Dodekaorton - 12 Great Feasts - Wooden icon in canvas with gold background on carved wood - Mount Athos

Seriograph icon crafted in canvas with gold background on carved wood.

There is in the Byzantine Hagiography, in the showcases of the great hagiographers and in the panels of the emblematic churches of Orthodoxy, an image as strong, as full of energy, as concentrated in spirituality, as few.

The Dodecaorton (12 Great Feasts), that is, the depiction of the 12 most important feasts of the liturgical year which the Christian can have all together, to worship them, to pray to them and to invoke all that he represents.

The Dodecaorton includes both despotic (related to the redemptive events of the life of Jesus) and theological images (concerning the Virgin Mary).

Unique in its kind is the Holy Icon that represents the Twelfth and in the center is depicted the Last Supper.

The Twelve Great Feasts are as follows (note that the liturgical year begins with the month of September) :

◾ The Nativity of the Theotokos, 8 September [O.S. 21 September ]
◾ The Exaltation of the Cross, 14 September [O.S. 27 September]
◾ The Presentation of the Theotokos, 21 November [O.S. 4 December]
◾ The Nativity of Christ (Christmas), 25 December [O.S. 7 January]
◾ The Baptism of Christ (Theophany, also called Epiphany), 6 January [O.S. 19 January]
◾ The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple (Candlemas), 2 February [O.S. 15 February]
◾ The Annunciation, 25 March [O.S. 7 April]
◾ The Entry into Jerusalem (Flowery/Willow/Palm Sunday), the Sunday before Easter
◾ The Ascension of Christ, forty Days after Easter
◾ Pentecost, fifty Days after Easter
◾ The Transfiguration of Jesus, 6 August [O.S. 19 August]
◾ The Dormition of the Theotokos, 15 August [O.S. 28 August]