Orthodox Calendar 21 December Holy Virgin Martyr Juliana Daughter of an illustrious pagan named Africanus, she was born in the city of Nicomedia. As a child, she was betrothed to a certain Elusius, one of the emperor’s advisors. Saint Juliana was endowed with a profound intellect and goodness of soul. She saw through the delusion…
Orthodox Calendar, December 20 Forefeast of the Nativity of the Lord The Forefeast of the Nativity of the Lord begins on December 20. From now on, most of the liturgical hymns will be concerned with the birth of the Savior. Many of the Church’s hymns of this period are slightly modified versions of the hymns…
Orthodox Calendar December 19 Saint Eulogia of Samurcășești Saint Eulogia was born on November 24, 1908, in the village of Nevesca (today Nimfeo), in northern Greece. At Baptism she received the name Ecaterina. Her parents, Evanghelitsa and Panaiot, belonged to an old Vlach community that had lived in those lands for generations. Trials and suffering…
Orthodox Calendar, December 18 Venerable Daniel the Hermit He was born in a village not far from Rădăuţi, to righteous parents, being baptised with the name of Demetrius. Having loved spiritual life, when he was 16 years old, he left his parents’ house and joined the community of the Rădăuţi Monastery dedicated to Saint Nicholas,…
Orthodox Calendar, December 17 Prophet Daniel The Prophet Daniel is the fourth of the major prophets. In the years following 600 B.C. Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians, the Temple built by Solomon was destroyed, and many of the Israelite people were led away into the Babylonian Captivity. Among the captives were also the illustrious…
Orthodox Calendar, December 16 Holy Prophet Haggai He was the tenth of the Twelve Minor Prophets. He was of the Tribe of Levi and he prophesied during the times of the Persian emperor Darius Hystaspis (prior to 500 B.C.). Upon the return of the Jews from the Babylonian Captivity, he persuaded the people to build…
Orthodox Calendar, December 15 Hieromartyr Eleutherius Hieromartyr Eleutherius, his mother Evanthia and Caribus the Eparch: Saint Eleutherius, the son of an illustrious Roman citizen, was raised in Christian piety by his mother. His virtue was such that at the age twenty, he had been elevated to bishop of Illyria. In the reign of the emperor…
Orthodox Calendar, December 14 The Holy Martyrs Thyrsus, Leucius and Callinicus They suffered for Christ under Emperor Decius (249-251) at Caesarea in Bithynia. Saint Leucius, having reproached Prefect Cumbricius his unjust persecution of Christians, was executed after being tortured. As soon as his head was cut off, his soul departed to heaven. Saint Thyrsus, who…
Orthodox Calendar, December 13 Saint Dositheus, Metropolitan of Moldavia He was born in 1624, in Suceava, today’s Romania and passed into eternal life in 1693, Żółkiew (Jovkva), Poland – today’s Ukraine. He was Metropolitan of Moldavia (1671 -1673, 1675-1686), a scholar, a fine poet, a good translator and a witness to the Orthodox faith. For…
Orthodox Calendar, December 12 Saint Spyridon the Wonderworker, Bishop of Tremithus Saint Spyridon the Wonderworker, Bishop of Tremithus was born towards the end of the third century on the island of Cyprus. He was a shepherd, and had a wife and children. He used all his substance for the needs of his neighbors and the homeless, for…
Orthodox Calendar, December 10 The Holy Martyrs Menas, Hermogenes, and Eugraphus They suffered for their faith in Christ under the emperor Maximian (305-313). Saint Menas was sent by the emperor from Athens to Alexandria to suppress the riots that had arisen between the Christians and the pagans. Distinguished for his gift of eloquence, Menas instead…
