The early Church Fathers used many symbols to express the truth. My favorite, thanks to Fr. Robert Barron, is the Rose window which reached its apex in the Medieval period. You can google Rose Window and find numerous links to explain this beautiful icon of faith. It speaks to us of the well ordered soul. Jesus is always in the center. Even at Notre Dame, which is of course is built in honor of the Virgin Mary, we see Mary holding Jesus who is in the center. Flowing out from the center is color and order, making for a symphony of beauty and high art. When our lives are totally centered on Jesus, there is a beauty and symphonic quality to our relationships, our devotions, our struggles, our pain and suffering, and our mission. The well ordered life is a life of digging. A life that is never satisfied with just knowing Jesus, but wants to fall madly in love with Him! The well ordered soul is a life of love, forgiveness, learning detachment, mission and prayer. The Rose window sometimes unfolds this way; Mary holding Jesus, then the next layer is the Apostles and Saints, all representing paths to Christ. The last great teaching of the Rose window is light. When sitting in a cathedral and the sunlight bursts through one of these windows, the color and beauty is awe inspiring, so is a soul in love with and centered on the Beloved.
wkm
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