An icon
of Saint Mardarije of Libertyville and Saint Sebastian of Jackson will soon
appear in the Church in honour of All Saints of North America in Hamilton,
Canada. This full-figure icon was painted in the Icon Painting Studio of St
Elisabeth Convent at the request of Father Geoffrey Korz, the parish priest of
that church. Our Convent has already made the following icons for that church:
Image of Christ Not-Made-By-Hands, the icon of the Mother of God of the Sign,
St John the Baptist - the Angel of the Desert, St Mary Magdalene, Grand
Princess Elisabeth. We are currently working on the images of the
newly-canonised saints. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia canonised
Bishop Sebastian (Dabović) and Bishop Mardarije (Uskoković) in 2015. The
Russian Orthodox Church did the same in 2017.
Artyom
Glibchuk who painted the images of Saint Mardarije and Saint Sebastian told us
that icon painters differentiate between an 'icon painter' and an
'iconographer'. The former simply copies established images, while the latter
creates new images. One has to draw up new images for newly-canonised saints in
conformity with the Orthodox theology. Artyom has been painting icons for seven
years; it was thanks to his experience that he was entrusted with this project.
"When
you see images of people who lived not long ago in church, you feel the living
faith and realise that holiness is something that every believer should strive
for," Artyom says. "I've painted icons of St Gabriel (Urgebadze) and
St Paisius of Mt Athos recently. This time, I've been working on the images of
our contemporaries who lived in America in the 20th century. St Sebastian of
Jackson was the first Orthodox priest born on American soil and an outstanding
missionary. St Mardarije of Libertyville was in charge of the Serbian Orthodox
mission in the USA. It was thanks to his efforts that the first Serbian
Orthodox monastery in North America was established.
Saint
Sebastian is portrayed wearing a priestly garment (phelonion) because he was a
priest. Saint Mardarije wears a bishop's vestment: the sakkos and the mitre.
Nun Jadranka (Uskoković) from our Convent is St Mardarije's granddaughter. When
she saw the icon of her saintly grandfather, she remarked that the image was
almost photographically accurate, even though the icon was strictly canonical.
August 8, 2018
St.
Elisabeth Convent
CONVERSATION