A Table of Treasure Untold: An Icon-ic "Rule of Life"

Amazingly, this image, a relic really, came from a table! And not any table, but the most sacred. From here:

"A charming legend has prevailed through the ages. It reveals that after the Crucifixion, when Our Lady moved to the home of St. John, she took with her a few personal belongings--among which was a table built by the Redeemer in the workshop of St. Joseph. When pious virgins of Jerusalem prevailed upon St. Luke to paint a portrait of the Mother of God, it was the top of this table that was used to memorialize her image. While applying his brush and paints, St. Luke listened carefully as the Mother of Jesus spoke of the life of her son, facts which the Evangelist later recorded in his Gospel. Legend also tells us that the painting remained in and around Jerusalem until it was discovered by St. Helena in the fourth century. Together with other sacred relics, the painting was transported to Constantinople where her son, Emperor Constantine the Great, erected a church for its enthronement." (Joan Carroll Cruz, Miraculous Images of Our Lady, 1993, p. 137f.)"

The article goes on to discount it as a cute-sy legand but instinct says the legend is real. The article debates the legend based on carbon dating, but carbon dating is an incredibly flawed technique, if carbon dating were to be believed then the bible would be wrong about the oldness of our very earth, and it is not. Legends like this, just like fairy tales, often point us to deeper truth...such as the meeting of sacred icon art and the humble table! I just love this...

(This amazing relic/icon, its image pictured was found here)