Saint Cyprian served as bishop of Carthage in the Roman province of Africa (in modern Tunisia). He was baptized late in life, but his conversion was radical and swift. Because of his great zeal, he was ordained a deacon, then priest, then bishop within...

Saint Basil was born in Caesarea in 329, to a holy family full of saints. He went to complete his education in Athens, where he first met his lifelong friend Saint Gregory the Theologian. Later, after he had spent some time in solitude, Basil...

Saint Gregory served as the 63rd Pope of Rome from 590 to 604. He was known for his writings, especially the Dialogues, and his almsgiving. He initiated the first major missionary effort among the Anglo-Saxons. He made several important contributions to...

Saint Aidan was a seventh century Irish missionary who preached in Northumbria in northern England. Centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the impacts of the fall were beginning to fade, and paganism was making a comeback in the British...

Saint Mark was born in Constantinople in 1392. He entered the monastic life as a young man, and he became a devoted student of the hesychastic teachings of Saint Gregory Palamas. Hesychasm is an Eastern Orthodox tradition of contemplative prayer, with...

Saint Philip II served as Metropolitan of Moscow (1566-68) during the reign of Tsar Ivan IV "the Terrible." He was born with the name Fyodor (Theodore) in 1507 to a leading Russian noble family. He grew up in close proximity to the royal court, but was...

Saint Païsy was born in 1722 in Poltava in modern Ukraine. He was baptized by his father, a priest, with the name Peter. His father died young, and his mother Irene raised her 12 children in piety. At age 17, Peter decided to become a monk and went...

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...

Saint Sebastian (Dabovich) was born the son of Serbian immigrants in San Francisco, California, in 1863. He studied theology in Kiev and Saint Petersburg, where he was tonsured a monk and ordained a hierodeacon in 1887. After completing his education,...

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...

Saint Nino (also spelled Nina or Nune) was born in Cappadocia about the year 280. She was a kinswoman of Saint George. Her parents sold their possessions, moved to Jerusalem, and entered the monastic life, leaving Nino in the care of an old woman who...

Saint Ronan lived in the sixth century. A native of Ireland, he decided to leave everything behind and went on a pilgrimage to Brittany in modern western France. There he established a hermitage for monks, and like the Desert Fathers of old, he gained a...

Saint Philoumenos was born in Morphou, Cyprus, in 1913. At the age of 14, he and his twin brother entered the monastic life in Cyprus, and at age 20 departed for Jerusalem. There, Fr. Philoumenos became a priest and was raised to the rank of...

Saint Spyridon was from Cyprus, where he worked as a shepherd. After the death of his wife, he was appointed Bishop of Trimythus. At the First Ecumenical Council, he refuted the Arians using his simple wisdom. God granted him the gift of wonderworking,...

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 icon by Brian Whirledge features Saint Dionysius in his episcopal robes, holding the Gospel. As one of the earliest converts to Christianity, he is an important figure in the first century Church. Saint Dionysius was the second bishop of Athens. He...

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...

This icon of the holy priest-monk Saint Porphyrios of Kafsokalivia is by the hand of American iconographer Mark Fiorenzo. It shows the holy saint in his monastic garments, priestly stole and cuffs, and his distinctive knit cap. He holds the book of the...

This icon of the great poet and hymnographer Saint Ephraim the Syrian is by the hand of American iconographer Mark Fiorenzo. It shows the holy saint in his monastic clothing and distinctive head covering. He holds a scroll with the beginning of his...

This beautiful icon of beloved Saint Euphrosynos is by the hand of American iconographer Mark Fiorenzo. It shows the humble saint in his monastic clothing, holding the three golden apples of Paradise mentioned in the account of his life. Saint...

This icon by American iconographer Mark Fiorenzo depicts the great 20th century luminary Saint Nektarios in his black monastic habit. He holds the Gospel and raises his hand in a gesture of blessing, proper to his role in the Church as a bishop. Saint...

Saint Moses the Ethiopian, also known as Moses the Black, lived in Egypt during the fourth century. He was a slave, but after committing a murder, his master cast him out. Moses carried on with his sinful life, and was widely feared for his infamous...

This beautiful icon features the 13 holy fathers who are considered to be the founders of Georgian monasticism. Their names are: John of Zedazeni, Abibus of Nekresi, Anthony of Martqopi, David of Gareji, Zenon of Iqalto, Thaddeus of Stepantsminda, Jesse...

This stunning fresco depicts the arrival of the Gospel to the natives of Alaska.  Saints Herman, Juvenaly, and Innocent were the first saints of the Orthodox Church to shine forth in the wilderness of Alaska. With a missionary spirit desiring to...

Saint Patrick was a 5th century missionary and bishop in Ireland, and he is the foremost patron saint of that country. His feast is celebrated on March 17 by Christians all around the world. In the icon, he is vested as a bishop. He holds the Gospel in...

Saint Seraphim is one of the Orthodox Church's most beloved holy elders. This icon was painted in the 19th century, featuring beautifully embossed gold and colored inlays. He was born in western Russia in 1754. According to tradition, he was sickly as...

This contemporary Byzantine icon depicts Saint Gabriel (Urgebadze) the Fool for Christ. A renowned Georgian saint, he endured brutal persecution during Soviet rule and lived a long faithful life as an ascetic. His relics and intercessions have long been...

This beautiful Byzantine icon depicts Saint Theophylact of Ohrid. Renowned for his writings on Scripture and missionary presence to the Bulgarians in the 11th-12th centuries, he reposed on December 31, 1107, and is commemorated on that day.  This...

This contemporary Byzantine icon depicts the renowned Russian St. Juliana of Lazarevo (and Murom). Faithful as a spouse, mother, and daughter of the Church, she cared for the needs of her family and the poor in her community. She bore hardship and...

Saint Abigail (also known as Gobnait or Gobnata) was born in Ireland around the beginning of the sixth century. After seeing a vision of white deer, she was granted land to build a women's monastery at Ballyvourney. As abbess, she was known for gifts...

Saint Hilda was born in 614 in the north of modern England. She was a relative of King Edwin of Northumbria, who became a Christian about 627. At the age of 33, Hilda became a nun under the guidance of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne. She learned the...

Saint Nicholas was born in the third century in the city of Patara. His wealthy Christian parents died when he was young, and he gave his inheritance to the poor. Devoting himself to the Church, Nicholas was eventually ordained Bishop of Myra...

This icon is a reproduction of the Cathedral Shrine to St. Raphael. Originally commissioned prior to his becoming a saint, the icon was later corrected after his glorification in 2000. An interesting feature of this icon is the engolpion (panagia) that...

This icon of Saint Raphael of Brooklyn is from Saint Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral in Brooklyn. It depicts Saint Raphael in his full ligturgical vestments. Surrounding him is a vine sprouting from the seeds of Orthodoxy he planted in North...

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...

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...

Saint Joseph was born in Greece in 1897. At the age of 23 he began to read the lives of the Saints, which sparked a yearning to enter the monastic life. He began to withdraw to the uninhabited countryside, and finally departed to Mount Athos. He...

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...