The “Crucifixion” carved icon by Sergei Rozhin features the very last and most difficult hours of the Savior’s earthly life.

Death on the cross was considered the one for slaves, it was shameful and at the same time the most cruel and painful one. Nailed to the cross, Jesus felt terribly thirsty, he lost consciousness and came to his senses again, suffered from pain, but, most importantly, gradually suffocated. The suffocation began because his body weight gradually squeezed the lungs and heart.

Roman soldiers nailed Jesus Christ to the cross, which He carried to Mount Golgotha on His own shoulders. Legend has it that it was a six-pointed cross, where a vertical line was crossed by two horizontal ones. The tormentors nailed the Savior’s hands to the longer top crossbar. The lower slanting crossbar was used as a support for the legs: the soldiers nailed both Christ’s feet to it. All this took place at six o’clock in the afternoon — about noon according to the modern way of measuring time.

When the soldiers pierced Christ’s hands and feet with iron nails, the prophecy from the psalm of King David came true,

Together with the Lord, two thieves were also dying on neighboring crosses. This was the fulfillment of yet another prophecy, “And he was numbered with the evildoers.”

Despite his suffering, the Savior showed divine love for people at the very beginning of the torture. When the soldiers crucified Him, He had already forgiven them with the words,

To the left of the Cross, the craftsman featured three female figures, to the right — two male ones. It is known that in addition to the Roman sentinels, Christ also had the closest people beside Him: the Mother of God, Her sister, Mary of Clopas and Mary Magdalene, as well as His beloved disciple John. Unfortunately, the female images remained unsigned, although the Virgin Mary is easy to recognize: the author depicted Her closer to the foreground and showed a halo over Her head.

According to legend, Mary of Clopas was the daughter of the righteous Joseph the Betrothed. Christ expelled seven demons from Mary Magdalene. His disciple John is the holy apostle and evangelist John the Theologian. Seeing the Mother of God and John at foot of the Cross, the Savior commanded them to protect each other after He leaves this world,

Later they fulfilled His command: John took the Mother of God to live in his home, where he looked after Her until Her last days.