St. John The Hermit and the 98 Fathers of Crete

A beautiful Greek Orthodox icon depicting St. John The Hermit and the 98 Fathers of Crete, handmade & hand painted by an expert Greek hagiographer.

St. John was born and grew up in Egypt. Along with 35 other pious men he went to Cyprus to live in asceticism. There they became known for their abilities to cure sicknesses. The stories of St. John and his men reached the other ascetics on the island, and 39 of these joined the group. After a while all of them went on to Attaleia (Antalya) in the present Asia Minor, where another 24 ascetics joined them.The ascetic community, now consisting of 99 men, prayed to God to show them a place in which they would be able to live a secluded life. God told them to go to Crete, and so they sailed from Asia Minor to Crete.

In Crete the ascetics went up into the land, and they settled in the caves of Zoures and Characas near the village of Azogires, a little north of Paleochora. The first place where they settled was under a large plane tree. St. John built a church, which eventually came to be known as the Monastery of the Holy Fathers.

Every year on the 7th of October the memory of John the Hermit and The Holy Fathers is celebrated according to a ruling by the Patriarch of Constantinople, Kyrillos Loukaris, in 1632.

Made using traditional materials (selected aged timber frames, egg tempera, 24K gold leaf, natural powder paint and varnishes) and old techniques. It is an exact reproduction of an antique Byzantine masterpiece.

The icon bears the artist’s signature on the front and the certificate of authenticity on the back.

We can have any image or Christian scene hand made on commission. Please take a look at an indicative list of additional icons available, or contact us for more information.