The story of creation - the st francis paintings
In St Francis church there is a series of paintings by the Wigan based artist, Michael Dibble, which portrays the creation story as told in Genesis. The first reading of the Easter Vigil is this reading from Genesis. As the reading progresses each of the paintings are illuminated in turn to depict the Genesis story. Although we can't reproduce the drama of the Easter Vigil - below are the readings and paintings to give you at least a taste of the real event:-
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness was over the deep, and the God's spirit hovered over the water. God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God divided light from darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” Evening came and morning came: the first day.
And God said, “Let there be a vault in the waters to separate waters in two.” And so it was. God made the vault and it divided the waters above the vault from the waters under the vault. God called the vault “heaven.” Evening came and morning came: the second day.
God said, “Let the waters under heaven come together into a single mass, and let dry ground appear.” And so it was. God called the dry land “earth,” and the mass of water “seas.” And God saw that it was good. God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants, and fruit trees bearing fruit with their seed inside, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth produced vegetation: plants bearing seed in their several kinds, and trees bearing fruit with their seed inside in their several kinds. God saw that it was good. Evening came and morning came: the third day.
God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of heaven to divide day from night, and let them serve as indicate festivals, days and years. Let them be lights in the vault of heaven to shine on the earth.” And so it was. God made two great lights: the greater light to govern the day and the smaller light to govern the night, and the stars. God set them in the vault of heaven to shine on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to divide light from darkness. God saw that it was good. Evening came and morning came: the fourth day.
God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth within the vault of heaven.” And so it was. God created the great sea-serpents and every kind of living creature with which the waters teem, and every kind of winged creature. God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply upon the earth.” Evening came and morning came: the fifth day.
God said, “Let the earth produce every kind of living creatures: cattle, reptiles and every kind of living beast" And so it was. God made every kind of wild beast, every kind of cattle, and every kind of land reptile. God saw that it was good, God said, “Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves, and let them be masters of the sea, the birds of heaven, the cattle all the wild beasts and all the reptiles that crawl upon the earth.” God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them saying to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and conquer it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all living animals on the earth.” God said, “See, I give you all the seed-bearing plants that are upon the whole earth, and all the trees with seed bearing fruit; this shall be yours for food. To all the wild beasts, all the birds of heaven and all living reptiles on the earth I give all the foliage and plants for food.” And so it was. God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good. Evening came and morning came: the sixth day.
Thus heaven and the earth were completed with all their array. On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing. He rested on the seventh day after all the work he had been doing.
