Or at least I found them curious.

Yesterday I visited a magnificent Serbian Orthodox church, the interior of which was decorated top to bottom with icon frescoes. Every square inch of the church (including the vestibule) was covered with icons. It was dazzling and when they began to sing Vespers it seemed as if I were in Heaven.

Amongst the hundreds of icons painted on the walls and vaulted ceiling, there was a series dedicated to St. Nicholas. One depicted St. Nicholas rescuing a certain Patriarch Anastasius from drowning. The icon before that one, however, depicted this Patriarch Anastasius ordering the removal of the Icon of St. Nicholas (the captions of all the icons were in English).

I'm afraid I don't know anything about this episode. Why did this Patriarch order the removal of the icons of St. Nicholas, and how did it come to happen that St. Nicholas susequently rescued him from drowning?

The next icon that has me puzzled (and for those of you who are Orthodox I beg you to pardon my ignorance) is the one currently depicted on this forum captioned "Holy Great Prince Vladimir, Equal to the Apostles".

???

Funny you should mention this one, as it happens to be his feast day today (July 15).

It was Prince Vladimir, grand prince of Kiev, who brought Christianity to the people of Rus. His envoys to Constantinople, sent out in search of a "preferred religion", went to Hagia Sophia and famously reported back to their master on their experience of the Divine Liturgy, as follows:

"We no longer knew whether we were in heaven or on earth, nor such beauty, and we know not how to tell of it."

He is called "equal to the apostles" (like Sts. Cyril & Methodius) for his role in bringing the Faith to a new people.

Note that he is also commemorated by Eastern Catholics of Byzantine-Slav tradition.

This is a hagiographic depiction of the Miracle of St. Nicholas. More information here:
http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/arrogance-humbled/

Have you ever heard about the Miracle of St. Nicholas, that took place in Samara in the middle of the last century? It was called "Zoya's standing". This is a true history, that have a lot of witnesses and really shocked people of the Soviet Russia... http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/43644.htm

Thanks for posting this, Nataly - I had never heard this story. It was interesting to consider this incident as reflective of the effect of Soviet-imposed secularization on the youth of that time, born into the Communist era.

After reading through this a few times, I was left with one burning question: what ever happened to the fiance, Nicholas?

Curious Joe - a good name to such an inquisitive mind! I thought first of all about the witnesses, that saw this "standing". They are still alive and can tell us about this Miracle. I wonder why journalists don't investigate this story?

James,

I presume, as did Joe, that it was the phrase, 'Equal to the Apostles', that left you confused. As Joe indicated, Saints Cyril & Methodius, Apostles to the Slavs, are named likewise.

The title is unique to the Eastern Churches, Orthodox and Catholic, and there are others to whom it is also applied. Some of those so styled:

Saint Mary Magdalene
Saint Nina, Enlightener of Georgia
Saint Patrick
Saint Olga, Grand Princess of Kiev
Saint Boris, Tsar of Bulgaria
Saint Sava I of Serbia
Saint Nicholas of Japan
Saints Constantine and Helen
Saint Innocent of Alaska, Enlightener of North America
Saint Thecla the Protomartyr
Saint Lydia of Philippi
Saint Photina, the Samaritan Woman

Many years,

Neil

The more I learn about the Eastern Church the more I'm fascinated. Thanks for your responses.

The Serbian Orthodox parish, St. Peter the Apostle, in Fresno, California, is adorned in a similar top to bottom fashion. It is very beautiful and people drive from hours away just to see it.