Priest’s icons get viewing at Archdiocesan Synod Assembly

People who took part in eucharistic adoration at the Archdiocesan Synod Assembly June 3-5 got a chance to view artwork created by Father Jim Perkl, pastor of Mary, Mother of the Church in Burnsville. Reproductions of two icons he has done in the last two years adorned one wall of the Blessed James Miller Chapel at Cretin-Derham Hall high school in St. Paul during the three days of the Assembly.

The images — “The Visitation of Mary with the Christ Child to Adam and Eve Icon” and “The Holy Fiat + Family Icon” — are also part of something bigger called the Knights of Columbus Icon Prayer Initiative, which will involve placing reproductions of the two icons in parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis that choose to participate.

The Knights are using the initiative to further support the Synod in prayer. Over the next several months, Archbishop Bernard Hebda will use input gathered from the Assembly to draft a pastoral letter that he will release in November. Later, he will develop an action plan to implement what the letter contains. Leaders of Knights councils in the southern metro plus leaders at the state level are promoting this formal effort to help local Catholics continue praying for the Synod. They will supply reproductions of the two icons plus prayer booklets to parishes in the archdiocese and beyond.

The idea for this initiative came when Paul Laursen of the Father William Hart Knights council at All Saints in Lakeville visited Father Perkl last fall and saw the icons in the priest’s office at the parish. Each had been created for other purposes: the Visitation icon for Risen Savior Missions, founded by parishioners Jerry and Barb Krosnowski, and the Holy Family icon for Unity High School, which uses parish space. Laursen came to Father Perkl with the idea of commissioning an icon of St. Joseph for the initiative (their conversation was taking place during the Year of St. Joseph), but liked the two existing ones and chose them instead.

“Oh boy,” Laursen recalled saying upon seeing the icons in Father Perkl’s office, instantly deciding they were the ones he wanted to use.

The Holy Family icon reproduction is being modified for the prayer initiative, with a U.S. flag and a Knights emblem on the lower corners, and the words “St. Joseph” on the top and the words “Patron” and “Protector” on either side. Prayer guides also will be available, and parishes are encouraged to put the icons on display and follow the prayers in the guide, including the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the rosary. Mary, Mother of the Church is doing the prayer initiative on the first Saturday of each month through Oct. 1 — the feast day of St. Therese of Lisieux — after beginning June 4, which coincided both with the Synod Assembly and Pentecost weekend.

Father Perkl said the icons show multiple spiritual themes, including the basic Christian message of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Icons are a tradition for the Knights, who refer to them as “Pilgrim Icons.” Currently, the Knights have an icon of St. Joseph that is circulating around the United States, Laursen and other Knights leaders noted in a letter they sent to Archbishop Hebda and Father Joseph Bambenek, assistant director of the Synod, in January asking for Father Perkl’s two icons to be displayed at the Synod Assembly.

Those interested in the icon reproductions and prayer booklets can find out more by emailing to [email protected].