Georgia Bulletin

The Newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta

  • Flanked by Father Tom Flynn of Emory University, left, and Father John Azar, pastor of St. John Chrysostom Melkite Church, Archbishop Cyril Salim Bustros, center, gives a final blessing to the congregation at the conclusion of the hierarchical liturgy, Feb. 19. The three candles in his right hand symbolize the Trinity and the two candles in his left hand symbolize the dual nature of Christ as divine and human. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Mixing cadmium red with burnt sienna, Father Dimitri Leussis comes up with the color for the lettering that will accompany the new icons at St. John Chrysostom Melkite Church, Atlanta. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • The new icons in the Holy Place of St. John Chrysostom Melkite Church depict the Early Fathers of the Church from the 3rd-5th century vested in liturgical robes and bowing toward the altar. Here they include (l-r) St. Basil the Great, holding a scroll expressing his gratitude to the Creator, St. James of Jerusalem, St. Athanasios the Great and St. Ignatios of Antioch. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Father Dimitri Leussis writes the name of St. Gregory Dialogos, Pope of Rome, on the wall. Next to St. Gregory appear (l-r) St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. Gregory the Theologian and St. John Chrysostom. Photo By Michael Alexander

Flanked by Father Tom Flynn of Emory University, left, and Father John Azar, pastor of St. John Chrysostom Melkite Church, Archbishop Cyril Salim Bustros, center, gives a final blessing to the congregation at the conclusion of the hierarchical liturgy, Feb. 19. The three candles in his right hand symbolize the Trinity and the two candles in his left hand symbolize the dual nature of Christ as divine and human. Photo By Michael Alexander

Atlanta

Melkite Church blesses icons, those who serve

By MICHAEL ALEXANDER | Published December 23, 2019

Editor’s Note: This story was originally published in The Georgia Bulletin in March 2006.

ATLANTA—Father John Azar, pastor of St. John Chrysostom Church, recently commissioned Father Dimitri Leussis to create or “write” new icons on the walls of the Atlanta Melkite church. In the tradition of Orthodox Christianity, icons are said to be written because making them is not a form of art but more a form of prayer, with God guiding the hand of the iconographer.

Father Dimitri Leussis, an Orthodox priest from Rockville, Ill., and an iconographer for 40 years, works on the new icons within the Holy Place of the church. St. John Chrysostom Melkite Catholic Church was once the mansion home of Asa Candler, the Coca Cola magnate, a philanthropist and former Mayor of Atlanta. Photo By Michael Alexander

Father Leussis is an Orthodox priest of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox diocese and is currently the administrator of Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church in Rockford, Ill.

An iconographer for 40 years, Father Leussis writes icons in a Macedonian and Cretan style. His icons appear in numerous churches around the United States and abroad.

When writing icons he works in egg tempera and acrylic. For St. John Chrysostom’s new icons, the priest said, “I worked with acrylic on canvas. The figures were cut to form (shape) and are glued to the existing wall. The wall was prepared by painting a gold background with a lower green base.”

And on Sunday, Feb. 19, Archbishop Cyril Salim Bustros, the Eparch of Newton, was on hand to celebrate a hierarchical liturgy and to bless the new and existing icons with holy chrism.

At the liturgy, he also presented five parishioners with the Cross of Jerusalem and certificates for their exemplary service at St. John Chrysostom Melkite Church. Those recognized included Margaret Alexander, Sohel Elias, Matilda Ghawi, Elie Hanna and Sami Jajeh.