My Patron Saint is Theophan the Recluse. I was looking for a patron saint and went down a particular path. My first name, Douglas has various meanings but one of the common ones is “dark, moody waters.”
There are no Orthodox saints with the name Douglas. I tried finding a Celtic Orthodox Saint with a similar name and the closest was:
St. Daganus (or Dagan) is commonly suggested as a sound-alike patron for Douglas/Doug. He is commemorated on August 18 in some Orthodox calendars. St. Dagan was an early Irish saint (likely 6th-7th century), associated with the Celtic Orthodox tradition as a bishop or missionary figure.
I asked a friend, Nick, who is a well-known iconographer for help. I told him about the meaning of Douglas, and he reminded me how Jesus went into the deep waters at Theophany.
Nick sent me a list of some Theophan(s) and Theophan the Recluse popped out at me. First, the Recluse part is obviously me. Theophan lived the last years of his life in seclusion. This was by choice. Every time St Theophan got put in charge of things he tried to get released to study.
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