By Pamela Seal
Diocese of Lake Charles
The memory of the first volunteer at Saint Charles Center will live on through the generosity of her daughter and longtime friendship of the Center’s first director.
A donation by Miriam E. “Mim” John, daughter of the late George and Gloria John of Lake Charles, made it possible for an icon of the Kazan Mother of God to be commissioned in honor of Gloria for her faithfulness to the Moss Bluff retreat facility in the Diocese of Lake Charles.
On July 20, 2023, the iconographer, Sylvia Marcantel, presented the Byzantine icon to Rev. Don Piraro, former director, and Deacon Brian Soileau, current director of Saint Charles Center. The donation was made at Villa Maria Retirement Center in Lake Charles where Piraro resides.
at the request of Rev. Don Piraro, seated, who served
as the first director of Saint Charles Center when it
opened in 1995 in Moss Bluff. They are joined by
Deacon Brian Soileau, current director of the
retreat facility. The icon was donated in memory
of Gloria John, the first volunteer at the Center.
(Morris LeBleu / Diocese of Lake Charles)
A priest now for 56 years, Father Piraro said his friendship with the Johns goes back to his time at Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church in the 1980s. He was named Director of Saint Charles Center in 1993 ahead of its opening in 1995.
“Their daughter Mim has been supporting the Center financially in memory of her parents,” Piraro recalled. “A couple of years ago, she sent a check directly to me. I knew immediately I wanted to commission this icon in memory of her mother.”
An icon is one of the earliest forms of sacred images in the Catholic Church. The classic way of praying before an icon, according to Father Piraro, is to sit in silence and simply gaze at the image, letting the response to the image emerge from the heart into the consciousness of the one who is praying.
Pope Francis is known to go to Saint Mary Major Basilica in Rome and pray before an icon of Mary from the sixth century called Salus Populi Romani. Father Piraro credits this for the resurgence of interest in icons today.
When Father Piraro saw the 9 ½-by-12 ½-inch icon created by Marcantel, he was deeply moved.
“My first response upon seeing the icon was to go to the chapel with it and spend some time in prayer with the image,” he said.
According to Russian tradition, the icon of the Kazan Mother of God appeared in 1579 in the city of Kazan. The icon is attributed to saving Moscow and All Russia from the invasion of the Poles in 1612.
Marcantel was chosen by Father Piraro to create the icon because of her involvement with iconography workshops/retreats at Saint Charles Center over the years. He also knew she had a deep love for the Blessed Mother.
Working on such an intensive and precise project for the better part of two years was a prayer for Marcantel.
“When creating icons, I open with a prayer asking God to guide my hands and accept this as my way of offering glory to God,” she said noting that none of her icons are signed. “It is not my work but rather the hands of God. I am just a willing participant.”
Deacon Soileau pointed out the weight that prayer carries in iconography.
“The fact that the ‘writer’ of the icon also prayed the entire time the icon was being created, to me, adds to the importance it plays in our own prayer lives,” he said.
“Icons invite us to pray with our eyes open to Christ,” Soileau continued. “They are a bridge to Christ and a link to the saints. Icons bring a visual image to what we have already tried to imagine in our minds and, therefore, bring life to our prayer.”
Upon seeing the icon at its unveiling, Deacon Soileau said, “I was drawn in by its vibrant colors and its beauty. If one could see the Blessed Mother, I can imagine that her beauty and vibrance of life and spirit would be the first things that would attract one to her.”
The Kazan Mother of God icon is of the genre of icons of Our Lady known as the Hodegitria Mother of God: images in which the Virgin is presenting her Son to the world, telling us He is the one to follow, the one who knows the way.
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For information on iconography workshops at Saint Charles Center, call Deacon Soileau at 337-855-1232 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
A Byzantine icon of The Kazan Mother of God was commissioned by Father Don Piraro, who served as the first director of Saint Charles Center in Moss Bluff. Iconographer Sylvia Marcantel offers the following description: Christ Emmanuel is dressed in the cloth of gold that symbolizes his divinity. The red band on his shoulder is a klav, a symbol of authority in the Byzantine court. His right hand is extended to us in a sign of blessing — his two extended fingers symbolize his two natures, human and divine. His three fingers together symbolize the Trinity. The Virgin is dressed in a red, outer robe, symbolizing her humanity. The gold stars on her robe symbolize her virginity — before, during and after the birth of Christ. In accord with ancient iconographic tradition, the names of the Virgin and the Christ Child are inscribed in Greek abbreviations: MP OY, Mother of God, and IC XC, Jesus Christ.
