Saints

This beautiful contemporary icon depicts Saints Nicholas and Spyridon the Wonderworkers, Protectors of Those at Sea. Traditionally considered the protectors and patrons of those who travel by sea, they intercede for all of those who travel.  A...

This glorious icon of Saint John the Baptist and Forerunner is from the iconostasis at Saint Nicholas Anthiochian Orthodox Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was painted by Fr. Theodore Koufos of blessed memory.  The Glorious Prophet, Forerunner,...

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

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...

This contemporary Byzantine icon depicts St. Laurence of Rome in the beautiful robes of his diaconate.  Saint Lawrence (or Laurence) lived in the 3rd century. He was a companion of Pope Martyr St. Sixtus II, one of Rome's seven deacons at that...

This historic icon from Mt. Athos depicts the Old Testament Patriarch Jacob. Known as the man who wrestled with the Angel of God, his life was one of hardship and preparation. His and his children’s story takes up more than half of the book of...

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,...

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...

This contemporary Byzantine icon depicts the Righteous Rebecca, bride of Isaac and mother of Esau and Jacob. As the grandmother of Jacob’s twelve sons, she figures prominently in Christ’s lineage. In addition, her story of trust and fidelity...

The martyrs Adrian and Natalia (Natalie) were husband and wife from Nicomedia, and they suffered around the turn of the 4th century. Adrian was a pagan, but when he saw the bravery of the Christian martyrs, he declared himself to be a Christian. For...

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...

This icon is a beautiful contemporary Byzantine portrayal of the Old Testament Prophet Daniel. Renowned for his faithfulness to the God of his fathers in a foreign land, the Prophet Daniel figures in some of the most well-known stories from Hebrew and...

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...

Saint Nicodemus (or Nikodemos) was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin. He is known as "the Secret Disciple" because he visited Jesus at night to discuss his teachings (John 3). He became known as a disciple of Christ, but not openly. As a member...

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...

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...

This icon depicts scenes from the life of Saint John the Forerunner and Baptist. In the first panel, John's father Zachariah the High Priest receives the word of an angel that he would have a son, after which he was struck mute because of his unbelief...

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,...

Melchizedek was the king of Salem during the time of Abraham. He is briefly mentioned in Genesis as having offered a sacrifice of bread and wine to God, and he blessed Abraham. He is a mysterious figure, but the key teaching of the Church is that...

Saint Ignatius is known to have been a disciple of Saint John the Evangelist, and a contributor to the early ministry of the Church. He is also believed to have been that “little child” who Jesus used as an example of the...

This icon features the three Patriarchs of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They are commemorated on the Sunday of the Forefathers, two Sundays before Christmas. The ancient icon comes from the vast treasures of Mount Sinai.

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...

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

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 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...

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;"...

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...

Saint Ignatius is known to have been a disciple of Saint John the Evangelist, and a contributor to the early ministry of the Church. He is also believed to have been that “little child” who Jesus used as an example of the...

This contemporary Byzantine icon depicts the Holy Patriarch Abraham. Called to leave his homeland in the Fertile Crescent for a new land and God, he became the father of the children of God. One of the Holy Forefathers of Christ, his faithfulness is...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 John (surnamed Mansur, later called Chrysorroas, "the Golden Stream" for his writing) was born in Damascus, Syria, late in the 7th century. (This was soon after the Umayyad dynasty took control of the region from the Eastern Roman Empire.) His...

John the Evangelist did not only author a Gospel, but was a much-beloved Apostle and minister of Jesus. He and his brother James were both fishermen and both called by Jesus at the same time and place. Jesus also gave him the surname Boanerges,...

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...

This icon depicts St. Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra and renowned for his charity and life of faithfulness to the Church. While he is more well known today for being the precursor to St. Nicholas (Santa Claus) stories, he has long been renowned for caring...

The Holy Patriarch Abraham is commemorated on Sunday of the Forefathers (2nd Sunday Before Christmas) and October 9.

Saint Aidan was a 7th century Irish missionary to Northumbria in northern England. Centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, its impacts were beginning to fade, and paganism was making a comeback in the British isles. With the support of...