Feasts and Saints

The Life Giving Spring of the Mother of God; The Syriac Icon of the Mother of God from Ghighiu Monastery (Fast Free)

Orthodox Calendar, April 17 The Life-Giving Spring of the Most Holy Theotokos There once was a beautiful church in Constantinople dedicated to the Mother of God, which had been built in the fifth century by the holy Emperor Leo the Great (January 20) in the Seven Towers district. Before becoming emperor, Leo was walking in…

Apr 17, 2026basilica.ro

Virginmartyrs Agape, Irene, and Chionia in Thessalonica

Orthodox Calendar, April 16 Holy Martyrs Agape, Irene, and Chionia They were sisters who lived at the end of the third century to the beginning of the fourth century, near the Italian city of Aquilea. They were left orphaned at an early age. The young women led a pious Christian life and they turned down…

Apr 16, 2026basilica.ro

Apostles Aristarchus, Pudens and Trophimus of the Seventy; Martyr Crescens (Fast free)

Orthodox Calendar April 15 Apostles Aristarchus, Pudens and Trophimus of the Seventy Saint Aristarchus was one of the Seventy Apostles, whom the Lord Jesus Christ sent to proclaim the good news of the Gospel (Luke. 10:1-24). Saint Aristarchus, a co-worker of the holy Apostle Paul, became bishop of the Syrian city of Apamea. His name is…

Apr 15, 2026basilica.ro

(†) Holy Pascha; Saint Pachomius of Gledin; St. Martin the Confessor the Pope of Rome; Martyr Thomais

Orthodox Calendar April 14 Saint Pachomius of Gledin He was born in 1674, in Gledin village, Bistriţa-Năsăud region. Having been brought up by parents obedient to God, he became a true follower of Christ and because the Orthodox faith was persecuted in Transylvania he left his parents’ house and went to Moldavia, to Neamţ Monastery,…

Apr 14, 2026basilica.ro

(†) Holy Pascha (On this day, the Romanian Saints commemorated on April 11 and 12 are also liturgically celebrated: St. Callinicus from Cernica and his mother Saint Philothea of Pasărea, and Martyr Sava of Buzău)

Orthodox Calendar April 13 The Holy Martyr Sava of Buzău This holy father of ours suffered for Christ in the year 372, during the persecution of Athanaric, at the hands of the official Atharid, being put to death by drowning in the Buzău River. On this day, the twelfth of the month, we commemorate the…

Apr 13, 2026basilica.ro

(†) Holy Pascha: The Resurrection of Our Lord

Orthodox Calendar, April 20 Holy Pascha: The Resurrection of Our Lord Enjoy ye all the feast of faith; receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness. (Sermon of Saint John Chrysostom, read at Paschal Matins) The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the center of the Christian faith. Saint Paul says that if Christ…

Apr 12, 2026basilica.ro

Great and Holy Saturday; Saint Callinicus from Cernica, bishop of Râmnic (His feast day will be celebrated on Monday, the second day of Easter); Hieromartyr Antipas, bishop of Pergamum

Orthodox Calendar, April 11 Great and Holy Saturday On Great and Holy Saturday the Church contemplates the mystery of the Lord’s descent into Hades, the place of the dead. Death, our ultimate enemy, is defeated from within. “He (Christ) gave Himself as a ransom to death in which we were held captive, sold under sin.…

Apr 11, 2026basilica.ro

Great and Holy Friday (Non-liturgical day. Matins); Martyrs Terence, Pompeius, Africanus, Maximus and Dima

Orthodox Calendar, April 10 Great and Holy Friday On Great and Holy Friday, Christ died on the Cross. He gave up His spirit with the words: “It is finished” (John 19:30). These words are better understood when rendered: “It is consummated.” He had accomplished the work for which His heavenly Father had sent Him into…

Apr 10, 2026basilica.ro

Great and Holy Thursday (Matins); Martyr Eupsychius of Caesarea; Saint Vadim

Orthodox Calendar, April 9 Great and Holy Thursday Two events shape the liturgy of Great and Holy Thursday: the Last Supper of Christ with His disciples, and the betrayal of Judas. The meaning of both is in love. The Last Supper is the ultimate revelation of God’s redeeming love for man, of love as the…

Apr 9, 2026basilica.ro

Great and Holy Wednesday (Matins); Apostle Herodion of the Seventy, and those with Him; Saint Celestine, Pope of Rome

Orthodox Calendar, April 8 Great and Holy Wednesday On Great and Holy Wednesday, the hymns of the Bridegroom Service remind us of the sinful woman who poured precious ointment on Christ’s head at Simon the leper’s house (Mt. 26:7). The disciples complained about the wasteful extravagance, for the myrrh could have been sold and the…

Apr 8, 2026basilica.ro

Great and Holy Tuesday (Matins); Martyr Calliopius; St. George the Confessor the Bishop of Mytilene

Orthodox Calendar, April 7 Great and Holy Tuesday Great and Holy Tuesday Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – these three days, which the Church calls Great and Holy have within the liturgical development of the Holy Week a very definite purpose. They place all its celebrations in the perspective of End Times; they remind us of the…

Apr 7, 2026basilica.ro