Orthodox Icon of St. Ketevan the Queen & Great Martyr

Saint Ketevan the Martyr Queen COPYRIGHTED ART. Please do not copy or deep-link to without prior permission of "COME AND SEE" Icons, Books & Art.

September 13th
Troparia
Being wounded by divine zeal, thou didst receive many wounds and endure multifarious tortures. With boldness having acquired the Kingdom of Heaven instead of the transitory crown of a queen, O thrice-holy Ketevan, intercede with Christ God to have mercy on our souls.

Thou didst renounce the transitory glory uniting thyself with the Queen of Heaven and Earth, O Queen Ketevan, thou who didst suffer bodily for thy bridegroom, intercede with Him for us thy servants, the Georgian people.

Queen Ketevan was great-granddaughter of King Constantine of Kartli and married David heir to King Alexander II of Kakhetia. After David died, she ruled alone, doing much to build churches, hospitals and monasteries. David's brother, Constantine the Accursed, defected to Islam. Following orders from Shah Abbas I, he murdered his father, Alexander, and his brother, Georgi. He commanded that their bodies be strapped to camels and taken to Ketevan. St. Ketevan mourned their loss and gave them proper burial in the Cathedral of Alaverdi. The Accursed then asked Ketevan to marry him, threatening her life if she refused. The queen rallied the people of Kakhetia and routed Constantine and the Persians. He died in the battle with a multitude of his men. The Muslims had a practice of taking hostages to deter neighboring states from attacking them. Shah Abbas I took Ketevan's son, Teimuraz, and held him for years at his court. Teimuraz remained steadfast in his Orthodox faith. He was finally returned. Then Shah Abbas I threatened that he could decimate Georgia with his army. Queen Ketevan volunteered to go herself in order to try to avert war, bringing rich gifts, even offering herself as a hostage. At Isfahan, she and her grandsons, Alexander and Leon were thrown into a dungeon and spent 10 years of suffering and torture. The Shah offered to make her queen of Persia, if she would adopt Islam. Neither torture or bribes could shake her steadfast faith in Christ. Her answer to the Shah was always a resolute No. They finally crucified her on a tree, while torturing her with red hot pincers. They then put a red hot kettle on her head, and thick smoke rose from her head like incense offered to the Lord Jesus Christ as she gave her soul into His hands. It was September 13, 1624. Immediately there appeared three pillars of brilliant light over her body as further witness to the godless Muslims of the truth of the Trinity. The Patriarch of Georgia immediately, upon hearing the report declared her a Great Martyr and designated September 13 as her day of remembrance.

This icon is by the hand of Nicholas Papas. This icon is one of the "cloud of witnesses" at St. Philip's Antiochian Orthodox Church, Souderton, Pennsylvania.

Order #phn-63