2026 is the tercentenary of the birth of St Gerard Majella. To mark the jubilee year John has written a new icon for the Redemptorist order in the UK.

Majella was born in Muro Lucano, Potenza in southern Italy, his life characterised by ill health and poverty, but remembered for its piety and charity. He is the patron saint of expectant mothers, a celebrated connecting story recalls the loss of a handkerchief – and it is this which is reflected in this new icon of the saint for 2025.

Gerard is shown as a young man (he died of tuberculosis at the age of 29), eyes raised in the popular tradition, the Redemptorist arms are depicted opposite and adjacent to the saint’s acronym.

Tempera and 22ct gold on board.
21x15cm (2025)