30 Enclosed Garden or Unfading Rose Mother and Child

late 20th century Size: 14 1/8” x 11 3⁄4”)

Akathist to the Theotokos, Ekos 7
The Creator showed us a new creation when He appeared to us who came from Him. For He sprang from a seedless womb, and kept it incorrupt as it was, that seeing the miracle we might sing to Her, crying out: Rejoice, flower of incorruptibility:
Rejoice, crown of continence!
Rejoice, Thou from whom shineth the Archetype of the Resurrection:
Rejoice, Thou Who revealest the life of the angels!
Rejoice, tree of shining fruit, whereby the faithful are nourished:
Rejoice, tree of goodly shade by which many are sheltered!
Rejoice, Thou that has carried in Thy womb the Redeemer of captives:
Rejoice, Thou that gavest birth to the Guide of those astray!
Rejoice, supplication before the Righteous Judge:
Rejoice, forgiveness of many sins!
Rejoice, robe of boldness for the naked:
Rejoice, love that doth vanquish all desire! Rejoice, O Unwedded Bride!

This icon is referred to as the Enclosed Garden or Unfading Rose Mother and Child. The icon depicts Mary and the Christ Child crowned and standing in a fenced in Garden. Mary and Jesus are referred to as the new Adam and the new Eve. After the fall in the Garden in Genesis three, Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden of Paradise. Where Adam and Eve chose to disobey God in original sin, both Mary and Jesus align their wills with the Will of God. Thus Mary and the Christ Child are depicted in this icon as being the New Adam and Eve in the Garden of Paradise. Through the new Adam and Eve we too are now able to enter into Paradise. Mary and Christ are depicted in the style of the Virgen Hodegetria in which Mary with her right hand, also holding a rose, points to the Christ Child as the way for man. Christ with his right hand blesses His Mother. While he holds an orb representing His Kingship of both Heaven and Earth. Both Mary and the Christ Child are wearing crowns. Two angels wearing red (seraphim) and blue (cherubim) place the crown upon Mary’s head showing she is the Queen of Heaven. The rose that Mary holds in her hand is the unfading rose or the flower of incorruptibility which is mentioned in the Akathist hymn to the Theotokos (God-bearer) in Eastern Liturgy. The Unfading Rose is a symbol of Mary’s virginity, she is the flower of incorruptibility. In the West, the enclosed garden is also a sign of Mary’s virginity.