Articles on icons, holy places and pilgrimage

About the holy places we travel to, how to choose an icon or a cross, how to prepare for a trip and how to care for items. We write ourselves, from our own experience.

Article category
Kazan icon of the Mother of God in a silver-plated cover

Silver-Plated Orthodox Icons: Meaning, Tradition and Sacred Beauty

Where the custom of covering icons with silver and gilding comes from, how a silver-plated Orthodox icon is made, how to honour it and how to look after it at home.

Shop, 5 minutes

Silver-Plated Icons as Gifts: Choosing an Icon for Someone You Love

Prayer and tradition, 6 minutes

Which Saint to Pray To: Orthodox Patron Saints for Health, Work and Family

Shop, 5 minutes

Which Icon to Give as a Gift: Wedding, Baptism, Birthday

Holy places, 4 minutes

Valaam Monastery on Lake Ladoga: History and Shrines

Prayer and tradition, 6 minutes

St Spyridon of Trimythous: Icon, Life and Prayer

Prayer and tradition, 5 minutes

St Nicholas Icon: Meaning, History and How Orthodox Christians Pray

Holy places, 7 minutes

Sayings of St Gabriel of Samtavro: Quotes and the Stories Behind Them

Holy places, 5 minutes

St Gabriel Urgebadze Relics: the Story of the Vial of His Blood

Prayer and tradition, 5 minutes

Seven Swords Icon of the Mother of God: Meaning and Prayer