Saint Ephraim the New – Handmade Hagiography – Mount Athos

Description

Handmade Hagiography On natural linden wood by the hands of the hagiographer, the saintly monk Father Vasileios, who is buried in the Holy Cell of Agios Anthony of the Holy Monastery of Philotheus.
An exceptional iconography depicting Saint Ephraim the New , entirely hand-crafted.

This specific iconography has been crafted by the Agiorite Father Vasilios, based on Byzantine iconography standards. The depiction of the Saint has been painted entirely by hand. Coating the hagiography with pure beeswax ensures that the colors of the image remain unchanged over time.

An amazing icon painting with Saint Ephraim of Nea Makris, one of the “newly seen” saints, who was born in 1384 in Trikala. In order to escape child molestation, he was sent to the Monastery of the Annunciation of the Theotokos on Mount Ammon at the age of just 14. He stayed there until the age of 18 as a trainee monk, then he was ordained a monk and in a few years a priest. His holy shroud was found by the nun Makaria Desypri on January 3, 1950 at the place where the Holy Monastery of Amomo is today in Nea Makri, Attica.

According to the Christian tradition, since 1416 when Athens was occupied by the Ottomans, the Holy Monastery experienced two disasters. During the first the saint happened to be praying in a mountain cave. The Ottoman army slaughtered the other fathers and monks, whom Saint Ephraim buried when he returned. In 1425 the Turks found him and tortured him with particular ferocity for 8.5 months. He was martyred on May 5, 1426, while the tree where he was crucified and breathed his last exists to this day.