Lives of the Saints

“Our Lady of Sitka” Icon of the Mother of God

“Our Lady of Sitka” Icon of the Mother of God

Located at the Cathedral of Saint Michael the Archangel in Sitka, Alaska is one of the most revered Icons in North America: the Sitka Mother of God. This Icon has been attributed to a famous Iconographer, Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky (1758-1826), a protégé of the Empress Catherine II…

Greatmartyr Procopius of Caesarea, in Palestine

Greatmartyr Procopius of Caesarea, in Palestine

The Holy Great Martyr Procopius, in the world Neanius, a native of Jerusalem, lived and suffered during the reign of the emperor Diocletian (284-305). His father, an eminent Roman by the name of Christopher, was a Christian, but the mother of the saint, Theodosia, remained a pagan. He was early…

Righteous Procopius the Fool-For-Christ and Wonderworker of Ustya, Vologda

Righteous Procopius the Fool-For-Christ and Wonderworker of Ustya, Vologda

The incorrupt relics of Saint Procopius were uncovered during the eighteenth century near the Entry of the Theotokos parish church in Ustya (Vologda diocese) and placed in the church, where for two hundred years they remained in open view, a source of numerous healings. No account of the origin and…

Kazan Icons of the Mother of God in Kazan, St. Petersburg, and Moscow

Kazan Icons of the Mother of God in Kazan, St. Petersburg, and Moscow

The wonderworking Kazan Icon has great significance for the faithful of Russia, and Russian Orthodox families treat it with unparalleled reverence. The magnificent Kazan Cathedral was built in Saint Petersburg, to house the Icon. For the most part, it is this Icon that blesses the young to the…

“Tenderness” Icon of the Mother of God in Novgorod

“Tenderness” Icon of the Mother of God in Novgorod

The Tenderness icon of the Mother of God belongs to the Eleousa (Umilenie) type. On July 8, 1337 a caretaker in Holy Trinity Church in Novgorod heard a noise inside the church and went to investigate. He was astonished to see that the icon of the Mother of God from the second tier of icons above…

Monastic Martyrs Epictetus and Astion, at Halmyris

The monastic martyrs Epictetus and Astion lived in Bithynia on the southwest coast of the Black Sea during the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian (284-305). From his youth, Saint Epictetus had dedicated his life to God, and studied to acquire knowledge of the Gospel. He entered a monastery, and…

Miracle of the Annunciation Icon of the Mother of God at Ustiug

Miracle of the Annunciation Icon of the Mother of God at Ustiug

The Ustiug Annunciation Icon of the Mother of God The “Ustiug Annunciation” is a venerable icon, before which Saint Procopius, Fool-for-Christ (+ 1303) prayed with intense fervor on June 25, 1290 for the salvation of the city of Ustiug from the wrath of God. The icon was painted by a…

Venerable Theophilus the Myrrhgusher of Macedonia

Saint Theophilus was from Ziki in Macedonia, and lived during the sixteenth century. He had a very good education, but more importantly he dedicated himself to God, purifying himself from every soul-destroying passion, and acquiring every virtue which filled him with the grace of the All-Holy…

Icon of the Mother of God of Tambov

Icon of the Mother of God of Tambov

The Annals of Tambov state that the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was in the Transfiguration Cathedral of Tambov from the first years of the city’s existence (it had been founded in 1636), and it was the main shrine in the region of Tambov. According to the Annals, “on December 6,…

Royal Martyr Mirdat, King of Kartli

Royal Martyr Mirdat, King of Kartli

King Mirdat (408-410), the son of Varaz-Bakur, was the first martyred king of Georgia. He was raised by his maternal grandfather, King Trdat. The faithful grandfather taught the future king to love God and his nation, and the young prince mindfully preserved his grandfather’s wisdom…

Kazan-Yaroslavl Icon of the Mother of God

The Kazan-Yaroslavl Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was found in the year 1588 by a man named Gerasimos, who had traveled to Kazan to pray before its famous Icon, because his right hand had become crippled. The Mother of God appeared to him and ordered him to go to a certain place, and then to take…