Saints

Saint Sergius (in Russian, Sergei or Sergey) was from the Moscow region. Born in 1314, his parents died young and he withdrew into the wilderness to live in prayer. Although he had no monastic training, he was spiritually strong and never fell into a...

Saint Cyrus was from Alexandria of Egypt. He attended university and became a physician, treating his patients free of charge and healing miraculously in the name of Christ. Under the persecutions of Diocletian, he fled to the Persian Gulf to join a...

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...

From the years 527 to 565, Saint Justinian the Great reigned as the Roman Emperor. During his reign, tens of thousands of pagans were baptized into Christ and the pagan schools of Athens were closed. Some ninety missionary churches were built to...

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,...

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 Paisios the Great was an Egyptian monastic father in the 5th century. His feast is celebrated on June 19.

The Elder Simeon the Stylite was born in Cappadocia in the lat 4th century. The son of Christian parents, he was obedient and a dedicated worker. While still a boy, he was struck by the singing of the Beatitudes in church. With the help of a trusted...

Saint Paisios the Great was an Egyptian monastic father in the 5th century. His feast is celebrated on June 19.

This 19th century Russian lithographic icon depicts All Saints of Mount Athos. The most prominent and famous Athonite monastic saints are visible in the foreground, and the haloes of countless more saints, known and unknown, stretch into the distance...

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...

The Bosom (or "Embrace") of Abraham is an image that refers to a place comfort within Hades (the common place of the dead) for the righteous departed. This term is used in the Lord's parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man, which has the poor beggar...

This historic Byzantine icon depicts the Archangel’s Michael response to Saints Florus and Laurus’ prayers in aiding them in their work with horses. As patron saints of horses and horsemanship, these saints–who eventually were martyred...

Saint Alexis (or Alexios/Alexius) was a 4th-century Roman monastic who secretly left the secular world and lived in anonymity for much of his life. He is counted among the saints called "Fools-for-Christ." His feast is celebrated on March 17.

Saint Athanasius was the founder of the first monastic communities on Mount Athos in Greece about the turn of the first millennium. To this day, Athos is the home of some 20 ancient monastic communities, including Saint Athanasius' original community,...

The renowned Russian Saint Juliana of Lazarevo lived in the 16th century. She was faithful as a noblewoman, spouse, mother, and daughter of the Church, modeling how to live a saintly life in the context of family and everyday concerns. She cared for...

Saint Dorotheos was born in Antioch about the year 506 of prominent parents. He was well-educated and worked as a physician. He desired to enter the monastic life, and joined the monastery of Thawatha, where Saints Barsanuphius and John also lived...

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...

Gideon was appointed by God as one of the Judges of Israel during the Old Testament. His feast is celebrated on September 26, and he is also remembered among the Old Testament righteous on the Sunday of the Forefathers in December.

This historic icon from the 1400s depicts a number of miracles and saints related to horses and other domestic livestock. As such, it is a moving reminder of God’s power revealed through creation, even through common animals.  The historic...

Saint Alypius was from Adrianople. One of the famous "pillar saints" (stylites), he lived on a pillar for over 50 years. He reposed in the 7th century. His feast is celebrated on November 26.

Saint Theodore was born in Constantinople in the year 759. He entered the monastic life at a young age, and by age 35 he had been ordained a priest and became the abbot of the monastery. He later left this monastery and joined the Monastery of...

Saint Martinian (or Martinianos/Martin) was an early-5th century monastic father of Caesarea in Palestine. He once brought to repentance a woman who was trying to tempt him. His feast is celebrated on February 13.

This 18th century icon shows the frontal depictions of the saints full-length. Blasius (or Blaise) is represented dressed as a bishop, with the Gospel book in his hands, martyrs Florus and Laurus are holding the crosses in their right hands.

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 Philoumenos was born in Morphou, Cyprus, in 1913. At the age of 14, he and his twin brother entered the monastic life in Cyprus, and at age 20 departed for Jerusalem. There, Fr. Philoumenos became a priest and was raised to the rank of...

Saint Nilus (or Neilos/Neil/Nil) was a disciple of Saint John Chrysostom and one of his greatest defenders when he was persecuted by the Empress Eudoxia. About the time of Chrysostom's exile, Nilus and his son went to live at Mount Sinai. There he...

This historic icon from Mt. Athos depicts Saint Theodore the Studite.  Saint Theodore was born in Constantinople in 759. He entered the monastic life at a young age and became a deacon and priest, and eventually the abbot of the Studium monastery...

Saint Joseph was born in Greece in 1897. At the age of 23 he began to read the lives of the Saints, which sparked a yearning to enter the monastic life. He withdrew to the uninhabited countryside, and finally departed to Mount Athos. He desired to...

Saint Theodore was born out of wedlock in Sykeon of Galatia. When he was a child, his mother gave him a soldier's belt, and told him he would be a soldier. The Great Martyr George then appeared to her and told her that God had a different plan for her...

This historic Byzantine icon features Saint Kyriakos (or Cyriacus) the Hermit. Living in the 5th-6th centuries, he embraced ascetical living at an early age in the lived in the deserts in and near the Holy Land. He blessed fellow monks and visitors with...

Saint Païsy was born in 1722 in Poltava in modern Ukraine. He was baptized by his father, a priest, with the name Peter. His father died young, and his mother Irene raised her 12 children in piety. At age 17, Peter decided to become a monk and went...

The venerable Onuphrius was a 4th century hermit who lived in the desert of Upper Egypt. He lived in the desert for over 60 years, and it is said he never received a single visitor, except for an angel who delivered the Eucharist to him every Sunday...

Saint Sisoes lived in the fourth century, and he was a contemporary of Saint Anthony the Great. When Saint Anthony died, Sisoes went to live in his cave. His ascetic labor carried him to the heights of spiritual purity, and he was given the gift of...

Saint Rastislav was the second Prince of Great Moravia (today part of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary), reigning from 846 to 870. During his reign, he sought to free Moravia from the dominion of Eastern Francia under King Louis the...

Saint Agafya (Agatha) was the wife of Grand Duke Yuri II of Vladimir (1188-1238), and Theodora was their eight-year-old daughter. Grand Duke Yuri's rule saw the Mongols invade the lands of Kievan Rus. In the course of many battles, they gradually took...

Saint Cosmas was a native of Jerusalem. He was the foster brother of Saint John of Damascus, having been adopted by his parents. The brothers entered the monastery of Saint Sabbas, where Cosmas achieved the heights of grace through his ascetic labor...

Saint Joasaph (or Ioasaph, Josaphat) was the son of King Abenner of India. He was brought to faith through Saint Barlaam the Desert-Dweller. They are commemorated together on November 19.

Saint Theodore, known as "Graptus" ("the Branded") was the brother of Theophanes the Confessor. They were born in Palestine to righteous parents, and entered the great monastery of Saint Sabbas. The brothers lived during the iconoclastic period,...

Saint Chariton was born in Iconium in the 270s. He suffered greatly for the Faith, but was set free after the death of the Emperor Aurelian. He lived in the deserts of Palestine and brought many Jews and pagans to faith in Christ until his repose in...