Saints Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon and Parmenas, Apostles of the Seventy were among the first deacons in the Church of Christ. In the Acts of the Holy Apostles (6:1-6) it is said that the twelve Apostles chose seven men: Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicholas, full of the…
Saint Pitirim, Bishop of Tambov, in the world Procopius, was born 27 February 1645 (or 1644) in the city of Vyazma. From his youth, the Lord prepared Procopius for high spiritual service. While still a child, he learned reading and writing, attended church services, and acquired the habit of…
Saint Moses lived in the Kiev Caves Monastery during the XIII-XIV centuries, and was completely dedicated to God. He wore chains and a heavy copper cross. His continuous and favorite ascetical struggle was psalmody and making innumerable prostrations. Therefore, he received the gift of working…
The Holy Martyr Julian suffered during the reign of Antoninus Pius (138-161) in the Italian province of Campagna. The governor Flavian gave orders to search out and bring Christians to him for trial. During this time the young Christian Julian arrived in Campagna from Dalmatia. Having met with…
The Holy Martyr Eustathius was a soldier. He was arrested and brought before the head of the city of Ancyra for confessing the Christian Faith. At the interrogation, the saint firmly and bravely confessed himself a Christian and was sentenced to tortures. They beat him without mercy, they bore into…
Saint Paul of Xeropotamou, in the world Procopius, was the son of the Byzantine Emperor Michael Kuropalatos, who later resigned the imperial office and became a monk in a monastery he built. Having received the finest education, Procopius became one of the most learned men of his time. His…
The Smolensk “Hodēgḗtria” Icon of the Theotokos, or “She who leads the way,” was, according to Church Tradition, painted by the holy Evangelist Luke during the earthly life of the Most Holy Theotokos. The holy hierarch Demetrius of Rostov suggests that this icon was…
The Holy Martyr Acacius was brought to trial for his belief in Christ. Three governors attempted to compel the holy martyr to offer sacrifice to idols, having subjected him to fierce tortures. Governor Licinius gave orders to rend the body of Saint Acacius with instruments of torture. He then sent…
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Saint Irene was the daughter of a wealthy family from Cappadocia, and was born in the ninth century. After the death of her husband Theophilus, the empress Theodora ruled the Byzantine Empire as regent for her young son Michael. Saint Theodora (February 11) helped to defeat the iconoclast heresy,…
The Greben Icon of the Mother of God, glorified by miracles and located in a church in the city of Greben (on the River Chira, flowing into the Don), was presented by the inhabitants of the city to Great Prince Demetrius of the Don upon his return from the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380. In 1471,…
The Seraphim-Diveyevo Tenderness Icon of the Mother of God belonged to Saint Seraphim of Sarov, and was the Icon he kept in his cell. The Saint anointed the sick with oil from the lampada burning before this Icon, and they received healing. The holy ascetic reposed while praying before the Icon on…
The White Lake Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos resembles the Vladimir Icon (May 21, June 23, August 26) in appearance. It was originally in the cell of Saint Cyril of White Lake (June 9), who often prayed before it. One day, while he was chanting the Akathist before this icon, the Mother of God…
The Kostroma Hodēgḗtria Icon of the Mother of God was painted in 1672 on the wall of the southwest tower of the Kostroma Theophany monastery. In 1779 a great conflagration occurred at the monastery, and the tower was all enveloped by flames, but the holy Icon of the Mother of God did not suffer…
The Ustiuzhena Icon of the Mother of God (1290), glorified by many miracles, was situated in the city of Ustiuzhna under Novgorod governance (now Vologda district). At the beginning of the seventeenth century the inhabitants of Ustiushna, praying for salvation before this holy icon, were delivered…
The Holy Icon of the Voroninsk Mother of God was situated in the Voroninsk Dormition of the Mother of God hermitage in the Cherepovetsk district of Novgorod governance. Its appearance occurred in 1524.
In 1555, the Icon of the Mother of God “Of Saint Christopher” was put in the church of the monastery founded by Saint Christopher of Solvychegodsk (July 25), a disciple of Saint Longinus of Koryazkemsk (February 10). This icon was glorified by many miracles, and near the monastery a…
The Holy Suprasl Icon of the Mother of God was in the Annunciation women’s monastery of Grodnensk governance at the beginning of the sixteenth century. It was glorified by many miracles and both Orthodox and Catholics piously reverence it. The icon is one of the Hodēgḗtria type.
The Vydropussk Hodēgḗtria Icon of the Mother of God in the fifteenth century was in the church of the Great Martyr George in the village of Vydropussk, Novgorod governia. During the time of a conflagration of the church, this holy icon remained undamaged. After the taking of Novgorod by the…
The Wonderworking Yuga Icon of the Mother of God appeared at the beginning of the seventeenth century to the Elder Saint Dorotheus, schemamonk of the Pskov Caves monastery. The Mother of God, during an invasion of the Swedes, commanded him to take Her image to a place She specified, and to bring…
The Holy Igritsa Icon of the Mother of God appeared in the year 1624 in Igritsa at the River Pesochna not far from the city of Kostroma. Local peasants found the icon in an old half-ruined church, for fifty years it was left neglected after a deadly plague. The icon stood in the altar and shone…
The Holy Hodēgḗtria Icon of the Mother of God, named the Shui, appeared in the city of Shui of Vladimir diocese at the very height of a raging deadly epidemic in the years 1654-1655. The inhabitants of the city combatted this misfortune by prayer, and gathered together in the churches,…
The Seven Lakes (Sedmiezernaya) Icon of the Mother of God was glorified by great miracles in the seventeenth century in the area around the city of Kazan. This holy icon was in the Seven Lakes hermitage near the city of Kazan. Originally, seven small lakes surrounded the monastery, but these later…
The Holy Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God is located at the Holy Trinity Sergiev Lavra in the Smolensk church on the left side of the Royal Doors. From this icon in 1730 there a cantor, whose hands were bent and rigid to the back, received healing. The Mother of God appeared to him in a vision…
The venerable George the Builder was the third abbot of the Ivḗron Monastery on Mt. Athos. According to some sources, he was a nephew of Saint John, the founder and first abbot of the Ivḗron Monastery. George was elevated to the rank of abbot after Saint Ekvtime left the monastery to travel to…