Victorious - Sacred Warrior

The Christian lives a life of constant spiritual struggle and passion to gain the fruits of the Spirit. The Spiritual Warrior in this piece is grounded firmly like a tree, with branches that end with the fruits of the Holy Spirit: gentleness, goodness, patience, peace, love, joy, kindness, faithfulness, and self-control. The spiritual battle spoken of in Ephesians 6:10-18 is a battle between virtue and the vices, a continual fight for perfection and union with God.

            The head of the Spiritual Warrior lies in the middle of the Eye of God to remind us that God views the human soul as the pupil of His eye. The Omniscient Eye represents the Holy Trinity; the Dove being the Holy Spirit, and Christ represented as the Word of God - the two scrolls of Gospel, inscribed with the passage from Ephesians. At the bottom of the picture burns the fire of the passions, the vices, and the sins: envy, anger, greed, pride, lust, gluttony, sloth, and others. Together, they form a chain that ties us down and deny us unity with God. Our sins result from our choosing the path of self-satisfaction and independence from God. The armor of God, spoken of in Ephesians 6:10-20, protects the Spiritual Warrior against evils: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit. The Gospel of Peace, depicted as the two scrolls, resembles the rivers of Living Water that quench the fires of passion and sin. The breastplate of righteousness displays a Cross made of the twelve precious stones from the breastplate of the Old Testament priest Aaron. The breastplate protects the heart, where the soul resides.

            The Spiritual Warrior is victorious over the passions and achieves the fruits of the Spirit. He holds the cup of salvation of the precious Body and Blood of Christ, that heals and saves the soul. This Holy Communion unites us with Our Savior.