Due to copyright restrictions, we were unable to share the image on FaithND’s site past Lent 2019. Please view the full-size image here.

At first glance, John August Swanson’s “The Procession” overwhelms with its mosaic of vivid faces and its swirl of colorful bodies in movement. The more we sit with the painting and enter into its world, however, we see an intimate retelling of the story of Salvation emerge from the colorful scene. After witnessing a Eucharistic procession in Arizona in the early ’80s, Swanson was inspired to capture in paint the devotion of the participants and the movement of the moment. Swanson’s serigraph (a silk-screen print of an image or images) shown here is based on this original 1982 painting. 

In this image, Swanson depicts the pilgrim church throughout history by decorating the façade of the church building and the processional banners with 89 images of different scenes from Salvation History. Beginning on the right side of the serigraph, at the top of the column, Swanson begins the biblical journey with the exile of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Next to that scene is Noah’s Ark, and below them are Cain and Abel, Baby Moses being pulled from the Nile by Pharaoh’s Daughter, and the Sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham. On the left side of the print, we can see scenes of Jacob’s dream, Jonah and the fish, David and Goliath, and Daniel in the Lion’s Den. At the top of the image, we see an image of the multiplication of the loaves directly across from the Last Supper, mirror images of God’s generous providence for us.

Instead of a traditional monstrance with a host, Swanson paints a cross with grapes and sheaves of wheat. This simple cross with Eucharistic elements, for Swanson, is a symbol of ecumenism, including all Christians in this communal procession, as pilgrims together with Christ. We are part of a mystical body of Christ that is always journeying together with and towards Christ. Along the way, as we see in this print, all of God’s children are drawn from our different stories throughout history towards our common unity—our oneness in Christ, represented by the cross at the center of this mosaic of stories.

Our worship, like our lives, takes place in the context of God’s love story with the human race—the story of salvation. Each of us, too, has a story of God’s love in our lives. As you meditate upon the scenes of Salvation History that fill this print, call to mind: how is God guiding your pilgrimage to him in heaven? What biblical figures or saints inspire you with their witness and whom you can reach out to in prayer for support? Who is your neighbor who walks with you today? And who in your life may need your support and love on this pilgrimage of faith?

Image Credit:
THE PROCESSION
Copyright 2007 by John August Swanson
Swanson’s serigraph currently resides in the Vatican Museums.
Serigraph, 36” x 24”
www.JohnAugustSwanson.com