life of saints

Apostle and Evangelist Mark; †) Venerable Basil of Poiana Mărului

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…

Apr 25, 2026basilica.ro

St. Theodore the Sykeote the Bishop of Anastasiopolis (Fish permitted)

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,…

Apr 22, 2026basilica.ro

Hieromartyr Januarius the Bishop of Benevento; Hieromartyr Theodore of Perge in Pamphylia; Martyr Alexandra the empress

Orthodox Calendar April 21 Hieromartyr Januarius Bishop of Benevento Hieromartyr Januarius Bishop of Benevento, and the deacons Proculus, Sossius and Faustus, Desiderius the Reader, Eutychius and Acution suffered martyrdom for Christ about the year 305 during the persecution ordered by the emperor Diocletian (284-305). They arrested Saint Januarius and led him to trial before Menignus,…

Apr 21, 2026basilica.ro

Venerable John of the Ancient Caves in Palestine; Hieromartyr Paphnutius of Jerusalem; 2nd Sunday after Pascha (St. Thomas)

Orthodox Calendar, April 19 Saint John of the Ancient Caves He is called so because he lived during the eighth century in the Lavra of Saint Chariton (September 28). This was called the “Old,” or ancient cave, since it was one the oldest of the Palestinian monasteries. The Lavra was situated not far from Bethlehem,…

Apr 19, 2026basilica.ro

Venerable John the Disciple of the Venerable Gregory of Decapolis

Orthodox Calendar, April 18 Venerable John the Disciple of the Venerable Gregory of Decapolis Saint John was born at the end of the eighth century. At a young age he became a disciple of Saint Gregory of Decapolis (November 20) and accepted monastic tonsure from him at a monastery in Thessalonica. Under the guidance of…

Apr 18, 2026basilica.ro

(†) 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