St. Dorothea was martyred on this day in 311, during the Diocletian persecution of Christians, in Cappadocia. As she was on her way to be executed, one of the Roman lawyers, Theophilus, mocked her saying, "Bride of Christ, send me some apples and roses from your bridegroom's garden." She replied that she would. At the place of her execution she asked to have a moment to pray. After her prayer an angel in the form of a beautiful child appeared to her with three apples and three roses, which Dorothea placed in her headdress and sent to Theophilus. She then suffered martyrdom. When Theophilus saw the apples and roses he was shaken, and knowing that it was impossible for Dorothea to have found them in the ice and snow covered ground of Cappadocia, confessed Christ and was converted. At first the Romans thought he was joking; but when he persuaded them he was serious, he too was martyred as a Christian. St Dorothea is the patron saint of florists.This painting, The Beheading of St. Dorothea, is by Hans Baldung, called Grien, 1516.
Icon of St. Dorothea
St. Dorothy of Ceasarea, Charles Imbro, 2007
And since my Zachary loves still life paintings, here a few featuring apples and roses, in honor of St. Dorothea, and her gift from God to Theophilus.
Meteor, by Luiz Coelho, 2009
Apple Rose Crop, by Susan Kennedy
1 comment:
Hello, father,
I noticed my painting of St. Dorothy on your blog today. I wanted to thank you for considering the piece for your page of thoughts and for including the link to my site. It was nice to see!
FYI, there is a piece I did of St. Anthony of Padua on that same source page. I've always been a little curious about the thoughts members of the clergy might have on these panels. Be well.
Charles Imbro
cimbro@ptd.net
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