The Spear of Mercurius T-Shirt

According to Catholic tradition, St Basil once prayed before an icon on which Mercurius was portrayed as a soldier carrying a spear. As the saint prayed, he asked God not to permit the the infamous emperor Julian the Apostate (361-363) to return from his war against the Persians and resume his oppression of Christians. For a time, the image of the holy Great Martyr Mercurius depicted on the icon became invisible, only to reappear later with a bloodied spear. St Basil would later learn that Julian the Apostate, on his Persian campaign, was mortally wounded by the spear of an unknown soldier. St Mercurius, pray for us!