a day

 when we saw 5 rainbows.

Over the ancient city of Jericho---- God's promise.

He will raise these dry bones- He brings LIFE.

The St. John's Bible-Messianic Predictions

Messianic Predictions, 2005

Isaiah 10:4-32 

Thomas Ingmire

Scribes: poetry- Brian Simpson- text- Sue Hufton

Vellum with ink, paint and gold

"The promise of the Messiah is found

 throughout the books of the Prophets, 

and embodies God's covenant

 with the people of Israel.

 According to the prophetic texts, 

the Messiah is a king that God 

will send to restore his broken relationship

 with his people, bear the sins of mankind

 and end all suffering. 

The many titles of the Messiah, 

including King of Kings, Prince of Peace, 

and Immanuel, meaning "God is with us"

 appear on this folio as soaring words

 of jubilation in gleaming gold and jewel-like colors."

I like how the Hallelujah filters though

all the promises.

A reminder that in all of our days

there is an Hallelujah.

When It Comes Crashing Down

In a split second the tinkling 

crashing noise

filled the air.

I came around the corner

 of the doorway

into the dining room

 and my shoulder hit the edge

 of this display cabinet.

 Dislodged the entire piece to the floor.

Earthquake like.

Right off the wall.

A big tear rolled down my cheek.

I couldn't pick it up by myself.

Had to wait till dear hubby came home.

Collected the shards and pieces

into a box.

Grandmother's tea cup.

First husband's vintage mustache cups.

My mother's tea cups.

Gifts from others.

Marianne Latall's cups.

Texted three daughters.

They said it is the beginning 

of garden stepping stones.

It is just STUFF.

And in full Ann Voskamp training 

of 5 years.

I looked for the gift.

And there they were.

Missing handles.

Chunks gone in the back.

Saucers gone.

But here they are- GIFT.

Survivors.

Working to reset heart and attitude-

I went to the mailbox.

 And there nestled in the stack-

a handmade gift from a friend

in appreciation for listening

 and taking time.

And I noted the delivery time-

and the Day.

 God's great care for me,

moved in the universe

 to be RIGHT THERE,

RIGHT NOW.

He alone mends 

the broken pieces of our world.

It is the people that matter.

And as I listen-

a mother finds out her child has Type 1 Diabetes,

a friend's mother dies unexpectantly,

a pastor loses his dear wife.

There is much greater loss than stuff.

 And the word on the daily calendar 

for praying --

 Contentment.

And the message of a God

 who meets me

WITH HOPE.

 Remembrance and Care

when I lose - JUST STUFF-

is the same Lord that meets me- 

when loss is health 

and people and relationships.

As it all 

goes,

 fades,

 breaks, 

withers, 

and dies,

I remember HIS WORD.

Isaiah 40:8

The grass withers, the flower fades, 

But the word of our God stands forever.”

The Saint John's Bible- Solomon's Temple

Solomon's Temple, 2010

1 Kings 8:22-8:66

Donald Jackson

Scribe:Sue Hufton

"The completion of Solomon's temple fuses together

 several elements in Israelite history. 

With the religious overtones
associated with the dedication, 

the pro-monarchist faction of the the Israelites 

(which had been prominent since the time of David) 

received official approval. 

The political capital now
 also became the religious capital;

 both the king and the Lord inhabited the same city, 

and all the elders, tribal heads, 

and ancestral heads were assembled
 to witness the event.
Solomon's prayer and blessing
before the people 

established his legitimacy as king

 and sanctioned his decision to build the temple,. 

citing the Lord's promise to his father, David. 

Solomon may be glorious,

 but the glory belongs to the Lord."

"The illumination of King Solomon's temple mirrors 

two other illuminations. 

Ezekial's Vision of the New Temple

 as well as theVision of Chebor. 

The structure of the temple with its Gateways

 at the Four Points of the Compass,

 a delicate filigree version of the labyrinth pathway

 to the Holy of Holies directly references 

the Vision of the New Temple. 

The two winged guardians of the Holy of Holies 

have the four animal heads from the 

Vision of the Chebor in Ezekiel. 

They peer out from amongst the smoke

 and the power of the interior temple

 and tap into the mystery involved in close contact

 with the revelation of God's power."

A bit of the story of the setting and process of illumination-

"In Donald Jackson's scriptoriun in Wales, 

all this work was carried on as it would have been

 in a medical monastery. 
Tools and materials were prepared by hand, on site. 
Unblemished calfskins were scraped

 and sanded to produce a perfect writing surface. 

Goose, swan,, and turkey quills, 

taken straight from the birds, 

were cleaned, cured, and trimmed. 

Antique ink sticks were ground to make dense black ink. 

Paint was made by mixing hand-ground pigments

 with egg yolks- lapis lazuli for brilliant lies, 

vermilion for rich reds and malachite for glistening greens.

But there is also much that is modern. 

To ensure seamless continuity, the layout of every page- 

even the placement of every word- 

was planned on a computer. 

This enabled the team of scribes, working simultaneously, 

to produce perfect sheets that could later

 be combined in perfect order. 

So that their writing would be uniform

 throughout the Bible, 

all the scribes used a script specially

 designed by Donald Jackson."

The St. John's Bible - Esther

Esther

Esther 5:9-16:7

Donald Jackson

Scribe: Sue Hufton

Vellum, with ink, paint and gold

"In the Jewish tradition, 

Esther is a redeemer figure.

The near brush with extinction, 

which the Jews in the story 
underwent at Haman's hand, 

has made this story the lens through

 which may interpret the Holocaust.
As Queen, Esther's access to King Ahasuerus 
allowed her to be the savior and protector 
of the Jews in the face of the evil conspiracies
of Haman. In one conspiracy, Haman expects
 that the gallows ordered will be used for Mordecai 
(a Jewish man who offended him).
 In a reversal of events, however, Haman's evil schemes 
cause him to be hanged from
 that very same gibbet instead.

This illustration aims to show the duality
 of Esther and her two different lives.
 On the one hand is her life as a beautiful 
young Jewish woman, 
as faithful to her heritage 
as she is to her consign Mordecai. 
O the other hand is her life of power 
as the Queen of Persia arrayed in all 
her regal trappings and surrounded
 by ancient Persian gold artifacts. 
This tension between the two conflicting identities 
of Esther can be seen in the different
 emotional cast to the eyes. 
The Empress is confident in her world of position, 
whereas the humble Jewish woman betrays fear, 
apprehension, wisdom and bravery."

Esther's full plat of roles
 is certainly a role model
 for the women of this time and age too.

The St. John's Bible- Ruth and Naomi

Left- Ruth and Naomi -----Ruth 1:16-18

Right- Ruth the Gleaner-----Ruth 2:2-23

 Suzanne Moore

 Scribe-Sue Hufton

Vellum, with ink paint and gold

"Bereft of her husband and two sons in a foreign country

 the Jewish Naomi, mother-in-law to Ruth, 

decides to return to Bethlehem 

during a time of famine. 

Ruth, a Moabite, remains loyal to Naomi 

despite their different ethnicities, 

and these verses and the illumination express 

the depth of love and fidelity Ruth has for Naomi.

This loyalty is rewarded in history 

when the Moabite Ruth becomes the grandmother

 of the Jewish King David.

Second Illumination- The Gleaning

"Since Jewish law stipulated that a land owner

 had to allow the poor and the alien to glean 

the harvested files, 

the marginalized had food and nutrition. 

Gleaning is hard work, but it is also a gift, 

and Boaz, a relative of Naomi, 

grants permission to glean off his land. 

Ruth's gleaning leads to love, 

and soon she and Boaz are married 

providing the "seed" for the future king.

Ruth's stature is evident as she looks up into the page. 

She carries an expansive basket of abundance 

and promise, and the lines

 of her dress cascade down creating 

a graceful design of Stars of David."

These graceful images beautifully

 reinforce the connection of

Ruth, Bethlehem, and David in the lineage of 

Jesus.

The St. John's Bible- The Joshua Anthology

 The St. John's bible- 

the Joshua Anthology

Joshua 1-24 NRSV

Donald Jackson

Scribe: Susan Leiper

Vellum with ink, paint and gold

"As Moses reaches the end of his life,

 the Lord commissions Joshua, 

Son of Nun to be be Moses' successor 

and to lead the next generation of Israelites

 on a journey to the Promised Land.

The Book of Joshua chronicles the battles, 

deaths and mayhem of violence

 of that journey which initially began in Egypt.

The Joshua anthology, there first major illumination 

in Historical Books from The Saint John's Bible, 

focuses on the crossing of the children of Israel 

into the Promised Land. 

In this Illumination, Donal Jackson sets up a number 

of visual design elements which reprise throughout 

the work and tie the threat of the volume together. 

An Egyptian border motif taken from a wall painting

 in the Valley of the Queens is seen cropping 

into the margins of the anthology page, 

and the addition of a bronze bull and scarab beetle 

continue the Egyptian references. 

The Children of Israel, after having fought their way

 to the Promised Land following so many years

 of Egyptian bondage, 

are still seduced by the pull of the plytheistic images, 

false idols,

and magical rituals of their Egyptians masters.

 Death, violence, and conflagration are present 

in the flames and the headless bodies floating 

down the river; the price of slaughter

 is paid by both sides of a conflict.

Despite this destruction, there is still hope;

 strong and stable arches rise in the center

symbolizing the Ark of the Covenant 

carried across the river and throughout the land.

 The Law of Moses, in the form of fragments from 

Thomas Ingmire's illumination 

of theTen Commandments, 

is jostled across the Jordan, through the ruined city,

between the hills and into the Promised land.

Slender batons of gold, active and present

 throughout the illumination

carry out the theme of God's constant presence

reminding all to

 "Put away the gods that your ancestors served

beyond the River and in Egypt,

 and serve the Lord."

Joshua 24:14

(the display notes at the Biggs Museum)

Thinking about what gods we serve today 

in our own lives- 

the influence of culture and who really masters us?

The St. John's Bible- The Shema

 Hear, O Israel,

 2003

Special Treatment

Deuteronomy 6:4-5(NRSV)

Hazel Dolby

Scribe: Sue Hofton

Vellum with ink and paint

Throughout the St. John's Bible, 

special attention is given to verses of scripture

 referenced with the Rule of Benedict

 and of significant to the St. John's community 

prayer life or that of other traditions.

The Hear O Israel special treatments 

appears in Deuteronomy 6 

and is known as the Shema which, 

in Hebrew, means "to hear or listen." 

The Shema is an affirmation of Judaism

 and a proclamation of faith in one God. 

This profession of faith is often prayed 

by people of the Jewish faith

 every morning and evening, 

summing up the first and second commandments 

to "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God,

 the Lord is One."

This verse also has significance 

to the St. John's Abbey monks since 

"listen" is the first rule in the Rule of St. Benedict. 

The rule, which governs the communal

 life of the monastery,

implores the monks to

 "listen with the ear of your heart."

The Shema illustration here highlights

 one of my personal highlights of this passage.

WITH ALL

WITH ALL

WITH ALL

The St. John's Bible- The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments- 2003

Exodus 20:1-21 NRSV Translation

Thomas Ingmire

Scribe: Donald Jackson

Vellum, with ink, paint and gold

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, 

Collegeville, MN

The theological brief from the 

Committee on Illuminations and Text

 required the artist to combine five different passages 

from Exodus into a single illumination. The brief also 

suggested that the giving of the Ten commandments 

represented a new creation-the gift 

of law bringing order 

to the chaos of human affairs. This was chosen as 

the principal image around which to group the others.

Depicted along the top of the composition

 are the burning bush,

 the first Passover, the crossing of the Red Sea, 

and the twelve pillars, 

representing the twelve tribes of Israel,

 erected at the foot of Mount Sinai. 

God's words are arrayed across them in gold letters. 

The lower half of the page contains 

the Ten Commandments, 

overlapping and dissolving the colored background.

 Instead of writing the words, the artist stenciled them, 

using the typeface of Stone Sans

 to emphasize the authoritarian nature of God's words.

(from the description of this work at the Biggs Museum)

What I especially liked in this visual translation 

is the thought of the 10 commandments 

bringing order to the chaos of human affairs.

How much our Heavenly Father wants us to live the abundant life.

 Living within the framework of the commandments

 brings His grace to our daily life.

The St. John's Bible- Genesis-Getting started

A very special Bible project 

was undertaken by St. John's University-
 Collegeville, MN.

It is the first commissioned,
 hand illustrated Bible 

project in over 500 years.

In mid- Dec, we were able 
to see the current display

 at the Biggs Museum in Dover, DE.
biggsmuseum.org
 Here is what the exhibit is:

"The Biggs Museum of American Art
 is exceptionally proud 
to be a rare American host of Illuminating the Word, 
The Saint John’s Bible. This international exhibition 
features 70 pages of The Saint John’s Bible, the 
first monumental hand-illuminated bible to be 
commissioned by a Benedictine monastery
 in over 500 years. 
Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota, 
commissioned the enormous art project of an entire 
hand-painted bible: every word, every illustration,
 every image, from one of the best-known contemporary
 scribes and illuminators in the world, Donald Jackson. 
The artist’s team worked for almost fifteen years 
to adorn each vellum page of The Saint John’s Bible 
in the manner that medieval monks created bibles 
before the invention of the printing press: quill and ink. 
These inspiring accomplishments will be accompanied 
by a display of tools, materials and artists’ drafts used
 in the Bible’s creation along with other examples
 of historical illuminated books and manuscripts 
from the collection of Saint John’s University 
and private collectors. The exhibition will be 
accompanied by several educational tours, 
lectures and artist workshops 
for all skill levels honoring the ancient traditions
 of book arts."

I have decided to use these beautiful 

drawings for my meditation time this January.

"Marginalia, any writing or decorations found 

in the margins of a manuscript, was common in

 medival and renaissance manuscripts. 

Often the scribe or artist would 

personalize the manuscript 

by drawing fanciful decorations 

in the borders of a page. 

Later readers might make a note on the text, 

as many people do when using a textbook.

The marginalia found throughout 

The St. John's bible is decorative 

and enhances the aesthetic 

pleasure of the volumes."

For example - the butterfly and thistle 

are common in the Collegeville area 

and throughout Minnesota.

Other examples of flora and fauna are sprinkled 

throughout the volumes, and these visual elements 

ground the volumes geographically

 in north-central United States. 

(excerpts from display info)

I will be telling more right here 

about this amazing Bible- stay tuned.