St Maria (Romanova), New Martyr, Grand Duchess of Russia

St Maria (Romanova), New Martyr, Grand Duchess of RussiaSt. Maria, Grand Duchess of Russia the third daughter of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra, martyred at Yekaterinburg in 1918 with her parents and siblings is depicted here by Archimandrite Cyprian of Holy Trinity Monastery. The Royal Martyrs are venerated throughout the Orthodox world; their feast on July 17 is a solemn and joyful commemoration of those who gave their lives for Christ in the first days of the Soviet terror. An Orthodox mounted

love for the poor

the 13th-century ruler venerated for his piety and princely virtue

Jonah's feast on June 15 is kept as a celebration of the Russian Church's maturity and independence

Matrona has become one of the most beloved and widely-venerated saints of the contemporary Russian Church

prays for all who call upon him

venerated as Passion-Bearers and first saints of the Russian Church

the lance plunging into the serpent beneath the hooves — each element freighted with symbolic meaning

an anonymous 15th-century French Gothic painter

The Nativity of the Lord is depicted in this mounted icon in the Old Believer iconographic tradition

whose poetic genius has enriched Orthodox worship for fifteen centuries

who lived as a stranger in his own family home for years without being recognized

The Four Evangelists — Sts Matthew