Feasts and Saints

Holy Pascha

Orthodox Calendar May 6 Holy Pascha 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 is not raised from the…

May 6, 2024Sorin Ioniţe

Sts. John Cassian and Germanus from Dobrogea

Orthodox Calendar February 29 Saint John Cassian the Roman and Saint Germanus of Scythia Minor St. John Cassian was born around 360 in today’s Dobrudja, former Dacia Pontica ( in the region known as Scythia Minor, or Lesser Scythia). His pious Christian parents gave him an excellent classical education, and also instructed him in the…

Feb 29, 2024basilica.ro

Midfeast of Pentecost; Apostle Simon the Zealot (Fish allowed)

Saint Simon was from Cana in Galilee, and was known to the Lord and His Mother. Tradition says that he was the bridegroom at the wedding where the Savior performed His first miracle. After witnessing the miracle of the water which had been turned into wine, he became a zealous follower of Christ. For this…

May 10, 2023basilica.ro

Forefeast of the Procession of the Honorable and Lifegiving Cross of the Lord; Righteous Eudocimus of Cappadocia; Righteous Joseph of Arimathea (The Dormition Fast begins tomorrow); 7th Sunday after Pentecost

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, 2022Sorin Ioniţe

Descent of the Holy Spirit; 8th Sunday after Pascha (Pentecost)

In the Church’s annual liturgical cycle, Pentecost is “the last and great day.” It is the celebration by the Church of the coming of the Holy Spirit as the end—the achievement and fulfillment—of the entire history of salvation. For the same reason, however, it is also the celebration of the beginning: it is the “birthday”…

Jun 12, 2022Gheorghe Anghel

(†) Holy Pascha; St. Elijah Iorest, Simeon Stephan and Sava Brancovici, metropolitans of Transylvania; St. Joseph the Confessor of Maramureș; Martyrs Cyril, Kindeas and Dasius of Axiopolis

The service of St. Elijah Iorest, Simeon Stephan and Sava Brancovici, metropolitans of Transylvania, and St. Joseph the Confessor of Maramureș is celebrated on the Bright Tuesday.

Apr 26, 2022Iulian Dumitraşcu

Martyr Eupsychius of Caesarea, in Cappadocia; Monkmartyr Bademus (Vadim) of Persia

Holy Martyr Eupsychius He was born in the city of Caesarea in Cappadocia and received a Christian upbringing by his illustrious parents. During the reign of Julian the Apostate (361-363), Saint Eupsychius entered into a Christian marriage. At Caesarea there was a pagan temple to the goddess Fortuna, whom Julian the Apostate revered. As Eupsychius…

Apr 9, 2022Iulian Dumitraşcu

Hieromartyr Symeon, Kinsman of the Lord

Symeon was a first cousin of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was the son of Clopas (or Cleopas, also called Alphaeus), the brother of Joseph the Betrothed. He became the second Bishop of Jerusalem, as a successor to James the Brother of God. He ended his life when he was crucified during the reign of…

Apr 27, 2020Gheorghe Anghel

Great and Holy Thursday (Matins) Virginmartyrs Agape, Irene, and Chionia in Thessalonica

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 very essence of salvation. And the betrayal of…

Apr 16, 2020Iulian Dumitraşcu

Great and Holy Wednesday (Matins); Apostles Aristarchus, Pudens and Trophimus of the Seventy; Martyr Crescens

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 money given to the poor. On this same…

Apr 15, 2020basilica.ro

†) Great and Holy Tuesday (Matins); Saint Hierarch Pachomius of Gledin; St. Martin the Confessor the Pope of Rome; Martyr Thomais

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 ; they remind us of the eschatological meaning of Pascha. So often Holy Week is considered one of…

Apr 14, 2020Iulian Dumitraşcu