The icons and this site are in memory of Brother Basil, OSB, of the Companions of Saint Luke (June 20, 1943 - March 2, 2019)
William Thomas Edwards was a teacher and a physician. He specialized in Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine serving at two Seattle hospitals. His partner, Steve Long and former wife, Florence, died before him Tom had two sons - Alan and Adam. He had a vocation and gift for music and prayer. He became a postulant with the Companions of St. Luke, OSB was given the religious name 'Basil', and after six years as a novice, in 2015 he made life vow. In time he was elected abbott. For many years as Tom, and then Br. Basil, we prayed Evening Prayer together in All Saints Chapel at St. Paul’s, Seattle.
Farther Gallagher: “A few years ago I felt called to commission this series of icons. Bit by bit they have been written. I wanted each writer to do this in her own style. They have come to live and pray with me in Seattle. Companions and friends. They have been given to St. Clements Church, Seattle to join in that community’s life of adoration and awe.”
This describes that process—
Father Robert asked Suzanne Schleck to do the first two icons in 2016—Francis Perkins and Jonathan Daniels. He soon found himself thinking about an icon series of Anglo Catholic saints. He began to search the web looking for icon writers with some connection to the Episcopal Church. Friends would suggest an artist to contact. Between 2016 and 2021 twelve icons were completed by five icon writers. Each was done in the fashion the writer was accustomed to using. A website was developed about the icons. As the icons were being completed, they were in Robert’s home. Initially the plan was to hang the icons in All Saints Chapel at St. Paul’s, Seattle. Father Robert routinely participated in Morning or Evening Prayer in the chapel along with a friend Brother Basil, OSB. When Basil died in 2019 the series was dedicated to his memory. When Father Robert returned to St. Clements, Seattle in the fall of 2019, where he had earlier served as a priest associate, the icons came with him and were to be hung there. The pandemic arrived in 2020. So, the Anglo Catholic Saints continued as his companions at home. With in-person worship restored at the parish in the summer of 2021 a decision was made to hang and bless them on September 26.
More on Brother Basil - From Means of Grace, Hope of Glory
Mass September 19, 2021 - You can see the icons on the north wall in the processions beginning and end mass. 7:24 on and 1:03:47 on.