The Holy Martyrs and Confessors Gurias, Samonas and Habibus suffered during the persecution against Christians under the emperors Diocletian (284-305) and Maximian (305-311). The two friends Gurias and Samonas, preachers of the Word of God, were arrested in the city of Edessa.

The saints refused to offer sacrifice to the gods, and boldly confessed their faith in Christ. For this they were subjected to cruel tortures: they were beaten, hung up by their hands, heavy weights were tied to their feet, and they were cast into a stifling prison.

The martyrs endured everything with firmness and Samonas uttered a prayer to the Lord, which one of the witnesses to their death wrote down: “O Lord my God, against Whose will not a single sparrow falls into the snare. It was You Who made room for David in his sorrow (Ps. 4:1), Who proved the Prophet Daniel stronger than lions (Dan. 6:16-24), and granted a child of Abraham to be victor over torture and flames (Dan. ch. 3, ch. 14). You know also, Lord, the infirmity of our nature, You see the struggle set before us. Our foe strives to snatch us, the work of Your right hand, away from You and to deprive us of the glory which is in You. With Your compassionate eye watching over us, preserve in us the inextinguishable light of Your Commandments. Guide our steps by Your light, and make us worthy of Your Kingdom, for You are blessed unto ages of ages.” By night, they took the martyrs out beyond the city and beheaded them (+ 299-306). Christians buried their holy bodies with reverence.

After some years, the last pagan emperor, Licinius (311-324), began a persecution against Christians. Habibus, a deacon of the Church of Edessa whom the emperor ordered to be arrested for his zealous spreading of the true Faith, presented himself before the executioners when he learned they were searching for him. The saint confessed his faith in Christ and was sentenced to be burned alive. The martyr went willingly into the fire and with a prayer surrendered his soul to the Lord. When the fire went out, the mother and relatives of the saint found his body unharmed. They buried the martyr next to Saints Gurias and Samonas.

After the death of the saints, numerous miracles were wrought by them for those who entreated their help with faith and love. Once, a certain Gothic soldier, sent to serve at Edessa, took the pious virgin Euphemia as his wife. Before this the barbarian vowed to her mother Sophia at the graves of the Martyrs Gurias, Samonas and Habibus that he would do his spouse no harm, and would never insult her, but would always love and cherish her.

At the completion of his service in Edessa, he took Euphemia with him back to his native land. It turned out that he had deceived her, for he already had a wife at home, and Euphemia became her slave. Her evil husband threatened to kill her if she revealed to anyone that they were married. Euphemia suffered much abuse and humiliation. When she gave birth to a son, the jealous Gothic woman poisoned him. Euphemia turned with prayer to the holy Martyrs Gurias, Samonas and Habibus, the witnesses to the perjurer’s oath, and the Lord delivered Euphemia from her suffering and miraculously returned her to Edessa, where she was welcomed by her mother.

After a certain while the Goth was again sent to serve in Edessa. The whole city learned of his misdeeds after he was denounced by Sophia. The Goth was executed by order of the prefect of the city.

In an Akathist, the Holy Church addresses the martyrs: “Rejoice, Gurias, Samonas and Habibus, Heavenly Patrons of honorable marriage.” We pray to them for deliverance from family turmoil, and from marital difficulties, especially where one spouse hates the other without cause.

The Holy Martyrs Elpidius, Marcellus and Eustochius suffered under the emperor Julian the Apostate (361-363). Saint Elpidius was a senator. They tried him before the imperial judge on charges of being a Christian.

The martyrs endured many terrible torments, and they died after being thrown into a fire. At the place where Christians buried the relics of the saints, Christ appeared with an host of angels and resurrected Elpidius. Then the emperor gave orders to arrest the holy martyr again.

During the torture, idols standing nearby crumbled into dust through the prayer of the saint. More than six thousand pagans witnessed this miracle and were converted to Christ. Saint Elpidius was burned again.

Saint Dēmḗtrios was a Slav from the village of Davoudio (Dabuda) in Thrace, which was near the town of Amapasos. He was arrested in the time of Emperor Maximian and the Archon Publius, about the year 298 (some sources say 307). After suffering many tortures for Christ, he was finally beheaded.

Saint Paisios (Paϊsios) Velichkovsky was born in Poltava in Little Russia on December 21, 1722, and was the eleventh of twelve children. His father John was a priest, who named him Peter at his Baptism, in honor of Saint Peter the Metropolitan of Moscow, on whose Feast he was born.

After the children’s father died, their mother Irene raised them in piety. Peter was sent to study at the Moghila Academy in Kiev in 1735. After four years, Peter decided to leave the world and become a monk. At the age of seventeen, he went in search of a monastery and a good Spiritual Father. For seven years Peter visited various monasteries, including the Kiev Caves Lavra, but he did not feel drawn to any of the monasteries of Ukraine.

After being made a rassophore monk (one blessed to wear the rasson, but not yet tonsured “into the mantya”) at the Saint Nicholas Medvedevsky Monastery with the name Platon, he found that there was no experienced Elder there who could teach him obedience, or give him spiritual direction. Not wishing to begin his monastic life without such guidance, he left the monastery a week afterward with the blessing of his Elder.

At first, he went to Kiev, where he happened to meet his sister-in-law, the widow of his older brother Archpriest John. She informed him of his mother’s sorrow when he left Kiev, and her mind seemed to be affected by her grief. Then one day an Angel appeared to her and told her that instead of loving the Creator with all her heart and soul, she loved His creation (her son) more. Because of this excessive love, the Angel continued, she was thinking of starving herself to death, which would result in her eternal condemnation. The Angel said that by God’s grace, her son would become a monk, and that she should also renounce the world and become a nun. After this, she became calm and accepted God’s will. She entered a convent and was tonsured with the name Juliana. After ten years or so, she departed to the Lord.

While at Kiev, Father Platon met two monks from Romania who were about to return to their country. After crossing the border into Moldavia, they came to Vlachia and the Skete of Saint Nicholas, which is called Trăisteni, around 1745. The Elder of the Skete, Hieroschema-monk Michael, was away on business in Ukraine, so Father Platon and his companions were welcomed by the Superior, Father Dēmḗtrios. Father Platon was placed under a general obedience and was given a cell near the Skete, from which the church was visible.

As he was sleeping one night, the semantron was sounded calling the monks to Sunday Matins, but Father Platon did not hear it. He woke up and ran to the church, only to find that the Gospel had already been read, and the Canon was being sung. In his grief and shame, he did not enter the church, but returned to his cell, weeping bitter tears. After the Liturgy, when it was time for the meal, the Superior and the Elder were surprised that Father Platon had not been seen at the Services. The Elder ordered that the meal be delayed while he sent Father Athanasios to find out what had happened to the absent monk.. Father Athanasios found him and asked why he was weeping. With difficulty, Father Platon was able to tell him the reason for his sorrow. Father Athanasios tried to console him and urged him to come to the Skete, where the others were waiting for him. Finally, he was persuaded to go.

Seeing the brethren at table but not eating, Father Platon fell down before them weeping and asking their forgiveness. The Elder and the Superior raised him up and heard from Father Athanasios the reason for his sorrow. The Elder told Father Platon not to grieve so over something that had happened involuntarily, and did his best to console him. From that time, however, the Saint would not sleep lying down in bed, but sitting up on a bench.

One day the Elder Onuphrios of Kyrkoul visited the Skete and spoke about his Skete at Kyrkoul. Father Platon longed to see Kyrkoul, and so he returned there with Father Onuphrios. He remained there for a time, conversing with Father Onuphrius about overcoming the passions, the struggle with demons, unceasing prayer, and other soul-profiting topics. This seed fell on good ground, and later produced spiritual fruit a hundredfold (Luke 8:8).

The time came when Father Platon was filled with longing to visit Mount Athos. He asked the brethren of the Skete, and those of other Sketes, for their forgiveness and blessing for the journey. He also thanked them for their kindness and their paternal instruction. They blessed him and let him go in peace. At that time, he was just twenty-four years old.

Father Platon went to Mount Athos in 1746, arriving at the Greatest Lavra on July 4, the eve of the Feast of Saint Athanasios of Athos. His traveling companion, Hieromonk Tryphon fell ill and reposed after four days. Father Platon would have died from the same illness, if not for the care of the Russian monks. He recovered and lived in solitude in a cell called Kaparis near the Pantokrator Monastery. He went around visiting many ascetics and solitaries, seeking a Spiritual Father, but was unable to find anyone suitable.

In 1750 Saint Basil of Poiana Marului (Mărului) (April 15) visited the Holy Mountain and spent some time with Father Platon, who asked him for monastic tonsure. Elder Basil granted his request, giving him the name Paisios. Then Father Basil returned to his Skete at Vlachia. About three months later, a young monk named Bessarion came to the Holy Mountain from Vlachia. He went around to the monasteries searching for an instructor, but did not find one. He also came to Father Paisios and asked him to tell him something about saving his soul. Father Paisios sighed and told him that he himself had been looking for an instructor without success. Yet, feeling compassion for Father Bessarion, he talked to him a little about the qualifications necessary for a true instructor, and about the Jesus Prayer. After hearing him, Father Bessarion said, “Why should I seek any further?" He fell down at the feet of Father Paisios, entreating him to be his Elder. Father Paisios did not wish to be anyone’s Elder, preferring to be one under the authority of an Elder. Father Bessarion wept for three days until Father Paisios finally agreed to accept him as a friend, but not as a disciple. They lived together for about four years, fulfilling God’s commandments, cutting off their own will, and obeying one another as equals.

Other disciples began to join them, and their number continued to increase. Since they needed a priest and a confessor, they pleaded with Father Paisios to accept ordination. He did not want to hear of this, and repeatedly refused to consent. They did not give up, however. They asked him how he could expect to teach the brethren obedience and cutting off their own will, when he disobeyed the tearful entreaties of those who wished him to accept. Finally, he said, “May God's will be done.”

In 1754 Father Paisios was ordained to the holy priesthood and was given the Skete of the Prophet Elias, where he began to accept even more disciples. Saint Paisios remained on Mount Athos for seventeen years, copying Greek patristic books and translating them into Slavonic.

In 1763 Father Paisios went to Moldavia with sixty-four disciples, and was given the Dragomirna Monastery near the city of Sochava, on the border between Bukovina and Moldavia. Here he remained for twelve years, and the number of monks increased to three hundred and fifty. His friend Hieromonk Alexius came to visit him from Vlachia, and Father Paisios asked to be tonsured into the Schema. Father Alexius did so, but without changing his name. While at Dragomirna, Elder Paisios corrected the Slavonic translations of patristic books by comparing them to the Greek manuscripts he had copied on Mount Athos.

The Russo-Turkish War broke out in 1768, and Moldavia and Vlachia saw many battles. Dragomirna and the forests around it became filled with refugees from the villages near the battlegrounds. Another catastrophe followed in 1771 with an outbreak of the plague. When Dragomirna and Bukovina came under the control of Austrian Catholics, Saint Paisios and his flock fled to Moldavia. In October of 1775, thi Holy Elder and many of his monks went to Secu Monastery, which is dedicated to the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist.

Secu was too small for the number of brethren, who were crowded with three to five monks in a cell. In the spring, more brethren were due to arrive from Dragomirna, so new cells had to be built. After three years of labor one hundred cells were completed, and everyone had a place. Still, the numbers continued to increase, and they had to look for a larger monastery.

Prince Constantine Muruz wrote to the Elder saying that there was no larger monastery than Neamţ, about two hours from Secu. On August 14, 1779, Saint Paisios moved to Neamţ Monastery, where he spent the last fifteen years of his life translating the writings of the Holy Fathers. He also introduced the the Typikon (Rule) of Mount Athos in that community. He gathered about a thousand monks in the monastery, instructing them in the unceasing prayer of the heart.

Archbishop Ambrose visited Saint Paisios at Neamţ in 1790, remaining for two days to converse with the Elder. During the Sunday Liturgy, he raised Saint Pausios to the rank of Archimandrite. He stayed for two more days, then departed after blessing everyone.

Saint Paisios fell asleep in the Lord on November 15, 1794 when he was almost seventy-two. It is possible that God revealed the time of his death to him beforehand, for he stopped translating books. He merely reviewed and corrected what had already been translated.

He was ill for four days, but felt well enough to attend the Liturgy on Sunday. After the service, he asked everyone to come and receive his blessing. Bidding farewell to them all, he returned to his cell and would not receive anyone. A few days later, on November 15, he received the Holy Mysteries once more, and surrendered his soul to God. His funeral was conducted by Bishop Benjamin of Tuma, and was attended by multitudes of priests, monks, laymen, nobles and ordinary people.

The holy relics of Saint Paisios were uncovered in 1846, 1853, 1861 and 1872, and were found to be incorrupt.

Saint Paisios has had an enormous influence, not only in Romania, but throughout the Orthodox world. His disciples traveled to Russia, sparking the spiritual revival of the XIX century with Slavonic translations of the Philokalia and the tradition of eldership which they had learned from Saint Paisios. His influence has been felt even in America, through Saint Herman of Alaska (December 13). Saint Herman had been taught by Elders whose spiritual formation was guided by Saint Paisios.

While he was still in Russia, Saint Herman met Saint Nazarius (February 23), who became his Elder at Valaam, at Sarov, then followed him to Sanaxar Monastery when Saint Theodore (February 19) was the Igoumen. One of the books that Saint Herman brought with him to America was the Slavonic Philokalia, printed in 1794. Not only did he absorb the spiritual wisdom that it contained, he also imparted it to others.

The Kupyátitsa (or Kupyátich) Icon of the Mother of God appeared in the year 1180 near the village of Kupyátitsa near the former Pinsk district of the Minsk region. Igoumen Hilarion Denisovich of the Kupyátitsa Monastery wrote a book "A Description of the Miracles of the Kupyátitsa Icon of the Mother of God," and the monk Athanasios Kal'nophoysky also participated in its publication (Kiev, 1638), supplementing it with his own interpretations.

In his book "Teraturgima, or Miracles which occurred in both Caves of the Monastery" (Kiev, 1638), the monk Athanasios Kal'nophoyska of the Kiev Caves Lavra says that the Icon was found in the forest on a tree by a peasant girl named Anna, who was herding cattle. The Icon, in the shape of a Cross, shone with an unusual light between the trees. Anna took the Icon home and hid it in a chest. That evening, Anna wanted to show her father Basil the Cross she had found, but she was unable to find it.

When she returned to search the original site the next day, she saw once again a glow between the trees. Thinking that there was another Cross in the tree on which the Cross had been revealed, she brought it home. The next day it was back in its original place in the forest. Struck by these events, the villagers built a church dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos, on the site of the Icon's appearance, and the Icon was placed in that temple. Since that time, by the grace of God, the Icon has been glorified with various miracles.

In 1240, during a raid, the Tatars ravaged and burnt the village and the Kupyátitsa church, but the wonderworking Icon was preserved intact in the ashes. The holy Icon was found a second time at the end of the XV century at the site of the burnt church by a pilgrim named Joachim, who was returning to his homeland from Jerusalem through the marshy woodlands. Not daring to take the Icon with him, he reported his discovery to the villagers, who transferred the cruciform Icon to the village church. By God’s will, Joachim remained at the church as the sacristan.

In 1629, the Kupyátitsa Entrance of the Theotokos – Transfiguration Monastery was built beside the church, within its walls the future Holy Monastic Martyrs Igoumen Athanasios of Brest († September 5, 1648) and Makarios of Kanev, Igoumen of Pinsk († September 7, 1678) labored in asceticism.

At the beginning of the XVII century, the Kupyátitsa Monastery was built next to the church. Roman Catholics seized both buildings at the end of the century. Later on, Uniate monks were living there. When the Orthodox monks abandoned the Monastery in 1655, they were led by Archimandrite Lazarus Baranovich. They took the Kupyátitsa Icon of the Mother of God with them, and transferred it to Kiev's Holy Wisdom cathedral.¹

People flocked to the Kupyátitsa Icon of the Mother of God with reverence. It was venerated not only by the Orthodox Ukrainians, but also by the faithful of Belarus who had not forgotten about the holy Icon. In the middle of the XIX century, parishioners of the Kupyátitsa church appealed to the Holy Governing Synod with a petition for its return from Kiev's Holy Wisdom Cathedral. Their petition was denied, however. The refusal was based on the fact that the Icon "did not belong to the parish church, which was built in 1822, but rather to the Monastery, which no longer existed; and it was transferred to Kiev's Holy Wisdom Cathedral, not by the ancestors of the petitioners, but by the Orthodox monks of the former Monastery 200 years ago."

There is evidence that the wonderworking Icon remained in the Holy Wisdom Cathedral until the end of the 1920s, but its later fate is unknown.

An exact copy of the wonderworking Icon was painted in the XVII century, which is now located in the church of Saint Nicholas in the village of Kupyátitsa, Pinsk district, Brest region. Every year, pilgrims from all over Belarus flock to venerate the Holy Kupyátitsa Icon of the Mother of God.

The Kupyátitsa Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos is a small copper cross. On one side of the Cross, the Mother of God is depicted in relief holding the Pre-eternal Child with her left hand; on the other side is Christ Crucified.

¹ This church was not named for a Saint named Sophia, but like Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, it was dedicated to Christ, the power and wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24).

Saint Philip of Rabanga was the founder of the Savior-Transfiguration monastery, near Kadnikov to the northeast of Vologda. He spent the beginning of his monastic life in the monastery of Saint Dionysius of Glushitsa (June 1), and was one of his closest disciples.

Upon the death of his teacher and spiritual Father, Saint Philip left the Glushitsa monastery and settled in a sparsely populated area at the confluence of the Sukhona and Rabanga Rivers. The saint wanted to lead his life in complete solitude. The local inhabitants learned about him, and seeking his guidance to become monks, they began to come to him in the wilderness. Accepting this as a mandate from above, Saint Philip traveled to Rostov to the holy Archbishop Ephraim (March 27) and asked the saint’s blessing to found a monastery and to build a church in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord (the temple was built in 1447).

Tradition relates that the holy founder of the Savior-Transfiguration monastery was extremely strict with himself, but lenient towards the infirmities of others. Saint Philip died on November 15, 1457 and was buried in the monastery he founded.

This Icon is in the Protection Cathedral at Voronezh. The Theotokos is shown holding her Divine Child on her left arm, with a blossoming branch in her right hand.

The Fragrant Flower Icon resembles the Unfading Flower Icon (April 3). In the older Unfading Flower Icons, the Child is held on the Virgin's right arm, and she holds white lilies in her left hand.

In contemporary iconography both Icons may depict Christ on His Mother's left arm, or on the right. One way to distinguish the two Icons is to remember that the Fragrant Flower Icon shows a branch, and the Unfading Flower Icon shows lilies.

The Holy and All-praised Apostle Philip was a native of the city of Bethsaida in Galilee. He had a profound depth of knowledge of the Holy Scripture, and rightly discerning the meaning of the Old Testament prophecies, he awaited the coming of the Messiah. Through the call of the Savior (John 1:43), Philip followed Him. The Apostle Philip is spoken about several times in the Holy Gospel: he brought to Christ the Apostle Nathaniel (i.e. Bartholomew, April 22, June 30, and August 25. See John. 1:46). The Lord asks him where to buy bread for five thousand men (John. 6: 5-7). He brought certain of the Hellenized Jews wanting to see Jesus (John. 12:21-22); and finally, at the Last Supper he asked Christ to show them the Father (John. 14:8).

After the Ascension of the Lord, the Apostle Philip preached the Word of God in Galilee, accompanying his preaching with miracles. Thus, he restored to life a dead infant in the arms of its mother. From Galilee he went to Greece, and preached among the Jews that had settled there. Some of them reported the preaching of the Apostle to Jerusalem. In response, some scribes arrived in Greece from Jerusalem, with one of the Jewish chief priests at their head, to interrogate the Apostle Philip.

The Apostle Philip exposed the lie of the chief priest, who said that the disciples of Christ had stolen away and hidden the body of Christ. Philip told instead how the Pharisees had bribed the soldiers on watch, to deliberately spread this rumor. When the Jewish chief priest and his companions began to insult the Lord and lunged at the Apostle Philip, they suddenly were struck blind. By his prayer the Apostle restored everyone’s sight. Seeing this miracle, many believed in Christ. The Apostle Philip provided a bishop for them, by the name of Narcissus (one of the Seventy Apostles, January 4).

From Greece the Apostle Philip went to Parthia, and then to the city of Azotus, where he healed an eye affliction of the daughter of a local resident named Nikoklides, who had received him into his home, and then baptized his whole family.

From Azotus the Apostle Philip set out to Syrian Hieropolis (there were several cities of this name) where, stirred up by the Pharisees, the Jews burned the house of Heros, who had taken in the Apostle Philip, and they wanted to kill the apostle. The apostle performed several miracles: the healing of the hand of the city official Aristarchus, withered when he attempted to strike the apostle; and restoring a dead child to life. When they saw these marvels, they repented and many accepted holy Baptism. After making Heros the bishop at Hieropolis, the Apostle Philip went on to Syria, Asia Minor, Lydia, Emessa, and everywhere preaching the Gospel and undergoing sufferings. Both he and his sister Mariamne (February 17) were pelted with stones, locked up in prison, and thrown out of villages.

Then the Apostle Philip arrived in the city of Phrygian Hieropolis, where there were many pagan temples. There was also a pagan temple where people worshiped an enormous serpent as a god. The Apostle Philip by the power of prayer killed the serpent and healed many bitten by snakes.

Among those healed was the wife of the city prefect, Amphipatos. Having learned that his wife had accepted Christianity, the prefect Amphipatos gave orders to arrest Saint Philip, his sister, and the Apostle Bartholomew traveling with them. At the urging of the pagan priests of the temple of the serpent, Amphipatos ordered the holy Apostles Philip and Bartholomew to be crucified.

Suddenly, an earthquake struck, and it knocked down all those present at the place of judgment. Hanging upon the cross by the pagan temple of the serpent, the Apostle Philip prayed for those who had crucified him, asking God to save them from the ravages of the earthquake. Seeing this happen, the people believed in Christ and began to demand that the apostles be taken down from the crosses. The Apostle Bartholomew was still alive when he was taken down, and he baptized all those believing and established a bishop for them.

But the Apostle Philip, through whose prayers everyone remained alive, except for Amphipatos and the pagan priests, died on the cross.

Mariamne his sister buried his body, and went with the Apostle Bartholomew to preach in Armenia, where the Apostle Bartholomew was crucified (June 11); Mariamne herself then preached until her own death at Lykaonia.

The holy Apostle Philip is not to be confused with Saint Philip the Deacon (October 11), one of the Seventy.

Saint Philip, Abbot of Irap near Novgorod, in the world Theophilus, was the founder of the Irap wilderness-monastery. As an orphan and not remembering his parents, the twelve-year-old Theophilus wandered about and eventually settled near the Komel monastery and lived on charity.

Saint Cornelius (May 19) accepted the pious youth into the monastery and after three years tonsured him a monk with the name Philip. Meek, humble and hard-working, at the request of the brethren he was ordained to the priesthood. His striving for greater efforts led him to withdraw to the outskirts of White Lake.

Here, having the patronage of Prince Andrew Sheleshpansky, who had allotted him land near the River Irapa, 45 versts from Cherepovets, the monk built a chapel in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity and a cell for himself. News about the holy wilderness-dweller spread throughout all the surrounding area, and monks began to flock to him. The laity also went to him for spiritual counsel, and Saint Philip would instruct them in the virtues which those living in the world ought to possess.

Soon at the place of the chapel a church was built in the Name of the Holy Life-Creating Trinity. Saint Philip dwelt in the wilderness for fifteen years and died in 1537 at age 45. His relics were placed beneath a crypt in the Trinity temple. Over his grave was an icon, painted by the monk Theodosius. Soon after the death of Saint Philip, the Krasnoborsk Philippov monastery arose on the place of his struggles.

The celebration of Saint Philip was established at the end of the sixteenth century. The manuscript service to him dates from the end of the sixteenth century.

Saint Justinian, a major figure in the history of the Byzantine state, was also a great champion of Orthodoxy, a builder of churches and a Church writer. He was born in the Roman province of Illyricum. During his reign (527-565), Byzantium won glory with military victories in Persia, Africa, and Italy, as a result of which paganism was decisively routed among the Germanic Vandals and Visigoth tribes. By command of the emperor Justinian the pagan schools in Athens were closed. Justinian sent John, the Bishop of Ephesus, throughout the regions of Asia Minor with the aim of spreading Christianity. John baptized more than 70,000 pagans.

The emperor gave orders to build ninety churches for the newly-converted, and he generously supported church construction within the Empire. His finest structures of the time are considered to be St. Catherine's Monastery at Sinai, and the church of Hagia Sophia at Constantinople. Under Saint Justinian many churches were built dedicated to our Most Holy Lady Theotokos. Since he had received a broad education, Saint Justinian assiduously concerned himself with the education of clergy and monks, ordering them to be instructed in rhetoric, philosophy and theology.

The right-believing sovereign devoted much attention and effort to the struggle with the Origenists of his time, who then were reviving the Nestorian heresy. To counter their heretical speculations, the Church hymn “Only-Begotten Son and Immortal Word of God, Who for our salvation…” was composed, and Justinian commanded that it be sung in the churches. From that time to the present day, this hymn is sung at the Divine Liturgy before the Small Entrance after the second Antiphon.

At the command of the sovereign, the Fifth Ecumenical Council was convened in the year 553, censuring the teachings of Origen and affirming the definitions of the Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon. He also attempted to secure religious unity within the Empire through his (unsuccessful) dialogues with the non-Chalcedonians.

The holy Emperor Justinian wished to have orderly rule and law within the realm. Under his guidance and supervision a complete compendium of Roman law was compiled. It has come down to us as a law codex known as “the Justinian Codex.” The “Church laws” of Justinian are included in all the variants of the Russian collections of Canon Law.

In his personal life, Saint Justinian was strictly pious, and he fasted often. During Great Lent he would not eat bread nor drink wine. He is also remembered for promoting the idea of “symphony” between church and state. The holy Emperor Justinian died in the year 565.

Saint Theodora was the wife of Saint Justinian the emperor, and lived during the sixth century.

The Empress Theodora was at first a notorious harlot and actress, and an adherent of the Monophysite heresy, but then she repented. After becoming empress, she led a virtuous life, maintaining purity of both soul and body. She provided wise counsel for her husband during his reign, and she also saved his throne during the Nika riots of 532 through her political intelligence and expertise.

Saint Theodora died in 548.

Saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica, was born in the year 1296 in Constantinople. Saint Gregory’s father became a prominent dignitary at the court of Andronicus II Paleologos (1282-1328), but he soon died, and Andronicus himself took part in the raising and education of the fatherless boy. Endowed with fine abilities and great diligence, Gregory mastered all the subjects which then comprised the full course of medieval higher education. The emperor hoped that the youth would devote himself to government work. But Gregory, barely twenty years old, withdrew to Mount Athos in the year 1316 (other sources say 1318) and became a novice in the Vatopedi monastery under the guidance of the monastic Elder Saint Νikόdēmos of Vatopedi (July 11). There he was tonsured and began on the path of asceticism. A year later, the holy Evangelist John the Theologian appeared to him in a vision and promised him his spiritual protection. Gregory’s mother and sisters also became monastics.

After the demise of the Elder Νikόdēmos, Saint Gregory spent eight years of spiritual struggle under the guidance of the Elder Nikēphóros, and after the latter’s death, Gregory transferred to the Lavra of Saint Athanasius (July 5). Here he served in the trapeza, and then became a church singer. But after three years, he resettled in the small skete of Glossia, striving for a greater degree of spiritual perfection. The head of this monastery began to teach the young man the method of unceasing prayer and mental activity, which had been cultivated by monastics, beginning with the great desert ascetics of the fourth century: Evagrius Pontikos and Saint Macarius of Egypt (January 19).

Later on, in the eleventh century, Saint Simeon the New Theologian (March 12) had provided detailed instruction in mental activity for those praying in an outward manner, and the ascetics of Athos put it into practice. The experienced use of mental prayer (or prayer of the heart), requiring solitude and quiet, is called “Hesychasm” (from the Greek “hesychia” meaning calm, silence), and those practicing it were called “hesychasts.”

During his stay at Glossia the future hierarch Gregory became fully imbued with the spirit of hesychasm and adopted it as an essential part of his life. In the year 1326, because of the threat of Turkish invasions, he and the brethren retreated to Thessalonica, where he was then ordained to the holy priesthood.

Saint Gregory combined his priestly duties with the life of a hermit. Five days of the week he spent in silence and prayer, and only on Saturday and Sunday did he come out to his people. He celebrated divine services and preached sermons. For those present in church, his teaching often evoked both tenderness and tears. Sometimes he visited theological gatherings of the city’s educated youth, headed by the future patriarch, Isidore. After he returned from a visit to Constantinople, he found a place suitable for solitary life near Thessalonica the region of Bereia. Soon he gathered here a small community of solitary monks and guided it for five years.

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In 1331 the saint withdrew to Mount Athos and lived in solitude at the skete of Saint Savva, near the Lavra of Saint Athanasius. In 1333 he was appointed Igumen of the Esphigmenou monastery in the northern part of the Holy Mountain. In 1336 the saint returned to the skete of Saint Savva, where he devoted himself to theological works, continuing with this until the end of his life.

In the 1330s events took place in the life of the Eastern Church which put Saint Gregory among the most significant universal apologists of Orthodoxy, and brought him great renown as a teacher of hesychasm.

About the year 1330 the learned monk Barlaam had arrived in Constantinople from Calabria, in Italy. He was the author of treatises on logic and astronomy, a skilled and sharp-witted orator, and he received a university chair in the capital city and began to expound on the works of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite (October 3), whose “apophatic” (“negative”, in contrast to “kataphatic” or “positive”) theology was acclaimed in equal measure in both the Eastern and the Western Churches. Soon Barlaam journeyed to Mt Athos, where he became acquainted with the spiritual life of the hesychasts. Saying that it was impossible to know the essence of God, he declared mental prayer a heretical error. Journeying from Mount Athos to Thessalonica, and from there to Constantinople, and later again to Thessalonica, Barlaam entered into disputes with the monks and attempted to demonstrate the created, material nature of the light of Tabor (i.e. at the Transfiguration). He ridiculed the teachings of the monks about the methods of prayer and about the uncreated light seen by the hesychasts.

Saint Gregory, at the request of the Athonite monks, replied with verbal admonitions at first. But seeing the futility of such efforts, he put his theological arguments in writing. Thus appeared the “Triads in Defense of the Holy Hesychasts” (1338). Towards the year 1340 the Athonite ascetics, with the assistance of the saint, compiled a general response to the attacks of Barlaam, the so-called “Hagiorite Tome.” At the Constantinople Council of 1341 in the church of Hagia Sophia Saint Gregory Palamas debated with Barlaam, focusing upon the nature of the light of Mount Tabor. On May 27, 1341 the Council accepted the position of Saint Gregory Palamas, that God, unapproachable in His Essence, reveals Himself through His energies, which are directed towards the world and are able to be perceived, like the light of Tabor, but which are neither material nor created. The teachings of Barlaam were condemned as heresy, and he himself was anathemized and fled to Calabria.

But the dispute between the Palamites and the Barlaamites was far from over. To these latter belonged Barlaam’s disciple, the Bulgarian monk Akyndinos, and also Patriarch John XIV Kalekos (1341-1347); the emperor Andronicus III Paleologos (1328-1341) was also inclined toward their opinion. Akyndinos, whose name means “one who inflicts no harm,” actually caused great harm by his heretical teaching. Akyndinos wrote a series of tracts in which he declared Saint Gregory and the Athonite monks guilty of causing church disorders. The saint, in turn, wrote a detailed refutation of Akyndinos’ errors. The patriarch supported Akyndinos and called Saint Gregory the cause of all disorders and disturbances in the Church (1344) and had him locked up in prison for four years. In 1347, when John the XIV was replaced on the patriarchal throne by Isidore (1347-1349), Saint Gregory Palamas was set free and was made Archbishop of Thessalonica.

In 1351 the Council of Blachernae solemnly upheld the Orthodoxy of his teachings. But the people of Thessalonica did not immediately accept Saint Gregory, and he was compelled to live in various places. On one of his travels to Constantinople the Byzantine ship fell into the hands of the Turks. Even in captivity, Saint Gregory preached to Christian prisoners and even to his Moslem captors. The Hagarenes were astonished by the wisdom of his words. Some of the Moslems were unable to endure this, so they beat him and would have killed him if they had not expected to obtain a large ransom for him. A year later, Saint Gregory was ransomed and returned to Thessalonica.

Saint Gregory performed many miracles in the three years before his death, healing those afflicted with illness. On the eve of his repose, Saint John Chrysostom appeared to him in a vision. With the words “To the heights! To the heights!” Saint Gregory Palamas fell asleep in the Lord on November 14, 1359. In 1368 he was canonized at a Constantinople Council under Patriarch Philotheus (1354-1355, 1364-1376), who compiled the Life and Services to the saint.

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Demetrius Mikhailovich Benevolenskii was born on October 10, 1883 in Vishny Volochyok, Tver province. After his ordination to the priesthood in 1911, he was assigned to the Church of the Great Martyr Demetrius in the village of Ostrovno and, in 1919, to the Church of All the Afflicted in the village of Panoshino [today Udomlya]. He later served at the Church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God in the village of Sinev in the Dubrovo Sonkovskii District of the Tver region. As a result of his intense dedication to his pastoral duties, he had been arrested and imprisoned several times by the communist regime. After his final arrest, he was shot on November 27, 1937. On September 19, 1999, he was numbered among the new martyrs and confessors of Russia.

The Holy New Martyr Constantine was born on the island of Hydra; his father was named Michael, and his mother was called Marina. At the age of eighteen, he left Hydra and went to Rhodes, where he served the Turkish ruler Hasan Kapetan. There Constantine converted to Islam and took the name Hasan, in honor of his master. For three years he received great honors and was content.

Later, however, he felt remorse for denying Christ. He gave alms to Orthodox Christians, prayed with bitter tears, and showed great reverence to the Orthodox priests he encountered. He decided to atone for his sin by martyrdom. So he found a Spiritual Father, to whom he confessed, asking for his blessing to seek martyrdom. Seeing how young he was, his Spiritual Father advised him to wait. Constantine obeyed and left Rhodes, traveling to the city of Krimi, then to Constantinople, and from there he went to the Holy Mountain.

At Ivḗron Monastery he prepared himself for martyrdom. With the blessing of the Fathers, he returned to Rhodes and presented himself to the ruler, and courageously confessed Christ. The tortures he endured were horrible. Finally, he was hanged on November 14, 1800.

Today, at Saint Constantine's birthplace on Hydra, there is a beautiful church which is dedicated to him, and there his holy relics are kept.

A fragment from Saint Constantine's relics is in the "Quick to Hear" Icon at Saint Tikhon's Monastery church in Pennsylvania.

Saint John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, one of the Three Hierarchs [January 30], was born at Antioch in about the year 347 into the family of a military commander. His father, Secundus, died soon after the birth of his son. His mother, Anthusa, widowed at twenty years of age, did not seek to remarry but rather devoted all her efforts to the raising of her son in Christian piety. The youth studied under the finest philosophers and rhetoricians. But, scorning the vain disciplines of pagan knowledge, the future hierarch turned himself to the profound study of Holy Scripture and prayerful contemplation. Saint Meletius, Bishop of Antioch (February 12), loved John like a son, guided him in the Faith, and in the year 367 baptized him.

After three years John was tonsured as a Reader. When Saint Meletius had been sent into exile by the emperor Valens in the year 372, John and Theodore (afterwards Bishop of Mopsuestia) studied under the experienced instructors of ascetic life, the presbyters Flavian and Diodorus of Tarsus. The highly refined Diodorus had particular influence upon the youth. When John’s mother died, he embraced monasticism, which he called the “true philosophy.” Soon John and his friend Basil were being considered as candidates for the episcopal office, and they decided to withdraw into the wilderness to avoid this. While Saint John avoided the episcopal rank out of humility, he secretly assisted in Basil’s consecration.

During this period Saint John wrote his “Six Discourses on the Priesthood,” a great work of Orthodox pastoral theology. The saint spent four years struggling in the wilderness, living the ascetic life under the guidance of an experienced spiritual guide. And here he wrote three books entitled, “Against the Opponents of Those Attracted to the Monastic Life”, and a collection entitled, “A Comparison of the Monk with the Emperor” (also known as “Comparison of Imperial Power, Wealth and Eminence, with the True and Christian Wisdom-Loving Monastic Life”), both works which are marked by a profound reflection of the worthiness of the monastic vocation.

For two years, the saint lived in a cave in complete silence, but was obliged to return to Antioch to recover his health. Saint Meletius, the Bishop of Antioch, ordained him deacon in the year 381. The following years were devoted to work on new theological writings: “Concerning Providence” (“To the Ascetic Stagirios”), “Book Concerning Virginity,” “To a Young Widow” (2 discourses), and the “Book of Saint Babylos, and Against Julian and the Pagans.”

In the year 386 Saint John was ordained presbyter by Bishop Flavian of Antioch. Saint John was a splendid preacher, and his inspired words earned him the name “Golden-Mouthed” (“Chrysostom”). For twelve years the saint preached in church, usually twice a week, but sometimes daily, deeply stirring the hearts of his listeners.

In his pastoral zeal to provide Christians with a better understanding of Holy Scripture, Saint John employed hermeneutics, an interpretation and analysis of the Word of God (i.e. exegesis). Among his exegetical works are commentaries on entire books of the Holy Scripture (Genesis, the Psalter, the Gospels of Matthew and John, the Epistles of the Apostle Paul), and also many homilies on individual texts of the Holy Bible, but also instructions on the Feastdays, laudations on the Saints, and also apologetic (i.e. defensive) homilies (against Anomoeans, Judaizers and pagans). As a priest, Saint John zealously fulfilled the Lord’s command to care for the needy. Under Saint John, the Antiochian Church provided sustenance each day to as many as 3,000 virgins and widows, not including in this number the shut-ins, wanderers and the sick.

Saint John began his commentary on Genesis at the beginning of Great Lent in 388, preaching thirty-two homilies during the forty day period. During Holy Week he spoke of how Christ was betrayed, and about the Cross. During Bright Week, his pastoral discourse was devoted to the Resurrection. His exegesis of the Book of Genesis was concluded only at the end of October (388).

At Pascha in the following year the saint began his homilies on the Gospel of John, and toward the end of the year 389 he took up the Gospel of Matthew. In the year 391 the Christians of Antioch listened to his commentary on the Epistles of the holy Apostle Paul to the Romans and to the Corinthians. In 393 he explained the Epistles to the Galatians, the Ephesians, Timothy, Titus, and the Psalms. In his homily on the Epistle to the Ephesians, Saint John denounced a schism in Antioch, “I tell you and I witness before you, that to tear asunder the Church means nothing less than to fall into heresy. The Church is the house of the heavenly Father, one Body and one Spirit.”

The fame of the holy preacher grew, and in the year 397 with the death of Archbishop Nectarius of Constantinople, successor to Saint Gregory the Theologian, Saint John Chrysostom was summoned from Antioch, and elected to the See of Constantinople. At the capital, the holy archpastor was not able to preach as often as he had at Antioch. Many matters awaited the saint’s attention, and he began with the most important — the spiritual perfection of the priesthood. He himself was the best example of this. The financial means apportioned for the archbishop were channeled by the saint into the upkeep of several hospices for the sick and two hostels for pilgrims. He fasted strictly and ate very little food, and usually refused invitations to dine because of his delicate stomach.

The saint’s zeal in spreading the Christian Faith extended not only to the inhabitants of Constantinople, but also to Thrace to include Slavs and Goths, and to Asia Minor and the Pontine region. He established a bishop for the Bosphorus Church in the Crimea. Saint John sent off zealous missionaries to Phoenicia, to Persia, and to the Scythians, to convert pagans to Christ. He also wrote letters to Syria to bring back the Marcionites into the Church, and he accomplished this. Preserving the unity of the Church, the saint would not permit a powerful Gothic military commander, who wanted the emperor to reward his bravery in battle, to open an Arian church at Constantinople. The saint exerted much effort in enhancing the splendor of the church services: he compiled a Liturgy, he introduced antiphonal singing for the all-night Vigil, and he wrote several prayers for the rite of anointing the sick with oil.

The saintly hierarch denounced the dissolute morals of people in the capital, especially at the imperial court, irrespective of person. When the empress Eudoxia connived to confiscate the last properties of the widow and children of a disgraced dignitary, the saint rose to their defense. The arrogant empress would not relent, and nursed a grudge against the archpastor. Eudoxia’s hatred of the saint blazed forth anew when malefactors told her that the saint apparently had her in mind during his sermon on vain women. A court was convened composed of hierarchs who had been justly condemned by Chrysostom: Theophilus of Alexandria, Bishop Severian of Gabala, who had been banished from the capital because of improprieties, and others.

This court of judgment declared Saint John deposed, and that he be executed for his insult to the empress. The emperor decided on exile instead of execution. An angry crowd gathered at the church, resolved to defend their pastor. In order to avoid a riot, Saint John submitted to the authorities. That very night there was an earthquake at Constantinople. The terrified Eudoxia urgently requested the emperor to bring the saint back, and promptly sent a letter to the banished pastor, beseeching him to return. Once more, in the capital church, the saint praised the Lord in a short talk, “For All His Ways.”

The slanderers fled to Alexandria. But after only two months a new denunciation provoked the wrath of Eudoxia. In March 404, an unjust council was convened, decreeing the exile of Saint John. Upon his removal from the capital, a fire reduced the church of Hagia Sophia and also the Senate building to ashes. Devastating barbarian incursions soon followed, and Eudoxia died in October 404. Even pagans regarded these events as God’s punishment for the unjust judgment against the saint.

In Armenia, the saint strove all the more to encourage his spiritual children. In numerous letters (245 are preserved) to bishops in Asia, Africa, Europe and particularly to his friends in Constantinople, Saint John consoled the suffering, guiding and giving support to his followers. In the winter of 406 Saint John was confined to his bed with sickness, but his enemies were not to be appeased. From the capital came orders to transfer Saint John to desolate Pityus in Abkhazia on the Black Sea. Worn out by sickness, the saint began his final journey under military escort, traveling for three months in the rain and frost. He never arrived at his place of exile, for his strength failed him at Comana.

At the crypt of Saint Basiliscus (May 22), Saint John was comforted by a vision of the martyr, who said, “Despair not, brother John! Tomorrow we shall be together.” After receiving the Holy Mysteries, the hierarch fell asleep in the Lord on September 14, 407. His last words were, “Glory to God for all things!”

The holy relics of Saint John Chrysostom were solemnly transferred to Constantinople in the year 438. The disciple of Saint John, the venerable Isidore of Pelusium (February 4), wrote: “The house of David is grown strong, and the house of Saul enfeebled. He is victor over the storms of life, and has entered into heavenly repose.”

Although he died on September 14, Saint John’s celebration was transferred to this day because of the Feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross. Saint John Chrysostom is also celebrated on January 27 and January 30.

Saint Nikephoros (Nikēphóros), Antoninus, and Germanus were beheaded in Caesarea of Palestine during the reign of Maximian by the ruler Firmilian.

Saint Manetha was captured along with Saints Antoninus, Nikēphóros and Germanus. She suffered many tortures. She was led naked through the city, was mocked, and received the crown of martyrdom when she was burned alive.

Saint Damascene was a monk from Constantinople. His parents Kyriakos and Kyriake lived in the Galatea district of the city, and they named their son Diamantes.

Orphaned at a young age, and without parental guidance, the boy became rather undisciplined in his conduct. One day he was caught doing something unlawful, and in order to save himself he agreed to convert to Islam. Later he came to his senses and repented his denial of Christ. Fleeing to the Holy Mountain, he became a monk at the Lavra, receiving the name Damascene.

For twelve years he labored in prayer and asceticism, and was tonsured into the Great Schema. Finally, he revealed to his spiritual Father his desire for martyrdom. Receiving a blessing for this struggle, he cut his hair and dressed as a sailor.

In the church of Hagia Sophia, which had been turned into a mosque, the monk Damascene made the Sign of the Cross and proclaimed Christ as the true God. Since the Moslems did nothing to him, he went to the Sultan Mehmed mosque and repeated his confession of faith, calling the Moslems ignorant and deceived because they did not believe in Christ. Those who heard him thought he was insane.

The next day Saint Damascene went to the vizier’s courtyard and shouted at those he found there, “Your faith is not true. Christ is the true God, and only the faith of Christ is true.” Not surprisingly, he was seized and beaten, then chased away. He continued to proclaim Christ in other places, but everyone thought he was crazy, and they ignored him.

On a Sunday, the holy martyr went to the Tophana mosque, where many Moslems had gathered. Again he was seized and beaten. This time, however, he was sent to the kadi and then to the Grand Vizier, Kara Mustapha. Seeing that the saint would not change his mind and live as a Moslem, the Vizier sentenced him to death.

On November 13, 1681, Saint Damascene was led to the Phanar, where he was forced to kneel before the gates of the Patriarchate. Thanking God for allowing him to fulfill the exploit of martyrdom, he bent his neck and was beheaded. The relics of the holy New Martyr Damascene were taken to Chalki and enshrined in the church of the Holy Trinity.

The history of the Stockholm Icon of the Mother of God is closely connected with the sacred symbol of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God (June 26) which appeared in Russia in 1383, on the banks of the Tikhvinka River. The appearance of the Stockholm Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos occurred during the XVI-XVII centuries, which was a time of great strife between Russia and the Kingdom of Sweden.

Because of their collusion with the opponents of the Orthodox Faith, and for many other sins, the wrath of God fell upon the Russian people. Swedish troops occupied the fortresses of Ivangorod, Yam, Koporje, and Ladoga. After a long siege, Novgorod fell into the hands of the enemy. In 1613, Tikhvin became a battleground. The Swedish general Jakob Delagardi brought his troops to the Dormition Monastery and ordered them to destroy it. Three times the Swedes besieged the holy habitation, but the Queen of Heaven did not withdraw her mercy from the monks, striking fear into their enemies, who had been edging forward on every side.

On September 13, 1613, the eve of the Feast of the Elevation of the Honorable and Life-creating Cross of the Lord, the Swedish regiments retreated when a large Muscovite army appeared to defend the monastery. News of this miracle marked the beginning of the liberation of the entire Novgorod region from foreign troops. Soon the Stolbov Peace Treaty was signed between Russia and Sweden in the presence of the Tikhvin Icon. Thus, the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God has been the protector and patron of the Orthodox in their relations with the Swedes.

Under this Treaty many cities were annexed by Sweden, but the Russian population had to remain in those places. The Orthodox, however, could not accept these terms and, after a short time, a mass exodus of people began from the annexed lands to the territory of Russia. Attempts by the Swedish authorities to keep people in their places by promising to reduce fees and duties did not produce the desired results. The Russian landowners and peasants, who did not wish to live in Sweden, a Lutheran country, left the region because they longed for their homes. Among them were citizens of Tikhvin. They could not forget their city with the golden cupolas of its churches, the ringing of bells, and the icons of the saints, so dear to their hearts.

The exodus of the Orthodox from the lands conquered by the Swedes continued in the reign of the most devout Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-1676), called "peace-loving" by the people because of his kindness. During his reign Russia acquired the Stockholm Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos.

One day, when the Tikhvin merchants came to the Swedish merchant Phoka in order to purchase some supplies, they saw a familiar Icon, an Icon of the Theotokos which resembled the Tikhvin Icon, only smaller. They prayed fervently, gazing at the expensive Icon, and from that time they came often to Phoka.

Time passed, and a rumor reached Tikhvin that the Swedes in Stockholm had found a Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God. The soul of every man from Tikhvin was sorrowful at seeing this holy object in the hands of foreigners. They grieved to see their Patroness, the Most Holy Theotokos, in a foreign land. So the merchants decided to redeem the Icon.

It wasn't easy to persuade Phoka, but in the end, afraid of losing his profitable trade connections, he agreed to sell the Icon, asking for 100 gold coins. The matter was settled, and in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of the pious Sovereign Alexei Mikhailovich, the Tikhvin merchants started back again with the newly found holy object in the autumn of 1671. They carried with them the copy of the Tikhvin Icon, adorned with pearls and gemstones. which they had purchased in Stockholm.

On Lake Ladoga, they were caught in a terrible storm. For several days large waves tossed the ship from side to side. The water was covered with ice, and it was snowing. Just when it seemed that there was no hope, everyone on the ship fell to their knees before the Icon of the Theotokos and began to pray. Suddenly the helmsman shouted, "The Monastery! It is the Monastery of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker." The Stockholm Icon followed the same route as the original Tikhvin Icon three hundred years before, along the rivers Svir and Oyat, and then it was brought to Tikhvin by a shipping route.

The miraculous rescue of the merchants, and the fact that the Icon had traveled the same route as the Tikhvin Icon, was regarded as a sign of the wonderworking power of the Stockholm Icon. On November 13, it was placed in Tikhvin's Dormition Cathedral for veneration. In the city, the Icon was greeted by a Cross Procession, and all the churches rang their bells. Together with all the people, the Superior of the Great Monastery of the Dormition knelt before the Icon and exclaimed: "The Sovereign Lady has come! She has come, not to a foreign country, but to her own place, to great and glorious Russia, to this holy monastery, where the Angels brought her ancient Icon to dwell."

The Stockholm Icon of the Queen of Heaven has a beautiful pearl riza, with an embossed crown, and was placed to the left of the Royal Doors, in the main row of the iconostasis of the Savior-Transfiguration Cathedral, which was built on the site of the wooden church established during the reign of Tsar Peter Alekseevich (1696-1725).

In the reign of Tsar Alexander II (1855-1881) the Icon was transferred to a heated cathedral, built in 1870-1872.

Every year on November 13, there is a service in honor of the Stockholm Icon with a Cross Procession.

The last reliable information concerning the Icon dates back to 1928. It comes from a description of the items confiscated by the Soviet government. Since then, all traces of the Stockholm Icon have disappeared.

Some say that the wonderworking Icon was moved to the Russian Museum in the 1930s, but it is no longer there. It is now in the church of Saint Sergius in Stockholm. This church was founded by a group of Russian Orthodox people in the late 1980s, at that time many immigrants from the former Soviet Union were living in Stockholm, but there was not a single church associated with the Moscow Patriarchate. The Savior-Transfiguration Church in Stockholm is under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople.

The icons in the altar were painted in Russia, among them is an icon of Saint Sergius, the heavenly patron of the parish. On the walls are icons, both new and old, which were brought to Sweden with the first wave of Russian emigration. Among them there is a particularly revered Stockholm Icon of the Mother of God.

No information available at this time

Saint John the Merciful, Patriarch of Alexandria, was born on Cyprus in the sixth century into the family of the illustrious dignitary Epiphanius. At the wish of his parents he entered into marriage and had children. When the wife and the children of the saint died, he became a monk. He was zealous in fasting and prayer, and had great love for those around him.

His spiritual exploits won him honor among men, and even the emperor revered him. When the Patriarchal throne of Alexandria fell vacant, the emperor Heraclius and all the clergy begged Saint John to occupy the Patriarchal throne.

The saint worthily assumed his archpastoral service, concerning himself with the moral and dogmatic welfare of his flock. As patriarch he denounced every soul-destroying heresy, and drove out from Alexandria the Monophysite Phyllonos of Antioch.

He considered his chief task to be charitable and to give help all those in need. At the beginning of his patriarchal service he ordered his stewards to compile a list of all the poor and downtrodden in Alexandria, which turned out to be over seven thousand men. The saint ordered that all of these unfortunates be provided for each day out of the church’s treasury.

Twice during the week, on Wednesdays and Fridays, he emerged from the doors of the patriarchal cathedral, and sitting on the church portico, he received everyone in need. He settled quarrels, helped the wronged, and distributed alms. Three times a week he visited the sick-houses, and rendered assistance to the suffering. It was during this period that the emperor Heraclius led a tremendous army against the Persian emperor Chosroes II. The Persians ravaged and burned Jerusalem, taking a multitude of captives. The holy Patriarch John gave a large portion of the church treasury for their ransom.

The saint never refused suppliants. One day, when the saint was visiting the sick, he met a beggar and commanded that he be given six silver coins. The beggar changed his clothes, ran on ahead of the Patriarch, and again asked for alms. Saint John gave him six more silver coins. When, however, the beggar sought charity a third time, and the servants began to chase the fellow away, the Patriarch ordered that he be given twelve pieces of silver, saying, “Perhaps he is Christ putting me to the test.” Twice the saint gave money to a merchant that had suffered shipwreck, and a third time gave him a ship belonging to the Patriarchate and filled with grain, with which the merchant had a successful journey and repaid his obligations.

Saint John the Merciful was known for his gentle attitude towards people. Once, the saint was compelled to excommunicate two clergymen for a certain time because of some offense. One of them repented, but the other fellow became angry with the Patriarch and fell into greater sins. The saint wanted to summon him and calm him with kind words, but it slipped his mind. When he was celebrating the Divine Liturgy, the saint was suddenly reminded by the words of the Gospel: “If you bring your gift to the altar and remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift before the altar … first, be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Mt. 5:23-24). The saint came out of the altar, called the offending clergyman to him, and falling down on his knees before him in front of all the people he asked forgiveness. The cleric, filled with remorse, repented of his sin, corrected himself, and afterwards was found worthy to be ordained to the priesthood.

There was a time when a certain citizen insulted George, the Patriarch’s nephew. George asked the saint to avenge the wrong. The saint promised to deal with the offender so that all of Alexandria would marvel at what he had done. This calmed George, and Saint John began to instruct him, speaking of the necessity for meekness and humility. Then he summoned the man who insulted George. When Saint John learned that the man lived in a house owned by the church, he declared that he would excuse him from paying rent for an entire year. Alexandria indeed was amazed by such a “revenge,” and George learned from his uncle how to forgive offenses and to bear insults for God’s sake.

Saint John, a strict ascetic and man of prayer, was always mindful of his soul, and of death. He ordered a coffin for himself, but told the craftsmen not to finish it. Instead, he would have them come each feastday and ask if it was time to finish the work.

Saint John was persuaded to accompany the governor Nicetas on a visit to the emperor in Constantinople. While on his way to visit the earthly king, he dreamed of a resplendent man who said to him, “The King of Kings summons you.” He sailed to his native island of Cyprus, and at Amanthos the saint peacefully fell asleep in the Lord (616-620).

Saint Neilos the Ascetic of Sinai, a native of Constantinople, lived during the V century and was a disciple of Saint John Chrysostom, who exerted a tremendous influence upon their lives and their spiritual struggles.¹ After receiving a fine education, the Saint was appointed to the important post of prefect of the capital while still a young man. During this period, Neilos was married and had children, but the couple found courtly life distasteful.

About the year 390, by mutual consent, they decided to abandon the world and entered monasteries. Neilos's wife and daughter went to one of the women’s monasteries in Egypt, while he and his son Theódoulos went to Mount Sinai, where they settled in a cave, which they dug out with their own hands. For forty years this cave served as the abode of Saint Neilos. By fasting, vigil, and prayer, he attained a high degree of spiritual perfection. People began coming to him from every occupation and social rank, from the Emperor down to the farmer, and all of them received counsel and comfort from the Saint.

On Sinai, Saint Neilos wrote many soul-profiting works to guide Christians on the path of salvation. In one of his letters there is an angry denunciation of the Emperor Arkadios, who had unjustly exiled Saint John Chrysostom. The ascetical writings of Saint Neilos are widely known: they are perfectly executed in form, profoundly Orthodox in content, and are clear and lucid in expression. His Ascetic Discourse is found in Volume I of the English Philokalia.

Saint Neilos suffered many misfortunes in the wilderness. Once, Saracens captured his son Theódoulos, whom they intended to offer as a sacrifice to their pagan gods. By the Saint's prayers the Lord rescued Theódoulos, and his father found him with the Bishop of Emessa, who had ransomed the young man from the barbarians. This bishop ordained both of them as presbyters. After ordination they returned to Sinai, where they lived as ascetics together until Saint Neilos reposed. His holy relics were transferred to Constantinople in the reign of Justin II (565-578), and were placed in the church of the Holy Apostles.

The Greek Philokalia has a quote from Saint Neilos beneath his icon: "The state of prayer is a passionless, settled disposition of the soul which, by supreme love, transports the wisdom-loving mind to spiritual heights." (See the English Philokalia, 153 Sections. Concerning Prayer, # 53).

¹ In earlier editions of the Synaxaristes and the Menaion, it was erroneously stated that Saint Neilos lived during the reign of Emperor Maurikios (582-602). This was corrected in later editions, since he was a disciple of Saint John Chrysostom, and was esteemed by Emperor Arkadios because of his virtues.

Blessed John the Merciful of Rostov (also known as “the Hairy”) struggled at Rostov in the exploit of holy foolishness, enduring much deprivation and sorrow. He did not have a permanent shelter, and at times took his rest at the house of his spiritual Father, a priest at the church of the All-Holy, or with one of the aged widows.

Living in humility, patience and unceasing prayer, he spiritually nourished many people, among them Saint Irenarchus, Hermit of Rostov (January 13). After a long life of pursuing asceticism, he died on September 3, 1580 and was buried, according to his final wishes, beside the church of Saint Blaise beyond the altar.

He had “hair upon his head abundantly,” therefore he was called “Hairy.” The title “Merciful” was given to Blessed John because of the many healings that occurred at his grave, and also in connection with the memory of the holy Patriarch John the Merciful (November 12), whose name he shared.

The Holy Prophet Ahijah, (cf. 1/3 Kgs 11:29 ff.) was a contemporary of Solomon, and was born in the city of Shiloh. The prophet predicted to Jeroboam his kingly rule over the ten Tribes of Israel, which God would grant him, snatching them away from the hands of Solomon. Afterwards Ahijah predicted to Jeroboam the perishing of all his line. All the predictions of the prophet were fulfilled. The Prophet Ahijah died in old age 960 years before the birth of Christ.

Saint Nilus the Myrrh-Gusher of Mt Athos was born in Greece, in a village named for Saint Peter, in the Zakoneia diocese. He was raised by his uncle, the hieromonk Macarius. Having attained the age of maturity, he received monastic tonsure and was found worthy of ordination to hierodeacon, and then to hieromonk.

The desire for greater monastic struggles brought uncle and nephew to Mt Athos, where Macarius and Nilus lived in asceticism at a place called the Holy Rocks. Upon the repose of Saint Macarius, the venerable Nilus, aflame with zeal for even more intense spiritual efforts, found an isolated place almost inaccessible for any living thing. Upon his departure to the Lord in 1651, Saint Nilus was glorified by an abundant flow of curative myrrh, for which Christians journeyed from the most distant lands of the East.

Saint Nilus has left a remarkably accurate prophecy concerning the state of the Church in the mid-twentieth century, and a description of the people of that time. Among the inventions he predicted are the telephone, airplane, and submarine. He also warned that people’s minds would be clouded by carnal passions, “and dishonor and lawlessness will grow stronger.” Men would not be distinguishable from women because of their “shamelessness of dress and style of hair.” Saint Nilus lamented that Christian pastors, bishops and priests, would become vain men, and that the morals and traditions of the Church would change. Few pious and God-fearing pastors would remain, and many people would stray from the right path because no one would instruct them.

The All-Merciful Kykko Icon of the Mother of God: This icon was painted, according to Tradition, by the holy Evangelist Luke. It received its name “Kykkiotisa” from Mount Kykkos, on the island of Cyprus. Here it was placed in an imperial monastery (so designated because it was built with donations from the Emperor), in a church named for it. Before coming to the island of Cyprus, the wonderworking icon of the Mother of God was brought throughout the region by the will of God. At first, it was in one the earliest Christian communities in Egypt, and then it was taken to Constantinople in 980, where it remained in the time of Emperor Alexius Comnenos (end of the eleventh to early twelfth century).

During these years it was revealed to the Elder Isaiah through a miraculous sign, that by his efforts the wonderworking image painted by the Evangelist Luke would be transferred to Cyprus. The Elder exerted much effort to fulfill the divine revelation.

When the icon of the Mother of God arrived on the island, many miracles were performed. The Elder Isaiah was instrumental in building a church dedicated to the Theotokos, and placing the Kykko Icon in it. From ancient times up to the present day, those afflicted by every sort of infirmity flock to the monastery of the Mother of God the Merciful, and they receive healing according to their faith. The Orthodox are not the only ones who believe in the miraculous power of the holy icon, but those of other faiths also pray before it in misfortune and illness.

Inexhaustible is the mercy of the Most Holy Theotokos, Mediatrix for all the suffering, and Her icon fittingly bears the name, the “Merciful.” The wonderworking “Kykkiotisa” Icon of the Mother of God possesses a remarkable peculiarity: from what time period is unknown, but it is covered by a half shroud from the upper left corner to the lower right, so that no one is able to see the faces of the Mother of God and the Divine Infant. The depiction of the Mother of God appears to be of the Hodēgḗtria (“Directress”) type, as is also the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God. The head of the Mother of God is adorned with a crown.

A copy of this icon is particularly venerated at the women’s Nikolsk monastery in the city of Mukachev.

The Holy Great Martyr Menas (Mēnás), an Egyptian by birth, was a military officer and served in the Kotyaeion region of Phrygia under the centurion Firmilian during the reign of Emperors Diocletian (284-305) and Maximian (305-311). He was praised and admired for his bravery in battle, his patience, and his self-discipline.

In 298, the Emperors published an edict ordering everyone to worship the idols. Those serving in the Legions were ordered to capture and persecute Christians. As soon as Saint Menas heard this impious decree he threw down his soldier’s belt (a sign of military rank) and withdrew to a mountain above Kotyaeion, where he lived an ascetical life of fasting and prayer. He spent a long time in the wilderness, suffering great privation and laboring in feats of prayer, fasting, and nocturnal vigils. Thus, the Saint purified himself of every passion of soul and body.

When his heart was strengthened with godly zeal, and his soul aflame with love for God, divine grace came upon him and he had a vision. He regarded this as a sign that he was to follow the path of martyrdom. Therefore, he left the mountain and went into the city, where the people were celebrating a pagan festival.

At that time, Saint Menas was approximately fifty years old. Standing in the midst of the crowd, he shouted: "There is only one true God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Your "gods" are demons, and your idols have been fashioned by craftsmen. These inanimate objects are nothing but metal, wood, and stone."

Those who heard his voice left their dancing and their games and went to see who had disrupted their idolatrous festival, marveling at his boldness. They seized and beat him, then brought him before Pyrrhus, the City Prefect. When he saw Menas he asked him who he was, and why he was creating a disturbance. The Saint replied, "I am an Egyptian, a servant of Jesus Christ, the Ruler of all things. I was a soldier and I served in the Imperial Army for most of my life. But since the Emperor has chosen to follow the path of idolatry, and to persecute Christians, I chose to dwell with the wild animals in the wilderness rather than obey the impious commands of those who do not know God."

When the Prefect heard this he became enraged and had the Saint thrown into prison.

The next morning, Pyrrhus urged Saint Menas to return to the Army, offering to restore his former rank if he would offer sacrifice to the pagan "gods." Menas refused, and so he was subjected to many cruel tortures. The Prefect urged him to submit to the edict and offer sacrifice to the idols, but the Martyr remained firm in his Faith, saying that he would never deny Christ. Pyrrhus ordered further torments, but seeing that he could not persuade Saint Menas, he ordered that he be taken outside the city and beheaded. As he was being led to the place of execution, he asked his friends (who were secret Christians) to take his body back to Egypt for burial when the persecution had ceased. These friends gathered Martyr’s relics at night and hid them until the persecution was over. Later, they were brought to Egypt and placed in a church dedicated to Saint Menas southwest of Alexandria.

Saint Menas received the crown of martyrdom in the year 304. By God's grace he continues to work miracles for those who entreat him with faith and love. He is known for healing various illnesses, delivering people from demonic possession, and is a protector, especially during times of war.

In 1942, General Erwin Rommel had conquered almost all of North Africa, and was heading toward Alexandria. The Nazis had reached El Alamein,¹ where they camped for the night, intending to attack Alexandria in the morning. Saint Menas, however, did not allow this to happen. At midnight (October 23-24), certain people noticed Saint Menas coming out of his ancient church leading camels into the German camp. Overcome by panic, weakness, and confusion, Rommel's troops fled. The battle ended on November 4th with the enemy in full retreat. It is regarded as a turning point in the whole war. Later, Winston Churchill said: "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat."

The Allies offered that place to Patriarch Christophoros of Alexandria so that the church of Saint Menas could be rebuilt.

We pray to Saint Menas to ask for his help in finding lost objects.

¹ A corruption of the name of Saint Menas.

The Holy Martyr Victor at Damascus was a soldier during the reign of the emperor Marcus Aurelius the Philosopher (161-180). When the emperor began a persecution against Christians, Victor refused to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. Such obligatory sacrifices were a test of a soldier’s loyalty to the gods, the emperor and the state. The saint was given over to torture, but he came through all the torments unharmed. By the power of prayer he was victorious over a sorcerer, who from that point gave up give sorcery and became a Christian.

Through Saint Victor’s prayers, blind soldiers suddenly received their sight. Witnessing the miracle worked by the Lord through Saint Victor, Stephanida, the young Christian wife of one of the torturers, openly glorified Christ, for which she was condemned to a cruel death. She was tied to two palm trees bent to the ground, which when released, sprung back and tore her apart. She was fifteen years old.

The torturer ordered that the holy Martyr Victor be beheaded. Hearing the commander’s order, Saint Victor told his executioners that they would all die in twelve days, and that the commander would be captured by the enemy in twenty-four days. As he foretold, so it came to pass.

The martyrs suffered in the second century at Damascus, where their venerable relics were buried.

The Holy Martyr Vincent of Spain from his childhood was the disciple of a wise pastor Valerian, the bishop of the city of Augustopolis (now Saragossa, Spain). When he reached mature age, the virtuous, educated and eloquent Vincent was ordained deacon by Bishop Valerian. Since the bishop himself was not adept in speech, he gave a blessing to his deacon, an eloquent orator, to preach in church and among the people.

Diocletian (284-305) sent the governor Dacian to the city of Valencia, Spain with full authority to find and execute Christians. People denounced the wise bishop and his deacon to the governor, who arrested them. The soldiers, mounted on horses, dragged the Elder and his disciple behind them in chains from Augustopolis to Valencia, and there they cast them into prison beaten and tortured, giving them neither food nor water.

They subjected the bishop to the first interrogation. The Elder spoke quietly, but seemed tongue-tied and uncertain. Then Saint Vincent came forward and made the most eloquent speech of his life before the judges and assembled people. After he sent the bishop back to prison, the persecutor gave orders to torture the holy deacon.

The martyr underwent many torments: while nailed to a cross, he was whipped and burned with red-hot rods. When he was removed from the cross, he then himself joyfully climbed back upon it, saying that the executioners were lazy and had not fulfilled their master’s orders. They became angry and tortured him again, until they were all exhausted.

After the tortures they threw the martyr back into prison. That night the astonished guard heard him singing Psalms, and saw an unearthly radiant light in the prison. The next morning the holy martyr was condemned to be burned on a gridiron. Christians took the saint’s body and buried it with reverence. This occurred in the year 304.

Saint Stephanida witnessed the martyrdom at Damascus of the Holy Martyr Victor, a soldier, during the reign of the emperor Marcus Aurelius the Philosopher (161-180). He was tortured, but he came through all the torments unharmed. By the power of prayer he was victorious over a sorcerer, who from that point gave up give sorcery and became a Christian.

Through Saint Victor’s prayers, blind soldiers suddenly received their sight. Witnessing the miracle worked by the Lord through Saint Victor, Stephanida, the young Christian wife of one of the torturers, openly glorified Christ, for which she was condemned to a cruel death. She was tied to two palm trees bent to the ground, which when released, sprung back and tore her apart. She was fifteen years old.

The martyrs suffered in the second century at Damascus, where their venerable relics were buried.

Saint Theodore the Confessor, Abbot of the Studion was born in the year 758 at Constantinople into a family of the imperial tax-collector Photinus and his spouse Theoctiste, both pious Christians. Saint Theodore received a good education from the best rhetoricians, philosophers and theologians in the capital city.

During this time the Iconoclast heresy had become widespread in the Byzantine Empire, and it was supported also by the impious emperor Constantine Kopronymos (741-775). The views of the emperor and his court conflicted with the religious beliefs of Photinus, who was a fervent adherent of Orthodoxy, and so he left government service. Later, Saint Theodore’s parents, by mutual consent, gave away their substance to the poor, took their leave of each other and accepted monastic tonsure. Their son Theodore soon became widely known in the capital for his participation of the numerous disputes concerning icon-veneration.

Saint Theodore was accomplished in oratory, and had a command of the terminology and logic of the philosophers, so he frequently debated with the heretics. His knowledge of Holy Scripture and Christian dogma was so profound that no one could get the better of him.

The Seventh Ecumenical Council put an end to dissension and brought peace to the Church under the empress Irene. The Ecumenical Council, as the highest authority in the life of the Church, forever condemned and rejected Iconoclasm.

Among the Fathers of the Council was Saint Platon (April 5), an uncle of Saint Theodore, and who for a long time had lived the ascetic life on Mount Olympos. An Elder filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, Saint Platon, at the conclusion of the Council, summoned his nephew Theodore and his brothers Joseph and Euthymius to the monastic life in the wilderness.

After leaving Constantinople, they went to Sakkoudion, not far from Olympos. The solitude and the beauty of the place, and its difficulty of access, met with the approval of the Elder and his nephews, and they decided to remain here. The brothers built a church dedicated to Saint John the Theologian, and gradually the number of monks began to increase. A monastery was formed, and Saint Platon was the igumen.

Saint Theodore’s life was truly ascetic. He toiled at heavy and dirty work. He strictly kept the fasts, and each day he confessed to his spiritual Father, the Elder Platon, revealing to him all his deeds and thoughts, carefully fulfilling all his counsels and instructions.

Theodore made time for daily spiritual reflection, baring his soul to God. Untroubled by any earthly concern, he offered Him mystic worship. Saint Theodore unfailingly read the Holy Scripture and works of the holy Fathers, especially the works of Saint Basil the Great, which were like food for his soul.

After several years of monastic life, Saint Theodore was ordained a priest according to the will of his spiritual Father. When Saint Platon went to his rest, the brethren unanimously chose Saint Theodore as Igumen of the monastery. Unable to oppose the wish of his confessor, Saint Theodore accepted the choice of the brethren, but imposed upon himself still greater deeds of asceticism. He taught the others by the example of his own virtuous life and also by fervent fatherly instruction.

When the emperor transgressed against the Church’s canons, the events of outside life disturbed the tranquility in the monastic cells. Saint Theodore bravely distributed a letter to the other monasteries, in which he declared the emperor Constantine VI (780-797) excommunicated from the Church by his own actions for abusing the divine regulations concerning Christian marriage.

Saint Theodore and ten of his co-ascetics were sent into exile to the city of Thessalonica. But there also the accusing voice of the monk continued to speak out. Upon her return to the throne in 796, Saint Irene freed Saint Theodore and made him igumen of the Studion monastery (dedicated to Saint John the Baptist) in Constantinople, in which there were only twelve monks. The saint soon restored and enlarged the monastery, attracting about 1,000 monks who wished to have him as their spiritual guide.

Saint Theodore composed a Rule of monastic life, called the “Studite Rule” to govern the monastery. Saint Theodore also wrote many letters against the Iconoclasts. For his dogmatic works, and also for his Canons and Three-Ode Canons, Saint Theoctistus called Saint Theodore “a fiery teacher of the Church.”

When Nikēphóros seized the imperial throne, deposing the pious Empress Irene, he also violated Church regulations by restoring to the Church a previously excommunicated priest on his own authority. Saint Theodore again denounced the emperor. After torture, the monk was sent into exile once again, where he spent more than two years.

Saint Theodore was freed by the gentle and pious emperor Michael, who succeeded to the throne upon the death of Nikēphóros and his son Staurikios in a war against barbarians. Their death had been predicted by Saint Theodore for a long while. In order to avert civil war, the emperor Michael abdicated the throne in favor of his military commander Leo the Armenian.

The new emperor proved to be an iconoclast. The hierarchs and teachers of the Church attempted to reason with the impious emperor, but in vain. Leo prohibited the veneration of holy icons and desecrated them. Grieved by such iniquity, Saint Theodore and the brethren made a religious procession around the monastery with icons raised high, singing of the troparion to the icon of the Savior Not-Made-by-Hands (August 16). The emperor angrily threatened the saint with death, but he continued to encourage believers in Orthodoxy. Then the emperor sentenced Saint Theodore and his disciple Nicholas to exile, at first in Illyria at the fortress of Metopa, and later in Anatolia at Bonias. But even from prison the confessor continued his struggle against heresy.

Tormented by the executioners which the emperor sent to Bonias, deprived almost of food and drink, covered over with sores and barely alive, Theodore and Nicholas endured everything with prayer and thanksgiving to God. At Smyrna, where they sent the martyrs from Bonias, Saint Theodore healed a military commander from a terrible illness. The man was a nephew of the emperor and of one mind with him. Saint Theodore told him to repent of his wicked deeds of Iconoclasm, and to embrace Orthodoxy. But the fellow later relapsed into heresy, and then died a horrible death.

Leo the Armenian was murdered by his own soldiers, and was replaced by the equally impious though tolerant emperor Michael II Traulos (the Stammerer). The new emperor freed all the Orthodox Fathers and confessors from prison, but he prohibited icon-veneration in the capital.

Saint Theodore did not want to return to Constantinople and so decided to settle in Bithynia on the promontory of Akrita, near the church of the holy Martyr Tryphon. In spite of serious illness, Saint Theodore celebrated Divine Liturgy daily and instructed the brethren. Foreseeing his end, the saint summoned the brethren and bade them to preserve Orthodoxy, to venerate the holy icons and observe the monastic rule. Then he ordered the brethren to take candles and sing the Canon for the Departure of the Soul From the Body. Just before singing the words “I will never forget Thy statutes, for by them have I lived,” Saint Theodore fell asleep in the Lord, in the year 826. At the same hour Saint Hilarion of Dalmatia (June 6) saw a vision of a heavenly light during the singing and the voice was heard, “This is the soul of Saint Theodore, who suffered even unto blood for the holy icons, which now departs unto the Lord.”

Saint Theodore worked many miracles during his life and after his death. Those invoking his name have been delivered from fires and from the attacks of wild beasts, and have received healing, thanks to God and to Saint Theodore the Studite. On January 26 we celebrate the transfer of the relics of Theodore the Studite from Cherson to Constantinople in the year 845.

Those with stomach ailments entreat the help of Saint Theodore.

Saint Maximus of Moscow, the Fool for Christ. Nothing is known about his parents, or the time and place of birth. Saint Maximus chose one of the most difficult and thorny paths to salvation, having taken upon himself the guise of a fool for the sake of Christ. Summer and winter Maximus walked about almost naked, enduring both heat and cold. He had a saying, “The winter is fierce, but Paradise is sweet.”

Russia loved its holy fools, it esteemed their deep humility, it heeded their wisdom, expressed in the proverbial sayings of the people’s language. And everyone heeded the holy fools, from the Great Princes down to the least beggar.

Blessed Maximus lived at a difficult time for the Russian people. Tatar incursions, droughts, epidemics were endemic and people perished. The saint said to the unfortunate, “Not everything is by the weave of the wool, some is opposite… They have won the fight, submit, and bow lower. Weep not, you who are beaten; but weep, you who are unbeaten. Let us show tolerance, and in this at least, we shall be human. Gradually, even green wood will burn. God will grant salvation if we bear all with patience.”

But the saint did not only speak words of consolation. His angry denunciations frightened the mighty of his world. Blessed Maximus would often say to the rich and illustrious, “The house has an icon corner, but the conscience is for sale. Everyone makes the Sign of the Cross, not everyone prays. God sees every wrong. He will not deceive you, nor will you deceive Him.”

Blessed Maximus died on November 11, 1434 and is buried at the church of the holy Princes Boris and Gleb. Miraculous healings began occurring from the relics of God’s saint. In an encyclical of 1547, Metropolitan Macarius enjoined “the singing and celebration at Moscow for the new Wonderworker Maximus, Fool-for-Christ.” That same year on August 13 the incorrupt relics of Blessed Maximus were uncovered. The church of Saints Boris and Gleb, where the saint was buried, burned in the year 1568. On the site a new church was built, which they consecrated in the name of Saint Maximus, Fool-for-Christ. The venerable relics of Saint Maximus were placed in this church.

Saint Martyrius was a monk in the Veliki Luki (Great Meadows) Monastery, and shared a cell with Elder Bogolep. These holy ascetics ate only once a day. After the services in church, they would fulfill the rule of prayer in their cell, then they would work during the night milling corn.

Later, Saint Martyrius went to live at Zelenets (Green Island), and founded a monastery in the midst of the swamps. By 1582, he was already the igumen of the monastery, which had twelve monks. Several benefactors donated to the monastery, including Theodore Syrkov, Simeon Bekbulatov (the ruler of Kasim), and Tsar Theodore, who donated land.

Saint Martyrius fell asleep in the Lord in 1603. He is also commemorated on March 1.

Saint Stephen was the son of King Milutin and the father of King Dushan. He was blinded on the orders of his father. Saint Nicholas (December 6) appeared to him in the church of Ovche Polje (Sheep Pasture) and said, “Do not be afraid. Your eyes have been given to me, and I shall return them to you at the appropriate time.”

Saint Stephen lived in Constantinople for five years at the Monastery of the Pantocrator. He surpassed not only the monks, but also all the inhabitants of Constantinople, in his spiritual struggles, patience, and meekness. At the end of the five years, Saint Nicholas appeared to him again. Making the Sign of the Cross over his eyes, he restored Stephen’s sight. In gratitude for this miracle, Stephen built the Dečani Monastery in Serbia.

In his old age, Saint Stephen was drowned by his son, receiving the crown of martyrdom in 1336.

Saint Martin the Merciful, Bishop of Tours, was born at Sabaria in Pannonia (modern Hungary) in 316. Since his father was a Roman officer, he also was obliged to serve in the army. Martin did so unwillingly, for he considered himself a soldier of Christ, though he was still a catechumen.

At the gates of Amiens, he saw a beggar shivering in the severe winter cold, so he cut his cloak in two and gave half to the beggar. That night, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the saint wearing Martin’s cloak. He heard the Savior say to the angels surrounding Him, “Martin is only a catechumen, but he has clothed Me with this garment.” The saint was baptized soon after this, and reluctantly remained in the army.

Two years later, the barbarians invaded Gaul and Martin asked permission to resign his commission for religious reasons. The commander charged him with cowardice. Saint Martin demonstrated his courage by offering to stand unarmed in the front line of battle, trusting in the power of the Cross to protect him. The next day, the barbarians surrendered without a fight, and Martin was allowed to leave the army.

He traveled to various places during the next few years, spending some time as a hermit on an island off Italy. He became friendly with Saint Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers (January 14), who made Martin an exorcist. After several years of the ascetic life, Saint Martin was chosen to be Bishop of Tours in 371. As bishop, Saint Martin did not give up his monastic life, and the place where he settled outside Tours became a monastery. In fact, he is regarded as the founder of monasticism in France. He conversed with angels, and had visions of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29) and of other saints. He is called the Merciful because of his generosity and care for the poor, and he received the grace to work miracles.

After a life of devoted service to Christ and His Church, the saint fell ill at Candes, a village in his diocese, where he died on November 8, 397. He was buried three days later (his present Feast) at Tours. During the Middle Ages, many Western churches were dedicated to Saint Martin, including Saint Martin’s in Canterbury, and Saint Martin-in-the-Fields in London.

In 1008, a cathedral was built at Tours over the relics of Saint Martin. This cathedral was destroyed in 1793 during the French Revolution, together with the relics of Saint Martin and Saint Gregory of Tours (November 17). A new cathedral was built on the site many years later. Some fragments of the relics of Saint Martin were recovered and placed in the cathedral, but nothing remains of Saint Gregory’s relics.

Saint Martin’s name appears on many Greek and Russian calendars. His commemoration on October 12 in the Russian calendar appears to be an error, since ancient sources give the November date.

The holy Apostles Erastus, Sosipater (April 28), Olympas (January 4), Rodion (April 8), Quartus and Tertius (October 30) were disciples of Saint Paul. They all lived during the first century.

The Apostle to the Gentiles speaks of them in the Epistle to the Romans, “And Erastus, the city treasurer, greets you, and Quartus, a brother” (Rom 16: 23).

Saint Sosipater, a native of Achaia, was Bishop of Iconium, where he also died. Saint Paul mentions him in Romans 16:21.

Saint Olympas was mentioned by the holy Apostle Paul (Rom 16:15). He was also a companion of the Apostle Peter. Saint Rodion (Herodion), was a kinsman of the Apostle Paul (Romans 16:11), and left the bishop’s throne at Patras to go to Rome with the Apostle Peter. Saints Rodion and Olympas were beheaded on the very day and hour when Saint Peter was crucified.

Saint Quartus endured much suffering for his piety and converted many pagans to Christ, dying peacefully as a bishop in the city of Beirut.

Saint Tertius is mentioned in the Epistle to the Romans, “I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord” (Rom 16:22). Saint Tertius, to whom Saint Paul dictated the Epistle to the Romans, was the second Bishop of Iconium, where also he died.

The Martyr Orestes the Physician lived in the city of Tyana in Cappadocia during the reign of Emperor Diocletian (284-311). Several Greek and Slavic sources state that Saint Orestes was a learned and skillful physician (γιατρός, врач), though there is not much information about this period of his life. He was also an illustrious and capable soldier. From childhood he had been a devoted servant of Christ, offering a sacrifice of praise to God with a pure heart, and refusing to worship the demons which the pagans call "gods."

At the Emperor's command, the military officer Maximinus was sent to Tyana to stamp out Christianity, which by then had spread throughout Cappadocia. Orestes was among the first brought to trial before Maximinus. Courageously, he confessed his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The prosecutor offered the Saint riches, honors and fame if he would become an idolater, but Saint Orestes would not agree to this.

Maximinus tried in many ways, to force him to deny Christ. Even with the pressures they exerted upon him, they were unable to convince him to worship the idols. Then they stripped him naked, beat him up, and flogged him as a punishment. Afterward, he was put in jail for seven days.

At the end of the seventh day he was taken to a pagan temple to offer sacrifice and worship to the idols. Maximinus asked him, "Do you still refuse to convert to the worship which is offered with such reverence by our august emperors?"

Orestes replied that he was a willing subject when it came to political and earthly matters. Apart from that, however, he would not recognize any king except the one true God.

Maximinus ordered that Orestes be taken to a pagan temple and once again, demanded that he worship the idols. When he refused, forty soldiers took turns, one after the other, beating the holy martyr with lashes, with rods, with rawhide, and then they tormented him with fire. Saint Orestes cried out to the Lord, “Establish with me a sign for good, let those who hate me see it and be put to shame” (Psalm 85/86:17).

The Lord heard the prayer of His faithful servant. The earth began to tremble, and the idols toppled and were smashed. Everyone rushed out of the temple, and when Saint Orestes came out, the entire temple collapsed.

Infuriated, Maximinus ordered the holy martyr to be locked up in prison for seven days giving him neither food nor drink, and to resume the torture on the eighth day. They hammered twenty nails into the martyr’s legs, and then tied him to a wild horse. Dragged over the stones, the holy martyr departed to the Lord in the year 304, and his relics were thrown into the sea.

In 1685, when Saint Dēmḗtrios, later the Bishop of Rostov, (October 28) had just finished writing the Life of Saint Orestes to be printed by the Kiev Caves Lavra, he became tired and fell asleep. Saint Orestes appeared to him one night in a dream, during the Nativity Fast, just before Matins. With a joyful countenance, he said, "I suffered more torments for Christ than these."

Then the Martyr bared his chest and showed Saint Dēmḗtrios the deep wound in his left side. "Here," he said, "they pierced me with a spear."

Then Saint Orestes showed him his right elbow and said, "Here they cut off my arm."

Next, he showed him his left arm with a similar wound, saying "They cut off this arm here."

After this he bent over and showed him one leg, and then the other, with wounds behind the knee. He said, "My legs were cut off with a scythe."

After this the Martyr stood up and looked the writer in the face, and declared, "Now you see that I suffered more torments for Christ than you have described.”

The humble monk wondered whether this was Saint Orestes, one of the Five Martyrs of Sebaste (December 13). As if in answer to his thoughts the Martyr said, “I am not that Orestes, but him whose Life you have just finished writing.”

Just then, the bells rang for Matins, and the vision ended.

The Persian Martyr Mίlos was once a General. Later, he was chosen as the Bishop of Telepolis (Susa, or Shushan in Syriac), where the Prophet Daniel saw visions.¹ Because of his devout ascetical life, Saint Mίlos received from God the gifts of prophecy and healing. He was ordained by Bishop Bēthlapát of Geddēgoupólis. When the pagans expelled him from the city of Susa, his episcopal See, he fled to Jerusalem. From there, he went to Alexandria, where he met Saint Anthony the Great (January 17).

After two years the Hierarch returned to Persia, where he and his disciples were arrested by the ruler Basiliskos. Saint Mίlos was put to death by the sword. His disciples² Ebórēs, Papas, and the Deacon Senóei (or Sebórēs), were killed with wooden clubs and stones. Thus, they all received the immortal crown of martyrdom in the year 341.

¹ Daniel 8:2 (LXX).

² Some sources say there were two disciples: Abrosim and Sinon. Others list three disciples: Ebórēs, Papas, and the Deacon Senóei (or Sebórēs). The difference in the names might be explained by alternate transcriptions of the Persian names into other languages. Papas may be a proper name, or it may be that Ebórēs was a priest. If that is the case, however, one would expect to see the title πρεσβύτερος.

Saint Theosteriktos (Θεοστήρικτος) was the Igoumen of Symbola Monastery on Mount Olympus in Bithynia (others say Peletiki Monastery at Triglia). He lived during the reign of Constantine V Copronymos (741-755), who persecuted the Orthodox because they venerated icons.

On Holy Thursday, the governor, Michael Lachonodrakon attacked Theosteriktos’s monastery. Thirty-eight monks were placed under arrest, while others were tortured and mutilated. Igoumen Theosteriktos had his nose cut off, and he was put in jail in Constantinople with Saint Stephen the Younger (November 28) and many others.

When the iconoclastic persecution had ceased, Saint Theosteriktos returned to his monastery, which he rebuilt with the help of Saint Nikḗtas of Medikion (April 3).

Saint Theosteriktos reposed in peace. He is also commemorated on February 17.

The 9th century was one of the most difficult periods in Georgian history. The Arab Muslims wreaked havoc throughout the region of Kartli, forcibly converting many to Islam with fire and the sword. Many of the destitute and frightened were tempted to betray the Faith of their fathers.

At that time the valorous aristocrat and faithful Christian, Prince Constantine, was living in Kartli. He was the descendant of Kakhetian princes, hence his title “Kakhi.”

As is meet for a Christian believer, Saint Constantine considered himself the greatest of sinners and often said, “There can be no forgiveness of my sins, except through the spilling of my blood for the sake of Him Who shed His innocent blood for us!”

While on a pilgrimage to the holy places of Jerusalem, Constantine distributed generous gifts to the churches, visited the wilderness of the Jordan, received blessings from the holy fathers, and returned to his motherland filled with inner joy. After that time Constantine would send thirty thousand pieces of silver to Jerusalem each year.

In the years 853 to 854, when the Arab Muslims invaded Georgia under the command of Buga-Turk, the eighty-five-year-old Prince Constantine commanded the army of Kartli with his son Tarkhuj.

Outside the city of Gori an uneven battle took place between the Arabs and the Georgians. Despite their fierce resistance, the Georgians suffered defeat, and Constantine and Tarkhuj were taken captive.

The captive Constantine-Kakhi was sent to Samarra (a city in central Iraq) to the caliph Ja’far al Mutawakkil (847-861). Ja’far was well aware of the enormous respect Constantine-Kakhi received from the Georgians and all the Christian people who knew him. Having received him with honor, he proposed that Constantine renounce the Christian Faith and threatened him with death in the case of his refusal. Strengthened by divine grace, the courageous prince fearlessly answered, “Your sword does not frighten me. I am afraid of Him Who can destroy my soul and body and Who has the power to resurrect and to kill, for He is the true God, the almighty Sovereign, Ruler of the world, and Father unto all ages!”

The enraged caliph ordered the beheading of Saint Constantine-Kakhi. Bowing on his knees, the holy martyr lifted up a final prayer to the Lord. Saint Constantine-Kakhi was martyred on November 10, 852, the day on which Great-martyr George is commemorated. The holy martyr’s body was hung from a high pillar to intimidate the Christian believers, but after some time it was buried.

A few years later a group of faithful Georgians translated Saint Constantine’s holy relics to his motherland and reburied them there with great honor. In that same century the Georgian Orthodox Church numbered Prince Constantine-Kakhi of Kartli among the saints.

Celebrated by the whole Christian world, Great-martyr George was slain by Emperor Diocletian in the year 303.

The holy martyr is appropriately considered the intercessor for all Christians and the patron saint of many. He is regarded with special reverence among the Georgian people, since he is believed to be the special protector of their nation. Historical accounts often describe how Saint George appeared among the Georgian soldiers in the midst of battles.

The majority of Georgian churches (in villages especially) were built in his honor and, as a result, every day there is a feast of the great-martyr George somewhere in Georgia. The various daily commemorations are connected to one of the churches erected in his name or an icon or a particular miracle he performed.

November 10 marks the day on which Saint George was tortured on the wheel. According to tradition, this day of commemoration was established by the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Nino, the Enlightener of Georgia. Saint Nino was a relative of Saint George the Trophy-bearer.

She revered him deeply and directed the people she had converted to Christianity to cherish him as their special protector.

The Founding of the Church of the Great Martyr George in Georgia: Georgia was enlightened with the Christian faith by the holy Equal of the Apostles Nino (January 14), a kinswoman of the holy Great Martyr George the Victory-Bearer (April 23). Therefore, Georgia has special veneration for Saint George as its patron saint.

The name Georgia is derived from George (this name is preserved now in many languages of the world). Saint Nino established a feastday in his honor. It is celebrated in Georgia on November 10, in remembrance of the sufferings of Saint George. In 1891, near the village of Kakha in the Zakatalsk region of the Caucasus, a new church in place of the old was built in honor of the holy Great Martyr George the Victory-Bearer, and many of the heterodox Bogomils came in droves to it.

The Holy Martyrs Onesiphorus and Porphyrius of Ephesus suffered during the persecution against Christians by the emperor Diocletian (284-305). They beat them and burned them. After this, they tied the saints to wild horses, which dragged them over the stones, after which the Martyrs Onesiphorus and Porphyrius died. Believers gathered the remains of the saints and reverently buried them.

Saint Matrona, Abbess of Constantinople was born in the city of Perge Pamphylia (Asia Minor) in the fifth century. They gave her in marriage to a wealthy man named Dometian. When her daughter Theodota was born, they resettled in Constantinople. The twenty-five-year-old Matrona loved to walk to the temple of God. She spent entire days there, ardently praying to the Lord and weeping for her sins.

At the church the saint met two pious Eldresses, Eugenia and Susanna, who from their youth lived there in asceticism, work and prayer. Matrona began to imitate the God-pleasing life of an ascetic, humbling her flesh by abstinence and fasting, for which she had to endure criticism by her husband.

Her soul yearned for a full renunciation of the world. After long hesitation, Saint Matrona decided to leave her family and entreated the Lord to reveal whether her intent was pleasing to Him. The Lord heard the prayer of His servant. Once, during a light sleep, she had a dream that she had fled from her husband, who was in pursuit of her. The saint concealed herself in a crowd of monks approaching her, and her husband did not notice her. Matrona accepted this dream as a divine directive to enter a men’s monastery, where her husband would not think to look for her.

She gave her fifteen-year-old daughter to be raised by the Eldress Susanna, and having cut her own hair and disguised herself in men’s attire, she went to the monastery of Saint Bassion (October 10). There the Nun Matrona passed herself off as the eunuch Babylos and was accepted as one of the brethren. Apprehensive lest the monks learn that she was a woman, the saint passed her time in constant quietude and much work. The brethren marveled at the great virtue of Babylos.

One time the saint was working in the monastery vineyard with the other monks. The novice monk Barnabas noted that her ear-lobe was pierced and asked about it. “It is necessary, brother, to till the soil and not watch other people, which is not proper for a monk,” answered the saint.

After a certain while it was revealed in a dream to Saint Bassion, the igumen of the monastery, that the eunuch Babylos was a woman. It was also revealed to Acacius, igumen of the nearby Abraham monastery. Saint Bassion summoned Saint Matrona and asked in a threatening voice why she had entered the monastery: to corrupt the monks, or to shame the monastery.

With tears the saint told the igumen about all her past life, about her husband, hostile to her efforts and prayers, and about the vision directing her to go to the men’s monastery. Convinced that her intent was pure and chaste, Saint Bassion sent Saint Matrona to a women’s monastery in the city of Emesa. In this monastery the saint dwelt for many years, inspiring the sisters by her high monastic achievement. When the Abbess died, by the unanimous wish of the nuns the Nun Matrona became head of the convent.

The fame of her virtuous activities, and miraculous gift of healing, which she acquired from the Lord, spread far beyond the walls of the monastery. Dometian also heard about the deeds of the nun. When Saint Matrona learned that her husband was coming to the monastery and wanted to see her, she secretly went off to Jerusalem, and then to Mount Sinai, and from there to Beirut, where she settled in an abandoned pagan temple. The local inhabitants learned of her seclusion, and began to come to her. The holy ascetic turned many from their pagan impiety and converted them to Christ.

Women and girls began to settle by the dwelling of the nun and soon a new monastery was formed. Having fulfilled the will of God, revealed to her in a dream, the saint left Beirut and journeyed to Constantinople where she learned that her husband had died. With the blessing of her spiritual Father, Saint Bassion, the ascetic founded a women’s monastery in Constantinople, to which sisters from the Beirut convent she founded also transferred. The Constantinople monastery of Saint Matrona was known for its strict monastic rule and the virtuous life of its sisters.

In extreme old age Saint Matrona had a vision of the heavenly Paradise and the place prepared for her there after 75 years of monastic labor. At the age of one hundred, Saint Matrona blessed the sisters,and quietly fell asleep in the Lord.

Saint Theoktίstē was born in the city of Methymna on the island of Lesbos. She was orphaned at an early age, so her relatives sent her to a monastery to be raised by the nuns. The girl was quite happy to forsake this sinful world. She loved the monastic life, the long Church Services, monastic obedience, the strict fasting, and unceasing prayer. She learned much of the chants, prayer, and psalmody by heart.

On the radiant Feast of Christ's Resurrection in the year 846, when Theoktίstē was eighteen years old, she left the Monastery with the blessing of the Igoumeness, and went to a nearby village to visit her sister, remaining there overnight. Some Arabs invaded the settlement, captured all the inhabitants, and forced them onto a ship. By morning, they were at sea.

The brigands took the captives to the desolate island of Paros so that they might examine them in order to set a price on each when they were sold at the slave market. The Lord helped the young maiden to escape, and the Arabs did not catch her. Saint Theoktίstē lived on the island for the next 35 years. An old church dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos served as her abode, and her food was sunflower seeds. She spent all her time in prayer.

Once, a group of hunters landed upon the island. One of them, pursuing his prey, went far from the coast into the forest, and suddenly he saw the church and went inside in order to pray. Afterward, the hunter saw what seemed to be a human form in a dim corner, not far from the holy altar table, Brushing aside thick cobwebs. He drew nearer and heard a voice say, “Stay there, and come no closer, for I am a naked woman, and I am ashamed.”

The hunter gave the woman his outer garment and she came out from her place of concealment. He saw a grey-haired woman with worn face, who called herself Theoktίstē. In a faint voice, she told him of her life, which she had devoted to God.

When Saint Theoktίstē finished her story, she asked the hunter, if he should happen to come to this island again, to bring her a particle of the reserved Gifts. In all the time she had lived in the wilderness, she had not been able to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ even once.

A year later, in 881, the hunter returned to the island and brought a small vessel with a particle of the Holy Mysteries. Saint Theoktίstē approached the Holy Gifts and fell to the ground, praying with tears for a long time. Standing up, she took the vessel and received the Body and Blood of Christ "with faith, reverence, and in the fear of God."

The next day, the hunter found the dead body of Saint Theoktίstē in the church. After digging a shallow grave, he placed her in it. Then brazenly, he cut off one of her hands, in order to take a relic of the Saint with him. All night the ship was tossed upon a tempestuous sea. In the morning, it ended up at the very place from which it started. Then the man realized that his taking the relic was not pleasing to God.

Returning to the grave, he placed the hand with the Saint's body. Then the ship was able to sail away without difficulty. .On the journey, the hunter told his companions all that had happened on the island. After hearing his story, they all decided to return to Paros at once, that they might venerate the relics of the great ascetic, However, they did not find her holy body in the grave.

Saint Onesiphorus the Confessor of the Kiev Caves, Near Caves pursued the ascetic life in the Kiev Caves monastery. He was a presbyter and had the gift of clairvoyance. He died in the year 1148 and was buried in the Near Caves beside Saint Spyridon (October 31). His memory is also celebrated on September 28 and on the second Sunday of Great Lent.

The Martyr Alexander of Thessalonica was arrested by pagans for confessing the Christian Faith. Under the emperor Maximian (284-305)he not only admitted being a Christian, but when told to offer sacrifice to the gods, he overturned the idolatrous sacrifice in indignation. The emperor gave orders to behead the saint.

When the execution was done, the emperor and the executioner saw how an angel came forth bearing the soul of the holy Martyr Alexander up to the heavens. The emperor permitted Christians to bury the body of the saint with honor in the city of Thessalonica, which they did with joy.

The Holy Martyr Anthony, a Syrian, lived during the fifth century and was a stone-mason. With the blessing of the bishop of the Syrian city of Apamea, he started to build a church dedicated to the Holy Trinity. When the pagan townspeople learned of this, they rushed into his house by night and murdered him with a sword.

Saint John the Dwarf of Egypt struggled in the Egyptian desert in the fifth century in the monastery of Saint Pimen the Great (August 27). It was to this monastery that the young John came with his brother Daniel.

Once, Saint John told his elder brother that he did not want to be concerned about clothing and food, and that he wished to live like the angels in Paradise. Daniel allowed him to go to a deserted place, so that he would be afflicted. John went out from the cell and removed his clothing. It was very cold at night, and after a week John became hungry.

One night John went back to the monastery and began to knock on the door of the cell. “Who is it?” Daniel asked.

“It is I, your brother John.”

Daniel replied, “John has become an angel, and is no longer among men.”

John continued to knock, but Daniel would not let him in until morning. Then he said, “You are a man and must work again if you want to eat.” Saint John wept bitterly, asking for forgiveness.

After being brought to his senses Saint John went to Saint Pimen, known for his firm and steadfast will, and having asked guidance, he promised to be obedient in all things. Testing the patience of the young monk, Saint Pimen gave him an unusual obedience. For three years Saint John carried water and poured it on a dry stick, until it became covered with leaves and bore abundant fruit. His Elder took the fruit to the brethren saying, “Take and eat the fruit of obedience.”

Later, Abba John himself became a guide of many people on the way of salvation, among whom were Saint Arsenius the Great (May 8) and Saint Thais (May 10).

Saint John was the author of the Life of Saint Paisius the Great (June 19).

Saint Eustolia, a native of Rome, had come to Constantinople and entered one of the women’s monasteries. The virtuous and strict monastic life of the saint gained her the love and respect of the sisters. Not only monastics, but also many laypeople came to her for advice and consolation.

Saint Eustolia died in the year 610.

Saint Sopatra of Constantinople was the daughter of the emperor Mauricius (582-602). She was inclined towards monasticism, and met Saint Eustolia in the church of the Most Holy Theotokos at Blachernae. After speaking with the saint, Sopatra finally decided to leave the world and submit her will to her guide, Saint Eustolia. She transformed the palace building, which her father had given her, into a monastery known for its strict monastic Rule.

Saint Sopatra died in the year 625.

Saint Nectarius, the great wonderworker of modern times, was born Anastasius Kephalas in Selebria, Thrace on October 1, 1846.

Since his family was poor, Anastasius went to Constantinople when he was fourteen in order to find work. Although he had no money, he asked the captain of a boat to take him. The captain told him to take a walk and then come back. Anastasius understood, and sadly walked away.

The captain gave the order to start the engines, but nothing happened. After several unsuccessful attempts, he looked up into the eyes of Anastasius who stood on the dock. Taking pity on the boy, the captain told him to come aboard. Immediately, the engines started and the boat began to move.

Anastasius found a job with a tobacco merchant in Constantinople, who did not pay him very much. In his desire to share useful information with others, Anastasius wrote down short maxims from spiritual books on the paper bags and packages of the tobacco shop. The customers would read them out of curiosity, and might perhaps derive some benefit from them.

The boy went about barefoot and in ragged clothing, but he trusted in God. Seeing that the merchant received many letters, Anastasius also wanted to write a letter. To whom could he write? Not to his parents, because there were no mail deliveries to his village. Not to his friends, because he had none. Therefore, he decided to write to Christ to tell Him of his needs.

“My little Christ,” he wrote. “I do not have an apron or shoes. You send them to me. You know how much I love you.”

Anastasius sealed the letter and wrote on the outside: “To the Lord Jesus Christ in Heaven.” On his way to mail the letter, he ran into the man who owned a shop opposite the one in which he worked. The man asked him where he was going, and Anastasius whispered something in reply. Seeing the letter in his hands, the man offered to mail it for him, since he was on his way to the post office.

The merchant put the letter in his pocket and assured Anastasius that he would mail it with his own letters. The boy returned to the tobacco shop, filled with happiness. When he took the letter from his pocket to mail it, the merchant happened to notice the address. Astonished and curious, the man could not resist opening the letter to read it. Touched by the boy’s simple faith, the merchant placed some money in an envelope and sent it to him anonymously. Anastasius was filled with joy, and he gave thanks to God.

A few days later, seeing Anastasius dressed somewhat better than usual, his employer thought he had stolen money from him and began to beat him. Anastasius cried out, “I have never stolen anything. My little Christ sent me the money.”

Hearing the commotion, the other merchant came and took the tobacco seller aside and explained the situation to him.

When he was still a young man, Anastasius made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. During the voyage, the ship was in danger of sinking in a storm. Anastasius looked at the raging sea, and then at the captain. He went and stood beside the captain and took the helm, praying for God to save them. Then he took off the cross his grandmother had given him (containing a piece of the Cross of Christ) and tied it to his belt. Leaning over the side, he dipped the cross into the water three times and commanded the sea, “Silence! Be still.” At once, the wind died down and the sea became calm.

Anastasius was saddened, however, because his cross had fallen into the sea and was lost. As the boat sailed on, sounds of knocking seemed to come from the hull below the water line. When the ship docked, the young man got off and started to walk away.

Suddenly, the captain began shouting, “Kephalas, Kephalas, come back here.” The captain had ordered some men into a small boat to examine the hull in order to discover the source of the knocking, and they discovered the cross stuck to the hull. Anastasius was elated to receive his “Treasure,” and always wore it from that time forward. There is a photograph taken many years later, showing the saint in his monastic skufia. The cross is clearly visible in the photo.

On November 7, 1875, Anastasius received monastic tonsure at the Nea Moni Monastery on Chios, and the new name Lazarus. Two years later, he was ordained a deacon. On that occasion, his name was changed to Nectarius.

Later, when he was a priest, Father Nectarius left Chios and went to Egypt. There he was elected Metropolitan of Pentapolis. Some of his colleagues became jealous of him because of his great virtues, because of his inspiring sermons, and because of everything else which distinguished Saint Nectarius from them.

Other Metropolitans and bishops of the Patriarchate of Alexandria became filled with malice toward the saint, so they told Patriarch Sophronius that Nectarius was plotting to become patriarch himself. They told the patriarch that the Metropolitan of Pentapolis merely made an outward show of piety in order to win favor with the people. So the patriarch and his synod removed Saint Nectarius from his See. Patriarch Sophronius wrote an ambiguous letter of suspension which provoked scandal and speculation about the true reasons for the saint’s removal from his position.

Saint Nectarius was not deposed from his rank, however. He was still allowed to function as a bishop. If anyone invited him to perform a wedding or a baptism he could do so, as long as he obtained permission from the local bishop.

Saint Nectarius bore his trials with great patience, but those who loved him began to demand to know why he had been removed. Seeing that this was causing a disturbance in the Church of Alexandria, he decided to go to Greece. He arrived in Athens to find that false rumors about him had already reached that city. His letter of suspension said only that he had been removed “for reasons known to the Patriarchate,” and so all the slanders about him were believed.

Since the state and ecclesiastical authorities would not give him a position, the former Metropolitan was left with no means of support, and no place to live. Every day he went to the Minister of Religion asking for assistance. They soon tired of him and began to mistreat him.

One day, as he was leaving the Minister’s office, Saint Nectarius met a friend whom he had known in Egypt. Surprised to find the beloved bishop in such a condition, the man spoke to the Minister of Religion and Education and asked that something be found for him. So, Saint Nectarius was appointed to be a humble preacher in the diocese of Vitineia and Euboea. The saint did not regard this as humiliating for him, even though a simple monk could have filled that position. He went to Euboea to preach in the churches, eagerly embracing his duties.

Yet even here, the rumors of scandal followed him. Sometimes, while he was preaching, people began to laugh and whisper. Therefore, the blameless one resigned his position and returned to Athens. By then some people had begun to realize that the rumors were untrue, because they saw nothing in his life or conversation to suggest that he was guilty of anything. With their help and influence, Saint Nectarius was appointed Director of the Rizarios Seminary in Athens on March 8, 1894. He was to remain in that position until December of 1908.

The saint celebrated the services in the seminary church, taught the students, and wrote several edifying and useful books. Since he was a quiet man, Saint Nectarius did not care for the noise and bustle of Athens. He wanted to retire somewhere where he could pray. On the island of Aegina he found an abandoned monastery dedicated to the Holy Trinity, which he began to repair with his own hands.

He gathered a community of nuns, appointing the blind nun Xenia as abbess, while he himself served as Father Confessor. Since he had a gift for spiritual direction, many people came to Aegina to confess to him. Eventually, the community grew to thirty nuns. He used to tell them, “I am building a lighthouse for you, and God shall put a light in it that will shine forth to the world. Many will see this light and come to Aegina.” They did not understand what he was telling them, that he himself would be that beacon, and that people would come there to venerate his holy relics.

On September 20, 1920 the nun Euphemia brought an old man in black robes, who was obviously in pain, to the Aretaieion Hospital in Athens. This was a state hospital for the poor. The intern asked the nun for information about the patient.

“Is he a monk?” he asked.

“No, he is a bishop.”

The intern laughed and said, “Stop joking and tell me his name, Mother, so that I can enter it in the register.”

“He is indeed a bishop, my child. He is the Most Reverend Metropolitan of Pentapolis.”

The intern muttered, “For the first time in my life I see a bishop without a panagia or cross, and more significantly, without money.”

Then the nun showed the saint’s credentials to the astonished intern who then admitted him. For two months Saint Nectarius suffered from a disease of the bladder. At ten thirty on the evening of November 8, 1920, he surrendered his holy soul to God. He died in peace at the age of seventy-four.

In the bed next to Saint Nectarius was a man who was paralyzed. As soon as the saint had breathed his last, the nurse and the nun who sat with him began to dress him in clean clothing to prepare him for burial at Aegina. They removed his sweater and placed it on the paralyzed man’s bed. Immediately, the paralytic got up from his bed, glorifying God.

Saint Nectarius was buried at the Holy Trinity Monastery on Aegina. Several years later, his grave was opened to remove his bones (as is the custom in Greece). His body was found whole and incorrupt, as if he had been buried that very day.

Word was sent to the Archbishop of Athens, who came to see the relics for himself. Archbishop Chrysostomos told the nuns to leave them out in the sun for a few days, then to rebury them so that they would decay. A month or two after this, they opened the grave again and found the saint incorrupt. Then the relics were placed in a marble sarcophagus.

Several years later, the holy relics dissolved, leaving only the bones. The saint’s head was placed in a bishop’s mitre, and the top was opened to allow people to kiss his head.

Saint Nectarius was glorified by God, since his whole life was a continuous doxology to the Lord. Both during his life and after his death, Saint Nectarius has performed thousands of miracles, especially for those suffering from cancer. There are more churches dedicated to Saint Nectarius than to any other modern Orthodox saint.

Saints Euthymius and Neophytus, founders of the Dochiariou Monastery on Mount Athos, an uncle and his nephew, belonged to the highest Byzantine aristocracy. Saint Euthymius, while still in the world, was the friend of Saint Athanasius of Mount Athos (July 5), and he later became a novice and disciple of the great ascetic. For his sincere love of the brethren, gentleness and his particular zeal in the ascetic life, Saint Athanasius granted the monk the duty of steward, which Saint Euthymius fulfilled as though entrusted to him by God Himself.

Saint Euthymius settled with several of the monks in the locale of Daphne, where he founded a monastery dedicated to Saint Nicholas, which he called Dochiariou in memory of his obedience. Guiding his own younger brethren, Saint Euthymius taught the necessity of attention towards self, to all the stirrings of the soul, explaining that the struggle of Christians, according to the Apostle Paul, is not “against flesh and blood, but against principalities, and against powers, and against the world-rulers of this darkness” (Eph 6:12).

The peaceful ascetic life of the monks was disturbed by the Saracens. The monk led all the brethren into the forest. Returning, they found the monastery razed to its very foundations. Saint Euthymius did not lose heart, and the monastery was rebuilt.

Saint Neophytus, in the world, was a companion of the emperor Nikēphóros Phocas (963-969). Upon the death of his parents he came to Mount Athos, where he was tonsured in the monastery of his uncle Saint Euthymius. Before his death, Saint Euthymius handed over the administration of the monastery to his nephew.

Under the spiritual guidance of Saint Neophytus, the small monastery grew into a Lavra. Asking the emperor Nikēphóros to become a benefactor of the monastery, Saint Neophytus enlarged the monastery to its present size. Saint Neophytus was deigned to be chosen “protos” (head of the governing Council of Elders of the Holy Mountain) and for many years he labored there. After taking leave of the Council in his declining years, he returned to the Dochiariou monastery, where peacefully he fell asleep in the Lord.

The wonderworking "Quick to Hear" Icon of the Mother of God is kept at Dokheiarίou Monastery on Mount Athos, and is believed to date from the XI century, during the time of Saint Neophytos, the Igoumen of the Monastery. After the wonderworking Portaitissa Icon, the most famous Icon on Mount Athos is an ancient fresco of the Panagia located outside on the east wall of the trapeza, and to the right of the entrance. In 1664 the Monk Neilos, the steward of the trapeza, often passed before the Icon holding a lit torch in his hand so he could carry out his duties in the trapeza. One day, he heard a voice say to him: "Do not come this way again with your torches, darkening my Icon with smoke."

Neilos did not pay much attention to the voice, thinking that someone was playing a joke on him. It was not long before he heard the voice again saying, "O monk, unworthy of the name, how long will you continue to darken my Icon with smoke?"

Upon hearing the voice, Neilos was struck blind. Then he remembered that he had heard the voice before, and realized that he deserved this punishment, for he did not heed the command of the Mother of God, but had ignored it in his ignorance.

The next morning, the brethren found him laying on the floor of the corridor before the Icon, unable to see them. When they learned why Neilos had been punished, the monks were terrified. From that time on, they passed by the Icon with great reverence, and hung an unsleeping lamp before it.

Neilos, however, did not want to return to his cell. He remained before the Icon in a stasidi, calling upon the Theotokos with tears and lamentations to forgive him for the sin he had committed. He begged her to restore his sight, as a sign of her forgiveness, so that he might gaze upon her Icon and glorify her.

He was not disappointed in his hopes, for the Mother of God heard the prayers of her repentant servant. He heard her voice a third time, saying, "Monk, your prayer has been heard. You are forgiven, and you shall receive your sight again. Declare to the other Fathers and brethren who struggle here that I am the Mother of God, and that after God, I am the shelter and help and mighty protector of this Monastery of the Archangels, providing for it as its defender and guide. From now on, let the monks come to me for all their needs, and I will hear them quickly, as well as all Orthodox Christians who come to me with reverence, for I am called Quick to Hear."

Very soon this miracle and the promise of the Theotokos became known throughout the Holy Mountain, and monks from the other Monasteries came to Dokheiarίou to venerate the Icon, and to see the monk who had regained his sight. The corridor was closed off and a chapel was built to house the "Quick to Hear" Icon. One of the most devout and accomplished Hieromonks is appointed to be present in the chapel. He is known as the prosmonarios (προσμονάριος), and he is there most of the time to chant Canons of Supplication before the Icon, which he censes every evening and morning, tending the chapel, and trimming the oil lamps.

The "Quick to Hear" Icon venerated not only on the Holy Mountain, but also by Orthodox Christians all over the world. Countless miracles of healing are worked by the Mother of God through her Holy Icon. The blind receive their sight, paralytics are healed, barren women conceive children, and captives are set free when they approach the Theotokos with faith and reverence.

A copy of the "Quick to Hear Icon" was painted on Mount Athos and was sent as a gift from the Russian and other devout monks of the Holy Mountain to Archbishop Tikhon (later Patriarch of Moscow) of the Aleutian Islands and North America. In May of 1906 that copy of the famous "Quick to Hear” Icon at Dokheiarίou Monastery was carried to Saint Tikhon's Monastery (in Waymart, PA) in a solemn Cross Procession, along with several others, including one of the Holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon.

The relics of several saints were placed in the Icon. These include the Holy Great Martyr Theodore Stratēlátēs (Feb. 8), Saints Cosmas and Damian the Unmercenary Physicians, Saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessaloniki (Nov. 14), and the Holy New Martyr Constantine of Mount Athos, who was born on the island of Hydra and suffered at the hands of the Turks on the island of Rhodes on November 14, 1800.

The "Quick to Hear" Icon is now on the iconostasis of Saint Tikhon's Monastery church.

The Synaxis of the Chief of the Heavenly Hosts, Archangel Michael and the Other Heavenly Bodiless Powers: Archangels Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Selaphiel, Jehudiel, Barachiel, and Jeremiel was established at the beginning of the fourth century at the Council of Laodicea, which met several years before the First Ecumenical Council. The 35th Canon of the Council of Laodicea condemned and denounced as heretical the worship of angels as gods and rulers of the world, but affirmed their proper veneration.

A Feastday was established in November, the ninth month after March (with which the year began in ancient times) since there are Nine Ranks of Angels. The eighth day of the month was chosen for the Synaxis of all the Bodiless Powers of Heaven since the Day of the Dread Last Judgment is called the Eighth Day by the holy Fathers. After the end of this age (characterized by its seven days of Creation) will come the Eighth Day, and then “the Son of Man shall come in His Glory and all the holy Angels with Him” (Mt. 25:31).

The Angelic Ranks are divided into three Hierarchies: highest, middle, and lowest.

The Highest Hierarchy includes: the Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones.

The six-winged SERAPHIM (Flaming, Fiery) (Is 6:2) stand closest of all to the Most Holy Trinity. They blaze with love for God and kindle such love in others.

The many-eyed CHERUBIM (outpouring of wisdom, enlightenment) (Gen 3:24) stand before the Lord after the Seraphim. They are radiant with the light of knowledge of God, and knowledge of the mysteries of God. Through them wisdom is poured forth, and people’s minds are enlightened so they may know God and behold His glory.

The THRONES (Col 1:16) stand after the Cherubim, mysteriously and incomprehensibly bearing God through the grace given them for their service. They are ministers of God’s justice, giving to tribunals, kings, etc. the capacity for righteous judgment.

The Middle Angelic Hierarchy consists of three Ranks: Dominions, Powers, and Authorities:

DOMINIONS (Col 1:16) hold dominion over the angels subject to them. They instruct the earthly authorities, established by God, to rule wisely, and to govern their lands well. The Dominions teach us to subdue sinful impulses, to subject the flesh to the spirit, to master our will, and to conquer temptation.

POWERS (1 Pet 3:22) fulfill the will of God without hesitation. They work great miracles and give the grace of wonderworking and clairvoyance to saints pleasing to God. The Powers assist people in fulfilling obediences. They also encourage them to be patient, and give them spiritual strength and fortitude.

AUTHORITIES (1 Pet 3:22, Col 1:16) have authority over the devil. They protect people from demonic temptations, and prevent demons from harming people as they would wish. They also uphold ascetics and guard them, helping people in the struggle with evil thoughts.

The Lowest Hierarchy includes the three Ranks: Principalities, Archangels, and Angels:

PRINCIPALITIES (Col 1:16) have command over the lower angels, instructing them in the fulfilling of God’s commands. They watch over the world and protect lands, nations and peoples. Principalities instruct people to render proper honor to those in authority, as befits their station. They teach those in authority to use their position, not for personal glory and gain, but to honor God, and to spread word of Him, for the benefit of those under them.

ARCHANGELS (1 Thess 4:16) are messengers of great and wondrous tidings. They reveal prophecies and the mysteries of the faith. They enlighten people to know and understand the will of God, they spread faith in God among the people, illuminating their minds with the light of the Holy Gospel.

ANGELS (1 Pet 3:22) are in the lowest rank of the heavenly hierarchy, and closest to people. They reveal the lesser mysteries of God and His intentions, guiding people to virtuous and holy life. They support those who remain steadfast, and they raise up the fallen. They never abandon us and they are always prepared to help us, if we desire it.

All the Ranks of the Heavenly Powers are called angels, although each has its own name and position by virtue of their service. The Lord reveals His will to the highest ranks of the angels, and they in turn inform the others.

Over all the Nine Ranks, the Lord appointed the Holy Archangel Michael (his name in Hebrew means “who is like unto God”), the faithful servitor of God, as Chief Commander. He cast down from Heaven the arrogantly proud Lucifer and the other fallen spirits when they rebelled against God. Michael summoned the ranks of angels and cried out, “Let us attend! Let us stand aright before our Creator and do not consider doing what is displeasing unto God!”

According to Church Tradition, and in the church services to the Archangel Michael, he participated in many other Old Testament events.

During the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt he went before them in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Through him the power of the Lord was made manifest, annihilating the Egyptians and Pharaoh who were in pursuit of the Israelites. The Archangel Michael defended Israel in all its misfortunes.

He appeared to Joshua Son of Navi and revealed the will of the Lord at the taking of Jericho (Josh 5:13-16). The power of the great Chief Commander of God was manifest in the annihilation of the 185,000 soldiers of the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib (4/2 Kings 19:35); also in the smiting of the impious leader Heliodorus (2 Macc. 3: 24-26); and in the protection of the Three Holy Youths: Ananias, Azarias and Misail, thrown into the fiery furnace for their refusal to worship an idol (Dan 3:22-25).

Through the will of God, the Chief Commander Michael transported the Prophet Habbakuk (December 2) from Judea to Babylon, to give food to Daniel in the lions’ den (Dan. 14:33-37).

The Archangel Michael disputed with the devil over the body of the holy Prophet Moses (Jude 1:9).

The holy Archangel Michael showed his power when he miraculously saved a young man, cast into the sea by robbers with a stone about his neck on the shores of Mt Athos. This story is found in the Athonite Paterikon, and in the Life of Saint Neophytus of Docheiariou (November 9).

From ancient times the Archangel Michael was famed for his miracles in Rus. In the Volokolamsk Paterikon is a narrative of Saint Paphnutius of Borov with an account of Tatar tax-gatherers concerning the miraculous saving of Novgorod the Great: “Therefore Great Novgorod was never taken by the Hagarenes… when… for our sins the godless Hagarene emperor Batu devoured and set the Russian land aflame and came to Novgorod, and God and the Most Holy Theotokos shielded it with an appearance of Michael the Archangel, who forbade him to enter into it. He [Batu] was come to the Lithuanian city and came toward Kiev and saw the stone church, over the doors of which the great Archangel Michael had written and spoken to the prince his allotted fate, ‘By this we have forbidden you entry into Great Novgorod’.”

Intercession for Russian cities by the Most Holy Queen of Heaven always involved Her appearances with the Heavenly Hosts, under the leadership of the Archangel Michael. Grateful Rus acclaimed the Most Pure Mother of God and the Archangel Michael in church hymns. Many monasteries, cathedrals, court and merchant churches are dedicated to the Chief Commander Michael.

In old Kiev at the time of the accepting of Christianity, a cathedral of the Archangel was built, and a monastery also was named for him. Archangel cathedrals are found at Smolensk, Nizhni Novgorod, Staritsa, at Great Ustiug (beginning of the thirteenth century), and a cathedral at Sviyazhsk. In Rus there was not a city where there was not a church or chapel dedicated to the Archangel Michael.

One of the chief temples of the city of Moscow, the burial church in the Kremlin, is dedicated to him. Numerous and beautiful icons of the Chief Commander of the Heavenly Hosts are also in his Cathedral. One of these, the Icon “Blessed Soldiery,” was painted in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. The saintly soldiers, Russian princes, are depicted under the leadership of the Archangel Michael.

We invoke Saint Michael for protection from invasion by enemies and from civil war, and for the defeat of adversaries on the field of battle. He conquers all spiritual enemies.

Holy Scripture and Tradition give us the names of the Archangels:

Gabriel: strength (power) of God, herald and servitor of Divine omnipotence (Dan 8:16, Luke 1:26). He announces the mysteries of God.

Raphael: the healing of God, the curer of human infirmities (Tobit 3:16, 12:15)

Uriel: the fire or light of God, enlightener (2 Esdras 5:20). We pray for him to enlighten those with darkened minds.

Selaphiel: the prayer of God, impelling to prayer (2 Esdras 5:15). He prays to God for mankind.

Jehudiel: the glorifying of God, encouraging exertion for the glory of the Lord and interceding for the reward of efforts.

Barachiel: distributor of the blessings of God for good deeds, entreats the mercy of God for people.

Jeremiel: the raising up to God (2 Esdras 4:36)

On icons the Archangels are depicted in according to the character of their service:

Michael tramples the devil underfoot, and in his left hand holds a green date-tree branch, and in his right hand a spear with a white banner on which is outlined a scarlet cross, or sometimes a fiery sword.

Gabriel with a branch from Paradise, presented by him to the Most Holy Virgin, or with a shining lantern in his right hand and with a mirror made of jasper in his left.

Raphael holds a vessel with healing medications in his left hand, and with his right hand leads Tobias, carrying a fish for healing (Tobit 5-8).

Uriel in his raised right hand holds a naked sword at the level of his chest, and in his lowered left hand “a fiery flame.”

Selaphiel in a prayerful posture, gazing downwards, hands folded on the chest.

Jehudiel holds a golden crown in his right hand, in his left, a whip of three red (or black) thongs.

Barachiel is shown with a white rose on his breast.

Jeremiel holds balance-scales in his hand.

Each person has a guardian angel (Matt 18:10), and every nation also receives its own guardian angel from God (Dan. 10:13). When a church is consecrated, it also receives a guardian angel (Palladius, Dial. Ch. 10).

No information available at this time.

The holy martyr Hieron was born in the city of Tiana in great Cappadocia. Raised by a pious mother, he was a kindly and good Christian.

The co-ruling emperors Diocletian (284-305) and Maximian (284-305) sent a large military detachment headed by Lysias to Cappadocia to eradicate Christianity there, and also to conscript healthy and strong men into the imperial army. Among those pressed into service, Lysias also ordered his men to draft Hieron, who was distinguished by his great physical strength and dexterity. But Hieron refused to serve emperors who persecuted Christians. When they attempted to seize him by force and bring him to Lysias, he took a stick and started beating the soldiers who had been sent to bring him. The soldiers scattered, ashamed of being defeated by a single man. Hieron then hid himself in a cave with eighteen other Christians. Lysias would not risk losing his soldiers by storming the cave.

Upon the advice of Cyriacus, one of Hieron’s friends, Lysias lifted the siege of the cave and withdrew his detachment. Then Cyriacus persuaded Hieron not to offer resistance to the authorities. He and the other new conscripts and accompanying soldiers were sent to the nearby city of Melitene.

Soon Hieron had a vision in his sleep, in which his impending martyrdom was foretold. Lysias told the soldiers gathered at Melitene to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. Hieron and another thirty-two soldiers refused to do this, and openly confessed their faith in Christ. Then the persecutor gave orders to beat the martyrs, and to cut off Hieron’s arm at the elbow. After cruel tortures they threw the martyrs into prison barely alive, and they beheaded them four days later.

A certain rich and illustrious Christian by the name of Chrysanthus ransomed Hieron’s head from Lysias. When the persecutions finally ceased, he built a church on the place where they executed the holy martyrs, and he placed the venerable head in it. The bodies of all the executed saints were secretly buried by Christians. In reign of the emperor Justinian, during the construction of the church of Hagia Eirene (Holy Peace), the venerable relics were uncovered and found incorrupt.

The other martyrs are: Hesychius, Nicander, Athanasius, Mamas, Barachius, Callinicus, Theogenes, Nikon, Longinus, Theodore, Valerius, Xanthius, Theodoulus, Callimachus, Eugene, Theodochus, Ostrychius, Epiphanius, Maximian, Ducitius, Claudian, Theophilus, Gigantius, Dorotheus, Theodotus, Castrichius, Anicletus, Themelius, Eutychius, Hilarion, Diodotus and Amonitus.

Saint Lazarus the Wonderworker of Mt Galesius near Ephesus was born in Lydia, in the city of Magnesium. An educated young man who loved God, Lazarus became a monk at the monastery of Saint Savva, the founder of great ascetic piety in Palestine. He spent ten years within the walls of the monastery, winning the love and respect of the brethren for his intense monastic struggles.

Ordained to the holy priesthood by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Saint Lazarus returned to his native country and settled near Ephesus, on desolate Mount Galesius. Here he saw a wondrous vision: a fiery pillar, rising up to the heavens, was encircled by angels singing, “Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered.”

On the place where the saint beheld this vision, he built a church in honor of the Resurrection of Christ and took upon himself the feat of pillar-dwelling. Monks soon began to flock to the great ascetic, thirsting for spiritual nourishment by the divinely-inspired words and blessed example of the saint, and a monastery was established there.

Having received a revelation about the day of his death, the saint told the brethren. Through the tearful prayers of all the monks, the Lord prolonged the earthly life of Saint Lazarus for another fifteen years.

Saint Lazarus died at 72 years of age, in the year 1053. The brethren buried the body of the saint at the pillar upon which he had struggled in asceticism. He was glorified by many miracles after his death.

Saint Lazarus is also commemorated on July 17.

No information available at this time.

Saint Cyril the wonderworker of New Lake reposed on February 4, 1532.

In May 1648, during the reign of Alexei Mihailovich, a popular rebellion against Moscow broke out among some of those who were members of the Tsar's retinue. Peter Trahanitov, the head of the artillery, the Deacon Eleazar, and many others were killed and robbed. The rebellious crowd proceeded to the Beautiful Porch and demanded the extradition of the boyar Boris Morozov, the royal tutor and kinsman. They had already broken into his house and looted the property. The boyar, with some difficulty, managed to hide from the hands of the angry mob, and soon he took refuge in the Saint Cyril of White Lake Monastery. When Igoumen Amphilokhios and the brethren learned he would be staying with them, he sent the monk Jonah to him with the icon and the Life of Saint Cyril. The boyar graciously accepted the icon and was moved by the Saint's Life. After that, his soul was filled with joy and delight, but then his tormenting fears and grief returned, and he wanted to venerate Saint Cyril's grave.

After having a Moleben served at the grave and praying to the Saint with tears, the boyar said to the Igoumen and the brotherhood: "Holy Fathers, pray to God and His Most Pure Mother, and the venerable wonderworker Cyril for me. If God is merciful to me, by the prayers of Saint Cyril, and if I return to the royal city, and the great sovereign and his royal council take pity on me and restore me to my former rank, then I will build a stone church here in honor of the glorious Resurrection of Christ and in honor of Saint Cyril."

The delighted Igoumen and the brotherhood responded with their fervent good wishes. After distributing alms, the boyar returned to the Saint Cyril of White Lake Monastery. After a short time, after the excitement in Moscow subsided, the boyar was summoned by the Tsar and restored to his former position. The following year, in 1649, Morozov began to fulfill his promise. On September 4, at his orders, the Archimandrite Athanasios of the Saint Cyril of White Lake Monastery and the Elder Sabbatius Yushkov were at the foundation of the stone temple. In their presence they began to dig ditches, and when they came to the place where Saint Cyril's tomb was, a completely intact coffin was found among the roots of a tree.

Without a patriarchal decree and the blessing of the Metropolitan and the Archimandrite, Elder Sabbatius did not dare to take the coffin from the earth in order to open and to examine It. The coffin was placed on some boards, and the discovery was reported to Metropolitan Barlaam of Rostov, Patriarch Joseph, and the boyar Morozov. Morozov, after receiving the news, told the Tsar all this and informed him about the Life and miracles of the venerable Cyril. In October, the Patriarch, at the Tsar's suggestion, sent Archbishop Marcellus of Vologda with a Gramota instructing him to go to New Lake and examine the relics of the Saint, and move the relics to a temporary room, arrange a celebration, and report everything to the Tsar and Patriarch.

Archbishop Marcellus arrived at New Lake Monastery with Archimandrite Athanasios of Saint Cyril of White Lake Monastery and, from the same monastery, the cellarer Sabbatius with the Elders of the cathedral. On November 7, Igoumen Amphilokhios ordered them to remove the coffin from the earth, and then open it in order to inspect the Saint's relics and clothing. After the hierarch completed his inspection he placed the relics in a new coffin and moved it into the wooden church of the Resurrection of Christ.

On the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos Vespers was served at the cathedral in the evening. In the morning, before the Liturgy, a Moleben to the All-Merciful Savior, the Theotokos, and All Saints was served, with the blessing of water. Many sick persons were healed at the celebration. People took pieces of wood from the old coffin and brought them home because they had faith in their healing power.

Saint Cyril is commemorated on November 7 (the discovery of his relics), on January 23 (Synaxis of All Saints of Kostroma), and on the third Sunday after Pentecost (Synaxis of All Saints of Novgorod).

The Martyrs Melasippus and Karina and their son Antoninus, and 40 children converted by their martyrdom at Ancyra suffered during the reign of the emperor Julian the Apostate in the city of Ancyra in Phrygia in the year 363. The holy Martyrs Melasippus and Karina, lacerated by iron hooks and exhausted, died under torture.

Their son Antoninus, whom the persecutor forced to watch the torture of his parents, spat in the face of the apostate emperor. For this he was subjected to cruel tortures, but he remained unharmed, and then he was beheaded. Forty other youths, seeing that the Lord had preserved His confessor Antoninus unharmed by tortures, believed in Christ, and they openly confessed their faith and endured martyrdom..

Saints Auctus and Taurion suffered martyrdom with Saint Thessalonica, the daughter of a pagan priest. When the impious father learned that his daughter had become a Christian, he ruthlessly beat her and threw her out of the house, with no means of providing for herself. Saints Auctus and Taurion attempted to intercede for the girl, and to reason with the embittered father. The pagan priest denounced them both to the authorities, and they were arrested.

After confessing their faith in Christ before the torturers and undergoing cruel torments, the saints were then beheaded. Soon after their martyric death, Saint Thessalonica also died. Her body was reverently buried in the city of Amphypolis in Macedonia, together with the holy Martyrs Auctus and Taurion.

The “Joyful” (Взыграние) Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos appeared near Moscow on November 7, 1795. Nothing is known of the Icon's history, except that many miracles have taken place before it.

For many years, the Icon was one of the symbols of the Saint Nicholas – Ugresh Monastery (now called Dzerzhinsk). The history of the Monastery is associated with the name of the Holy Prince Dēmḗtrios of the Don, and the Battle of Kulikovo, 15 versts from Moscow. On his way there, he saw an icon of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker in the branches of a tree. Not knowing where it came from, the Prince took it as a sign of God's blessing and vowed to establish a monastery on the site if he were victorious.

Thus, the Saint Nicholas – Ugresh Monastery was built, and also a cathedral church dedicated to Saint Nicholas, where the miraculous Icon of the Mother of God known as "Joyful" was later kept.

After the Revolution, the Icon disappeared when the Monastery was looted. By the mercy of God, one of the copies of the wonderworking Icon painted in 1814 has been preserved. Today, this ancient image is part of the collection of the Moscow State Museum.

However, in the Saint Nicholas – Ugresh Monastery there is another "Joyful" Icon of the Mother of God. At the beginning of the XXI century, believing Christians, who wished to remain anonymous, transferred a copy of that icon which they found at the Monastery in the 1990s. It belongs to the same iconographic type, but there are some differences from the original. There was Cross Procession as the brethren of the Monastery and its parishioners met the Icon at the gates, and it was placed in the Monastery's Holy Transfiguration Cathedral, where it is kept for the faithful to venerate.

Icons of this name are to be found in the Novodevichii Monastery in Moscow, and at Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos. In appearance, the “Joyful” Icon resembles the Πελαγονιτίσσα Icon, a variant of the Glykophylousa (“Sweet-Kissing”), or Eleousa (Merciful) type.

The Icon is sometimes called “Child Jumping for Joy.”

Saint Theodotus was an innkeeper. When seven virgins who lived near Corinth were drowned in a lake, he buried their bodies under the cover of night. For this reason, he was tortured and beheaded.