“In portrait icons, Paul usually wears a dark red outer garment over a blue inner one; and he always has a long, dark beard with curling strands and a bald forehead. Paul holds a book, because he is the writer of books of the bible. I chose green for the background as it would complement the red, but also because green signifies growth.” [VW Barber, Carmelite Digest, spring 2009, p. 6] This icon was written by Virginia Barber, OCDS.

In the Pauline seal for Year of St Paul, the chain represents Paul’s imprisonment in Rome, the sword symbolizes his martyrdom by beheading, the book represents his writings, the cross symbolizes Jesus Christ, the tongue of flames refers to the Holy Spirit, 2008-2009 are the dates of the Pauline Year and 29VI represents June 29, the last day of the Pauline Year, and the feast of Sts. Peter & Paul.

On Day 5 of our pilgrimage, our cruise arrives at the Island of Rhodes where we celebrate Mass at 9:30 in the Church of Santa Maria. Rhodes is a crossroads between Syria and Greece, through which Paul would have traveled. In the British museum is displayed a small figure of a Mesopotamian rider mounted upon a camel. It dates from the Iron Age (1200-586 B.C.) of the Near East. This bronze figurine, recovered from the island of Rhodes, would have been foreign to Greeks, and probably brought to Rhodes from Syria. It is not known when the camel was domesticated. Certainly by the time of King Solomon we read of camels carrying exotic treasures, to say nothing of Queen Sheba herself, from Arabia to Jerusalem. The camel could go for weeks without water and could carry up to 150 pounds. It’s nomadic Arab breeders found this beast of burden indispensible to the flow of trade across the deserts of biblical times.