Feasts and Saints

The Annunciation (fish allowed); 5th Sunday of Great Lent

1. The Feast of the Annunciation is one of the earliest Christian feasts, and was already being celebrated in the fourth century. There is a painting of the Annunciation in the catacomb of Priscilla in Rome dating from the second century. The Council of Toledo in 656 mentions the Feast, and the Council in Trullo…

Mar 25, 2018Iulian Dumitraşcu

Hieromartyr Gregory, bishop of Greater Armenia; Martyrs Rhipsima and Gaiana

1. The Hieromartyr Gregory, Enlightener of Greater Armenia, was born in the year 257. He was descended from the line of the Parthian Arsakid emperors. The father of Saint Gregory, Anak, in striving after the Armenian throne, had murdered his kinsman, the emperor Kursar, in consequence of which all the line of Anak was marked…

Sep 30, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu

+) Hieromartyr Anthimus the Georgian, metropolitan of Wallachia; Martyrs Callistratus and Epicharis of Rome

1. This chosen person by God was born in Iviria (today’s Georgia) about 1650, to righteous parents, John and Maria, and baptised Andrew. Grown up in the spirit of the Orthodox tradition, young Andrew received from God the gifts of church painting and sculpture. When the Turks invaded his native place, he was caught, made…

Sep 27, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu

Holy & Righteous Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna; †) Ven. Kyriakos of Tazlau; †) Ven Onuphrius of Vorona; Holy Fathers of the 3rd Ecumenical Council

1. Saint Joachim, the son of Barpathir, was of the tribe of Judah, and was a descendant of King David, to whom God had revealed that the Savior of the world would be born from his seed. Saint Anna was the daughter of Matthan the priest, who was of the tribe of Levi. Saint Anna’s…

Sep 9, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu

(†) The Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary (Fish permitted)

The Most Holy Virgin Mary was born at a time when people had reached such a degree of moral decay that it seemed altogether impossible to restore them. People often said that God must come into the world to restore faith and not permit the ruin of mankind. The Son of God chose to take…

Sep 8, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu

† Beginning of Church Year;  † Ven. Dionysius Exiguus (the Humble); St. Simeon Stylites, the Elder; Holy forty Virgin-martyrs at Heraclea in Thrace (Service of Thanksgiving)

1. Venerable Dionysius was born about the year 460, to righteous parents, in Scythia Minor, today’s Dobrudja. He received a spiritual education ever since he was young, in the schools and monasteries of Dobrudja, having as supervisors the wise Scythian monks and the famous bishop Peter, who pastorally cared for Tomis (today’s Constanţa). In order…

Sep 1, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu

Apostle Thaddeus of the Seventy; Martyr Bassa and her sons; Martyrs Donatus the deacon, Romulus the priest, Silvanus the deacon and Venustus

Saint Thaddeus, Apostle of the Seventy, was by descent a Hebrew, and he was born in the Syrian city of Edessa. The holy Apostle Thaddeus of the Seventy must be distinguished from Saint Jude, also called Thaddeus or Levi (June 19), who was one of the Twelve Apostles. When he came to Jerusalem for a…

Aug 21, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu

Martyr Myron of Cyzicus; Martyrs Straton and Cyprian of Nicomedia

Martyr Myron was a presbyter in Achaia (Greece), and lived during the third century. He suffered in the year 250 under the emperor Decius (249-251). The presbyter was gentle and kind to people, but he was also courageous in the defense of his spiritual children. On the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, he was…

Aug 17, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu

Translation of the Image “Not-Made-By-Hands” of our Lord Jesus Christ from Edessa to Constantinople; †) New Martyrs King Constantine Brancoveanu of Wallachia and his four sons Constantine, Stephen, Radu, and Matthew, and his counsellor Ianache; †) Ven. Joseph of Varatec; Martyr Diomedes

1. The righteous and loving Christ ruling prince of Wallachia, Constantine Brâncoveanu, was born in 1654, to outstanding parents; from his father’s side, he came from Ruler Prince Matei Basarab (1632-1654), and from his mother’s side he was nephew of the sister of Ruler Prince Şerban Cantacuzino (1678-1688), in whose time, in 1688, the Holy…

Aug 16, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu

(†) The Dormition of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary

The Dormition of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary: After the Ascension of the Lord, the Mother of God remained in the care of the Apostle John the Theologian, and during his journeys She lived at the home of his parents, near the Mount of Olives. She was a source of consolation and…

Aug 15, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu

Forefeast of the Dormition; Prophet Micah

1. Forefeast of the Dormition 2. The Prophet Micah, the sixth of the Twelve Minor Prophets, was descended from the Tribe of Judah and was a native of the city of Moresheth, to the south of Jerusalem. His prophetic service began around the year 778 before Christ and continued for almost 50 years under the…

Aug 14, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu