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To Any and All Who May Be Of Help,

I'm looking for an icon of my patron saint, Alexis/Alexios/Alexius, that I can purchase online. Unfortunately I'm not having great luck. Do any of you know where I should look?

Additionally, since I am icon-less at the moment, how does one "hang up" an icon on the wall? I don't want to nail through it or anything, obviously.

Thanks in advance,
Logos Teen

Garrett,

PM Alex. If he doesn't know, I don't know who will (hmm, maybe Dave/Chtec, now that I think about it). As to hanging them, most modern ones on board have a keyhole slot in the back that allows them to be hung using a screw or conventional picture hangers.

Many years,

Neil

Thanks, Neil.

I found the icon I want and am ordering it from Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Brookline, not all too far from you, I surmise, knowing how little your Commonwealth is.

Logos Teen

Garrett,

Every icon I've had from Holy Transfiguration has the keyhole slot that I mentioned. I'm sure you'll be pleased with it. The theological leanings of our HOCNA brothers notwithstanding, they do write beautiful icons.

The monastery is, in fact, only about 2 miles from the Cathedral, here in our "litte Commonwealth" :p (where there are, at least, no hard-packed red clay county roads :rolleyes: ).

Many years,

Neil

Thanks for the information, Neil. The icons I saw were lovely.

And I'm afraid, Brother in Christ, that you overemphasize the force with which our red clay county roads are packed- - -many are rather dusty.

And I wouldn't have it any other way!

Logos Teen

Garrett,

You know, after I posted that, the thought occurred to me that they weren't that hard-packed - otherwise, I would have been able to breathe with my windows open - which I couldn't

FYI, they are replicated in a place called Quanh Loi in VietNam. In 1969, the red clay of Quanh Loi brought tears to the eyes of two of my medics, young men who hailed from Jaw-Ja. (At the time, there were arguments raised among their cohorts as to whether it was sentiment or the inability to breathe that caused the tears ).

Many years,

Neil

Teen, traditionally icons are not to be hung, but rested on a shelf with a lamp before them.

St. Isaac of Syria, www.skete.com, [skete.com,] also has an icon of St. Alexis the man of God which you can see in the "Saints" section.

Garrett,

Here i was thinking that your patron Saint was St Alexis Toth !

Neil,

There's almost something mystical about red clay that only a Georgian can understand!

Diak,

Thanks for the link; I looked at the icon from www.skete.com [skete.com] and didn't like it as much as the one I found at Holy Transfiguration. I don't think my parents would be wild about a lit lamp in front of my icon, so I'm just going to settle for hanging the icon on the wall, lampless.

Brian,

No, I'm afraid St. Alexis, the Man of God is my patron saint, not Fr. Toth!

Logos Teen

Wow, I didn't know that - how interesting!

In Christ,
Aaron

Garrett,

The Troparian and Kontakian of St. Alexis, together with a biography of him are at:

St. Alexis, Man of God [fatheralexander.org]

Many years,

Neil

Thank you, Neil. If I knew the melodies of the eight tones then I could chant the Troparion and Kontakion of St. Alexis (I think it's Tone 4). Alas, I don't know the tones so I'll have to settle for reciting them as prayers.

Logos Teen

Logos Teen,

I, too, am an "Alex," and share a patron saint with you. In fact, the feast day of St. Alexis, Man of God (March 31) happens also to be my birthday (that's just a fortunate coincidence - I was actually named after my dad, not the saint).

I "speak" to Alexis nightly... I can tell you with assurance that he's a great guy and a wonderful listener! Trust in his intercessions!

a pilgrim

Dear Pilgrim,

Well, I too am an "Alex."

And I was born on March 29th, the day before the Julian Calendar celebration of the Man of God.

My father was a hobby beekeeper and St Alexis' Day is called, in Ukraine (the Orange Land), the day of "Warm Alex" as it is the beginning of spring.

On March 30th, St Alexis' Day, beekeepers have their bee-hives blessed by priests (there are four blessing for bees in the Slavonic Trebnyk/Euchologion).

And they establish little outdoor shrines to the patron saints of the bees in Ukraine and Russia (the Red land) consisting of the icons of St John the Baptist (who ate wild honey) and of Saints Savaty and Zosima of the Solovetsky Islands (the icon of All Saints of Russia, published by Jordanville, depicts them in the lower left hand corner behind a hive of bees).

And St Alexis' icon can be included, of course.

The West celebrates St Alexis (the Alexian Brothers take him as their patron) on July 17 (which would be July 30th on the Julian Calendar).

He was the patron of those charged with the responsibility of burying the dead victims of the plagues of Europe in the Middle Ages.

The house of his father where he lived for 17 years (thus, March and July "17") under the stairs is now his shrine-church in Rome. The stairs under which he lived and died are still there for pilgrims to see.

His title in Latin is: "Alexius Romanus" or "Alex Roman" for short

In my family, my nickname has always been "Warm Alex" ("Teplij Oleksa").

Also, Diak's mention of icons being leaned on shelves rather than hung reflects the Old Believer tradition rather than the mainstream Orthodox one - which is fine.

The Old Believers stopped nailing icons to walls ONLY because they were persecuted and never knew when they had to grab their icons and run (so an Old Believer priest friend of mine related to me).

But the icon shelf certainly has a long tradition in East Slavic Christianity.

The shelf was used by our pagan ancestors to hold the images of their pagan gods, especially the house protector gods "Pek" and "Tsur." The Slavic word "Nebezpeka" is a play on the name of the pagan god "Pek" who was very violent and thus the word for "danger" is literally translated as "Not without Pek."

Finally, the Jordanville book of Akathists has one to St Alexius, the Man of God.

In Syria, the same saint was called "John" and some people with his name are called by both names - as am I "Alex John."

Alex

Alex,

Ditto, my friend!

+Dad was "Alex John" as well... he's been asleep in the Lord for nearly 20 years now. Regretfully, I never took the opportunity to ask him why he (and me) were named such, and all those who may have known are now gone as well.

Side note - I recall a fifth grade nun who insisted on calling me "Alexander," despite my youthful protests. When I saw I was getting nowhere with my corrections, I decided to respectfully shut up and let her have her way - by sixth grade I was back to being "Alex" once again! Today it's mostly just "Al."

a pilgrim