Agios Rafail, Agios Nikolaos, and Agia Eirini

This is an exact copy of a Byzantine hagiography icon, handmade in Greece using traditional Byzantine iconography techniques. Comes with stamp of authenticity on back. Silver is 950 degrees proof and is tarnish-free (does not require polish). Faces are hand-painted in fine detail, using high quality paint.

Archangel Rafail ( Raphael ) - meaning "God has healed" - appeared first in the Book of Tobias, disguised in human form as the travelling companion of the younger Tobias, calling himself "Azarias, the son of the great Ananias". The story of the adventurous journey shows the protective influence of the angel is in many ways including the healing of blindness and the fighting off of a demon, and finally Azarias makes himself known as "the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord" (Tobit 12:15. Cf. Revelation 8:2). Of these seven archangels which appear in the angelology of post-Exilic Judaism, only three (Gabriel, Michael and Raphael) are mentioned in the canonical Scriptures. The others, according to the Book of Enoch are Uriel, Raguel, Sariel, and Jerahmeel (named in other apocryphal sources as Izidkiel, Hanael, and Kepharel). Many commentators identify Raphael with the "angel of the Lord" mentioned in John 5, a conjecture bases on the significance of the name and on the healing role attributed to Raphael in the Book of Tobias.

In Greece, as well as other eastern European nations, Agios Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors (claimed to have been a sailor or fisherman himself), as well as the saint of merchants, archers, children, and students. He is often called upon by sailors who are in danger of drowning or being shipwrecked. He was a Lycian saint who had a reputation for secret gift-giving, but is now commonly identified with Santa Claus. When his parents died, Nicholas is said to have given his inheritance away to the poor. The impressive list of his good deeds and generosity seem to hint that he may have worked as a bishop, thus is is commonly portreyed wearing the insignia of this profession: a red bishop's cloak, a red miter (cap), and a bishop's staff. Not only was Nicholas intolerant of pagans, but he was also intolerant of Arianism. Nicholas is listed as a participant in the First Council of Nicaea. The destruction of several pagan temples is also attributed to him, among them the temple of Artemis. Today, the relics of St. Nicholas are kept in the Church in Bari.

Mother Irene of Chrysovalantou was the abbess of the monastery of Chrysovalantou. Originally slated to wed the Emperor, she went to the monastery of Chrysovalantou and immediately engaged herself in vigils and prayer. She then replaced the Abbess very early on, and increased her spiritual struggles, with great trust in God to guide the community properly. She developed the gifts of foresight and exorcism. Her prayer through the night continued in the courtyard of the monastery, and caused herself to levitate and the cypress trees to bend towards her (shown in this icon). She was granted three apples from St John the Theologian, visions of angels, and appeared in a vision to the Emperor to release an unjustly convicted man. After her death at age 102, she continued to be a wonderworker.

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