At the bottom of the page, a dark figure sits on the ground. Next to it is a golden moth.
He turns away from the reader and looks forward to a circle of light in which a smaller figure stands – a feature that creates depth and distance between them. The figure in the circle, illuminated in gold, beckons the darker figure to come to him.
For example, Donald Jackson and his team of scribes and illuminators illustrated the raising of Lazarus for the Saint John’s Bible. An official replica of the Bible, the so-called Heritage Edition, has been in the Franciscan Renewal Center for 10 years now and inspires many – including the docents who guide visitors through the Bible.
“This is one of my favorite gospels. Whenever I hear this gospel of the resurrection of Lazarus,
“The image immediately flashed in my mind,” says Marge Woods, senior Bible professor at the Renewal Center, commonly known as Casa. “They wanted to use this tunnel of light to capture people’s near-death experience.”
Following the example of early Bible manuscripts that were copied by hand, Jackson – who had served as official scribe and calligrapher for the British royal family – had his team produce the pages using the medieval method from parchment, a material made from animal skins, usually calves. Because of the thickness of the pages, the team had to compile the Bible into seven separate volumes.
“With parchment, you have a piece of skin, and they had to scrape it, wash it, stretch it, and that piece became four pages,” Woods said.
The scribes and illuminators copied the Bible by hand from the Catholic New Revised Standard Version, much like the monks of the early church. They wrote in a medieval-inspired font and used turkey, swan, and goose feathers.
“I am amazed at the genius of the human mind, the creativity of someone – the scribes, the illuminators – I am amazed at the gifts of this creativity to bring this to life,” said Franciscan
Father Page Polk, pastor of the convent church of Our Lady of the Angels attached to the Casa. “That’s something I could never do.”
The Benedictines of Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, commissioned Jackson to create the Bible in 1998 to celebrate the university’s (then) upcoming 150th anniversary. The entire project took 13 years to complete. Although ancient techniques and styles were used, many of the artworks feature modern motifs, such as a strand of DNA or the Twin Towers.
“He always had a dream of creating his own Bible by hand,” Woods said. “He wanted to create a Bible for the 21st century. These are very old methods, but very contemporary imagery.”
As an example, Woods points to the beginning of the Gospel of John and shows an image based on a photograph of a dying star taken with the Hubble telescope.
“What’s happening here is Jesus stepping forward and coming to us,” she says. “This is a photograph of a dying star becoming a black hole. That star died 2 billion years ago, and we’re still receiving the light from that dead star.”
Although not the original, the Heritage Edition replicas themselves are rare – there are only 299 copies – and a lot of work was required to photograph the original pages, bind the volumes and have them embossed. The edition kept in the Casa is the 88th to be produced.
“It took six years to complete the Heritage Edition because there were people who made the paper themselves, which was American cotton. And it had to be a very special paper because it had to be as close as possible to the original manuscript, which was calf vellum,” she said.
The Casa received the Heritage Edition through a group of Saint John’s alumni and benefactors who raised the money to bring it to the valley.
“They wanted to donate one of the 299 sets to the Casa, with the understanding that we would use it in a way that would serve our mission and also the community as a whole. It was for anyone who wanted to come and engage with it and have a personal experience with it,” said Patricia Lee, communications director for the Casa. “We serve the mission of the Bible, and it helps us serve our mission.”
Father Polk emphasized that the Bible helps the Casa’s mission to offer spiritual growth, healing and transformation that leads to service.
“These wonderful volumes of the Saint John’s Bible give us the strength and springboard for spiritual growth in words and images,” said Father Polk. “The words and images in the Saint John’s Bible tell us the stories of our ancestors in the faith, tell us about Jesus, the early church.”
“When we transform and feel empowered and grow spiritually within, it lays the foundation for us to try to help other people,” he added.
Woods first learned about the Saint John’s Bible when the Phoenix Art Museum – where she worked as a docent – exhibited the original during its 2007-2008 tour. She had been a docent since 1972. When the Heritage Edition came to the Valley in 2014, she participated in a day-long workshop organized by the university.
“I’ve dedicated my whole life to this for the last 10 years,” she said. “There are many elements in art, but our reaction to art and how you react when you see something like that, the reaction is what’s really important. It’s a ‘wow’ moment because you see people really, really engaging with it and it touches your soul.”
At least one volume of the Saint John’s Bible Heritage Edition remains on display in the lobby of the Casa. Woods and her team of docents also offer tours for visiting groups or introduce the edition to the wider public.
“I just let them absorb it and process it, because it’s a very personal thing. Then we can go back and read some of the wording that inspired that particular lighting,” Woods said. “I learn what personal experiences people have had or why it reminds them of a certain thing. They recognize an overall beauty.”
Just as Lectio Divina helps meditate on the Word of God, Woods described St. John’s Bible as a kind of “Visio Divina,” offering artwork to meditate on. As a lector at Our Lady of Angels, she finds the illuminations help her as she prepares to proclaim the Word at Mass, saying that these images immediately come to mind.
“It always takes my breath away. You can’t look at it without remembering it later. It stays in your memory,” she said.
