Pantanassa Monastery

Hand-Painted Icon of St Paisios, Protector of Australia

Pantanassa Monastery Iconography Studio A unique icon of our beloved St Paisios has been prayerfully painted by the monastics of Pantanassa Monastery using materials gathered from Australian soil. Painted according to the classical Byzantine tradition, St Paisios is depicted holding a scroll bearing his own words: "I feel that Australia will be sanctified by the blood of martyrs and ascetic labours." Behind the saint, a gentle use of cross-hatching—drawn from Indigenous Australian artistic tradition—subtly frames his figure and opens the spiritual depth of the image. Remaining fully faithful to the Byzantine iconographic tradition, the icon offers back to God the gifts of this ancient land upon which St Paisios himself walked more than fifty years ago. The pigments were prepared from natural minerals gathered from the monastery grounds along the banks and cliffs of Mangrove Creek. The icon is painted on a panel of Australian stringybark, carefully harvested and prepared over many months to receive the sacred image. In this way, the icon becomes an offering of Australian creation itself, sanctified and transfigured by God's grace, as the Church has always done throughout history. The icon will be presented at the Pantanassa Monastery High Tea Fundraiser, to be held on Sunday, 19 July at 3.00 pm in St Ioannis Church Hall, Parramatta. The icon will be awarded by raffle, with raffle tickets available both online — right here on this page — before the event and on the day. All proceeds will help complete the Pantanassa Monastery Building Programme. We warmly invite you to join us for this special afternoon of fellowship in support of the monastery and for the opportunity to receive this unique hand-painted icon of St Paisios.