“I am the resurrection and the life…”

What is the Hypostatic Union? The Hypostatic Union is the union of the human and divine natures in the one divine person of Christ. At the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451) the Church declared that the two natures of Christ are joined “in one person and one hypostatsis” where hypostatsis means one substance. [1]

Jesus is one person (divine) with two natures (divine and human). This is expressed in icons with two colors, red (divine) and blue (human). Jesus is dressed in red.  What does the red mean? This means that Jesus is a divine person (the second person of the Blessed Trinity). Since He is a divine person, He has a divine nature. The red means that He is a divine person with a divine nature.  What does the blue mean? The blue sash or robe goes over the red, which means that the divine person, Jesus, took on or put on “humanity”. The divine person, Jesus, became human, with a human nature. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help”  [2]

Why can we be confident in approaching the throne of grace? Jesus sits on the throne of grace. Jesus is divine; therefore He is capable of helping us, He is the fullness of mercy and grace, and He is the almighty one. Jesus shared and perfected our human nature; therefore He completely understands our human needs, because He lived them. He can give us the “timely” or temporal, earthly help we need.

In the icon of Jesus, the two colors (red and blue / divine and human) mingle together and flow as one. At the beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, usually when the Offertory Antiphon is still being chanted or sung, “the Deacon, or the Priest, pours wine and a little water into the chalice, saying quietly: ‘By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled Himself to share in our humanity.”  [3] The water (humanity) and wine (divinity) are united becoming one in the chalice. This liturgical action and prayer reminds us of the mystery that in the divine person of Christ, the human and divine natures are one. Jesus took on humanity, to redeem and perfect human nature. All of humanity is now, like a drop of water, able to fall into the loving embrace of divinity, thus being one with God. We are able to share in His divinity, only because He shared in our humanity.

When the colors red and blue mix, what color is created? Red and blue create purple. Purple is the color of Advent and Lent. It is the color that we use when preparing for the Incarnation and when we prepare for the Passion and Death. These two mysteries, the Incarnation and the Crucifixion is when we most clearly witness the mingling, the oneness of humanity and divinity.

Why does Mary wear both red and blue in icons if she is just human? Traditionally icons have Mary wearing blue (humanity) with red (divinity) on top. Mary is a human person with a human nature. She, like all of us is given the gift of Grace; thus can “put on” divinity. At the Annunciation, “the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”  [4] We are to be like the Blessed Virgin and allow the holy Spirit to “come upon” us and “overshadow” us. Christ does not come to destroy our blue garment of humanity. He comes to perfect that blue garment and allows us to “put on” the red garment of divinity. “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that we might receive adoption. As proof that you are children, God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.”  [5]

What did the Father do when the prodigal son came home? “But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.”  [6] A robe is put on the son. It does not say that the Father takes off the old robe, but that he took the “finest robe” which is divinity and “put it on him”.

Why is Jesus stripped of His robe during His passion? Jesus is stripped of His robe so that  wecan be robed. We meditate on the tenth station and see that, “Jesus, stripped of his garments, wove from the cross the new robe of our dignity as sons and daughters of God. His seamless tunic remains there, for us, in its integrity: the garment of his divine son ship was not torn, but was bestowed upon us from the height of the cross.”  [7]

Where else do we see the image of a robe or garment in scripture? In the parable of the wedding feast “the king came in to meet the guests. He saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, ‘My friend how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’”  [8] Is it harsh to “cast him into the darkness”, which is a reference to hell? Yes. But think of this from the point of view of the king, who is God the Father. He sent His son into the world, to be robed with humanity and suffer alongside humanity. His son was stripped naked, suffered and was crucified so that we could “put on the robe” of son ship. Imagine if we, as ungrateful guests, just leave that robe of son ship, lying on the ground. Imagine what the father of the prodigal son would have felt like if his son, refused the finest robe, ring, sandals and feast. To refuse the robe of son ship is to refuse the Father. This refusal of the Father results in a separation from the Father, which is hell.

Search: Wardrobe and Garments

How can we embrace the robe of son ship? How can we embrace the feast? We embrace it in the Sacrament of Baptism and at the Mass. In the Rite of Baptism we are given a white garment and expected to wear it and keep it spotless. During the reception of the white garment in the Rite of Baptism the following is said: “ Celebrant:[Child's Name], you have become a new creation, and have clothed yourself in Christ. See in this white garment the outward sign of your Christian dignity. With your family and friends to help you by word and example, bring that dignity unstained into the everlasting life of heaven.”  [9] We are given this “white garment” at Baptism and it is a sign of our Christian dignity or son ship.

What does the color white mean? “White is the sum of all colors and signifies the joy and purity of the soul. The white vestment is the peaceable garment for the feast days of Christ, the Light of the world, of the Holy Trinity, our Lady, the Angels, Confessors, and Virgins. It is also worn from Christmas to the Epiphany and during Eastertide, when the Church sings her most cheerful hymns in honor of the Birth and the Resurrection of the Redeemer.”  [10]

Baptism – The white garment is the outward sign of our Christian dignity.
Eucharist –We see the white garment usually at First Communions.
Reconciliation - In the sacrament of Confession “though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; Though they be crimson red, they may become white as snow.”  [11] It is in the sacrament of Confession that the white garment of Baptism is cleaned in the water of our tears, which flow from our sorrow of sin.
Last Rites (Anointing of the Sick) - We also see white at the end of life in the Rite of Christian Burial, when a white pall is placed over the coffin at funeral Masses. This white pall is a sign of our Baptismal Garment.
Priesthood - At the Mass, the white garment is the alb, which is worn by the Priest, deacon and servers at Mass. The priest who is  in persona Christi, literally “puts on Christ” during the Mass.
Matrimony - The Bride at wedding wears a white dress and veil. When a sister takes vows to be the bride of Christ in religious life, she often wears a white or other color veil.
 

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[1] Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.; Modern Catholic Dictionary
[2] Hebrews 4:15-16
[3] The Order of the Mass; Roman Missal
[4] Luke 1:35
[5] Galatians 4:4-7
[6] Luke 15:22-24
[7] Sr. Elena Maria Manganelli, O.S.A.
[8] Matthew 22:11-13
[9] Rite of Baptism
[10] Roman Catholic Daily Missal (1962)
[11] Isaiah 1:18