St Alina (Alena) of Brussels & Guardian Angel Folding Diptych
$69
Collectible Christian Orthodox named portable folding icon, a diptych for the home: “St Alina (Alena) of Brussels & Guardian Angel”. It consists of two portable pocket icons, each set in a wooden frame, joined together.
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The wood is pine; the icon images are produced by a printed reproduction process, laminated and carefully protected by glass. Both the front and the back of the diptych are covered in beautiful velvet. Its compact size makes it convenient to keep at home or to carry on the road while traveling. When folded, the diptych takes up minimal space and is secured by a side clasp. This portable Orthodox icon diptych makes a thoughtful and meaningful gift for every Christian, a loved one, or a person named Alina who is celebrating a name day or another special occasion.
Made in Russia
- We ship to all 50 states within two business days
- Free shipping on orders of $99 or more
- 30-day returns · consecrated items are final sale
Dimensions and materials
- Folded
- 3.15 × 3.55 in (8 × 9.5 cm)
- Open
- 6.3 × 3.55 in (16.5 × 9.5 cm)
- Thickness
- 1.2 in (3.5 cm)
- Origin
- Made in Russia
Shipping
We pack every order within two business days and ship to all 50 states, DC and APO/FPO addresses. Shipping is free on orders of $99 or more, and $6.95 below that. Shipping policy
Returns
Return any item within 30 days of delivery for a refund. Consecrated items are final sale. Returns policy
St Alena of Brussels
A daughter whose faith won her parents for Christ.
Orthodox Christians pray to St Alena for healing of the eyes and restored sight, for relief from toothache, and for courage to confess Christ. Above all she is asked for the conversion of unbelieving parents and relatives. She is the name-day patron of the many girls named Alina and Alyona.
Why this saint
Alena was born at Dilbeek, near Brussels, to noble pagan parents in the seventh century. Drawn to Christ, she was baptized without their knowledge and went to the services in secret. Her father believed the Christians had bewitched her and sent guards to bring her home. She resisted, lost an arm in the struggle, and died of her wounds in prison around 640. An angel carried her arm to the chapel where she had prayed. A nobleman’s sight was restored at her grave, and these signs moved her mother and father to embrace the faith she died for.
Traditional patronage
- Prayed to for healing of the eyes and restored sight
- Prayed to for relief from toothache
- Prayed to for courage to confess Christ
- Prayed to for the conversion of unbelieving parents and relatives
- Prayed to for faithfulness for young Christian women
- Protector from eye disease and blindness
- Protector of young believers in hostile homes
- Patron of young converts and of girls who come to faith against their family’s wishes
- Feast day
18 June (1 July on the Old Calendar), as kept in Orthodox calendars of the Western saints.
- Name-day names
Alena, Alina, Alène, Alyona. The traditional Russian calendar has no saint of this name, so St Alena is a popular name-day patron rather than an official one. Some families keep an Alyona’s name day with St Helen instead.
- For whom
every Alina or Alyona, a goddaughter, a young convert whose family does not yet share her faith.
- Guardian Angel panel
standard Angel.
The Guardian Angel on the other leaf
The angel given to you at baptism.
The Orthodox Church teaches that at holy baptism God gives every Christian a personal Guardian Angel. The angel stays beside that Christian for life: guarding from evil, helping in doing good, praying before God, and accompanying the soul after death. Christ said of the little ones that “their angels always behold the face of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:10). The canon to the Guardian Angel says the angel is given “from holy baptism” and “forever.” Every morning and evening Orthodox Christians pray, “O Angel of Christ, my holy guardian.” That is why Russian piety sets the Guardian Angel beside your patron saint: the two heavenly companions you received at baptism, in one icon.
Traditional patronage
- Prayed to for protection from every evil and danger
- Prayed to for help in doing good, and against one’s sins and passions
- Prayed to for intercession before God and guidance on the path of salvation
- Prayed to for safe journeys: “He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways”
- Protector of children from harm
- Protector on every road: of travelers and drivers
- Protector from evil spirits and their snares, and from sudden calamity
- Companion and guardian of the soul after death
- Feast
Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and all the Bodiless Powers, 8 November (21 November on the Old Calendar). The Orthodox Church has no separate feast of Guardian Angels. The 2 October feast is Catholic.
- Name day
Angelos / Angeliki (Greek custom, 8 November).
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