Saint Daniel icon, Handmade Greek Orthodox icon St Daniel Katounakiotis, Byzantine art wall hanging on wood plaque, religious decor

This wonderful icon has been created with the technique of lithography and has a double varnish to ensure waterproof and duration in time. The creator of this icon has learned the canonization of iconography in workshops of the Monasteries of Mount Athos, where he was taught both the technique of lithography and the process of handmade artificial ageing.

Elder Daniel Katounakiotis, known in the world as Dimitrios Dimitriadis, was a monk, the founder of Danielaioi brotherhood at Mount Athos.

Born in 1846 in a family of a armourer in Smyrna, he was the youngest child in the family and was characterized by outstanding abilities. In his teenage years Dimitrios knew by heart almost all Philokalia. At the island of Paros, he met Saint Arsenius of Paros who blessed Dimitrios to go to St. Panteleimon monastery at Mt. Athos.

In St. Panteleimon monastery, he was tonsured a monk with the name of Daniel. Later he lived in Vatopaidi monastery. For 10 years he suffered with nephritis and on August 31, when the Vatopaidi monastery celebrated the feast of Holy Belt of the Mother of God, he was suddenly healed. After 5 years in Vatopaidi he moved to Katounakia where lived alone for 3.5 years. Starting from 1883, other monks started to settle there, so that Danielaioi brotherhood was formed. Elder Daniel was offered to be a bishop but considered himself to be unworthy of it.

Elder Daniel had a gift of spiritual counsel and consolation in sorrows. He guarded or cured from prelest many monks and lay persons. He was in spiritual friendship with St. Nectarios of Pentapolis. Also he was in correspondence with Philotheos (Zervakos) of Paros and other monks from the monastery of Longovarda at the island of Paros. Elder Daniel guarded them from the heresy of theologian A. Makrakis. About 200 letters to the abbess Theodosia from the monastery at the island of Tinos and 70 other writings of elder Daniel are available until now.