Detail Page

THE FEET OF SAINT PARTHENIOS

Olena Kayinska

Created in 2020.

Olena made this painting during the art residence “Zhovka-Art-Kreminna.” The residence’s studio was located on the premises of the Basilian Ukrainian Greek-Catholic monastery. The whole body of Saint Parthenios, coated and booted, is kept in the Church of Holy Jesus Heart in Zhovka, Ukraine. This early Christian martyr and thaumaturgus, who is originally from Armenia, was tortured to death in Rome in 250 A.D. During his lifetime in Rome, it was ordered to mercilessly torture all Christians. When the court directed to burn the Saint in the fire, but the fire didn’t take him.

Saint Parthenios had a gift for accomplishing winders and healings of the sick. This painting is devoted to him and symbolizes the miracle when the fire refused to touch the bare feet of the Saint. Another sense, conveyed in the painting, is the burning pomegranates, which symbolize engulfed in pain hearts of people, who ask Saint Parthenios for healing.