The Face of Christ

An old monk from Sicily named Epiphanius was fond of painting. He always wanted to paint the face of Christ, but after looking at hundreds of young people’s face, he just could not choose an appropriate one. However one day when he was sleeping, he dreamed of an angel appearing to him, who told him: ‘If you really want to paint the face of your Master, make sure you include in him the joy of a bride on her wedding day, the innocence of childhood, the strength of a farmer bent over in his field, the suffering of a cancer patient, the secret tears of a father crying for a loss, the kind heart of a hard-working woman, the uncertainty of an orphan, and the forgiveness of a priest absolving sins.’ Epiphanius woke up immediately, and now he was happy because he need not search for any unknown face, but included in his painting the values and charism the angels shared with him. And so the face he painted had a little bit of everything: joy and sorrow, mercy and suffering, strength and sickness, ups and downs, successes and failures.