Orthodox Calendar, May 2 Hierarch Athanasius III Patelarios, Patriarch of Constantinople He was born in 1560 on the island of Crete, into the pious Greek family Patelarios, with the name of Alexis. Despite his education and position in society, Alexis was attracted by the life of Christian ascetics. After his father’s death, he became a…
Orthodox Calendar, May 1 Prophet Jeremiah One of the four great Old Testament prophets, he was son of the priest Helkiah from the city of Anathoth near Jerusalem, and he lived 600 years before the Birth of Christ, under the Israelite king Josiah and four of his successors. He was called to prophetic service at…
Orthodox Calendar April 30 Apostle James, the Brother of Saint John the Theologian Holy Apostle James, the son of Zebedee, was the brother of Saint John the Theologian, and one of the Twelve Apostles. He and his brother, Saint John, were called to be Apostles by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who called them the “Sons…
Orthodox Calendar April 29 The Holy Martyrs at Cyzicus The city of Cyzicus is in Asia Minor on the coast of the Dardenelles (Hellespont). Christianity already began to spread there through the preaching of Saint Paul (June 29). During the persecutions by the pagans, some of the Christians fled the city, while others kept their…
Orthodox Calendar April 28 Apostle Jason He was from Tarsus (Asia Minor). He was the first Christian in the city. The Apostle Sosipater was a native of Patra, Achaia. He is thought to be the same Sosipater mentioned in Acts 20:4. They both became disciples of Saint Paul, who even called them his kinsmen (Rom 16:21).…
Orthodox Calendar April 27 Hieromartyr Simeon, the kinsman of the Lord, bishop of Jerusalem The holy, glorious, all-laudable Apostle and Hieromartyr Symeon the Kinsman of the Lord (Simeon) of the Seventy, was the second Bishop of Jerusalem, serving for the period of 67 to 107. He is commemorated by the Church on April 27, and…
Orthodox Calendar April 26 Synaxis of Romanian Women Saints On this day, the third Sunday after Pascha, when we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Myrrh-bearing Women—the first witnesses of Christ’s Resurrection—the Romanian Orthodox Church has appointed that all holy women of Romanian descent, as well as those who, though of other nations, struggled in…
Orthodox Calendar April 25 Apostle and Evangelist Mark The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark, also known as John Mark (Acts 12:12), was one of the Seventy Apostles, and was also a nephew of Saint Barnabas (June 11). He was born at Jerusalem. The house of his mother Mary adjoined the Garden of Gethsemane. As Church…
Orthodox Calendar April 24 Saint Iorest the Confessor Saint Iorest the Confessor was born into a peasant family of Transylvania and received the name Elias in Baptism. He entered the Putna Monastery at an early age and was tonsured with the name Iorest. He made great progress in his spiritual life and was also a…
Orthodox Calendar April 23 Great Martyr George The Holy Great Martyr George the Victory-Bearer, was a native of Cappadocia (a district in Asia Minor), and he grew up in a deeply believing Christian family. His father was martyred for Christ when George was still a child. His mother, owning lands in Palestine, moved there with…
Orthodox Calendar April 22 Saint Theodore the Sykeote was born in the mid-sixth century in the village of Sykeon, not far from the city of Anastasiopolis (in Galatia, Asia Minor), into a pious family. When his mother Maria conceived the saint, she had a vision of a bright star overshadowing her womb. A clairvoyant Elder,…
