Holy Cross

Blessing Cross in silver locally gilded in wooden casing.

The Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ

The celebration of Epiphany since the 2nd century constitutes one of the most important celebrations of our Church. The baptism of Christ sanctified the water that became the sanctifying water symbol of reconciliation of man with God. By the grace of baptism, man is being received in the kingdom of heaven.

The Baptism is one the icons that compose the Twelve Feasts (the twelve most significant celebrations of Orthodoxy).

The particular icon of the Baptism is an embossed rendering of the Baptized Jesus Christ, as depicted in the icon of Baptism which adorns the Nave of the Holy Monastery of Stavronikita at Mount Athos and belongs to the Cretan school, signed by Theophanis the Cretan. At the top of the icon, a semicircle symbolizes the opening of heaven to let the Holy Spirit descend as a dove on Christ’s Head. The river Jordan is shown to have strong motion amid high rocks to symbolize the Red Sea, with fish swimming and a half dressed woman riding on a dragon. Christ is depicted in the river, almost naked, wearing only a white cloth around his waist, showing strong lines in his chest, shoulders and abdomen. At one bank of the river, Prodromos is depicted to have one hand on Christ’s head and the other in prayer while there are four angels at the other bank, the three of them worship Christ and the fourth one prays gazing at the sky.