The Sunday following Pentecost is dedicated to All Saints, both those who are known to us, and those who are known only to God. There have been saints at all times, and they have come from every corner of the earth. They were Apostles, Martyrs, Prophets, Hierarchs, Monastics, and Righteous, yet all…
The “Unbreakable (or “Indestructible”) Wall” Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos is commemorated on the Sunday of All Saints. It is an XI century mosaic icon of the Blachernae type, above the main altar of Kiev's Holy Wisdom Cathedral. The Mother of God is depicted against a golden background,…
On the Seven Arrows Icon, the Most Holy Theotokos is depicted without the Divine Infant. She inclines her head toward her right shoulder, and her heart is pierced with seven arrows or swords, of which four are on the left side and three on the right. A similar image of the Mother of God is also…
Saint David of Thessalonica pursued asceticism at the monastery of the holy Martyrs Theodore and Mercurius. Inspired by the example of the holy stylites, he lived in an almond tree in constant prayer, keeping strict fast, and enduring heat and cold. He remained there for three years until an angel…
Dionysius, Archbishop of Suzdal, in the world David, was tonsured at the Kiev Caves monastery. He arrived at the Volga with an icon of the Mother of God that he had received as a blessing from Saints Anthony and Theodosius. Saint Dionysius dug out a cave not far from Nizhni-Novgorod and struggled…
In the year 1569 the healing of many sick persons began at the tomb of Saint Tikhon of Lukhov, and his holy relics were found to be incorrupt. However, Igumen Constantine, who uncovered the relics, was struck blind. After repenting and then recovering his sight, he placed Saint Tikhon’s…
Saint John, Bishop of the Goths, lived during the eighth century. The future saint was born in answer to the fervent prayer of his parents. From an early age, he lived a life of asceticism. The saint made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and spent three years visiting all the holy places. Then he…
According to ancient tradition, the wonderworking icon of Tikhvin is one of several painted by Saint Luke the Evangelist. The icon was taken from Jerusalem to Constantinople in the fifth century, where it was enshrined in the Church of Blachernae, which was built especially for this purpose. In…
The Seven Lakes Icon is one of the icons which enjoy extraordinary veneration in the places where it is located. The day of celebration in her honor is a celebration not only for the Seven Lakes Hermitage and Kazan, but also for the entire Prikama Volga region. At the end of the XVI century, in…
The Neamts Icon of the Mother of God was given as a gift by the Byzantine emperor Andronicus Paleologos to the Moldavian ruler Alexander the Voevod in 1399, and then placed into the Moldavian Neamts Ascension monastery. One of the Moldavian princes gave a copy of the icon to a Russian landowner by…
The wonderworking Lydda Icon is mentioned in the service for the Kazan Icon (July 8 & October 22) in the third Ode of the Canon. According to Tradition, the Apostles Peter and John were preaching in Lydda (later called Diospolis) near Jerusalem. There they built a church dedicated to the Most Holy…
Having examined the history of Georgia and the hagiographical treasures attesting to the faith of the Georgian nation, we become convinced that Heavenly Georgia— the legion of Georgian saints, extolling the Lord in the Heavenly Kingdom with a single voice—is infinitely glorious. It is…
The Holy Monastic Martyr David was descended from the Kydonians of the town of Aivali (Αϊβαλί) in Asia Minor. The inhabitants of the town had a special relationship with Mount Athos, because there were two Athonite embassy churches in their city, one belonging to…