Archangel Michael the Panormitis – Silkscreen on Naturally Aged Wood – Mount Athos

Description

Silkscreen of the Archangel Michael on Naturally Aged Wood

An exceptional silkscreen depicting the Archangel Michael, crafted on wood that comes from the renovation of a cell in Mount Athos.

One of the most important pilgrimage sites in the Dodecanese, with national and pan-Orthodox significance, is the Monastery of Archangel Michael Panormitis in Symi. The name of the Panormos Bay, from which the monastery derives its name, has ancient origins. There are two possible etymological interpretations: one related to the bay (pan – ormos), and the other referring to the deserted location (pan – ermos) where the monastery was built. In addition to Panormitis, there are eight other monasteries on Symi dedicated to Archangel Michael, corresponding to the nine angelic orders: Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Powers, Authorities, Dominions, Virtues, Cherubim, and Seraphim.

Popular tradition links the founding of the Monastery of Panormitis to the piety of the people of Symi. It is said that a God-fearing woman named Mariou from Protenio, while digging her field in Panormos, found a small icon of Panormitis at the root of a mastic tree. She took it home and placed it among her other icons. The next day, however, the icon disappeared. When she returned to Panormos, she found it again in the same spot. She took it home again, but once more it vanished. Overcome with sadness, she dreamt that the Archangel himself appeared to her, “radiant and shining,” expressing his wish to remain in Panormos. The pious woman then went to her spiritual father, who advised her to build a small chapel where the icon was found.

The people of Symi inherited the reverence and veneration of Archangel Michael from the Christians of Asia Minor, but their hearts filtered the image of the Archangel according to their own disposition. They identified him as a bearer of joy and guardian of happiness! They dissociated him from the concept of the psychopomp, despite the fact that Archangel Michael is depicted in the monasteries and chapels of Symi stepping on a lifeless body, raising its soul with his left hand to bring it to God. The people of Symi know that Archangel Michael is a psychopomp, but they stubbornly reject any connection of their patron with death. This is a deep conviction! They firmly believe that the Archangel is always connected with life and only with life. That is why they attribute death to the absence of Archangel Michael Panormitis.

The naturally aged wood used for this icon comes from the Garden of the Virgin (Perivoli tis Panagias) and specifically from a monk’s cell that was renovated due to damage over time. The wood was carefully worked by the hands of a monk, preserved, and ultimately became the base for this icon.

The icon holds double significance, not only because it depicts the most beloved sacred figure of Christianity, the Virgin Mary, but also because the wood comes from the Garden of the Theotokos itself, carrying with it the blessings and prayers of the Athonite fathers.

As the icon is handmade and the wood is processed by hand, there may be slight variations in the wood, but not in the depiction.

The icon is available upon order.

Origin: Mount Athos