2023 MONASTERY AUCTION

Builders of Monasteries

Orthodox monasteries were built as early as the 6^th century by emperors, royalty, simple monks, everyday people, and Saints of our Church.  Many were constructed using Byzantine-style architecture with churches designed in the shape of a cross, graced with arches and heightened domes and crowned with crosses, the symbol of our faith.  

Mount Athos, the Holy Mountain, a mountainous peninsula in northeastern Greece has been a spiritual center of Eastern Orthodox monasticism for over 1,000 years, and is home to 20 monasteries today. There are well-known monasteries such as St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Desert,  Hamatoura in Lebanon,  the Monastery of the Great Meteoron in Greece.  And today, in America, through the efforts of Archimandrite Ephraim (+2019), former Abbot of Philotheou Monastery on Mount Athos and Saint Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monastery in Arizona, the last two decades has seen the rapid development of Greek Orthodox monasteries across the United States and Canada.

 The proliferation of monasteries is a testimony that monasticism is an important and vital part of the Orthodox Christian faith throughout the world, where the apostolic traditions of the Orthodox faith are followed.  It is within the confines of these structures that monks and nuns dedicate their lives to God for the salvation of their souls and through their prayers, for the salvation of the world. 

This year, because of your generosity, we have made progress in building the Nativity of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Monastery whose church exemplifies Byzantine architecture.  Therefore, it is timely for this year’s auction that we offer icons of a few of the Saints of our Church who built monasteries: Saint Nektarios and  Saints Ipomoni, Macrina, Olimpias, and Elizabeth.

Please note that all sales are final.  Shipping and handling will be calculated at the end of the auction for each winning bidder.

All proceeds go to complete the construction of the new Monastery, Chapel, and Byzantine Iconography Studio.  

See the progress of our building project, visit our gift shop, and make donations for the new Monastery at: NativityoftheTheotokosMonastery.org and select "Building Project" from the menu.