Icons

This touching 19th century Russian icon depicts the Martyr Sophia and her daughters Faith, Hope, and Love (in Slavonic: Vera, Nadezhda, and Lyubov). They lived near Rome in the 2nd century. Under the reign of Hadrian, they were found to be Christians...

Saint Hannah was the wife of Elkanah. She was deeply grieved by her barrenness, and she devoted herself to prayer in the temple. Once, as she was fervently praying in silence, the priest Eli thought she was drunk and rebuked her. But she poured out her...

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...

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,...

Saint Brigit (also spelled Brigid or Bridget) was an Irish abbess of the convent of Kildare-Kil Dara, which means Cell of the Oak. She was well-known for her generosity and kindness, and for the many miracles she worked for those in need. Together with...

Saint Cecilia was from a wealthy Roman family. Through her witness to the Gospel, she brought her husband and brother into the Faith. They suffered martyrdom in the year 288, during the reign of Diocletian. Her feast is celebrated on November 22. She...

Saint Lucy (or Lucia) of Syracuse in Sicily, was a martyr for the Faith under the persecution of Diocletian. She suffered in the early 4th century, at about the age of 20, after she refused to marry a pagan suitor. Her feast is celebrated on December...

Also known as Parasceva the New, Parascheva of Moldova, or Petka of Serbia, this 11th century ascetic is one of the most beloved saints of the Balkans. Her relics are enshrined in Iasi, Romania, where a procession occurs each year on her feast...

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...

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 Katherine (also spelled Catherine) was a Great Martyr who suffered in the year 305 at the hands of Maximinus of Alexandria. She is commemorated in the Slavic churches on November 24, the date of her martyrdom. In the Byzantine churches, she is...

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 Pelagia was an actress, dancer, and harlot who lived in Antioch of Palestine in the 4th or 5th century. One day, while Saint Nonnus the Bishop of Edessa was preaching, Pelagia passed by and Nonnus stared at her beauty, while the rest turned...

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.

Barbara, born in the third century in Syria, was so beautiful that her pagan father placed her in an isolated tower to keep her innocent of any influence except his own until she could be married. Like St. Christina, Barbara also came to realize...

Saint Lucia (also known as Lucy) of Syracuse in Sicily, was a martyr under the persecution of Emperor Diocletian. She suffered early in the 4th century, at about the age of 20, after she refused to marry a pagan. Her feast is celebrated on December 13,...

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

The holy Virgin Martyr Paraskevi (or Paraskeva) was born in Rome in the 2nd century to Christian parents. From her earliest years she was devout, spending much of her time in prayer and reading the Scriptures. After her parents' death, she dedicated...

Barbara, born in the third century in Syria, was so beautiful that her pagan father placed her in an isolated tower to keep her innocent of any influence except his own until she could be married. Like St. Christina, Barbara also came to realize...

Saint Genevieve was born in the village of Nanterre, west of Paris in Gaul (modern France), about the year 420. When she was eight years old, she expressed to Saint Germanus of Auxerre her desire to consecrate her virginity to the Lord. About the age...

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 Agnes lived in Rome, the child of Christian parents. She dedicated herself to a life of virginity for the sake of Christ, and refused the proposal of the son of a Roman official. After confessing Christ, she was arrested, tortured, thrown into...

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...

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,...

Saint Lydia was a first-century “seller of purple,” an expensive, wine-colored fabric.  As described in Acts 16, Saint Paul received a vision in which a man pleaded with him to come to Macedonia. When he awoke, he immediately set out...

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...

This historic Byzantine icon of the Myrrh-bearers at the Tomb recall the scene as reported by the Four Gospels.  After the Resurrection, the Myrrh-bearing Women came to the tomb. They found the soldiers fallen as dead, the stone rolled away, and an...

Saint Katherine (also spelled Catherine) is celebrated as a Great Martyr of the Orthodox Church. She suffered greatly for her faith in Christ in the year 305 at the hands of Maximinus of Alexandria. She was killed for refusing his marriage intentions,...

Saint Phoebe was a deaconess in the church of Cenchreae in Corinth. She was mentioned by Saint Paul in the Book of Romans as a benefactor of many, including Paul himself. He sent Phoebe to Rome to gain support for his missionary work. Her feast is...

These martyrs were from Iconium in Asia Minor. When her husband died, Julitta was left to raise her three-year-old son Cyricus (or Quriaqos) alone. During the persecutions of Diocletian, they fled to Tarsus, but were arrested in the year 305...

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

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...

Saint Matrona lived in the fifth century. After the death of her husband, she entered the monastic life and founded a women's monastery in Constantinople, which became known for its strict rule of life and the holiness of the women who lived there...

Saint Theodora was born in Paphlagonia, along the Black Sea coast in Asia Minor, about the year 815. The daughter of a military commander, she is believed to have been of Armenian descent. When Theodora was about 15 years old, she was selected to...

Saint Cassiani was a nun and eminent poet who lived in the 9th century. She established a convent in Constantinople, and excelled as a theologian and musician, composing hymns for her nuns.  Dozens of her hymns endure in the liturgical life of the...

Saint Ia Wen was a Chinese Orthodox Christian school teacher. She was martyred at the age of 56 on the night of June 10, 1900. She was among about a dozen Orthodox Christians who were slain while sheltering in the house of their priest, Fr. Mitrophan...

Saint Tatiana lived in Rome in the early 3rd century. She was raised a Christian and served as a deaconess. After her prayers resulted in the miraculous destruction of various idols and pagan temples, she was arrested and brutally tortured. Her...

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...