Have you ever prayed with an icon? If not, this short book is a great place to start, or you could start here as well. Williams takes three specific icons of the Virgin Mary and walks the reader through the process of praying with them. As he writes, you get a glimpse of how an icon is theology that is written in shape, line, and color. You will also find an experiential introduction to how icons are “windows to heaven” as well as implications for humanity being created in the image of God.
Additionally, this little book (only 74 pages) is a wonderful introduction to Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury. He is one of the leading theologians of my tradition, and this book displays the reason why. Williams is a writer of great depth and clarity, like a clear, still mountain lake where one can see all the way down to the depths of the lake bed. If you read his works, you will often find yourself re-reading because you can’t believe so much meaning has been packed into so few words.
Williams has also written a similar book on icons of Christ. It is wonderful too, but I prefer to start here. “Why?” you might ask. Well, Christ is fully divine and fully human according to the creeds, but we, at least, are not. We meet Christ best in his humanity, and we cannot understand the human Jesus without also looking to Mary.