Description
The Communion of the Saints includes all those who have entered into and live in Heaven with God forever. There are saints who the Church has formally recognized as intercessors and who directly interface still with the Faithful when called upon in prayer, interceding in their behalf before the All-Merciful Saviour in Whose presence they always live. There are also saints that no one on earth knows their names, yet are in the Heavenly condition of blessedness. This icon celebrates the feast of all the saints, known and unknown, who live with God now and are our older brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as all of the Angelic Hosts.
In the lower part of this icon Dismas the Good Thief walks in Paradise still carrying his cross, and Abraham sits on a throne with the souls of the Righteous in his bosom. Above Christ is enthroned and also surrounded by angels, saints, Christian kings, prophets, martyrs, ascetics, monastics, righteous men and women, and hierarchs, all standing in His presence with love and reverence. We are invited to join them by entering into the condition of mercy, love, right belief, and faith, that they lived in this world before us.