Orthodox icon | Saint Martyr Panteleimon | 24712

Orthodox icon | Saint Martyr Panteleimon | 24712.

The icon:

In the icon, Panteleimon appears as a physician. He holds a medicine box and an ointment spatula, symbols of his role as a healer.

The exceptional icon features a poliment-gilded background, beautifully adorned with unique decorative motifs. The sides shine with intricate engravings and painted ornaments. These details showcase the icon’s incredible preservation and the meticulous craftsmanship of its oil paintwork.

The Saint:

We commemorate Saint Panteleimon, also known as Pantaleon, on July 27th. He is a revered doctor, martyr, and Helper in Need. Born as Pantoléon in what is now İzmit in Turkey, he displayed healing abilities from a young age. One day, he encountered a dead child, snake-bitten, on the street. He invoked Jesus’ name over the child, who miraculously sprang back to life.

Pantoléon studied medicine under Euphrosynus, the imperial physician. He later accepted baptism from the priest Hermolaus. Emperor Diocletian, impressed by his skills, made him his personal physician. However, upon discovering Pantoléon’s Christian faith, the emperor sentenced him to death.

Before his beheading, Pantoléon prayed earnestly for all. A voice from heaven then declared that he would become a refuge for the desperate, a support for the afflicted, a healer of the sick, and a terror to demons. His name would change from Pantoléon to Panteléimon, Greek for “Merciful.”

Devotion to Saint Panteleimon took root as early as the 4th century. Theodoret of Kyrrhos first documented it around 440. The earliest account of Pantaleon’s martyrdom, written in Greek, appeared in the 5th or 6th century.

The Eastern Church regards him as a Great Martyr and one of the Holy Doctors. Emperor Justinian I “the Great” ordered a church in Constantinople to be built in Saint Panteleimon’s honor in 550. He is cherished particularly as the patron saint of doctors, nurses, midwives, and pharmacists.

Source: Orthodox icon | Saint Martyr Panteleimon | 24712 © Ikonen Mautner. Typing errors, other errors or changes reserved. For more information: “Das Synaxarion. Die Leben der Heiligen der Orthodoxen Kirche.” (http://www.prodromos-verlag.de/buecher.html) and Joachim Schäfer: Das Ökumenische Heiligenlexikon – https://www.heiligenlexikon.de