When living in Marin County in California, I had the opportunity to visit St Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. There are many wonderful things I could say about St Gregory’s physical presence, and the spiritual practices of the congregation, but in this article, we are celebrating All Saints Day, and I want to focus on the monumental Dancing Saints icon.
Mark Duke’s surprising and powerful statement of faith was created alongside the people of St Gregory’s. Completed in 2009, it wraps around the entire church rotunda, showing ninety larger-than-life saints, four animals, stars, moons, suns, and a twelve-foot-tall dancing Christ.
The following is an excerpt from St Gregory’s website https://www.saintgregorys.org/the-dancing-saints.html
“The saints—ranging from traditional figures like King David, Teresa of Avila, and Francis of Assisi to unorthodox and non-Christian people like Malcolm X and Anne Frank —represent musicians, artists, mathematicians, martyrs, scholars, mystics, lovers, prophets and sinners from all times, from many faiths and backgrounds.
As the congregation dances around the altar, the saints dance above, proclaiming a sweeping, universal vision of God shining through human life.
Our broad idea of sainthood comes from both the Bible and Gregory of Nyssa’s writings. The Hebrew concept of holiness originally had no moral content, but simply meant having God’s stamp on you; being marked and set apart as God’s own. Francis and three other saints portrayed with animals— Seraphim, Godiva, and Sadi—remind us that God’s work of creation extends to all creatures, and that some have known God in companionship with animals or through imaginative and compassionate reflection on the stories of animals. When known, a saint’s feast day appears after each biography.”
