St. Elia Front Plaque

This 4 ft. by 4 ft. plaque was designed and installed earlier this year on the front steps of the church where I attend, St. Elia Orthodox Church, in Akron, Ohio. It was created to replace the original cornerstone from 1946 that had been destroyed, along with the entire front steps, when a drunk driver came crashing at a high speed into the front of the church shortly before midnight during the service on the eve of Pascha (Orthodox Easter).
-
The design is a modified version of the logo I had designed for the church in 2017. “Elia” is a Slavic rendering of Elijah, the Old Testament prophet whose life is told about in 1 and 2 Kings. (The parish was originally founded by Bulgarian and Macedonian immigrants.) The image is based on one of the ways Elia is traditionally depicted in Orthodox icons, showing him being fed by ravens in the wilderness (as described in 1 Kings 17:2-6).