THE CROSS

The Gospel according to Luke: Jesus told them, "The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the Low. He will be put to death, but three days later he will be raised to life". And He said to them all, "If anyone wants to come with me, he must forget himself, take up his cross every day, and follow me".
"Hades seized a body, and lo! It discovered God. It seized earth, and, behold!
It encountered heaven; it seized visible, and was overcome by the invisible. O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? Christ is risen and you are abolished. Christ is risen and life is freed." (St. John Chrysostom)
The crucified Christ, with His head gently leaning on the right shoulder, is shown on a cross. He has a loincloth around his hips. At the four extremities of the cross, which are trefoil-shaped, are representations of the four Evangelists.
Gospels are the stories of the life of Christ as told in the first book of the New Testament. The authors, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are called the Evangelists. Each of the four authors of the Gospels have a symbol traditionally associated with them: Matthew - winged man, angel; Mark - lion; Luke - ox; John - eagle. Symbols for the Saints were very common in manuscripts, early sculpture and wall paintings. This enabled the saints and stories to be recognizable at a time when literacy was rare.

The icon by the hand of Janusz Charczuk.
Egg tempera on wood, priming on textile, background 23 K gold leaf.
56 x 51.5 cm (22 x 20.25 in)
Based on16th century Macedonian icon.