“Let him who is thirsty come!”

“Let him who is thirsty come!”

The Basilica of Saint Mark in Venice—consecrated in 1094—was erected to house the relics of Saint Mark that were brought back by Venetian merchants from Alexandria in Egypt, where the evangelist had suffered martyrdom.

The shrine has been nicknamed the “Golden Basilica” because of its mosaics against a gold background. Entering it for the first time, one has the impression of being received into a magnificent casket of precious metal. According to Eastern symbolism, gold is the color of divinity, and therefore in this basilica the Divine Liturgy unfolds its splendors at the heart of the divine light—which is God himself. With this end in view, each of the millions of golden tiles was made of transparent Murano glass, encasing a leaf of pure gold.

The mosaic that adorns the cover of this month’s issue of Magnificat is located on the wall of the south transept. It was produced in the 13th century and partially redone in the 15th century. The scene depicts the moment when the disciples, represented here by Peter and John, return to Jacob’s well and are astonished to find Jesus conversing with a Samaritan woman (Jn 4:4-30).

At the center, Jacob’s well is stylized in the form of a cross-shaped baptismal pool. Such pools were dug into the ground of the baptisteries where the early Christians practiced baptism by immersion. 

Behind the well stands the Tree of Life; its single trunk branches off into three great boughs. It thus symbolizes God who is One and Triune. According to the account in Genesis, the fruit of the tree of life gives access to eternal life: Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever”—therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life (3:22-24). 

“Let him who desires take the water of life!”

“Through the Tree, humanity fell; through the Tree, humanity will be saved” (Saint Irenaeus)—for access to the Tree of Life will be restored to humanity when the cross of Christ, made of its wood, is set up over the world: from the pierced heart of the Beloved Son of the Father there will spring the source of the living water, the lustral water of baptism, so that we can all be reborn of water and the Spirit, for the new life of the children of God. This is why, above the baptistery, at the foot of the tree of the cross, a red pool represents the blood of Christ, poured out for us; it sprang from his pierced heart at the same time as the living water.

Certainly along these lines the Lord Jesus is depicted to the left of the baptismal pool sitting on his throne as Pantocrator, Ruler over All. He holds in his left hand the scroll of the Gospel, and with his right hand he makes the gesture of the Almighty who blesses the water, so that it may become the living water, the cleansing water of baptism:

God, our Father,
by the grace of your Beloved Son,
may the power of the Holy Spirit descend upon this water,
so that everyone who is baptized,
buried in death with him,
may rise again with him for life,
for he lives for ever and ever.

And that is the moment when, within us, the Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let him who hears say, “Come.” And let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price (Rv 22:17).

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See above an image of the baptistery in Kelibia (Tunisia) with a very similar baptismal pool, ­dating back to the 6th century (National Museum of Bardo).

Pierre-Marie Dumont

Christ and the Samaritan Woman, mosaic, 15th c., Saint Mark’s Basilica, Venice. © akg-images / Cameraphoto.