Apparition of the Mother of God
The panel illustrates two parts of the secret,
the vision of hell and the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
The background vignettes portray two of the preparatory
apparitions of the angel which took place
before the actual apparition of Our Lady on May 13, 1917.
Where is it now?
At top is the icon I did of the Apparition of the Mother of God at Fatima for Fr. Frederick Miller who had been the Director of the Blue Army in New Jersey at the time (1991). It was commissioned by Fr. Miller at that time. I republish it now since a person inquired if I have any prints available, which I do not, since the Shrine in New Jersey did the original photography for their magazine Soul. I have no idea if the icon remains at the shrine in New Jersey. So much has happened there since Fr. Miller left.
I'm sincere about not looking for royalties or payment, I'm also sincere that icons are copied from prototypes, but to make claims that something is original to the painter/icon-writer if you will is bogus in this case. The woman who copied the original work claimed originality by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Her work has been reproduced, as seen in the John Haffert pdf book on the pilgrimage to Russia, here. God rest his soul, but Haffert had some odd tag-a-longs on that trip, Vassula and Gallagher just to name two of them, so I'm not surprised someone claimed the Holy Spirit inspired her to copy the original icon given to the World Apostolate in 1991.
I'd love to find out what happened to the one Fr. Miller commissioned?
Below are the images now for sale by other entities.
It's fairly easy to figure out how 'miraculous' stories and histories get circulated by pious people, isn't it.
(I almost think my original was cut down - removing the hollowed-out 'frame' and then over painted. Pretty much just the figures faces - esp. Our Lady and the Trinity - the faces are 'sweeter' and more naive. Of course the Trinity had to be 'lowered' since it overlapped the frame - which is not uncommon in icons. Otherwise, the background is nearly identical. I'd love to know what 'they' did to it.)
Today after receiving the email I tracked down a comment another person left me about the original work. To save time I'll post his comment and my reply below:
Terry,My reply at the time:
Were you aware that an iconographer by the name of Patricia Delehanty Moran copied your icon
and claims she painted it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit?
This copy was presented to the Russian Orthodox Church during a controversial pilgrimage to Russia in 1992.
I learned of this from a video posted on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLNBEW3kpZs
If you skip to minute 11:35, you'll see a woman by the name of Rosalie Turton holding this copy and describing how it was painted.
There is also a book about this pilgrimage which includes a photo of the icon
(go to page 113):
http://johnhaffert.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Finally-Russia.pdf
Prints of this icon are even for sale from 101 Foundation: http://www.101foundation.com/catalog/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=474
I didn't know until now how to bring this to your attention, but I thought you should know considering someone else is being credited as being the original painter of the icon and that prints of it are for sale. - Gustavo
Many thanks for letting me know this Gustavo. I have the original magazine cover from World Apostolate of Fatima with the icon I did for the shrine in New jersey on the cover, as well as my narrative contained in that issue. It was commissioned by them for the shrine.To help find an answer for today's inquiry, I searched online, checking out the links Gustavo sent me. I was surprised to find 2 sites selling the images - one site sells the copied image, another site sells the original image I did and used the exact same photo I posted on my blog here - under Creative Commons License.
That said - icons are painted after some sort of prototype - so in a way they are all copies of an original. This lady must have seen the one I painted, or had a print of it, and then painted her version which would be different due to her particular style and experience.
It doesn't matter to me as long as the authentic message of Fatima is communicated and if devotion is enkindled in the hearts of the faithful.
I have an icon of Matt Talbot floating around somewhere which people have published and distributed and even used as relic cards - I have nothing to do with that stuff.
I also have Carmelite icons and others used in books and as book covers, all without attribution - I'm fine with that.
I consider the Gospel, "The gift you have received, give as a gift." So I try to do that.
Thanks my friend for alerting me to this - it's fine with me though. - Terry
I'm sincere about not looking for royalties or payment, I'm also sincere that icons are copied from prototypes, but to make claims that something is original to the painter/icon-writer if you will is bogus in this case. The woman who copied the original work claimed originality by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Her work has been reproduced, as seen in the John Haffert pdf book on the pilgrimage to Russia, here. God rest his soul, but Haffert had some odd tag-a-longs on that trip, Vassula and Gallagher just to name two of them, so I'm not surprised someone claimed the Holy Spirit inspired her to copy the original icon given to the World Apostolate in 1991.
I'd love to find out what happened to the one Fr. Miller commissioned?
Below are the images now for sale by other entities.
 |
| The copy brought to Russia Video here, prints for sale here |
(I almost think my original was cut down - removing the hollowed-out 'frame' and then over painted. Pretty much just the figures faces - esp. Our Lady and the Trinity - the faces are 'sweeter' and more naive. Of course the Trinity had to be 'lowered' since it overlapped the frame - which is not uncommon in icons. Otherwise, the background is nearly identical. I'd love to know what 'they' did to it.)
I have always loved that icon. I had no idea you did the original!
ReplyDeleteThanks Elena. When Fr. Miller was at the Shrine he used a few other icons I did for the cover of the magazine. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel with John and Teresa was one of them.
DeletePrint a photocopy of the image in the size they need. Trace it onto the panel, either using tracing paper to trace the design from the picture and saral transfer paper to transfer it to the panel or by simply tracing the design from the picture directly with saral transfer paper. They start with the exact icon that you paint but reproduce it according to their abilities.
ReplyDeleteIt is a problem that someone is reproducing your icon and a) not attributing it to you, b) not paying royalties. Someone else is benefiting from your intellectual property; at the very least they should have permission and attribute the icon to you, not just printing copies as though it's nobody's design.
I don't mind that - what I am concerned about is the dishonesty. The pretense of the 'inspiration by the Holy Spirit' the claim of original design and so on. Then the presentation in Russia, which is ignorant in itself - the Orthodox do not depict the physical heart in icons - as you know. Likewise, the pilgrimage is a World Apostolate endeavor - independent of the Shrine in Portugal, and to my knowledge, not endorsed by the Holy See. To make matters worse there is the video with the false claims, the promotion of the icon with the mis-stated 'facts' and the crackpot seers associated with the endeavor. Talk about turning off people to the message of Fatima.
DeleteFailure to attribute icon and ask for permission to reproduce it is also dishonest.
DeleteI would contact whoever is promoting it as the womans and let them know that you actually painted the original image.
I did that late yesterday. It's connected to the 101 Foundation promoters of all things mystical and apocalyptic ...
DeleteI've never heard of them. Shows how much I pay attention to mystical and apocalyptic things! I'm glad you told them. They need to have your permission to reproduce your intellectual property.
DeleteNO third secret? I envision a woman in pants inside a circle with a slash through it, in a bubble above the kids heads. What?
ReplyDeleteHey!
DeleteTerry,
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't done so already, I'd recommend that you contact the Blue Army Shrine in New Jersey to find out what happened to the icon. Their website (wafusa.org) has a contact page. Here is the contact info for the Executive Director:
Mr. David M. Carollo
908-689-1700 x 216
dcarollo@bluearmy.com
As for the 101 Foundation, Dr. Rosalie Turton continues to serve as its director.
Dr. Rosalie A. Turton, Director
P.O. Box 151, Asbury, NJ 08802-0151
Fatima House: 360 Belvidere Ave. Washington, NJ
office phone: 908-689 8792 .......office fax: 908-689 1957
home phone: 908-835 0669 .......home fax: 908-835 0543
(The above info is from their 101 Foundation website.)
Have you received a response from the 101 Foundation yet?