Retreat Association Icon Jesus meets the Woman at the Well

The Icon is to visit St Bede’s from 17th to 30th March and will be on display in the Chapel if you wish to build a visit into your Lenten practice

The early Christians took the idea of using pictures that told stories from Egyptian tombs and temples. Seeing that they were of particular benefit people who could not read or write they began painting icons on small pieces of wood that could be carried around, spreading stories from the Bible and the lives of the saints. This practice then grew across the wider Eastern Church, and then over time throughout the Christian world.

The people depicted in the icons were painted with particular characteristics, or wearing certain colours so they could be easily recognised, even if the viewer could not read the inscriptions. Other symbolic images were also used to tell the story.​

An icon offers a beautiful way of engaging with a bible story through prayer, stillness and contemplation. It was the hope of the Iconographer that the icon would touch all who encounter it.

​This icon was generously created for the Retreat Association by Iconographer John Coleman (1939-2021), also known as Ikonjohn, who has produced icons for over 200 churches worldwide including York Minster, Exeter &Truro Cathedrals and Sherborne Abbey.