St Gertrude of Nivelles & Guardian Angel Folding Diptych
$69
Collectible Christian Orthodox named portable folding icon, a diptych for the home: “St Gertrude of Nivelles & 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 Gertrude 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 Gertrude of Nivelles
The abbess who welcomed every traveler.
St Gertrude is asked for a safe journey and a safe return home, for protection at sea and in storms, for a fruitful garden and a generous, hospitable heart. She is a saint of the undivided Church, shown here as abbess with her crozier, and with a cat.
Why this saint
Gertrude was born around 626 into the leading Frankish family of her day. At about ten she was offered a marriage at her father’s table, before the king himself. She refused and said Christ alone would be her Bridegroom, and she kept that vow for life. She became the first abbess of Nivelles, where she loved learning and welcomed traveling monks, the Irish missionaries above all. Once, while she prayed at the altar, a sphere of light descended and filled the church. When her monks were caught in a storm at sea, they called on her prayers and the storm calmed. She reposed in 659.
Traditional patronage
- Prayed to for a safe journey and safe return home
- Prayed to for protection at sea and in storms
- Prayed to for a fruitful garden
- Prayed to for a generous and hospitable heart
- Prayed to for the grace to keep a vow of dedication to Christ
- Prayed to for a peaceful Christian death
- Protector of travelers from the dangers of the road and sea
- Patron of travelers and pilgrims, gardeners, widows and the poor
- In the West, also invoked for those suffering mental illness, and against rats and mice in the home. The custom of calling her a patron of cats is modern and gentle, and it grew out of that older protection.
- Feast day
17 March (30 March on the Old Calendar), kept by Orthodox Christians of the West. She is not a major saint of the Russian or Greek calendars.
- Name-day names
Gertrude, Gertrud, Gertruda, Trudy.
- For whom
every Gertrude or Trudy, a traveler or pilgrim, a gardener, a family of Belgian or Dutch heritage, and the cat lover who prays.
- 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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