Feasts and Saints

Apodosis of the Transfiguration; Translation of the relics of St. Maximus the Confessor; Ven. Dorotheus and Dositheus; 10th Sunday after Pentecost (Cure of the lunatic)

Saint Maximus the Confessor was born in Constantinople around 580 and raised in a pious Christian family. He received an excellent education, studying philosophy, grammar, and rhetoric. He was well-read in the authors of antiquity and he also mastered philosophy and theology. When Saint Maximus entered into government service, he became first secretary (asekretis) and…

Aug 13, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu

Martyrs Photios & Anicetus (W,O)

The Martyrs Anicetus and Photius (his nephew) were natives of Nicomedia. Anicetus, a military official, denounced the emperor Diocletian (284-305) for setting up in the city square an implement of execution for frightening Christians. The enraged emperor ordered Saint Anicetus to be tortured, and later condemned him to be devoured by wild beasts. But the…

Aug 12, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu

+) Holy Hierarch Niphon, patriarch of Constantinople; Martyr & Archdeacon Euplus

Saint Niphon, Patriarch of Constantinople, was a native of Greece, and accepted monasticism at Epidauros. After the death of his Elder Anthony, he went to Athos, where he occupied himself by the copying of books. The saint was later chosen Metropolitan of Thessalonica, and still later occupied the Patriarchal throne in Constantinople and was primate…

Aug 11, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu

Apostle Matthias; Ten Holy Martyrs who suffered for the icon of Christ

The Holy Apostle Matthias was born at Bethlehem of the Tribe of Judah. From his early childhood he studied the Law of God under the guidance of Saint Simeon the God-Receiver (February 3). When the Lord Jesus Christ revealed Himself to the world, Saint Matthias believed in Him as the Messiah, followed constantly after Him…

Aug 9, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu

St. Emilian the Confessor, Bishop of Cyzicus; St. Myron the Wonderworker and Bishop of Crete

Saint Emilian, Bishop of Cyzikus, lived during the reign of the Iconoclast emperor Leo the Armenian (813-820). He was summoned together with other bishops to the court of the emperor, who insistently urged the bishops to refrain from the veneration of holy icons. Saint Emilian was the first to tell the emperor firmly that the…

Aug 8, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu

Translation of the relics of the Protomartyr Stephen the Archdeacon; Righteous Gamaliel; Emperor Justinian the Great

The Transfer of the Relics of the Holy Protomartyr Stephen from Jerusalem to Constantinople took place about the year 428 After the holy Protomartyr Archdeacon Stephen was stoned by the Jews, they left his holy body unburied to be devoured by the beasts and birds. After a day and a night the renowned Jewish teacher…

Aug 2, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu

Forefeast of the Procession of the Honorable and Lifegiving Cross of the Lord; Righteous Eudocimus of Cappadocia; Righteous Joseph of Arimathea

Saint Eudocimus, a native of Cappadocia (Asia Minor), lived during the ninth century during the reign of Emperor Theophilus (829-842). He was the son of the pious Christians Basil and Eudokia, an illustrious family known to the emperor. They raised their son “in discipline and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6: 4), planting in his…

Jul 31, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu

Dormition of the Righteous Anna, the Mother of the Most Holy Theotokos; Commemoration of the Holy 165 Fathers of the Fifth Ecumenical Council; Holy Woman Olympias (Olympiada) the Deaconess of Constantinople; Virginmartyr Eupraxia of Tabenna

Saint Anna was the daughter of the priest Matthan and his wife Mary. She was of the tribe of Levi and the lineage of Aaron. According to Tradition, she died peacefully in Jerusalem at age 79, before the Annunciation to the Most Holy Theotokos. During the reign of Saint Justinian the Emperor (527-565), a church…

Jul 25, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu

Martyr Christina of Tyre; Martyr Hermogenes

The Martyr Christina lived during the third century. She was born into a rich family, and her father was governor of Tyre. By the age of 11 the girl was exceptionally beautiful, and many wanted to marry her. Christina’s father, however, envisioned that his daughter should become a pagan priestess. To this end he placed…

Jul 24, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu

Myrrhbearer and Equal of the Apostles Mary Magdalene; Martyr Markella of Chios

The Holy Myrrh-Bearer Equal of the Apostles Mary Magdalene. On the banks of Lake Genesareth (Galilee), between the cities of Capharnum and Tiberias, was the small city of Magdala, the remains of which have survived to our day. Now only the small village of Mejhdel stands on the site. A woman whose name has entered…

Jul 22, 2017Gheorghe Anghel

Venerable Simeon of Emessa the Fool-For-Christ; Venerable John the Ascetic and Fool-For-Christ; Prophet Ezekiel; Pious Saints Raphael and Parthenius of old Agapia

The Monks Simeon, Fool-for-Christ, and his Fellow-Ascetic John were Syrians, and they lived in the sixth century at the city of Edessa. From childhood they were bound by close ties of friendship. The older of them, Simeon, was unmarried and lived with his aged mother. John, however, although he was married, lived with his father…

Jul 21, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu