This icon is a beautiful contemporary Byzantine portrayal of the Old Testament Prophet Ezekiel. Renowned for his visions of the angelic hosts and the New Jerusalem, his message of God’s salvation came at a time of national calamity. Handcrafted in...

Saint Olga was the wife of Igor, the Prince of Kiev, in the tenth century. When her husband died, she assumed the throne. This was during the evangelization of the Slavic peoples, and Olga herself converted to Christ, and was baptized in Constantinople...

This icon is a beautiful contemporary Byzantine portrayal of the Old Testament Prophet Solomon. As the son of David, he also is included in the line of Christ as one of his fore-fathers. Renowned for his Wisdom literature (Song of Solomon and...

This icon is a beautiful Byzantine portrayal of the Old Testament Prophet Zephaniah. A contemporary of the Prophet Jeremiah, he lived during the time of King Josiah and was instrumental in helping to eliminate idolatry and prepare Israel for its...

This icon is a beautiful contemporary Byzantine portrayal of the Old Testament Prophet Zechariah. He is renowned for his visions of coming events, including the coming of the Messiah and the angelic intercessions for God’s people. As such, the...

The Prophet Jonah (or Jonas) lived in the 8th century before Christ. He prophesied to the Israelites and the Ninevites, calling all to repentance. He also foretold of the coming Messiah. Jonah was eaten by a sea creature and spent three days in...

This icon is a beautiful contemporary Byzantine portrayal of the Old Testament Prophet Micah. Renowned for his prophecies of the coming Messiah and God’s redemption of His rebellious people, the Prophet Micah holds an important place in the...

Ruth lived about the 13th century before Christ. She was the great-grandmother of David, the King of Israel. During a time of famine in Israel, Elimelech and Naomi of Bethlehem took their sons and traveled to the nearby country of Moab. Elimelech died,...

This icon is a beautiful Byzantine portrayal of the Old Testament Prophet Jonah. Called to prophecy the imminent destruction of the wicked Assyrian empire, Jonah famously disobeyed God and fled across the Mediterranean Sea. After being caught in a...

This icon is a beautiful contemporary Byzantine portrayal of the Old Testament Prophet Jeremiah. Renowned for his prophecies of the coming Messiah and records of the destruction of Jerusalem during the Babylonian exile, his message of enduring hope...

In this radiant icon, we see Moses and Aaron standing within the Tabernacle of Witness. Moses holds a chalice and a text of the Law, while Aaron the high priest holds a censer and the budded rod. The orb with the seven-branch candle stand contains an...

After the Resurrection, the Myrrh-bearing Women came to the tomb. They found the soldiers fallen as dead, the stone rolled away, and an angel sitting on it. He showed them the Lord’s empty grave clothes, and told them to tell the Disciples of the...

The Church has received the tradition of the conception of the Mother of God from the ancient Fathers of the Church. The Virgin Mary was born to her parents about 16 or 17 years before the birth of Christ. Her father Joachim was descended from the...

Emperor Constantine the Great, Equal-to-the-Apostles, legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire. He once saw a vision of the Cross in the sky and heard a voice say, "In this sign conquer." His mother, Helen, served as his Empress. She was devoted to...

The equals-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine, who legalized and defended Christianity in the Roman Empire, and his mother Helen, who discovered the precious Cross of the Lord, are celebrated together on May 21.

Blessed Xenia (pronounced Ksenia) lived in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the 18th century. Her husband Andrew, a Colonel in the Russian Army, died suddenly when she was 26 years old. Xenia was devastated, as Andrew died while drinking and carrying on...

Saint Susanna  is mentioned in the Gospel of Luke as one of the women-disciples who followed the Lord and paid for his expenses throughout His ministry. She was one of the Myrrh-bearing Women who followed Christ, and saw the angel at the tomb...

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...

Aaron was the brother of Moses. While God assigned the task of Israelite leadership directly to Moses, Aaron became an important leader in his own right.  At his first encounter with God, Moses expressed concern that he was not well-spoken enough...

Samuel’s prophecies were a driving force in the era after the Israelites had settled in one land. His conception and birth, after his then-barren mother Hannah offered her sorrow to God and asked for His mercy and blessing, foreshadows the...

Moses was a prophet, transcriber of Holy Law, and mediator between God and man. Through Moses, God made Himself known to the people of Israel. In his obedience to God and his communication of the Law to the people, Moses laid the foundation for our...

While Elijah and Elisha are both notable for their prophetic deeds, Isaiah (or Isaias), who appears in the Bible shortly after Elisha’s death, is a more traditional prophet of words. Isaiah advised Hezekiah, a God-fearing king, passing on...

Elisha (or Elisseus) succeeded Elijah, and throughout his life performed similar wonders and miracles. After he watched Elijah’s being accepted into Heaven, Elisha went on to provide wholesome land, food, and water for cities stricken with famine...

Elijah (or in Greek, Elias) lived under the rule of Ahab, “who did evil before the Lord, more than all who were before him” (3 Kgd. 16:38). Through Elijah, God gave the world a voice of justice in an unjust time. But the miracles and signs...

Elijah (or in Greek, Elias) lived under the rule of Ahab, “who did evil before the Lord, more than all who were before him” (3 Kgd. 16:38). Through Elijah, God gave the world a voice of justice in an unjust time. But the miracles and signs...

Elijah (or in Greek, Elias) lived under the rule of Ahab, “who did evil before the Lord, more than all who were before him” (3 Kgd. 16:38). Through Elijah, God gave the world a voice of justice in an unjust time. But the miracles and signs...

The Great Prophet and King David, who lived about the 11th century before Christ, is one of the great prefigurements of our Lord. One of his greatest contributions to the Christian faith is the book of Psalms; many of these hymns prophecy the coming of...

Job was a descendent of Abraham, and righteous in every way. For this, he was richly blessed with wealth and power. God saw fit to test Job. All at once, he lost his children and his wealth. His body was afflicted with painful sores. Job's few...

This beautiful example of Western iconography is a manuscript illumination by Haregarius of Tours (France), dating from about the year 850. Christ is enthroned in the center, surrounded by the four Evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and the...

The Three Holy Youths Ananias, Misael, and Azarias were among the Jews who were taken to Babylon in the sixth century BC. King Nebuchadnezzar took them into his royal household where they served, along with the Prophet Daniel. They were given Persian...

The Prophet Joel lived some 800 years before Christ. One of the Minor Prophets, he prophesied of the coming of the Holy Spirit. He is commemorated on October 19.

Gideon was appointed by God as one of the Judges of Israel during the Old Testament. His feast is celebrated on September 26, and he is also remembered among the Old Testament righteous on the Sunday of the Forefathers in December.

The Prophet Jonah (or Jonas) lived in the 8th century before Christ. He prophesied to the Israelites and the Ninevites, calling all to repentance. He also foretold of the coming Messiah. Jonah was eaten by a sea creature and spent three days in...

The Church has received the tradition of the conception of the Mother of God from the ancient Fathers of the Church. The Virgin Mary was born to her parents about 16 or 17 years before the birth of Christ. Her father Joachim was descended from the...

Saint Vladimir was the grandson of Saint Olga, who became a Christian at Constantinople. Vladimir's father Svyatoslav divided his kingdom among his three sons. Vladimir, at that time a fierce pagan, was granted the principality of Novgorod. He...

Saint Chloe was a citizen of Corinth and a co-worker of the Apostle Paul. She was concerned about divisions forming within the Church of that city, and she rushed to Ephesus to ask Saint Paul for help (I Corinthians 1:11). From this, we can see that...

This 17th century icon features the Prophet Elias (Elijah, Iliya) and the Patriarch Enoch (Enokh). What these Old Testament men have in common is that they never died. According to Genesis, Enoch walked with God for 365 years "and he was no more;"...

The holy prophet Joshua, the Son of Nun (in Greek, Jesus of Navi), was called by Moses to survey the Promised Land. He urged the people to trust in God as they prepared to enter the land. He was chosen to succeed Moses, and after Moses' death, Joshua...

Saint Joasaph (or Ioasaph, Josaphat) was the son of King Abenner of India. He was brought to faith through Saint Barlaam the Desert-Dweller. They are commemorated together on November 19.

Job was a descendent of Abraham, and righteous in every way. For this, he was richly blessed with wealth and power. God saw fit to test Job. All at once, he lost his children and his wealth. His body was afflicted with painful sores. Job's few...