🔥 Antique Old 19th c. Greek Orthodox Christian St. STYLIANOS Icon Oil Painting for Sale

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🔥 Antique Old 19th c. Greek Orthodox Christian St. STYLIANOS Icon Oil Painting For Sale

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🔥 Antique Old 19th c. Greek Orthodox Christian St. STYLIANOS Icon Oil Painting:
$1350.00

This is a wonderful and FineAntique Old 19th c. Greek Orthodox Christian St. STYLIANOS Icon Oil Painting in Wood, depicting St. Stylian of Paphlagonia, also known as Stylian the Hermit. This artwork depicts St. Stylianos, wearing traditional Orthodox garb, holding a swaddled infant with a halo, interpreted to be the infant Jesus. In the four corners of this painting are various saints, surrounded by gilded halos and gilded oval cartouches, and most of these figures are holding books in their hand. There are various instances of old Greek writing on this piece, but I am unsure of its meaning and significance. This piece likely dates to the 1880's - 1890's. Approximately 8 5/8 x 12 1/2 x 5/8 inches. Good condition for well over a century of age and personal veneration use, with fine craquelure to the painted surface, moderate edge wear, and a few areas of paint loss throughout (please see photos.) Acquired from an old collection in Los Angeles, California. If you like what you see, I encourage you to make an Offer. Please check out my other listings for more wonderful and unique artworks!
About this Artwork:
Stylianos of Paphlagonia
Stylian of Paphlagonia(Latin:Stylianus, Greek: Στυλιανός), also known asStylian the Hermit, is venerated as a saint fromAdrianopolisin the province ofPaphlagonia(modernTurkey).

Stylian of Paphlagonia was born inAdrianopolissometime between AD 400 and 500. He distributed his inheritance among the poor and left the city to live in a monastery. His zealous devotion and asceticism provoked jealousy on the part of other monks, so he left the monastery to live as a hermit in a cave in the wilderness, where he spent his time in prayer and fasting.There, in the peace of the desert, Stylianos had time to observe creation and meditate upon it, and he saw the Creator in all things. His holiness was evident to the people of the surrounding area, and they came to listen to his teaching, or to be cured through his prayers. He knew how to calm troubled souls; other ascetics came to join him.

Stylian is known for his smiling countenance and cheerful disposition. He would periodically leave his hermitage and make pastoral visits to neighboring villages.

Stylian was also known for his love of children. He believed that for a person to be saved, they needed to have their soul like that of a little child. Sometimes parents would leave their children with him for a period of time in order for them to receive some spiritual guidance.

He is celebrated for his gift of healing children by his prayers. Parents would travel great distances seeking a cure for their offspring, which Stylian attributed to the holy name of God. He also acquired the reputation of a wonder-worker because his prayers seemed to help childless couples have a child.

Even after his death, the people of Paphlagonia believed that he could cure their children. Whenever a child became sick, an icon of Saint Stylian was painted and hung over the child's bed.

Veneration

Saint Stylian is commemorated on26 November.

Patronage

Saint Stylian is known as a protector of children, especially orphans.Pious Christians invoke him to help and protect their children; childless women entreat his intercession so that they might have children.

Iconography

Saint Stylian is depicted in iconography holding a swaddled infant in his arms.

Stylianos of Paphlagonia

SaintStylianos(Latin:Stylianus, Greek:Στυλιανός, English:Stylian) was born during the 6th century in Adrianopolis in the province of Paphlagonia (in modern day Turkey) into a very wealthy family. At a young age, Stylianos joined thehermitsof the desert with a view toward cleansing his soul through a period of meditation andprayer, as well as through association with men likewise pledging their lives toJesus Christ. Unlike most other hermits, however, he did not withdraw from society altogether, preferring to go among the people for whatever good he might do, and then returning to his little cave for rest and prayerful meditation.

According to the churchtradition, one night while he prayed for guidance in helping others, Stylianos felt a divine presence and was consumed by the great glory of theHoly Spirit, emerging from his cave the next day with a spirit of exultation and serenity he had never known before. In his customary rounds, wherein he counseled and comforted, he felt compelled to place his hand on a stricken child, something he had not up to that time dared to do; he felt the power of the Lord being transferred to the ailing youngster through his extended arm. The child immediately recovered, and thenceforth Stylianos was sought after by every suffering soul for miles around, young and old. His cave became a magnet for the sick and suffering, many of whom received complete cures not only through the power in this man but through their own faith as well, without which a sufferer’s case was hopeless.

During this period, Stylianos concerned himself primarily with children, not just the physically afflicted but also with those who were in need of spiritual guidance. Families from all walks of life were said to have entrusted to Stylianos the enlightenment of their children, and he was forced to seek out larger headquarters and to recruit from the ranks of his hermit friends the assistance needed to tend to so many. His was probably the first day-care centre in the world, where mothers could safely leave their children while tending to other matters of the home.

Stylianos was to become thepatron saintof children yet to be born, owing to stories of his miraculous intercession for a young woman who helped him with children but could bear none of her own. When the woman conceived, her husband out of sheer joy spread the word of this miracle, and before long many barren women came to the great hermit. Those whose faith in Jesus Christ was genuine became fertile.

The cheerful countenance of Stylianos was his hallmark, because he was reported to always to be smiling. According to oral histories, he was approached by greedy mercenaries with all manner of propositions for commercializing his talents and reaping a tidy fortune, but for these people he always had the same answer: that he had been paid in advance for his services when the serenity of theHoly Spiritcame upon him. He would smile as they left. He lived to a ripe old age, and it is said that when he was buried his countenance still beamed with a faint smile from the light of the Lord.