Virginia Episcopalian Magazine Summer 2014 Issue | 页面 20

Ink continued from page 17

a holy pilgrimage would have crosses tattooed on their skin to
ensure a Christian burial in the event of death.

“The Coptic cross reminds me that, as a Christian, I am
connected to a body much larger than myself,” said Shelton.

The Rev. Leslie Hague’s tattoo on her arm also reminds
her of a pilgrimage she took on sabbatical in 2008. Hague is
rector of St. Michael’s, Arlington. “God just called me to Iona,”
she said. “I just felt that pull in my heart.”

The island of Iona, off the coast of Scotland, is home to an
abbey and is a center of Christian community and monasticism.
“I wanted something that would be a part of me to reflect the

Pruitt’s tattoos include a crown of thorns – a reminder
“that God made incredible sacrifices for us” – and the
unpronounceable name of God in Hebrew characters. “The
things that I do with my hands should reflect the things
that God would want done with them, and not just my own
decision making,” said Pruitt, who also serves as vicar at
Calvary, Hanover.

“I know that there are people who think of it as being in
violation of the biblical warrant,” said Pruitt. But “I don’t think
of myself in any way as having distanced myself from God or
His claim on me simply because I have body art.”

The Rev. Sandy Graham’s tattoo specifically represents

The Rev. Leslie Hague’s tattoo is a

The Rev. Canon Dr. Alonzo Pruitt’s wrist

The crucifer tattoo on the Rev. Sandy

commemoration of her pilgrimage to

tattoo depicts the unpronounceable

Graham’s leg is “part of my spiritual

the island of Iona.

name of God in Hebrew characters.

journey.”

transformation that Iona had on me,” said Hague. “The tattoo
was, for me, a very meaningful way to do that.”

So she picked a turquoise blue color to remind her of the
shockingly blue waters off the cost of Iona, and the design of
a Celtic knot cross to remind her of the Celtic spirituality she
experienced. “It is a representation to me of a time in my life
where God really touched me,” said Hague.

As far as reactions go when folks learn that she’s an
ordained person with a tattoo, the feedback has been more
happy than condemnatory, said Hague. “It kind of, in a way,
makes me more human for some people,” she explained.

The Rev. Alonzo Pruitt, chief of chaplains for the
Richmond City Jails, has a similar experience when it comes
to the humanizing effect of his five tattoos, which have been
“unintentionally evangelistic devices,” he explained, “because
some people do see it as incongruous.” And so those
conversations can open up the opportunity to discuss biblical
interpretation. Plus, Pruitt added, in the jail environment, “a
priest who has a tattoo seems to make a statement about not
being ‘holier than thou.’”
18

Virginia Episcopalian / Summer 2014

his ministry. The tattoo on his calf depicts an angelic crucifer
wrought in iron – the imagery used on the weather vane
at the Holy Cross Monastery in New York, where he is an
associate. In the Diocese, he serves as associate rector at
St. Andrew’s, Burke.

“The image of the crucifer in general has been an
important one for me,” said Graham. “On the one hand, it’s
our job as priests to hold forward the cross to people and
to proclaim Christ in that way. On the other hand, we’re
followers, and the best symbol for that is the crucifer on
Sunday morning: We go where they go.”

The reactions that parishioners and others have had to
his tattoo have been generally positive. Some ask “if it’s real,”
while others are excited to share their own tattoos. “I think
anyone who [gets a tattoo] is aware that there are some
peo H