Hieromartyr Hierotheus, the first Bishop of Athens, was a member of the Athenian Areopagos and was converted to Christ by the Apostle Paul together with Saint Dionysius the Areopagite (October 3). The saint was consecrated by the Apostle Paul to the rank of bishop. According to Tradition, Bishop…
The Uncovering of the relics of Saint Gurias, First Archbishop of Kazan, and Saint Barsanuphius, Bishop of Tver, occurred at Kazan in the year 1595. During the construction of a new stone church in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord at the Savior-Transfiguration monastery, which had been…
Today the Church honors the holy hierarchs of Kazan: Bishop Barsanuphius of Tver (April 11 and October 4) Archbishop Herman (June 23, September 25, and November 6) Archbishop Gurias (June 20, October 4, and December 5).
The holy right-believing Prince Vladimir Yaroslavich of Novgorod, the Wonderworker, was the eldest son of Great Prince Yaroslav the Wise, and was born in the year 1020. At age fourteen, his father made him administrator of Novgorod. The military commander Vyshata and the holy Bishop Menignus…
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Saints Ammon the Recluse of the Kiev Caves, Far Caves, was given the title “Lover of Labor.” The saint went to Athos and to Jerusalem. Upon his return, he became famous for his exploits, and he was an image of holy life for the brethren. He was buried in the Far Caves. His memory is…
Saints Gaius, Faustus, Eusebius, and Chaeremon were deacons and disciples of Saint Dionysius of Alexandria (October 5). They were arrested and banished from from Alexandria along with with Saint Dionysius. They were tortured and beheaded during the persecution of Valerian (253-259).
Saint Peter was born and raised in the city of Capitolias (an ancient city in eastern Jordan, on the way to Damascus), and he was both wise and very prudent. He was married with three children, and after his wife died he became a monk. He was ordained to the holy priesthood by the Bishop of Busra…
Saint Domnina was a woman with two daughters named Verine (Saint John Chrysostom calls her Vernike, or Berenice) and Prosdoce. Leaving their home and family, they settled in Edessa on the plain of Mesopotamia. Berenice’s father and her husband, who were pagans, took the women to Hieropolis in…
Saint Ammon of Egypt was raised in Christian piety. He entered into marriage at the urging of his parents, but by agreement with his spouse preserved his virginity and they lived as brother and sister. The spiritual spouses pursued asceticism in fasting, prayer and joint effort for twenty years.…
Saint Paul the Simple of Egypt also lived in the fourth century and was called the Simple for his simplicity of heart and gentleness. He had been married, but when he discovered his wife’s infidelity, he left her and went into the desert to Saint Anthony the Great (January 17). Paul was…
The holy martyr Callisthene was born in Ephesus, and her father was the eparch Audactus. She was to marry the emperor Maximian Galerius (305-311), but her father would not consent to the match because the emperor was a pagan. Therefore, Audactus was deprived of his wealth and position, and was…
Saint Stephen Stiljianovich of Serbia was born into a pious Christian family in the Serbian city of Zhupa (south of Zakholmya). During this time Serbia was often subjected to invasions by the Turks, who devastated the land. Saint Stephen defended his native land, did military service in the army of…
Saint Evdemoz led the Georgian Orthodox Church in the mid-17th century during the reign of King Rostom-Khan (1632-1658), a Georgian who had converted to Islam. Having murdered King Luarsab II of Kartli and chased out King Teimuraz I of Kakheti, the Persian shah Abbas I had declared Rostom-Khan…
Princess Elena was the wife of the Despot Stephen Å tiljanović who is also venerated as a Saint. After his death around 1515, she fled to Germany in order to escape from the Turks. Later, a light appeared at his grave by night, which led to the discovery of his holy relics. The Saint's body was…
Saints Jonah and Nectarius of Kazan were called John and Nestor Zastolsky before they received monastic tonsure. When Saint Gurias (December 5 ) was sent to the newly established Kazan diocese, the boyar John Zastolsky went with him. Under the spiritual guidance of Saint Gurias, John led a virtuous…
1. The Hieromartyr Phocas, Bishop of Sinope.
He exercised himself from his youth in all the Christian virtues. As bishop in his birthplace, the town of Sinope on the shore of the Black Sea, he strengthened the devout in their faith by his divine example and words, and brought many idol-worshippers to the true Faith. The stony-hearted pagans were filled with wrath against holy Phocas, and the Lord foreshowed to him in a vision his death by martyrdom. Phocas saw a shining dove fly down from heaven, carrying in its beak a beautiful wreath of flowers which it laid on his head, and a voice came from the dove: 'My cup is full, and it is for thee to drink it!' From this vision, the man of God learned that he must very soon suffer for Christ. He was not afraid, but, with thanksgiving to God, prepared himself for torture. Soon after this, the Governor, Africanus, took Phocas for interrogation and inflicted harsh tortures upon him: his whole body was beaten black and blue and torn with wounds, and, after imprisonment, he was thrown into boiling water, in which this courageous soldier of Christ finished his earthly course and entered into the joy of his Lord. He suffered in the time of the Emperor Trajan (98-117).
2. The Holy Prophet Jonah.
He lived more than eight hundred years before Christ. It is said that he was the widow's son of Zarephath in Sidon, whom the Prophet Elias raised from the dead. By his three-day sojourn in the belly of the whale, St Jonah foreshadowed the three-day sojourn of Christ in the tomb, and, by his deliverance from the whale's belly, the Lord's Resurrection from the dead. Everything else about this wonderful prophet is there to be read in the Book of Jonah.
3. The Holy Martyr Phocas the Gardener.
A compatriot of the hieromartyr Phocas, he had a garden in Sinope, near the Black Sea, which he cultivated himself. He refreshed all the passersby with the fruits of his garden, not neglecting to entertain their ears with the Word of God. But the governor, who was a persecutor of Christians, heard of him and sent soldiers to kill him. Phocas welcomed the soldiers so warmly that they held back from killing him, but, at his beseeching, carried out their orders and beheaded him. In that place, a church dedicated to him was soon built over his relics. St Phocas is especially venerated by seamen, and is invoked for aid by all who travel by sea. He suffered in 320.
4. Our Holy Father Cosmas of Zographou.
He was of a noble Bulgarian family. When his parents wanted him to marry, he fled to the Holy Mountain. He was a solitary and a wonderworker, living in asceticism in a cave near the monastery of Zographou, and was the greatest ascetic and wonderworker of that monastery. The Mother of God appeared to him several times. The cell in which Cosmas lived in silent asceticism and wrestled with demons remains to this day to the north-west of the monastery. Being gifted with discernment, he could see in the spirit, and described happenings in far-off times and places. He died in old age, on September 22nd, 1323, and, after a life of much toil, entered into the joy of his Lord.
5. St Peter the Merciful.
A man of God of the sixth century (see the passage for consideration below).
6. The Holy Priest Jonah.
The father of St Theophanes the writer of Canons, and of St Theodore the Scribe, he was a wonderworker. He died in the monastery of St Sava the Sanctified in the ninth century.
