Saint Panteleimon lived in the late 3rd century. A native of Nicomedia, his mother wished for him to be raised a Christian. When she died young, his pagan father sent him to be educated as a physician. He was befriended by Saint Hermolaus, a priest, and...

Saints Fyodor (Theodore) and his son John were Varangian Christians who had immigrated from Greece to Kiev. Before his conversion to Christianity in the year 988, Saint Vladimir the Great was a ruthless and violent pagan ruler. After a certain victory...

Saint Olaf II was an early King of Norway and Christian martyr. He was born about the year 995 to the royal family of the small kingdom of Vestfold. He grew up participating in fighting expeditions. Around the age of 19, he converted to the Christian...

Saint Benjamin was born in 1873 in the northwestern Russian Empire with the name of Vasily. At age 20, he graduated from seminary. Two years later, he was ordained a priest-monk with the name of Benjamin. A man of great intellect, he served as a...

Mother Maria (Skobtsova) was a native of Latvia, born in 1891. As a teenager, she was drawn to the teachings of the Socialists. Eventually her concern for the poor led her back to her faith in Christ, and she returned to her native Russian Orthodox...

Saint Mary lived in the fifth century. As a girl, she left her Christian family in order to follow her pleasures in unbridled sinful living. At one point she joined a group of pilgrims to Jerusalem, selling herself in exchange for passage. When they...

This incredible icon of Saint Elias the Prophet is from the iconostasis at Saint Nicholas Anthiochian Orthodox Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It features Saint Elias being taken up to heaven in the chariot of fire, while his disciple, the Prophet...

This stunning icon of Saint George is from the iconostasis at Saint Nicholas Anthiochian Orthodox Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It features Saint George on horseback outside a city, famously slaying the dragon while an angel places the crown of...

This unique icon of Saint George is a portrait-style icon, featuring a close-up view of his face. Saint George "the Trophy-bearer" was born in Cappadocia, Asia Minor (modern Turkey), in the third century and raised as a Christian. About age 20, he...

The holy New Martyr Dionysios was a monk of Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos. In 1822, he was sent to Crete with the holy Belt of the Theotokos admidst an epidemic that was ravaging the island. A revolution had broken out on the island against the...

This beautiful example of Western iconography is part of the Lindisfarne Gospel illuminated manuscript, which was produced in England in the early 8th century. We see Saint Mark writing his Gospel. The text at the top reads Imago Leonis, "Image of...

This touching icon of the holy Ancestor of God Saint Anna is by the hand of American iconographer Mark Fiorenzo. It depicts the mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother of Jesus Christ embracing her daughter. The young Mary holds a flower. This icon...

This finely-painted icon of the holy priest-monk Saint Paisios of Mount Athos is by the hand of American iconographer Mark Fiorenzo. It depicts the holy saint in his monastic habit, wearing the Great Schema and his distinctive knit cap. He holds a...

The Apostle and Evangelist Mark (also called John Mark) is the author of the Gospel of Mark. According to Church tradition, he was the young man who was seized by soldiers in the Garden of Gethsemane and fled away naked (Mark 14:51-52). He was a...

While not himself one of the Twelve Apostles, the Evangelist St. Mark is said to have been present at Jesus’ arrest. In the Gospel of Mark, the “young man” who ran away from the scene, and apparently watched the Crucifixion from afar,...

St. James, the brother of St. John the Evangelist, was with his brother among the second of the Apostles to be called to Jesus. With John as well, James was given the surname "Boanerges," Sons of Thunder, by Jesus, and with John and Peter James was...

Saint Tatiana was the second daughter of Tsar St. Nicholas II and Tsarina St. Alexandra. She was born in 1897. She was widely known for her beauty and elegance, but within the Royal Family, she was a second maternal figure for her younger siblings...

This contemporary Byzantine icon celebrates Saint Marina the Great Martyr. She lived in was from Antioch in Pisidia (modern-day Turkey). As a holy virgin, she suffered faithfully and endured many struggles before reposing under the Roman emperor...

This beautiful Byzantine icon depicts Saint Athanasia of Aegina, Greece, who lived in the 9th century. Besides serving as an advisor to the Byzantine empress, she was an abbess known for her healing of the sick and those who suffered demon possession...

This is an original and unique icon from Saint Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral. It depicts Saint Raphael of Brooklyn, the founding cleric of the Cathedral community in 1895, and Saint Tikhon of Moscow, who actually consecrated the old Saint...

This contemporary Byzantine icon depicts the Archangel Gabriel in vivid colors. He bears a scepter and orb, denoting the authority delegated to him by the Lord of Hosts. As a member of one of the nine celestial hierarchies accounted by Scripture and...

Saint Mary lived in the fifth century. As a girl, she left her Christian family in order to follow her pleasures in unbridled sinful living. At one point she joined a group of pilgrims to Jerusalem, selling herself in exchange for passage. When they...

Outside the city of Constantinople, there was a sacred spring dedicated to the Virgin Mary. A monastery grew up there in the 5th century, and over time the spring was overgrown by a grove of trees. The Byzantine Emperor encountered a blind man who was...

Saint Sophrony was born to Orthodox parents in Russia in 1896 and was named Sergei Sakharov. As a child he prayed for long periods of time every day, and even experienced the Uncreated Light. As he came of age, he became a talented artist and attended...

Saint Nicholas II reigned as the last Tsar (Emperor) of Russia from 1894 to 1917. His rule saw the liberalization and eventual fall of the Russian Empire in the Bolshevik Revolution, which ushered in the Soviet communism which was incredibly...

Saint Joseph lived in Syria in the 19th century. He was a priest who worked as a translator and editor of the Church Fathers' writings, desiring to bring their teachings to the faithful. In 1860, a wave of anti-Christian Druze riots swept through...

Joachim and Anna were the parents of the holy Virgin Mary. They were childless, and for this they were derided by their fellow Jews, who believed they must have been cursed. They both devoted themselves to prayer, and they each vowed to dedicate their...

Saint Theodore was born in Constantinople to wealthy and pious Christian parents. When he was old enough, he left everything behind and entered a monastery in Thrace, west of Constantinople. He rejected his former comfortable lifestyle and wore only an...

Saint Theodore was born out of wedlock in Sykeon of Galatia. When he was a child, his mother gave him a soldier's belt, and told him he would be a soldier. The Great Martyr George then appeared to her and told her that God had a different plan for her...

Saint Sisoes lived in the fourth century, and he was a contemporary of Saint Anthony the Great. When Saint Anthony died, Sisoes went to live in his cave. His ascetic labor carried him to the heights of spiritual purity, and he was given the gift of...

While not himself one of the Twelve Apostles, the Evangelist St. Mark is said to have been present at Jesus’ arrest. In the Gospel of Mark, the “young man” who ran away from the scene, and apparently watched the Crucifixion from...

This Saint Valentine lived in Silistria (modern Bulgaria) in the 3rd century. He was a soldier in the Roman army, and when he was 30 years old, he confessed his faith in Christ, together with his brother Pasikrates. They were tortured and martyred...

  Saint Gabriel was born on March 22, 1684, in Zvierki (Zwierki, Poland). His parents, Peter and Anastasia, maintained their Orthodox faith despite the growth of Uniatism in the region. As a child, Gabriel preferred prayer and solitude rather than...

After the miraculous conception of Saint John the Baptist by Saint Elizabeth and the Annunciation to the Theotokos of the conception of the Lord Jesus, the two cousins met at Elizabeth's home. When the Theotokos entered Elizabeth's presence, John leapt...

Father Roman Braga was born in 1922 in a small village in central Moldova. His mother was a devout Orthodox Christian, and she raised him in a religious environment centered around the monastery of Condrita. During World War II, Roman attended seminary...

Saint Zacchaeus was a tax collector (publican). His encounter with the Lord is recorded in Luke 19, which resulted in Zacchaeus turning from his greed and following Christ. After the Ascension, he traveled with Saint Peter, becoming one of the Seventy...

Saint Valentine (or Valentinus) was a 3rd century bishop of Terni in Italy. He was martyred in Rome in 269. He is commemorated on February 14 by Western Christians and on July 30 by the Eastern Orthodox. There is another Saint Valentine, a presbyter of...

Saint Nicholas II reigned as the last Tsar (Emperor) of Russia from 1894 to 1917. His rule saw the liberalization and eventual fall of the Russian Empire in the Bolshevik Revolution, which ushered in the Soviet communism which was incredibly...

Saint Anna was the wife of Saint Joachim. In her old age, Anna became the mother of the Virgin Mary Theotokos, and the grandmother of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Her feast is celebrated on September 9, and she is known as a powerful intercessor for...

Saint Elizabeth was born in Germany in 1864 to a noble family. At age 14 she was orphaned, and was raised in part by her grandmother, Queen Victoria of Great Britain. She married into the Russian Royal Family in 1884, joining to her husband, Grand Duke...