Saint Pancratius lived during the time of the Apostles, and he came to Christ through Saint Peter. They traveled together to Sicily, where Saint Paul was preaching at that time. Together they made Pancratius bishop of Taormina, and through his...

Saint Anatolius was a priest of Alexandria. After the Robber Council of 449, the heretical Patriarch Dioscorus of Alexandria consecrated Anatolius as Patriarch of Constantinople, thinking that Anatolius would support his views. But Anatolius upheld...

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,...

Saint (Elder) Paisios was an Athonite monk, spiritual father, founder of monasteries, and prolific writer of many works that have been translated and read throughout the world. He reposed in 1994. The saint was glorified by the Ecumenical Patriarchate...

Saint Meletius (or Meletios or Melitius) was an Armenian. He became bishop of Sebaste in 357, but was later banished and he went to Syria. After the deposition of the Arian bishop of Antioch, the Orthodox and the Arian factions debated over who to...

Saint Andrew was born about the year 650 in Damascus, Syria. At the age of 14 he joined the Monastery of St. Sabbas the Sanctified in Jerusalem. Known for his virtue, he became the secretary of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and attended the Sixth...

Saint Raphael was born in Beirut in 1860. He spent the first decades of his life traveling throughout the Middle East and Russia, gaining knowledge and experience as a clergyman. Father Raphael was called to America and established a parish in...

Saint Athanasius was the founder of the first monastic communities on Mount Athos in Greece about the turn of the first millennium. To this day, Athos is the home of some 20 ancient monastic communities, including Saint Athanasius' original community,...

Saint Martinian (or Martinianos/Martin) was an early-5th century monastic father of Caesarea in Palestine. He once brought to repentance a woman who was trying to tempt him. His feast is celebrated on February 13.

Saint Marina the Great Martyr was from Antioch in Pisidia. She suffered under Diocletian in the 3rd century. She is commemorated on July 17. Margaret, Maggie, Megan, and Meghan are all forms of the same name.

Saint John was the Russian Orthodox bishop of various cities in the 20th century, including Shanghai, China, and San Francisco, California. In these and other places he cared for his flock, which included many Russians who had fled the persecution of...

Saint (Elder) Paisios was an Athonite monk, spiritual father, founder of monasteries, and prolific writer of many works that have been translated and read throughout the world. He reposed in 1994. The saint was glorified by the Ecumenical Patriarchate...

This historic Russian icon depicts the Archangel Garbiel, the chief liaison between God and man. He is clothed in brilliant orange and purple deacon's vestments, speaking of his mediating role. He holds a reed in his left hand, symbolizing the authority...

Originally called Prokhor, St. Seraphim was born to middle-class parents in Russia in 1754. He became very ill as a young child, but was healed by the wonderworking Kursk Root Icon through his own faith and the faith of his mother. After this...

The Glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist John was the older cousin of our Lord. He was born miraculously of his aged parents, specially chosen by God to prepare the way for Christ, the Messiah. It was John who identified Jesus as "the Lamb of God...

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,...

This contemporary Byzantine icon depicts the Archangel Gabriel in glorious form and color. He holds a reed in his left hand, symbolizing the authority delegated to him by the Lord of Hosts. In his right hand, he bears an orb with the Greek letter chi...

This contemporary Byzantine icon depicts the glory of the Archangel Gabriel. Serving as chief liaison between God and man, he serves as messenger, including announcing the Incarnation to the Theotokos/Virgin Mary. Here, he is depicted in glorious...

The Glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist John was the older cousin of our Lord. He was born miraculously of his aged parents, specially chosen by God to prepare the way for Christ, the Messiah. It was John who identified Jesus as "the Lamb of God...

This historic icon depicts the Archangel Gabriel in his service and posture as chief messenger of the Lord of Hosts. From a larger icon depicting his Annunciation to the Theotokos, it depicts him holding a rod in his left hand, symbolizing his...

Saint Thekla (or Thecla) was born into a pagan noble family just sixteen years after the Ascension. When she was eighteen, against the wishes of her mother and fiancé, she became a disciple of St. Paul. Despite the objections of her...

This historic Russian icon depicts the Archangel Gabriel in festal robes in a posture of intercession for the faithful. It is a detail from a ddeësis (supplication) row of a 17th-century Russian iconostasis. He bears a scepter and orb, symbolizing...

Originally called Prokhor, St. Seraphim was born to middle-class parents in Russia in 1754. He became very ill as a young child, but was healed by the wonderworking Kursk Root Icon through his own faith and the faith of his mother. After this...

This contemporary Byzantine icon depicts the Archangel Gabriel in shining white and red. He bears a scepter, 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 Raphael was born in Beirut in 1860. He spent the first decades of his life traveling throughout the Middle East and Russia, gaining knowledge and experience as a clergyman. Father Raphael was called to America and established a parish in...

Saint Theodore the Soldier (or "the Recruit," "the Tyro" or Theodore of Amasea) was a soldier and martyr in the early 4th century, enduring the persecutions of the emperors Maximian and Maximus. When it was discovered he was a Christian, a judge...

  In 5th century Jerusalem, the custom began that the faithful would hold candles during the Divine Liturgy on February 2, the feast of the Presentation of Christ (or Meeting of the Lord) in the Temple. This custom spread throughout the world, and...

On February 15, 2015, the Moslem terrorists of Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) executed these 21 Coptic Orthodox men for their Christian faith. The video which showed the brutal beheadings called them "people of the cross, followers of the hostile...

The Holy Trinity is our fount and source of being, life, and salvation. In the Orthodox Church, worship begins and ends with the words, "Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." From Holy Scripture’s account of...

The holy Myrrhbearer and Equal of the Apostles Mary Magdalene was from the village of Magdala on the Sea of Galilee. At some point in her life, she came under the possession of seven demons. The Lord Jesus cast the demons out (Luke 8), and Mary became...