The Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God [2]

The Story Behind This Icon:

The icon of the Resurrection, also known as “Christ’s Descent into Hades” and “the Anastasis”, is the icon of Easter, celebrating Jesus’ triumph over death. The icon depicts Jesus Christ descending into Hades and pulling Adam and Eve from the tombs, symbolizing His victory back to the very beginning of mankind. The two golden bars under Jesus’ feet (note that His feet and hands still carry the signs of His crucifixion) are the gates of Hades which He has broken open. On the left of the icon, we see David and Solomon, representing those who died before Jesus’ crucifixion, waiting patiently in Hades for their Messiah. On the right side of the icon, we see Abel as a shepherd, the first person to die as a result of the Fall, as well as Saint John the Baptist. In the darkness below, keys, locks & chains symbolize that He has entered and conquered both death and Hades.

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This icon of The Resurrection is reproduced, with permission, from the authentic icon painted by the monks in the Cell of St. John the Theologian Holy Monastery of Koutloumousiou in Mount Athos, Greece. This icon is part of our collection “Icons from Mount Athos”, which features all icons from the Cell of St. John the Theologian.

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This icon is made of solid, natural limewood (Tilia) that has been prepared by hand using traditional methods and organic materials. The background is comprised of 22 Karat gold leaves that were meticulously applied by hand, piece by piece.  

All of our icons are reproduced according to museum print standards and are authentic replicas of Holy Icons from Mount Athos and elsewhere. 

Learn more about how our Holy Icons are made here. 

This icon is made of solid, natural limewood (Tilia) that has been prepared by hand using traditional methods and organic materials. The background is comprised of 22 Karat gold leaves that were meticulously applied by hand, piece by piece.  

All of our icons are reproduced according to museum print standards and are authentic replicas of Holy Icons from Mount Athos and elsewhere. 

Learn more about how our Holy Icons are made here. 

The Story Behind This Icon:

This icon portrays the Annunciation of the Theotokos, a feast which is celebrated on March 25, exactly nine months before the Nativity. This feast celebrates the day on which the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary to ask her if she wanted to be the mother of God. Mary was selected by God as the most pure woman on the planet, but was not forced to give birth to Christ. She was given the option to decline, but chose to be the mother of God. On that day, the first cells of Christ appeared inside of Mary’s womb, but Mary remained a virgin, as no man ever touched her.

At the very top part of the icon, the half circle is the Kingdom of God with three rays representing the presence of the Holy Spirit directed to the Virgin Mary. The Archangel Gabriel holds a stick which is the symbol of a messenger. His feet are spread to show the movement of running. On the right side of the icon, the Virgin Mary is seated, but elevated, a sign that as the Mother of God she is “greater in honor than the cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim, who without corruption gave birth to God the Word”. The movement of her right hand shows that she responds by accepting Gabriel’s message. In her left hand, the Virgin Mary holds a spindle of scarlet yarn, symbolizing the task of preparing the purple and scarlet material to be used in making the veil for the Temple in Jerusalem.  

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This icon is made of solid, natural limewood (Tilia) that has been prepared by hand using traditional methods and organic materials. The background is comprised of 22 Karat gold leaves that were meticulously applied by hand, piece by piece.

All of our icons are reproduced according to museum print standards and are authentic replicas of Holy Icons from Mount Athos and elsewhere.

Learn more about how our Holy Icons are made here.

This icon is made of solid, natural limewood (Tilia) that has been prepared by hand using traditional methods and organic materials. The background is comprised of 22 Karat gold leaves that were meticulously applied by hand, piece by piece.

All of our icons are reproduced according to museum print standards and are authentic replicas of Holy Icons from Mount Athos and elsewhere.

Learn more about how our Holy Icons are made here.

The Feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos is celebrated by the Orthodox Church on October 28 (moved by the Church of Greece from October 1 to coincide with “Oxi Day” in honor of the Theotokos’s protection of the Greek armed forces in their resistance of the Axis invasion). This commemorates the miraculous appearance of the Mother of God at the Blachernae Church in Constantinople in the mid-tenth century. It was in this church where the robe, veil and part of the belt of the Theotokos were preserved after being recovered from Palestine in the fifth century. On Sunday October 1, during an all night vigil, when the church was overflowing with the faithful, the Fool-for-Christ Saint Andrew, at four o'clock in the morning, beheld the Theotokos appearing above the people, holding her omophorion outstretched as a protective covering. She was clothed in gold-encrusted royal purple, and shone with an ineffable radiance, surrounded by apostles, saints, martyrs and virgins.

Our Beloved Holy Mother tearfully prayed for Christians for a long time, coming near the bishop's throne to continue her prayer. After, she took her veil and spread it over the people praying in the church, protecting them from enemies visible and invisible, resplendent with heavenly glory and gleaming like the rays of the sun. Saint Andrew gazed trembling at the miraculous vision and asked his disciple, named Epiphanius, standing beside him, "Do you see, brother, the Holy Theotokos, praying for all the world?" Epiphanius answered, "I do see, holy father, and I am in awe."

The Holy Icon pictured here is our Icon of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos. On this glorious Feast we implore the defense and assistance of the Queen of Heaven, "Remember us in your prayers, O Lady Virgin Mother of God, that we not perish by the increase of our sins. Protect us from every evil and from grievous woes, for in you do we hope, and venerating the Feast of your Protection, we magnify you."

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This icon is made of solid, natural Limewood that has been prepared by hand using traditional methods and organic materials. The background is comprised of 22 Karat gold leaves that were meticulously applied by hand, piece by piece.  

All of our icons are reproduced according to museum print standards and are authentic replicas of Holy Icons from Mount Athos and elsewhere. 

Learn more about how our Holy Icons are made here.