Icon of the Holy Fathers slain at Sinai and Raithu

[Michael Stickles]

My 8-year-old, Jeremiah, was looking over the lives of the various Jeremiahs recognized as Saints to see who he wanted to have as his "name saint". I thought he'd pick the Prophet Jeremiah, or perhaps Jeremiah the Seer of the Kiev Near Caves, but he felt really drawn to the Jeremiah who was one of the Holy Fathers martyred at Sinai and Raithu (commemorated Jan. 14).

My problem is, does anyone know where I can find an icon of these Fathers? The OCA and GOARCH websites show different icons for them:

78 79

But, no orthodox store I've looked at carries one. I really don't have the budget to commission a custom icon, but I'd hate for him to be the only one of us to not eventually have an icon of his name saint in the icon corner. Any ideas?

In Christ,
Mike

[Paul Cowan]

Mike,

Forgive me but if you can't find it online anywhere, It does not exist. (online). When I get my disks back from the house remediators, I will look to see if I have captured one for you/ him.

Paul

[Antonios]

My 8-year-old, Jeremiah, was looking over the lives of the various Jeremiahs recognized as Saints to see who he wanted to have as his "name saint". I thought he'd pick the Prophet Jeremiah, or perhaps Jeremiah the Seer of the Kiev Near Caves, but he felt really drawn to the Jeremiah who was one of the Holy Fathers martyred at Sinai and Raithu (commemorated Jan. 14).

My problem is, does anyone know where I can find an icon of these Fathers? The OCA and GOARCH websites show different icons for them:

78 79

But, no orthodox store I've looked at carries one. I really don't have the budget to commission a custom icon, but I'd hate for him to be the only one of us to not eventually have an icon of his name saint in the icon corner. Any ideas?

In Christ,
Mike

Dear Mike,

I also can not easily find a specific icon for this saint, though I only searched through a few distributers. If you find it very difficult, maybe you could probably request one by calling various monasteries?

The second icon from the GOARCH website I believe is used as an icon of martyrdom and have often seen it used to reference various martyred saints. It is a beautifully meaningful icon.

I don't recognize the Russian icon on the left, but maybe someone could comment on it?

In Christ,
Antonios

[Olga]

Hello Mike

Just returned from a ten-day fishing holiday. I'll look through my icon archive and let you know. From memory, I have several icons of the Prophet Jeremiah, but I might have icons of other saints of the same name.

[Fr Raphael Vereshack]

Dear Olga,

Perhaps you have the answer to this general question. Is there a specific icon for the Sunday of the Holy Fathers (ie the Sunday before Nativity)? I have seen many icons of the Forefathers of Christ and our parish has this icon. But even online at the pravoslavie.ru site (http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Days/dekabr'24.htm) for the Sunday before Nativity there is no specific icon.

Thanks.

In Christ- Fr Raphael

[Olga]

Dear Fr Raphael

The icon for this feast is that of the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I have a couple of these on file if you are interested.

[Michael Stickles]

I've noticed that the Menologion program has a different icon of these Fathers:

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Not sure if this one looks familiar to anyone? If I could find a decent picture of it, maybe it could be made into a mounted icon, but the Menologion image is rather low-res.

Mike

[Eric Peterson]

To me, it appears that the Russian (left) icon is the right one. The one on the right appears to be an icon for All Saints.

[Olga]

Eric, you're correct. However, many people resort to having an All Saints icon where they cannot find a specific icon of their patron saint. As for the small icon Mike posted, I do have this image on file in a reproducible size, but its content is rather, er, lurid. Martyrdom is never a pretty business, but iconography is not about portraying graphic realism (icons of the Crucifixion are a good example). To me, the better icon is the old Russian one posted by Mike. The violence inflicted on the saints is portrayed in a far more circumspect way.

[Michael Stickles]

As for the small icon Mike posted, I do have this image on file in a reproducible size, but its content is rather, er, lurid. Martyrdom is never a pretty business, but iconography is not about portraying graphic realism (icons of the Crucifixion are a good example). To me, the better icon is the old Russian one posted by Mike. The violence inflicted on the saints is portrayed in a far more circumspect way.

Well, I guess that brings up the question of whether a mounted icon can be made using a good-quality image. The image I posted of the Russian icon is a shrunk version of the one on the OCA site, which is 6" x 8.3" at 100 dpi. Is it possible to get a mounted icon made using an image like that? If so, where could I go to have it done?

If not, could I get a copy of the reproducible-size image you have? Perhaps, if I had to commission an icon, the monks pictured on that one would make a good guide for the iconographer (assuming he/she would want one), since they're visible in far more detail than the ones on the Russian icon.

Thanks,
Mike

[Olga]

Hello Mike

Contact me privately, I can help you get a mounted icon.