Photon Farms: Arise!

What a privilege to be part of a group of men dedicated to pray together, encourage each other to live a life surrendered to God and truly care for one another. Such is what one finds when he shows up to Arise early on Saturday mornings at St. Thomas the Apostle, Grand Rapids.

Formed over a decade ago, the group has grown to include men from several congregations around Kent County. After we pray our morning prayers together I noticed there is always this one prayer that gets prayed... usually by the same guy, Pat McRae. But even when Pat became too ill to attend, someone would always pray it. It is a beautiful prayer and it was only at Pat's funeral that I found out that he composed it.

This Visio Divina card was created by the men of Arise with a little help from Farmer Fred to honor Pat's memory. It includes the prayer he composed as well as a beautiful icon and prayer of St. Michael the Archangel whom Pat loved.

About the Icon

My friend Petr grew up in Russia and he was happy to fill in some information about the beautiful icon which the men of Arise chose to use on this card:

"This depiction is out of Byzantine iconography and apparently shows up in Russia in the 11th-16th centuries. The inscription on the one you sent is Slavonic, which is the title for the icon.

The modern Russian title for it is: Архангел Михаил грозных сил воевода. The English is: the Holy Archistratege (Archangel) Michael the Commander of the Fearsome Host (or heavenly host/forces)"

For your easy reference, here are some of the scriptures that this icon seems to draw from:

Apocalypse 12:7-9: And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

Apocalypse 6:4: And out came another horse, bright red; its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another; and he was given a great sword.

Remembering Pat

The men of Arise also grew this beautiful remembrance card on the farm to honor Pat and bless his family and friends. Lord willing, you may find some at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Grand Rapids, MI.

The card links to Pat's Obituary Page which you can also reach by clicking here. You can bless Pat’s family by leaving kind words there as well.