Like St. Mark,  St. Luke was not one of the Twelve Apostles, but was one of the the four Evangelists. He was a Gentile, not a Jew, born in Antioch. He was a physician by profession. Luke became a disciple of St. Paul and traveled with Paul and...

According to Church tradition, after the bodily death of Mary the Theotokos, she was buried by the Apostles. But Thomas was delayed, and he desired to look upon her face one last time. When the tomb was opened, her body was gone (for Christ had already...

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 historic Byzantine icon of Christ Calling Peter and Andrew depicts the scene as recorded in the Gospels (Matthew 4, Mark 1, John 1). This relatively simple, unadorned icon movingly depicts Christ's call to Andrew and Peter to leave their nets and...

Saint Stephen suffered during the iconoclasm of Emperor Leo the Isaurian (716-41). He defended the veneration of icons, and for this he was put on trial and imprisoned. In prison, he and over 300 other defenders of the icons organized a...

Matthew the Evangelist was also called Levi. As one of the Twelve Apostles, he witnessed the works and miracles of Jesus, and is traditionally held to have described those in the Gospel of his name eight years after the Ascension. When he was called...

Saint Nilus (or Neilos/Neil/Nil) was a disciple of Saint John Chrysostom and one of his greatest defenders when he was persecuted by the Empress Eudoxia. About the time of Chrysostom's exile, Nilus and his son went to live at Mount Sinai. There he...

The Seven Sleepers were a group of young soldiers who confessed their faith in Christ before the Emperor Decius. They were allowed to go free, and they fled to the caves to hide. As they prayed in preparation for martyrdom, they were discovered by...

Saint Paisios the Great was an Egyptian monastic father in the 5th century. His feast is celebrated on June 19.

This beautiful icon set includes the eight traditional Archangels, the leaders of the bodiless hosts of heaven. Inspire your mind with spiritual thoughts as you contemplate their intercession for you and your loved ones. Michael in the Hebrew...

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...

Father Seraphim (Eugene Rose) was born in San Diego, California, in 1934. He was baptized in the Methodist faith, but later lost his faith and became an atheist. In the 1950s, he attended college and delved into Buddhism, art and culture in San...

Saint John was born in 1871 in the Ryazan region of the Russian Empire. His father was a priest, and John followed in his footsteps, attending seminary. After marrying his wife, he was ordained a priest at the young age of 24. Having expressed interest...

This early 19th century Greek icon depicts the life and martyrdom of Saint George. It was painted in 1823, in the midst of the Greek war of independence, and surely brought strength and inspiration to those who viewed it. George was a soldier of noble...

Saint Dunstan was born in the southwest of England around the year 909. He was educated by Irish monks, and around the age of 25 he was ordained a priest. He lived as a hermit for nine years, until King Edmund appointed him the abbot of Glastonbury...

Saint Eustathius (Eustace, Eustathios) was born in the late first century and was named Placidus. He was a famous general during the reigns of Emperors Titus and Trajan. While out hunting one day, he was pursuing a stag. The Lord caused a vision of the...

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 famous 13th century icon depicts the life and martyrdom of Saint George. George was a soldier of noble birth from Cappadocia, and was put to death under Emperor Diocletian at Nicomedia on 23 April 303. The center icon depicts the most famous...

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 Clement was converted to Christ through the Apostle Peter. He served as the third Bishop of Rome after the death of the Apostles, from about AD 91 to 99. His feast is celebrated on November 23 in the West, November 24 by the Greeks, and November...

This stunning Ethiopian icon of St. George depicts the renowned soldier of Christ in combat with the dragon.  Saint George, sometimes called “the Trophy-bearer,” was born in the province of Cappadocia, Asia Minor (Turkey), in the third...

Saint Cyrus was from Alexandria of Egypt. He attended university and became a physician, treating his patients free of charge and healing miraculously in the name of Christ. Under the persecutions of Diocletian, he fled to the Persian Gulf to join a...

This icon is from the very Cave of the Apocalypse itself, on the island of Patmos, Greece, where the book of Revelation was written. It depicts the following passage:  I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation...

Evgeny (Yevgeny or Eugene) Rodionov was born in western Russia in 1977. He was conscripted into the Russian army in 1995 and deployed to Chechnya in the midst of the First Chechen War. While guarding a checkpoint, Evgeny and two other soldiers were...

This 19th century Russian “Academic” icon depicts the Archangel Gabriel. In this icon, Gabriel wears white, the color of purity, and blue, the color of humanity and especially the Virgin Mary. He holds a bouquet of lilies, which are...

Although his parents were strong Christians, Ephraim (or Ephrem), born in Nisbis, was thoughtless and rebellious in his youth. It was not until his antics bordered on crime and he was accused of theft that Ephrem began to repent of his ways, and...

An angel is a messenger of God, and a being which has stood before God and praised Him from a time before human comprehension. We cannot fully grasp what an angel's exact nature is, but we can understand an angel's function on earth. In icons,...

Saints Boris (in baptism, Romanus) and Gleb (in baptism, David) were sons of Saint Vladimir the Great Prince of Kiev. When their father was near death in the year 1015, their elder brother Svyatopolk planned to kill his brothers in order to seize power...

Saint Brendan was born in the year 484 in County Kerry, Ireland. He was educated in the monastery school at Tuam. When he was 26, he was ordained a priest and undertook several missionary journeys throughout the Scottish Isles and Britain. An...

This detail from the famous Hagia Sophia mosaic features Saint John the Baptist in a Deesis (Supplication) pose. The mosaic was completed in the 13th century. The Hagia Sophia iconography is some of the most beautiful in the world. Uncovered in...

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,...

Saint Mardarije of Libertyville was the first bishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the New World. He was born Ivan Uskokovich on November 2, 1889, in Kornet, Montenegro, to pious parents. Baptized in the local church of Saint George, young Ivan...

Saint Macarius the Great (or Makarios) was from Egypt. He struggled in the deserts near Skete in Thebaid, northern Egypt. He was called "the child elder" for his advanced wisdom and ascetic life. He was a renowned preacher, and some fifty of his...

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.

He brought Prince Joasaph of India to faith in Christ. They are commemorated together on November 19.

Dobri Dobrev was a Bulgarian ascetic. Born in 1914, his father died in World War I and he was raised by his mother. He married in 1940 and had four children. He soon found himself serving in World War II, during which an explosion left him almost...

This historic icon from Mt. Athos features Saint Theophanes the Confessor, renowned for his faithfulness to the Church. Saint Theophanes the Confessor was the brother of Theodore the Branded. They were born in Palestine to righteous parents, and...

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...

Saint Theodore, known as "Graptus" ("the Branded") was the brother of Theophanes the Confessor. They were born in Palestine to righteous parents, and entered the great monastery of Saint Sabbas. The brothers lived during the iconoclastic period,...