Icon of St Paul presented to Birmingham parish

A BEAUTIFUL ICON depicting St Paul which has visited many parishes in the Archdiocese of Birmingham has been officially presented to St Paul’s Catholic church in the King’s Norton area of Birmingham, writes Józef Łopuszyński.
The icon was given to Fr Stefan Laszczyk by Archbishop Vincent Nichols, for merly Archbishop of Birmingham, at the end of the recent outdoor Mass at Oscott seminary.
Parish priest Fr Laszczyk said: “This icon of St Paul was given to our parish after the end of the year of St Paul, because we are the only parish in the archdiocese which is actually named solely after the great saint. Parishioners were very happy when the icon originally visited our church.
“We are honoured and delighted to be the guardians in perpetuity of the icon back at the end of its journey around the archdiocese.” Depictions of the Apostle Paul are widespread in Eu ropean art, with or without St Peter, and often indicating his identity by a book or scroll, or a sword to denote martyrdom.
The past year in the Church, 2008 to 2009, was declared by Pope Benedict a jubilee year of celebration in honour of St Paul, the great evangelist, saint and shaper of the Church.