St Anthony of Egypt-Jan 17

St Anthony of Egypt | ICN: Abbot. St Anthony was born in 251 in Upper Egypt. When he was 20, his parents died, leaving him a large estate. After much prayer Antony decided to sell his possessions and give the money to the poor. His younger sister joined a community of religious women while Anthony went to live in...

St Henry of Coquet Island-Jan 16

St Henry of Coquet Island | ICN: Henry was a 12th century Dane who decided to become a hermit abroad rather than go in to an arranged marriage that made him unhappy. The prior of Tynemouth allowed him to settle on Coquet Island, which had once had a community of monks during the time of Bede. It was also the place wh...

St Paul the Hermit | ICN

St Paul the Hermit | ICN: Saint Paul the Hermit is regarded as the first Christian hermit. He was born in 228 AD. The Life of Saint Paul the First Hermit, was composed in Latin by Saint Jerome, around 376. According to Jerome, Paul fled to the Theban desert as a boy during the persecution of Decius and Valerianu...

St Sava of Serbia-Jan 14

St Sava of Serbia | ICN: St Sava was the first archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian church. Born in Tirnovo, Bulgaria, in 1173, the third son of prince Stephen Nemanya (who achieved independence for the Serbs from Byzantium), he became a monk on Mount Athos in 1191. His father abdicated in favour of another ...

St Hilary of Poitiers-Jan 13 Doctor of The Church

St Hilary of Poitiers | ICN: Bishop of Poitiers. Born in 315, to wealthy pagan parents, Hilary became an orator, married and had a daughter, Afra.After a long process of study, he became a Christian in 350 and devoted the rest of his life to the Church. In 353 he was chosen as bishop. St Hilary was an outsp...

St Theodosius | ICN Jan 11

St Theodosius | ICN: Abbot. Born at Cappadocia in 423, St Theodosius went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem as a young man, with dreams of becoming a hermit. For a time he lived in a monastery. Then he settled in the desert alone. But his teacher, an elderly monk called Longinus, noticed that he had other gifts an...

St Philip of Moscow | ICN

St Philip of Moscow | ICN: Bishop, monk and martyr. Born in Moscow in 1507, Theodore Kolyshov was a wealthy nobleman, who probably saw active military service in his youth. At the age of 30 he joined the monastery of Solovetsk on the White Sea, and took the name of Philip. He became abbot there in 1547. Saint Phi...