How Icons Happen

[@Tobarius]

That is one talented priest. His parish is blessed to have him.

[@downychick]

@Nicholas Limon you are indeed blessed!

[@badgerlordpatrick6493]

90% of priests are not 10% as talented as that man. Thank you, God, for blessing them with him.

[@kreyperez9842]

@البتّار الازدي Did...Did you just come here to fight?

[@JohnDoe19991]

@البتّار الازدي Go to Christian Prince and show your guts . This a place for Christian discussion not a place for discussing pedo illiterate war lord.

[@guardianangel3425]

@البتّار الازدي Muslims worship that black stone in Mecca

[@geraldkiing1904]

Matt: "You know who the iconographer is?" Fr. Loya: "Well, of course I know him. He's me."

[@MattWhitmanTMBH]

Well-played.

[@CodPlayMakers]

I’m a Roman Catholic who paints Byzantine style icons. Very fun, relaxing, and spiritually beneficial to connect with God and the person I’m painting.

[@elijahsantos1184]

Ave Maria! The same :D

[@cristiancaiola9588]

Do you have anywhere where you display/sell your work?

[@redknightsr69]

Um why the heck is host dude man if this KZbin channel not replying!!!!????

[@redknightsr69]

@Jesus Christ servant remember the 2nd commandment bud and go take a shot of your own medicine

[@cristiancaiola9588]

@Jesus Christ servantoh man, never heard that one before 🙄

[@itssslashhere5245]

My jaw dropped at the sheer amazingness of the iconography, he is amazing at this. Glory to God

[@WizardOfAtlantis]

"If it's worth doing, it's worth over-doing." What a great line.

[@kevinlove4356]

"There's no kill like over-kill."

[@Joliebebe2001]

I love the humilty of this Father. He talked about the icons he painted for 2 hours to his amazed guest, but never did he let him know that he did dld that untill the guest asked to speak to the iconographer. That s what Jesus does to a person: humility. All glory to Him🙏🏽✝️❤️

[@TheJamesMackay]

What a humble man. The interior of that church is amazing!

[@mattytaylor2674]

Brother I’m a Catholic and I am watching all your videos. It’s my prayer that we all in the Body of Christ can look to what unites us (Him) and not what divides us. Christ’s peace be with you always brother!!!

[@no_more_anymore]

You should have Jonathan Pageau on your show! He's an Orthodox Iconography and specializes in symbolism.

[@evansa7x]

I second this! Would leave to hear him speak with Pageau.

[@bobdmb]

Jonathan is amazing, I am waiting for this crossover to happen!

[@NicklasNylander87]

Amen

[@michaeldavidnvitales]

Yes! And talk about the symbolic world as it leads to Christ and the Church ☦️

[@Brokenlance]

Sometimes there are people that when you meet them, you can kind of sense the Holy Spirit or just the influence of God within them. Father Loya definitely radiates Holy Spirit and humility. He just seems like a genuinely decent person.

[@Charge11]

And same goes for Matt!

[@bradleymcdaniel7915]

This priest is truly a Renaissance Man! And humble, too! Truly remarkable!

[@JohnnyNada]

He's a great man he's my priest

[@quityt11]

That’s my priest! He is such a blessing and I am so glad to go to this Chuch. ❤

[@misererenobis8900]

Now that's what I call humility, what an amazing priest.

[@reginamclain1577]

Hello Matt, I have been to this church before, and it always amazes me how brilliant these icons are. They bring you outside yourself to reflect on the wonders of the Bible, and then draw your attention back to the Mass, where they are alive and Jesus is truly, physically present. Thank you so much for your videos! I am a Roman Catholic trying to grow in love for Jesus every day, and it inspires me when I see the love and respect you have for the Catholic church, even if that is not your faith. You are a witnees to the genuine search for truth and for God in all things. God bless you and all of your efforts!

[@kevinlove4356]

It would have been FASCINATING to be a member of this church during the two decades in which the icons were written. Imagine going to church every Sunday. We would start with blank walls, and every Sunday a bit more is painted. That in itself would be an allegory of the human soul being transformed to the divine.

[@iamfilipinas]

as an artist I needed to pick my jaw up from the floor. What a humble servant! Great content.

[@ruwanweerakkody5411]

"Art was my field before I was a priest". Powerful, absolutely powerful. And people dont give much credit to humanities folk like us.

[@seranonable]

I would trying to wrap my head around how even a large group of professionals could have done that so well during the original video... the fact that it was one person just doing it on his free time is bananas. Thanks for this video!

[@motormiracles]

That guy is next level! One of the most beautiful expressions of faith I've ever seen.

[@rh3toricalanswer]

Matt, I haven't been religious since I was 17 but I want you to know that I really enjoy your content and you're one of my internet heroes.

[@darthknight8676]

May God bless and protect you and your closed ones.

[@rh3toricalanswer]

@@darthknight8676 thank you I appreciate that. Same to you buddy

[@darthknight8676]

@@rh3toricalanswer thank you. Means a lot.

[@McCainenl]

Yeah same here (though I've never been religious nor raised religiously)

[@bretclark598]

Thank you so much for posting. I dabble in humility, but I'm pretty sure I would be dying for an opportunity to say "I PAINTED ALL THIS"! Hi five Father Thomas!

[@geneparadiso6258]

I’m amazed at what Father has accomplished! Truly a remarkable and humble man!

[@gunnerbakke5020]

Our SBC churches have the architectural appeal of a WaWa. Thanks for sharing this!

[@Hamletjsd24]

I mean, at least you didn't say 7-11

[@johns.9659]

That is a great way of communicating the stories of Jesus and the Church. That priest is doing what he can to teach, even when he is not there.

[@Vereglez-d4z]

My response would’ve been the same. “Whaaaattt???!” ❤️❤️❤️ wonderful priest.

[@georgios7191]

Byzantine Catholic here, I love this video

[@elisabethb.2698]

I love the humility of the priest!

[@SevenStarsandSevenStones]

That is incredible. I've been fascinated with iconography since I saw some in a friend's house when I was a kid. The style is so beautiful and unique.

[@patriciamathews5975]

Truth and beauty! What a life!!! Each Icon is a window into biblical revelation and is meant to be "read" like a book. What a story this Priest's life is portraying to the world! Glory be to The Father and to The Son and to The Holy Spirit. Amen 🙏

[@spiritriderhd]

You are exactly correct. When many in the early church were illiterate, Icons we the "Books" of Scripture for the masses. It hurts me to read how closed minded some people can be by saying this is a form of idolatry. No this is pure truths through art.

[@darthknight8676]

Hello Matt. Thank you for your valuable work : may God multiply it's fruits even more. I hope more initiatives would be taken by christians to moves us towards the unity of Christ's body. God bless you and everyone. _A Chaldean Catholic Christian.

[@markjd4]

This church is near where I live, and I've been to Mass there several times. In addition to being an amazing artist, Father Loya is a talented orator as well. Homilies on otherwise familiar topics are made new when he speaks on them.

[@marl3ymarl3y86]

I’ve never been religious but the artistry and culture present here is so fascinating. The Father is a true artist, and seeing the process of these traditional icons has inspired me a lot and made me very appreciative of what this church is doing.

[@edgarjackson4325]

I am absolutely in tears... Wir lobpreisen Gott.

[@NicklasNylander87]

I am deeply in love with the Priest, what an absolut gem! May God bless him all the way through!

[@JohnnyNada]

He blessed me today at church

[@colinbarnard3921]

I really appreciate that you went into this. It is something those of us outside this tradition don't really know much of.

[@barbaralittle2429]

One thing Father didn't mention (and by the way, Father has his own KZbin channel if you want to check it out) is that we call it "writing" icons to differentiate between normal painting. The iconographer immerses themselves in prayer and fasting as part of the process. If an icon is commissioned, the iconographer prayers for the recipient all the while they are writing the icon.

[@etiennelaval342]

That's so heartwarming of you! I watch these 3 new episodes just after the week of prayer for the unity of christians. I see this as a fruit of this global move. "I can't help about what I think about God but I can do something about what I think about you" sounds great for me. Keep going. The miracle of unity already started! Blessing from a roman catholic French fellow!

[@spaynneuter]

I really love all your videos in other denominations, but especially liked this church. Probably has a lot to do with Father Loya; his openness and humility to your curiosity was especially heartwarming and appealing. If I lived wherever this Church is, I’d give it a go. And why not? Such a man of God would surely be someone to learn from and emulate.

[@wdgbirmingham2]

I really enjoyed this. I like his explanation of Jesus always being depicted as wearing red and blue to symbolize the humanity and the Divine.

[@adamw6315]

When I saw the other video I thought how vibrant and beautiful the icons were, not only individually but also the entire interior as a whole. Amazing.

[@useyournous]

Thanks for sharing these encounters. much appreciated. ICXC NIKA

[@heliopijpe]

That is incredible, usually small orthodox churches have iconographers flown over, or commision work from abroad ... spectacular work of love

[@ibanezdudeck]

I heard stories of Fr Loya when I was visiting a byzantine church in Cleveland. Very excited to go visit this church some time soon.

[@JohnnyNada]

I'm lucky to live 10 minutes away, I've been going weekly

[@sherrywhite1517]

Nicely done! Loved his explanations of the theology behind the pics. You found a treasure! Thanks for sharing it!

[@nicksterwixter]

This is AMAZING!!! WOW! What an unbelievably humble guy and just an amazingly talented person!!!

[@davesmietanski512]

Woah!! Can’t believe you went here, I grew up 5 minutes away from here haha. I’m a Roman Catholic and went here once for mass. Beautiful artwork and mass.

[@richlopez5896]

Catholics are free to attend and receive communion in ALL Catholic Rites.Feel free to pop in an Eastern Catholic Church any Sunday for Divine Liturgy

[@therealAZLN]

Fr. Tom is GIGABASED.

[@JohnnyNada]

He is, I've been to his Liturgy lol

[@valentinloghin4004]

What a gifted priest !!

[@perrylc8812]

Usually in the East we would say an icon is written not painted.

[@kevinlove4356]

I regard this as a translation issue. Different people translate different words in different ways. For example, I would translate Theotokos as "God bearer" and not "Mother of God." To me, the second translation has a pagan connotation.

[@AveChristusRex]

@@kevinlove4356 This isn't a translation issue, since icons use ΜΡ ΘΥ (mother of God) and English post-dates Christianity and the term "mother of God..."

[@kevinlove4356]

@@AveChristusRex This dates back to the Nestorian controversy and the Council of Chalcedon. The Nestorians referred to Mary as Christotokos (Christ-bearer) and the Orthodox referred to Mary as Theotokos (God-bearer). The Council of Chalcedon in 451 affirmed Mary as Theotokos to emphasize that the entirety of divinity was born in Jesus, in accordance with the Christological formulation of the Council. I prefer the translation of Theotokos as God-bearer, since "mother of God" could be incorrectly interpreted as the Second Person of the Trinity being begotten of Mary.

[@AveChristusRex]

​@@kevinlove4356 Ironically, you just comitted the heresy of Nestorius! - "I prefer the translation of Theotokos as God-bearer, since "mother of God" could be incorrectly interpreted as the Second Person of the Trinity being begotten of Mary." - He insisted for Christotokos for the EXACT SAME same reason. Also, all the icons of the Theotokos ironically call her "METER THEOU" (mother of God), so you can't really object.

[@kevinlove4356]

@@AveChristusRex The heresy of Nestorius was to assert that Jesus is two persons, one human and one divine. Sort of a holy schizophrenic. The Orthodox faith is that Jesus is one person; one of three persons who constitute the one entity of the Trinity. This one person has two natures; one human and one divine. The problem with Nestorianism is the same as the problem with monophysitism, which holds that Jesus has only one nature which is some sort of weird human/divine hybrid. This is the problem of salvation. As a human being, there is nothing special about Jesus. He is just an ordinary guy who tells bad puns, weeps at the death of his friend, bleeds and dies when he is nailed to a cross. Because Jesus is an ordinary human being, and not some sort of human/divine hybrid and not some holy schizophrenic, then his ordinary human nature and its relationship with God can be swapped out with mine. I too can have this relationship with God, which is known as theosis. To quote Athanasius, "God became man that man might become God." Nestorianism and monophysitism render that impossible. This is why the Christological definition of Chalcedon in 451 calls Mary Theotokos, and so do I. There is nothing really wrong with translating that as "mother of God." I just regard it as having pagan connotations that rub me the wrong way. It is like comparing Mary to Rhea, the mother of Zeus.

[@TruePT]

I love everything I’m learning about from these vids!!!

[@LuciusClevelandensis]

You're one of the good guys. Keep doing what you're doing.

[@jacksoncastelino04]

Very Talented Priest. Gift to the One True Church

[@victorortiz4569]

Great humble priest ❤

[@spqr49]

im not even religious but this guy is awesome!

[@JohnnyNada]

He is I just saw him today at Divine Liturgy

[@darkplasmo7921]

as a artist as well i find the comment about the importance of the iconography very interesting i find that part very hard because you need such a deep understanding of the meanings behind the moments i wanted to make some sculpture of Greek mythology and the Christian faith but decide to only do the Greek for now my knowledge just is to shallow to do it justice

[@slow9573]

Father Loya is awesome! He does Voices of the East of EWTN

[@violafawzyfawzy506]

I really really loved that heavenly church from inside in this video specially the windows

[@annaberlinger9295]

He told us that when my Newman Center went to see Annunciation Church. I was waiting in these videos to see when it would come out. I wish he had gotten more into the “how” behind icon painting because it isn’t like a normal painting. For instance, you don’t “paint” or “draw” an icon. You “write” an icon. There’s a lot of other fun distinctions and deep theological reasons behind the mediums used.

[@colmwhateveryoulike3240]

What an exceptional priest. Great video. Thanks.

[@taranguapo]

Such a beautiful church!! He is very talented!

[@pietystall7507]

Priestly clothes are so dignified, thank you Fr for your service

[@sir.joshuarane.doebler3762]

Praise and Glory to God. Jesus Christ is God's name. He lives. Amen.

[@MrJoshDoty]

The most interesting man.:: 😅. I hope you have stayed in touch with him. It seams like you got alone very well. Peace 🙏.

[@lionheart5078]

Thats absolutely nuts, those are some of the prettiest Icons ive ever seen.

[@derekkluck1120]

I love Eastern iconography, but I think that Western iconography is a lost art that we need to reclaim. There are some beautifully painted Western churches that deserve to be imitated. In fact, I think there are many worthy aspects of the Eastern churches which the Western church has forgotten.

[@ppkrex]

That's because several major streams of the reformation considers icons as idolatry violating the decalogue.

[@gazoontight]

Best video series on KZbin. No doubt.

[@michaelcaza6766]

As beautiful as my parish! Love our Eastern Christian heritage. Love the icon of St. John Paul II Fr. Loya wrote too, my pastor and I have been wanting to either write one on the wall or get one for our UGCC parish (we have an icon with a first class relic of St. Teresa of Calcutta). Also, I kind of chuckled that Fr. Loya had a ham as part of his Wedding of Cana icon given the fact that it would have been a Jewish wedding.

[@MWroses]

Great. And he just cracked the surface. I believe the icons are painted with special paint. I recall hearing that the time spent painting them is meditative prayer and connecting with what/who is being depicted.

[@1337Jag]

Hi Matt, visiting an Oethodox monastary would make an awesome video if you haven't already. They make icons and ropes in prayer.

[@noguile2737]

I think all Christians can agree this is pretty cool

[@Melvin_Thoma]

Awesome. 👍

[@ctruly2104]

Fascinating and beautiful!

[@steventaylor181]

Profound. Beautiful

[@WilliamDye-willdye]

I keep forgetting about how much symbolism is in old paintings and artistic styles.

[@jacobrahe8726]

Wow what an amazing priest!

[@BojoPigeon]

Wow, this has been a great series. And I can tell that this particular church visit made a real impact on you.

[@prodigaldawtr7907]

Whoa. What an amazing encounter.

[@johannachalk2532]

What great pictation of bible times

[@selahr.]

Amazing dedication

[@brendaboykin3281]

Thanx, Brother Matt🌹🌹🌹

[@pietystall7507]

That is a beautiful church x

[@jonathangross4870]

I would love to see you visit a Messianic Jewish Synagogue.

[@xtreme_survival7879]

What an amazing Priest.

[@ttaibe]

This guy is a hero of mine.. Pick either one, I am fine with either.

[@anitastar1253]

Thank-you Fr Loya and Matt that was awesome. I really enjoyed his art and description of how he goes about making it. I would love to find some of the icon reference books he is talking about.

[@trlyons761]

Fr. Loya and some members of his family paint many icons in our Church (the Byzantine Catholic Church) including in my home parish in Columbus Oh.

[@bwmcreynolds]

As someone who is a creative in my work and free time (and has recently challenged myself to draw something everyday) this is amazing. I would LOVE a video or two on the history of traditional church art...just saying.

[@meghanyoung]

I'm inspired to become more humble after seeing the priest's example.

[@pietystall7507]

God given gift

[@aureumursa1833]

This is pretty cool. One of the priests at my parish is a talented painter as well. He painted the Holy Spirit on the ceiling and also painted wood to appear like marble at and around the altar. He definitely had me fooled.

[@Taipan108]

What an amazing man!

[@madsbritbo8005]

Beautiful

[@omnitrus]

It is so beautiful !l love it .

[@tinamelaku5267]

You took your kid with you? Im guessing that’s “Boy” Anyways its good to plant a seed of ecumenism in his young age, he is lucky to have you as a father.

[@JJ-cw3nf]

That's so awesome!!

[@godevils1982]

Interesting, this man really knows what he’s doing

[@maryelizabeth7528]

Thank you for this presentation, Matt! Now, I’m enthused to visit the Museum of Russian Icons nearby!

[@chai__tea]

Mind.blown.

[@jarvis1508]

Ok. Now I definitely need a letter box like that!

[@daviddee7175]

That's incredible!