Saint Daniel of Quebec

A confirmation gift.

Saint Daniel, a Jesuit priest, travelled to Quebec from France to teach and convert the Huron tribe. He suffered many hardships and sickness but loved the Huron people. When attached by a pagan tribe he stood in front of the church where he was killed and then dismembered and thrown into the burning church. This allowed the Huron to escape into the surrounding forest.

Size 27.5 x 34cm

Saint Stephen

A names day gift. The Proto-martyr Stephen, a Deacon of the early church, wears his Deacon’s robes and a martyr’s cape; while holding the censor, plus the bible which he professed. The stones in his hand were the instruments of his martyrdom.

Size 17.5 x 22.5cm

Family Icon

The mother’s Saint is St. Shushanika, a Georgian Queen, who died after being chained outside her church for seven years. The father’s Saint, St. Theodore of Tyro, a C4th Roman soldier, was burned to death; hence his red feet and martyrs cape.
The daughter’s Saints are St. Chloe and St. Elizabeth of Russia. Chloe means ‘young green shoots’ (of the Church) hence the green dress; her pale blue veil representing true faith. She holds a wheat sheath symbolic of ‘the gifts from God’.

St. Elizabeth wears her contemporary nun’s habit.

Celtic motifs of the tree of life affirm the never-ending bond of Heaven and Earth. Room has been left for two more children’s Saints.

Size: 22x 28cm

Isabella of Portugal

A Confirmation gift.

Isabella, a Spanish princess, was married to the C13th Portuguese pagan King Diniz who treated her badly. She holds the dove of peace as she intervened on three occasions to prevent wars. She built a convent at Combria for The Order of Poor Clares, where she retired as a tertiary nun after her husband’s death. The basket of bread reminds us of the alms she gave to the poor.

Size 24.5 x 33.5cm

Saint Margaret of Antioch

A gift to the Russian Church in Oxford this icon is based on a fresco in St. Peter ad Vincular Church, South Newington, Oxon. Saint Margaret was a very attractive young girl who wished to follow God and not marry a rich prince. She was put into prison where she encountered the devil in the guise of a dragon who swallowed her. However, a cross she was wearing punctured its stomach enabling her to escape.

Size 22 x 34cm

Saint Zenia of Rome

A commission for the Sisterhood of the Cathedral of the Dormition, Chiswick, London. Eusebia, a daughter of a prominent Roman senator, wished to follow God and escaped a betrothal with her companion and maid. They met the Abbot of St. Andrew’s Monastery on Kos who offered her land to build a convent. She took the name Zenia, meaning stranger, becoming deaconess of the Convent of St. Stephen. When she died a circle of stars surrounding a cross was seen in the heavens until she was buried. The icon shows St. Zenia with her two companions, who were later buried at her feet. The trees represent the olives that edge the sands of Kos. The flowers on the mountains are from the Bible. She holds the church of the sisterhood who venerate her.

Size 20 x 30 cm.