Favorite Saints

[gzt]

St Nicholas, because you know what they say about those who love St Nicholas and those who serve St Nicholas

 

[Kolya]

St Sergius of Radonezh
St Onisimus (Slave to St Philemon)
St Tsar Nikolas II (My Patron)
St Seraphim of Sarov
St Basil (Vasili the Blessed, Fool for Christ)
St Cyril of Alexandrea
St Spyridon
St Niocolas, Wonderworker of Myra
St Pantilimon
St Matrona of Moscow
St John of Kronstadt
St Xenia of St Petersburg
St John Maximovich
St Mark of Alexandrea

 

[Julina]

St. Juliana of Nicomedia (new patron, perhaps?)
St. Nicholas of Myra
St. Mary of Egypt
St. Taisia
St. Vladimir of Kiev
St. Moses the Black
Sts. Justinian and Theodora
St. Luke the Apostle
The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste
The Archangels (all of them)
and my patron, St. Julian of Norwich, even though she's not Orthodox

 

[Gwenyfur]

St Catherine of Alexandria (Patron)
St Mary of Egypt
St Kyra
St Romanos
St John the Beloved
St Irene
St Elizabeth
St Luke
St Nicholas

 

[Michael G]

I can't believe no one mentioned:

St. John the Dwarf
St. Pimen the Dry
St. Paul the Simple
St. Andrew the Fool for Christ

I am a HUGE fan of rare saints! The more rare and obscure the saint, the more cool (and worthy of me writing his/her icon) they are in my book!

 

[nutroll]

Old Testament:

Prophet Jonah (I spend waaay too much time running away from what God wants for me to not identify with the Prophet Jonah)

David the King (David is my middle name, so I feel like I have a connection to him)

New Testament:

St. Matthew (my patron saint)
St. Thomas (my godson's patron saint, plus I spend a lot of time struggling with doubts, so he's a favorite of mine for that)

Oldies but goodies:

St. James the Persian (he has a super cool outfit, so he's really fun to paint, plus I find his story interesting)

St. Spyridon (he has a super cool hat, so he's really fun to paint, plus he was a simple farmer who ended up attending the first ecumenical council, how cool is that?)

St. John of Damascus (his defense of icons is indispensable, and he had his hand cut off and put back on, plus the Theotokos came to his defense when his abbot was keeping him from writing and making him clean latrines so he must have been pretty special....)

Recent (at least relatively speaking) Saints:

St. Innocent of Alaska (I grew up with a lot of affection for St. Innocent because my dad wrote a biography of him, and it's even dedicated to me and my older sisters and my mom. In some ways I think of him as my family saint because of that)

St. Nektarios of Aegina (I love St. Nektarios. I have asked for his intercessions many times for friends and family. A few years ago I actually got to go to Aegina to his Church there and venerate his relics. It was a very moving experience)

St. Xenia of St. Petersburg (I am fascinated by St. Xenia, and by the idea that when someone just tries to help everyone without consideration of how difficult it might be to do so they will always be regarded by this world as crazy)

 

[Gwenyfur]

Ya know...there are so many Saints...and I'm just beginning to learn about them...day by day I read a few more...and return to others that just remind me of something I need to know...
It really is hard to choose....very hard to choose a favorite...though thankfully they pray with us and for us

okay...n00b shutting up now

 

[Tonks]

I gotta admit...I'm having some troubles finding "favorite" saints. My exposure to Eastern saints is new...it is like a need a crib sheet or something. So much to read...so much to learn.

 

[gzt]

I would recommend reading every day the lives of the saints of the day. oca.org has them.

 

[Gwenyfur]

I gotta admit...I'm having some troubles finding "favorite" saints. My exposure to Eastern saints is new...it is like a need a crib sheet or something. So much to read...so much to learn.

I started here Tonks:
http://www.orthodox.net/links/saints-by-name.html

and then of course http://www.oca.org/FSlives.asp?SID=4

it helped me get familiar with some of them

 

[ArmyMatt]

I know he isn't cannonized yet, but I gotta throw in Fr Seraphim Rose.

St Matthew the Evangelist
St Nektarios of Aegina
St Herman of Alaska

they are all awesome

 

[Michael G]

Prophet Jonah (I spend waaay too much time running away from what God wants for me to not identify with the Prophet Jonah)

In that case I would stay very far away from large bodies of water which might contain fish large enough to swallow you!

 

[Annabel Lee]

Saint Alexis Toth

This print was kindly sent to me by our own Michael the Iconographer

Also a beautiful icon of the Theotokos

__________

In the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of San Francisco, Bishop Vladimir is saying the Divine Liturgy. The choir, under my direction, is singing splendidly. In the center of the church stands a stranger. He is clean shaven, with a short military haircut. He wars a cassock, fastened with a row of buttons, and around his waist is tied a wide purple sash. He has a plump face, but with pleasant, lively features. His broad forehead, his bright eyes, that seem soft yet on fire at the same time, betoken the man's intellectualism. He stands with eyes fixed upon the painting of the Last supper, and with his palms folded in the manner of a Catholic, prays earnestly; and it seems, that he is living through a spiritual turmoil, which reflects itself upon his features. For half an hour he stands motionless, transfixed in spiritual ecstasy. All eyes are on him, but know one knows who the stranger is.

Bishop Vladimir , in all his vestments, comes forward from the altar, holding the Bible and the cross. According to Church ritual, the stranger is accepted into the Orthodox faith. In a loud voice, he renounces papism and enters the fold of the Holy Orthodox Church. At that moment his face lights up with an internal light.

This new convert was Father Alexis Toth, young, handsome, and energetic. He had journeyed from far off Minneapolis to enter the Orthodox Church, in the Russian Cathedral of San Francisco.​

.

 

[Michael G]

Thank you, Annabel!