St Ambrose of Optina

St Ambrose of OptinaSt. Ambrose of Optina the most beloved of the Optina Elders, whose warmth, wisdom, and boundless compassion drew thousands of seekers to his cell is depicted in this icon by Dmitry Shkolnik in the Lavra iconographic tradition. Elder Ambrose, on whom Dostoevsky partly based the Elder Zosima in The Brothers Karamazov, is one of the great spiritual fathers of the 19th century Russian Church. An Orthodox mounted icon of St. Ambrose of Optina for any home

The Holy Prophetess Anna — the aged widow who recognized the infant Christ in the Temple and proclaimed Him to all who awaited the redemption of Jerusalem — is depicted in this 19th-century icon in the exquisite Palekh style

Written by Hieromonk Andrei Erastov in the Jordanville tradition

This Damascene Gallery mounted icon of Blessed Augustine is a beautiful choice for Orthodox Christians with a love for the Western saints and the patristic tradition

where icons are written in prayer and fasting and venerated by monks whose lives are given entirely to God

is depicted in this modern Russian icon

The Image Not Made by Hands is at once the most ancient and the most intimate of all icons of Christ — a face that looks directly into the face of the one who venerates it

the Archangel's composed strength and unearthly beauty are rendered with a mastery that has not been surpassed

George the Great-Martyr and Trophy-Bearer — the courageous soldier-saint venerated throughout the Orthodox world — is joined by St

with its golden summer light and the cupola of the Spas-na-Peskakh church rising in the background

Alexander Nevsky — Grand Prince

Written by Bishop Daniel in the Old Believer style of the 20th century

and its icon of the Theotokos is one of the most venerated on the Holy Mountain