Icons of Saints and Blesseds

Subcategories

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  Icons of Apostles &...

  The Twelve, the Evangelists and the first missionaries

  The apostles were the men Jesus chose and sent out — apostolos, "one who is sent". After Pentecost they carried the Gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the known world, and almost all of them died for what they preached. The Evangelists — Matthew, Mark, Luke and John — are the authors of the four Gospels, which is why they are honoured alongside the apostles in Christian art.

  How to recognise them

  Apostles and evangelists are never anonymous in an icon. Each one carries his attribute: Peter the keys, Paul the sword, Andrew the saltire cross, John the eagle and the book, Luke the winged ox, Mark the winged lion, Matthew the winged man, Thomas the builder's square. In our Saint Icons A-Z index you will find each of them under their own name.

  Where these icons are used

  Icons of the apostles belong in churches — the twelve are traditionally depicted around the altar or on the iconostasis — and in homes, where an icon of one's patron apostle is a common baptism or confirmation gift. Peter and Paul are the patrons of fishermen, popes and missionaries; Andrew of Scotland, Greece and fishermen; John of theologians and writers.

  Icons of the apostles in our collection

  Every icon is printed on a solid alder wood board and finished by hand with genuine gold leaf, in several sizes from small devotional formats to large church pieces. If you are looking for a particular apostle, search by name or write to us — larger and custom formats can be ordered on request.

  Learn more: guides and articles

  • Icons of the Apostles and Evangelists: Peter, Paul and John
  • Saint Symbols: How to Recognize Saints in Icons
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  Icons of Martyrs

  Those who gave their lives for the faith

  A martyr is a Christian who accepted death rather than deny Christ. From St. Stephen, stoned outside Jerusalem, to St. Maximilian Kolbe, who gave his life for another prisoner in Auschwitz, the martyrs are the most direct witnesses of the faith the Church has — and the most frequently depicted after Christ and the Virgin Mary.

  How martyrs are shown in icons

  Martyr icons are recognised at a glance: a red robe, the palm branch of victory, the crown of martyrdom, and the instrument of their death — a sword for St. Sebastian, a wheel for St. Catherine, a gridiron for St. Lawrence, an arrow for St. Ursula. The red is not a colour of mourning: it is the colour of blood and of the Holy Spirit.

  The most loved martyrs

  St. Stephen the protomartyr; St. George, patron of soldiers and of England; St. Barbara, patron of those in danger of sudden death; St. Agnes, St. Agatha, St. Lucy and St. Cecilia, the great Roman martyrs; St. Florian, patron of firefighters; St. Joan of Arc; St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Edith Stein — twentieth-century martyrs of the concentration camps. Our collection includes all of them, together with the Martyrs of Cordoba, St. Perpetua and St. Felicity, and the patron saints of Poland, St. Stanislaus and St. Andrew Bobola.

  Choosing a martyr icon

  Martyrs are chosen as patrons of professions and causes — and as name-day gifts, because so many common first names belong to a martyr. Every icon is printed on alder wood and gilded by hand in Poland, in sizes from small devotional formats upwards.

  Learn more: guides and articles

  • Icons of Martyrs: Symbols of Faith and Witness
  • Saint Symbols: How to Recognize Saints in Icons
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  Icons of Popes & Bishops

  Successors of the apostles

  Bishops stand in an unbroken line from the apostles, and the Bishop of Rome — the pope — is the first among them. The icons in this collection honour the men who governed the Church, defended its teaching and, in many cases, died for it.

  Attributes of a bishop or pope in an icon

  Bishops are shown with the mitre, the crozier (the shepherd's staff), the pallium and the pectoral cross; a pope may also wear the triple tiara or the fisherman's ring. The book they carry is usually the Gospel — or, for the great teachers, their own writings.

  The saints in this collection

  St. Gregory the Great and St. Leo the Great, who shaped the Church of the first millennium; St. Nicholas of Myra, the most beloved bishop of all, patron of children and sailors; St. Charles Borromeo and St. Francis de Sales, bishops of the Catholic reform; St. Patrick and St. David of Wales, apostles of Ireland and Wales; St. Stanislaus, St. Adalbert and St. Bruno of Querfurt, bishop-martyrs of Central Europe; St. John Paul II, the most recent pope-saint; and the Doctors of the Church — St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Athanasius, St. Basil the Great, St. John Chrysostom and St. Irenaeus.

  Sizes and finish

  All icons are printed on a solid alder wood board and finished by hand with genuine gold leaf. Smaller formats suit a desk or a small prayer corner; larger and cathedral formats can be made to order for churches and chapels.

  Learn more: guides and articles

  • Icons of Popes and Bishops: Nicholas, Gregory and John Paul II
  • Saint Symbols: How to Recognize Saints in Icons
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  Icons of Founders &...

  Monks, nuns and the founders of religious orders

  Every religious order began with one person who decided to live the Gospel without compromise — and then others followed. St. Anthony the Great went into the Egyptian desert in the third century and became the father of monasticism; St. Benedict wrote the rule that shaped Western monastic life; St. Francis of Assisi gave up everything and rebuilt the Church; St. Teresa of Ávila and St. John of the Cross renewed the Carmelite order in sixteenth-century Spain.

  Reading a religious icon

  Members of religious orders are shown in their habit — the black of the Benedictines, the brown of the Franciscans, the white and black of the Dominicans, the brown and white of the Carmelites. Many hold a rule, a book, a crucifix or a lily. Founders are often shown holding a small model of the church or monastery they established.

  The saints in this collection

  St. Benedict and St. Scholastica; St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare; St. Dominic; St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis Xavier; St. Teresa of Ávila and St. John of the Cross; St. Anthony of Padua; St. Rita of Cascia; St. Catherine of Siena; St. Philip Neri; St. John Vianney, the curé of Ars; St. Louis de Montfort; St. Angela Merici, founder of the Ursulines; and St. Colette of Corbie.

  Why these icons are popular

  Icons of the founders and of the great religious saints are the most common choice for a home prayer corner, and they are frequently given as name-day gifts. Each icon is printed on alder wood and gilded by hand in Poland; several sizes are available, and larger formats can be ordered for chapels.

  Learn more: guides and articles

  • Icons of Founders and Religious: Benedict, Francis and Dominic
  • What Is the Icon of Saint Teresa
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  Icons of Modern Saints

  Holiness in our own time

  Sanctity is not a thing of the distant past. The saints in this collection lived between the nineteenth century and today — some of them were still alive when our grandparents were born, and one of them, Carlo Acutis, was born in 1991.

  Who they are

  St. Bernadette Soubirous, the girl of Lourdes; St. John Bosco, who educated the street children of Turin; St. Dominic Savio, his student; St. Damien de Veuster, who served the lepers of Molokai; St. Gemma Galgani; St. Maria Goretti; St. Faustina Kowalska, the apostle of Divine Mercy; St. Maximilian Kolbe; St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross; St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina; St. Teresa of the Andes; St. Albert Chmielowski; St. John XXIII; St. John Paul II; St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta; St. Artemide Zatti; and the shepherds of Fatima, St. Francisco and St. Jacinta Marto.

  Why they are so popular as gifts

  Modern saints feel close: they faced the same world we do — industrial cities, war, illness, exile — and they are patrons of very concrete things. Padre Pio is asked for healing, Faustina for mercy, John Paul II for families, Mother Teresa for the poorest. An icon of a modern saint is a gift that says something specific about the person receiving it.

  Finish and sizes

  Each icon is printed on a solid alder wood board and finished by hand with gold leaf in Poland. Several sizes are available, from small bedside formats to large pieces for a family prayer corner.

  Learn more: guides and articles

  • Icons of Modern Saints: Padre Pio, Faustina and John Paul II
  • Why Should You Consider the Icon of Saint Charbel Makhlouf
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  Icons of Blesseds

  What does "Blessed" mean?

  A blessed is someone the Church has beatified — the step before canonisation. Beatification means the Church has recognised that this person lived a life of heroic virtue or died for the faith, and permits public veneration in a limited way. Many blesseds are never canonised, and some of the most loved figures of modern Catholicism are blesseds.

  The blesseds in this collection

  The Blessed Ulma Family — Józef, Wiktoria and their seven children, murdered in 1944 for sheltering their Jewish neighbours, and beatified together in 2023; Blessed Carlo Acutis, the young computer enthusiast who catalogued eucharistic miracles and died in 2006; Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko, the priest murdered by the communist security service in 1984; Blessed Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, Primate of Poland; Blessed Michał Kozal and Blessed Karolina Kózka; Blessed Michael Sopoćko, the confessor of St. Faustina; Blessed Edmund Bojanowski and Blessed Bernardyna Maria Jabłońska; Blessed Bartolo Longo, founder of the sanctuary of Pompeii; and Blessed Laura Vicuña, Blessed Dina Bélanger, Blessed Francisco Palau and Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos.

  A note on beatification and canonisation

  Devotion to the blesseds is a living part of Catholic practice, especially in Poland and in the countries that suffered under totalitarian regimes in the twentieth century. Many of these blesseds are contemporaries — people who lived, worked and died within living memory.

  Icons of the blesseds

  Each icon is printed on alder wood and finished by hand with gold leaf. If you are looking for a blessed who is not yet in our collection, write to us — we can prepare an icon to order.

  Learn more: guides and articles

  • Icons of Blesseds: Carlo Acutis, the Ulma Family and More
  • Saint Symbols: How to Recognize Saints in Icons