life of saints

(†) Holy Pascha (On this day, the Romanian Saints commemorated on April 11 and 12 are also liturgically celebrated: St. Callinicus from Cernica and his mother Saint Philothea of Pasărea, and Martyr Sava of Buzău)

Orthodox Calendar April 13 The Holy Martyr Sava of Buzău This holy father of ours suffered for Christ in the year 372, during the persecution of Athanaric, at the hands of the official Atharid, being put to death by drowning in the Buzău River. On this day, the twelfth of the month, we commemorate the…

Apr 13, 2026basilica.ro

Great and Holy Saturday; Saint Callinicus from Cernica, bishop of Râmnic (His feast day will be celebrated on Monday, the second day of Easter); Hieromartyr Antipas, bishop of Pergamum

Orthodox Calendar, April 11 Great and Holy Saturday On Great and Holy Saturday the Church contemplates the mystery of the Lord’s descent into Hades, the place of the dead. Death, our ultimate enemy, is defeated from within. “He (Christ) gave Himself as a ransom to death in which we were held captive, sold under sin.…

Apr 11, 2026basilica.ro

Great and Holy Friday (Non-liturgical day. Matins); Martyrs Terence, Pompeius, Africanus, Maximus and Dima

Orthodox Calendar, April 10 Great and Holy Friday On Great and Holy Friday, Christ died on the Cross. He gave up His spirit with the words: “It is finished” (John 19:30). These words are better understood when rendered: “It is consummated.” He had accomplished the work for which His heavenly Father had sent Him into…

Apr 10, 2026basilica.ro

Great and Holy Tuesday (Matins); Martyr Calliopius; St. George the Confessor the Bishop of Mytilene

Orthodox Calendar, April 7 Great and Holy Tuesday Great and Holy Tuesday 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 Times; they remind us of the…

Apr 7, 2026basilica.ro

Venerable Joseph the Hymnographer, George of Maleon and Zosimas (Lazarus Saturday; Commemoration of the departed)

Orthodox Calendar, April 4 Saint Joseph the Hymnographer  The sweet-voiced nightingale of the Church was born in Sicily in 816 into a pious Christian family. His parents, Plotinos and Agatha, moved to the Peloponnesos to save themselves from barbarian invasions. When he was fifteen, Saint Joseph went to Thessalonica and entered the monastery of Latomos. He…

Apr 4, 2026basilica.ro

Venerable Nicetas the Confessor and Illyricus

Orthodox Calendar, April 3 Venerable Nicetas the Confessor and Illyricus Saint Nicetas the Confessor was born in Bithynian Caesarea (northwest Asia Minor) of a pious family. His mother died eight days after his birth, and his father Philaretos became a monk. The child remained in the care of his grandmother, who raised him in a…

Apr 3, 2026basilica.ro

Ven. Titus the Wonderworker; Martyrs Amphianus & Edesius

Orthodox Calendar, April 2 Saint Titus the Wonderworker He displayed zeal for the monastic life from his youth. He pursued asceticism in the ninth century at the Studion monastery near Constantinople. By his deeds of fasting, purity of life and mild disposition, Saint Titus gained the love of the brethren, and at their request he…

Apr 2, 2026basilica.ro

St Mary of Egypt; Martyr Gerontius; Venerable Makarios, Igoumen of Pelēketḗ; Venerable Barsanuphius of Optina

Orthodox Calendar, April 1 St Mary of Egypt Saint Zosimas was a monk at a certain Palestinian monastery on the outskirts of Caesarea. Having dwelt at the monastery since his childhood, he lived there in asceticism until he reached the age of fifty-three. Then he was disturbed by the thought that he had attained perfection,…

Apr 1, 2026basilica.ro

Martyr Matrona of Thessalonica; Martyrs Philetus and Lidia, his wife, with their 4 children (Matins with the Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God)

Orthodox Calendar, March 27 Martyr Matrona of Thessalonica The Holy Martyr Matrona of Thessalonica suffered in the third or fourth century. She was a slave of the Jewish woman Pautila (or Pantilla), wife of one of the military commanders of Thessalonica. Pautila constantly mocked her slave for her faith in Christ, and tried to convert…

Mar 27, 2026basilica.ro

Leavetaking of the Annunciation; Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel; Martyr Montanus the Presbyter, and his wife Maxima; 26 Martyrs from the Gothic Church

Orthodox Calendar, March 26 Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Gabriel On the Leavetaking of the Feast of the Annunciation, the Church commemorates the Archangel Gabriel, who announced the great mystery of the Incarnation of Christ to the Virgin Mary. There is no period of Afterfeast due to Great Lent. The Archangel Gabriel was chosen by…

Mar 26, 2026basilica.ro

(†) The Annunciation (Fish permitted)

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 in…

Mar 25, 2026basilica.ro