""Peter fell to his knees and prayed. He said to her, “Tabitha, arise.” Sitting upright, Peter presented her to her friends alive." Acts 9:36-42. Latin root of the word, to rise, means to cultivate, grow into, to elevate, awaken, or incite. Everyone in the city of Joppa loved Tabitha. She was always doing good, helping the poor, and making garments for others. One day Tabitha grew sick and died. Women washed her body, then placed it in an upstairs room. They sent for the apostle Peter, who was nearby in Lydda. Peter uses the power of Christ within. When Jesus ate and drank with a flesh and bone body, he was not bound by the laws of the physical realm. Jesus is the first example of a spirit-man not hindered by any physical existence. We have been promised that when we walk in divine light, we too shall be as he is. Did those who saw them think they were ghosts? Two thousand years ago, people did not understand death in today’s scientific sense. The natural order was accepted as mysterious. Did they think life as they had known it had changed in some profound way?"

Narrative Icon Collection

The collection of 12 narrated biblical event and feast days are taken from my book Life in Christ 2021, Knowledge of God made visible in Jesus the Man.

Mary Jane Miller is a self-taught Byzantine style iconographer with over 28 years of experience, born in New York and living in Mexico full time. Her collections of sacred art are contemporary, with a proficient command of egg tempera. The work is extraordinarily rich in style and has been exhibited in museums and churches in both the United States and Mexico. As an author, Miller blends historical content and personal insights to arrive at contemporary conclusions about faith. Her six self-published books include Icon Painting Revealed, Mary in iconography, In Light of Women, and Life in Christ and The Stations. Miller has been published online and in publications such as Divine Temple, Russian Orthodox Journal, Faith and Forum Magazine, Liturgy Today and Profiles of Catholicism. She teaches 4 courses annually, 5-day immersion workshops throughout the US and Mexico. Website: https://www.millericons.com/, https://sanmiguelicons.com/