By Amy White
The Texas Catholic

IRVING — An icon is an encounter, according to Ukrainian iconographer Oleh Skoropadskyi, creator of the newest icon at Our Lady of Dallas Cistercian Abbey in Irving. An icon invites, attracts, communicates—it pulls the observer in. 

“It is actually the very core of the icon to speak to you, to correspond with the one who prays,” Skoropadskyi said. “With the icon, it’s very personal… There is a relationship.”   

One of Skoropadskyi’s icons, a depiction of Blessed János Brenner, now adorns the Chapter Room at Our Lady of Dallas Cistercian Abbey. The icon—portraying Father Brenner in hues of gold and purple and with eyes that gaze out at the observer—includes a cornucopia of artistic details representing the tale of Father Brenner’s life and death. 

A witness to faith
A Cistercian martyr, Father Brenner was born in Szombathely, Hungary, in 1931. During Father Brenner’s young life, communists overtook the Hungarian government and began to progressively restrict religious expression.  

In 1950, Father Brenner joined the Cistercian order as a novice; but a few months later, the order was dissolved due to the government’s suppression of religious orders. Brenner continued his Cistercian formation clandestinely, professing temporary vows in secret and eventually entering a diocesan seminary and becoming a priest.  

“He was a very beloved pastor, particularly successful with the youth,” explained Father John Bayer, O.Cist., vocations director at Our Lady of Dallas. “The communists wanted him to stop his ministry… but János made it clear that he did not want to stop.”   

Around midnight on Dec. 14, 1957, a 17-year-old known to the priest as a former altar server knocked on Father Brenner’s door claiming to have a dying relative in need of his care. The priest set out, at great risk to himself, bringing the Eucharist and materials for last rites with him. Along the way, Father Brenner was ambushed and stabbed 32 times.  

“His body was found the next morning, clutching the Eucharist, holding it close to his chest,” Father Bayer said. “He died witnessing to the faith, refusing to stop serving as a priest.”   

The Hungarian’s story is an inspiring one, Father Bayer said, and serves as an example for members of the Cistercian community in Texas who can now gaze upon the icon of the priest at the Irving abbey. 

‘Art that people kiss’ 
The process of creating an icon is a multilayered one, according to Skoropadskyi. The method involves sketching, crafting a linden board, applying a thin layer of cloth to the surface, adding gesso, sanding the primer, and adding gold leaf and several layers of paint, from darker to lighter hues. When commissioned by Turner and Elizabeth Nevitt to create an icon of Father Brenner for Our Lady of Dallas, Skoropadskyi began the intricate process, spending months crafting the piece of sacred art in Lviv.  

According to Skoropadskyi, who has a special interest in depicting newly beatified or canonized saints, the creation of the Father Brenner icon necessitated a keen eye both for the minute details of the piece and for the overall harmony of the art—the colors, the lighting, the expressions or gestures; but the most important detail, he said, is the eyes.  

“When the icon looks at you, it attracts you, because the conversation is already there. When you have eye contact, that’s the conversation,” he said. “He is attentively listening to your needs and your requests.”   

In depicting Father Brenner, Skoropadskyi took care to incorporate important pieces of the priest’s story into the expression of the art. Father Brenner is shown in a surplice and stole, much like he would have worn on the night of his martyrdom; but he also wears a typical Hungarian Cistercian collar underneath, which he would not have been allowed to wear, representing his deep Cistercian identity. 

He is pictured with the Eucharist, which the priest died protecting; and his left shoulder leans forward slightly, so that his heart inclines toward the Eucharist—an artistic representation of the priest’s ardent love for the Blessed Sacrament, Skoropadskyi explained. 

Flanking his halo are lilies representing France, the birthplace of the Cistercian order; and the green, white, and red colors around the border of the icon serve as a nod to Father Brenner’s Hungarian nationality. 

A cross pictured in the icon holds the Cistercian motto “Ardere et Lucere,” meaning “to be enkindled and to shine,” and the icon itself seems to shine with light, due to the use of gold and the technique of layering paint. 

“Typically, the light comes from the inside,” Skoropadskyi said. “So, when you look at the portrayed saint, you see that… somehow he radiates the light.”   

All of the imagery, Skoropadskyi suggests, is meant to draw the observer into a prayerful relationship with the holy person depicted. The icon itself is meant to serve as a catalyst of reverent prayer; it is “art that people kiss,” as Skoropadskyi put it, and serves the “purpose of love.” 

Enkindling vocations
As the community at Our Lady of Dallas welcomes the Father Brenner icon, it also welcomes its largest class of novices yet—thanks in part to the intercession of Father Brenner, Father Bayer said.

“One of the biggest ways that Blessed János has already helped us and helped the young is by interceding for their discernment… A new generation is coming up which is finding his story to be a wonderful witness to guide their own lives,” Father Bayer shared. “This year, we are blessed with seven novices,” a marked increase from the previous record of four, “and one of them in particular was very concretely inspired by Blessed János’ witness.”

Brother Gideon Connor, 23, who joined the novitiate on Aug. 19, said that Father Brenner was a helpful companion as he discerned joining the Cistercian order.

“I was very struck, first of all by his witness, his great life of service, his ultimate heroic sacrifice, and then also the sense of history and purpose behind this monastery in particular,” Connor said. “Blessed János’ witness was always sort of in the background of that, in the ups and the downs of discerning whether or not I belonged here.”

After deciding to apply to the novitiate, he kept a picture of Father Brenner on his wall, where he could recall the Cistercian’s witness—especially his devotion to the eucharistic Lord. Since joining the class of novices, Brother Connor said that he has spent a lot of time praying with Skoropadskyi’s icon of Father Brenner.

“I think it’s just provided a really great catalyst for me to get into deeper prayer,” he said, “sort of a reminder of an example and companion that I feel has been with me so far and I hope will continue to be with me.”

As the new class of novices delves into the program of spiritual discernment and formation ahead of it, the novices can look to the example of Father Brenner—priest, monk, and teacher—as a guide, Father Bayer said, and spend time encountering him through the icon.

“János showed that you can really be happy by abandoning yourself entirely to God’s will and offering your whole life to Him,” he said. “His witness should be something that inspires us all.”

Cutline for featured image: Oleh Skoropadskyi, a Ukrainian iconographer, adds last touches to his icon of Blessed János Brenner Sept. 26 during a visit to Our Lady of Dallas Cistercian Abbey in Irving, where the icon is displayed. Father Brenner, the subject of the icon, is a Hungarian Cistercian martyr whose legacy continues to inspire members of the Cistercian community in Irving. (Amy White/The Texas Catholic)