Icon of Saint Jason (1649) – S290

Description

Saint Jason was one of the Seventy Holy Apostles and was a disciple of Saint Paul and his relatives.  He was made the Bishop of Tarsus, where he had been born.  He was also a companion and fellow disciple with Saint Sosipater, another relative, who later became the Bishop of Iconium.  Together they came to the Island of Cyprus (Kerkyra) in a.d. 63, built a church to Saint Stephen, and labored to bring many to the Faith.  They brought Christianity to Cyprus.

The governor of the island imprisoned them, where they converted seven thieves to the Faith, who shortly after became martyrs when boiled in a cauldron.  SS Jason and Sosipater were then whipped and put back in prison, but Kerkyra, the daughter of the king, was moved by seeing the Apostles’ suffering, and was also converted.  She soon died as a martyr by suffocation and by being pierced with arrows.  The governor died soon after by drowning, while trying to chase Christians.  The next governor had SS Jason and Sosipater put in a boiling cauldron, but they were unharmed.  Seeing the wonder, he was converted and renamed Sebastian.  The holy Apostles lived on Corfu, dying peacefully in old age.