Spoken Icons: Vivid Homilies as Guides for Perceiving Sacred Arts

Discover How Preaching and Icons Work Together to Shape Worship

Explore how early Christian homilies illuminate our experience of sacred spaces and icons. In this four-week online course, you’ll learn how patristic preaching helped worshippers perceive the deeper meanings in liturgical settings—turning words into windows for spiritual perception. This is a journey through rhetoric, architecture, theology, and iconography designed for Orthodox and non-Orthodox Christians alike.

What You’ll Learn

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

  • Understand the use of vivid description in patristic homilies

  • Analyze meaning in sacred architecture: its arrangement, décor, and iconography

  • Identify and explore interpretation of sacred art and architecture in patristic homilies

  • Examine ways patristic homilies guide physical and spiritual perception

Meet Your Instructor

Rev. Fr. Dr. Lucas Lynn Christensen
Ph. D. (Notre Dame ’25)
Assistant Professor of Sacred Arts, Assistant Director, St. Vladimir’s Compelling Preaching Project

The Rev. Dr. Lucas Lynn Christensen is a published scholar on sacrificial theology in the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil and the influence of North African church architecture on St. Maximos’s Mystagogy. He is a research fellow for the interdisciplinary project, “Assessing the Impact of Sacred Art on Individual Experience, Memory, and Spiritual Understanding,” at the University of Notre Dame. Fr. Lucas earned his M.Div. from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in 2016.

Course Format & Schedule

Live Zoom Sessions:
Tuesdays, 8:00–8:45 p.m. ET

Dates:
July 1 – July 22, 2025

Access Period:
June 24 – August 31, 2025

  • This introduction presents the concepts we will use during this course. Foundational to our study are topics in rhetoric, sacred space, physical perception, spiritual perception, theology of icons, and the iconicity of homilies.

  • In our second session, we explore the rich, paradisal imagery presented by our sacred architecture, with a vivid sixth-century description of Hagia Sophia as our case study.

  • In our third session, we examine what it means to be located “here” in our liturgical commemorations of sacred events. We will apply this concept to a festal homily on the Transfiguration, preached at Mt. Sinai in front of a mural of Mt. Tabor.

  • In our final session, we consider how we interact with narrative iconography. A three-part homily on the Dormition of the Theotokos gives guidance for engaging with the icon of the feast. We conclude with the implications of our study for spiritually perceiving the persons and events we celebrate in our worship through the sacred arts, with homilies guiding us to that encounter.

Tuition & Registration

Course Fee: $200
Refund Policy: No refunds after June 23, 2025

To participate, you’ll need to create a username and password during registration. All course materials and recordings will remain available through August 31.

What’s Included

  • 4 live discussion sessions (~45 min each)

  • 4 pre-recorded lectures

  • 4 slide presentations to accompany each lecture

  • Optional reading material

  • Access to session recordings and all course materials from June 24–August 31

You may submit questions ahead of time for each live Zoom discussion with your professor.

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Take Another Step on Your Theological Journey


Bundle & Save: Two Courses for $350

Looking to deepen your understanding of sacred space and its architectural significance this summer? Pair Spoken Icons with our companion course:

Structures of Faith: The Holy Sepulchre Church Over Time

Explore the architectural and theological evolution of Christianity’s most sacred site—the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Discover how its physical transformations reflect the dynamic expression of faith across time and tradition.

Purchase Bundle

Frequently Asked Questions

  • No. This is a non-credit, non-transferable enrichment course designed for personal spiritual and theological growth.

  • No. While the course is grounded in the Orthodox tradition, it welcomes students of all Christian backgrounds and those exploring Orthodoxy.

  • No problem. All live Zoom discussions will be recorded and available to watch anytime during the access period.

  • After registering, you’ll use the login credentials you created to access the course platform. All content will be available starting June 24.

  • No, readings are optional and provided for those who want to explore topics more deeply.

  • Not at this time. This course is for personal enrichment and does not offer a certificate of completion.

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