Sunday of the Holy Forefathers

Those who lived before and under the Law, and those of the flesh, namely the Patriarch Abraham whom the Lord said unto "In thy seed shall all of the nations of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 12:3; 22:18).

[1] "You justified the Forefathers by faith, and through them betrothed yourself, aforetime, to the Church taken from out of the Gentiles.

"[2] "You did not worship the graven image, O thrice-blessed ones, but armed with the immaterial Essence of God, you were glorified in a trial by fire.

From the midst of unbearable flames you called on God, crying: Hasten, O compassionate One!

The feast also commemorates the Holy Prophets such as Daniel, Ezekiel, and Elijah, judges, kings, and all who lived of the flesh and under the Law.

Icon was likely painted in the village of Palekh , one of only a few major centers of icon-painting in nineteenth-century Russia, near the city of Vladimir . It depicts the Resurrection of Christ and the Twelve Church feasts.