Today we commemorate the Life-Giving Fountain of the Most Holy Theotokos.

There once was a beautiful church in Constantinople dedicated to the Mother of God, which had been built in the fifth century by the holy Emperor Leo the Great (January 20) in the Seven Towers district.

Before becoming emperor, Leo was walking in a wooded area where he met a blind man who was thirsty and asked Leo to help him find water. Though he agreed to search for water, he was unable to find any. Suddenly, he heard a voice telling him that there was water nearby. He looked again, but still could not find the water. Then he heard the voice saying “Emperor Leo, go into the deepest part of the woods, and you will find water there. Take some of the cloudy water in your hands and give it to the blind man to drink.Then take the clay and put it on his eyes. Then you shall know who I am.” Leo obeyed these instructions, and the blind man regained his sight. Later, Saint Leo became emperor, just as the Theotokos had prophesied.

Leo built a church over the site at his own expense, and the water continued to work miraculous cures. Therefore, it was called “The Life-Giving Fountain.”

After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the church was torn down by the Moslems, and the stones were used to build a mosque. Only a small chapel remained at the site of the church. Twenty-five steps led down into the chapel, which had a window in the roof to let the light in. The holy Fountain was still there, surrounded by a railing.

After the Greek Revolution in 1821, even this little chapel was destroyed and the Fountain was buried under the rubble. Christians later obtained permission to rebuild the chapel, and work began in July of 1833. While workmen were clearing the ground, they uncovered the foundations of the earlier church. The Sultan allowed them to build not just a chapel, but a new and beautiful church on the foundations of the old one.

Construction began on September 14, 1833, and was completed on December 30, 1834. Patriarch Constantine II consecrated the church on February 2, 1835, dedicating it to the Most Holy Theotokos.

The Turks desecrated and destroyed the church again on September 6, 1955. A smaller church now stands on the site, and the waters of the Life-Giving Fountain continue to work miracles.

There is also a Life-Giving Fountain Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos which is commemorated on April 4.

On Bright Friday we commemorate the Appearance of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Footprint” at Pochaev.

In the year 1340, two monks came and settled in a cave on the hill where the monastery is now located. After reading his usual Prayer Rule, one of them went to the top of the hill, and and suddenly he beheld the Theotokos standing on a rock and enveloped in flames. He summoned the other monk, who also witnessed the miracle. A third witness of the vision was the shepherd John Bosoy. He ran to the hill, and the three of them glorified God. The Most Holy Theotokos left the imprint of her right foot on the stone where she had stood, and this filled up with water. Since that time, many people have been healed at this miraculous spring.

The Hieromartyr Simeon, Bishop of Persia, suffered during a persecution against Christians under the Persian emperor Sapor II (310-381). They accused the saint of collaborating with the Roman Empire and of subversive activities against the Persian emperor.

In the year 344, the emperor issued an edict which imposed a heavy tax upon Christians. When some of them refused to pay it, this was regarded as an act of rebellion, so the emperor began a fierce persecution against Christians.

Saint Simeon was brought to trial in iron fetters as a supposed enemy of the Persian realm, together with the two hieromartyrs Habdelai and Ananias. The holy bishop would not even bow to the emperor, who asked why he would not show him the proper respect. The saint answered, “Formerly, I bowed because of your rank, but now, when you ask me to renounce my God and abandon my faith, it is not proper for me to bow to you.”

The emperor urged him to worship the sun, and he threatened to eradicate Christianity in his land if he refused. But neither urgings nor threats could shake the steadfast saint, and they led him off to prison. Along the way the eunuch Usphazanes, a counsellor of the emperor, saw the saint. He stood up and bowed to the bishop, but the saint turned away from him because he, a former Christian, out of fear of the emperor, now worshipped the sun.

The eunuch repented with all his heart, he exchanged his fine attire for coarse garb, and sitting at the doors of the court, he cried out bitterly, “Woe to me, when I stand before my God, from Whom I am cut off. Here was Simeon, and he has turned his back on me!”

The emperor Sapor learned about the grief of his beloved tutor and asked him what had happened. He told the emperor that he bitterly regretted his apostasy and would no more worship the sun, but only the one true God. The emperor was surprised at the old man’s sudden decision, and he urged him not to abjure the gods whom their fathers had reverenced. But Usphazanes was unyielding, and they condemned him to death. Saint Usphazanes asked that the city heralds report that he died not for crimes against the emperor, but for being a Christian. The emperor granted his request.

Saint Simeon also learned about the death of Usphazanes, and he gave thanks to the Lord. When they brought him before the emperor a second time, Saint Simeon again refused to worship the pagan gods and confessed his faith in Christ. The enraged emperor gave orders to behead all the Christians in the prison before the saint’s eyes.

Without fear the Christians went to execution, blessed by the holy hierarch, and they bent their heads beneath the sword. Saint Simeon’s companion, the Priest Habdelai, was also beheaded. When they came to the Priest Ananias, he suddenly trembled. Then one of the dignitaries, Saint Phusicus (Pusicius), a secret Christian, was afraid that Ananias would renounce Christ, and he cried out, “Do not fear the sword, Elder, and you will see the divine light of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Saint Phusicus betrayed himself by this outburst. The emperor gave orders to pluck out his tongue and to flay the skin off him. Along with Saint Phusicus, his daughter Askitrea was also martyred. Saint Simeon was the last to go before the executioner, and he placed his head on the chopping-block (April 13, 344). Executions continued all during Bright Week until April 23.

Saint Azates the Eunuch, a close official to the emperor, also received the crown of martyrdom, along with Saints Abdechalas, Usthazanes, and Azades. The sources indicate that 1,150 Martyrs perished because they refused to accept the Persian religion.

Saint Akakios was born into a pious family in the Armenian city of Melitēnḗ. His parents had been childless for a long time. They had prayed for a son, and vowed to dedicate him to God. Therefore, Akakios was given to Bishop Oustrykhios¹ of Melitēnḗ (November 7) to serve the Church. Saint Oustrykhios was a firm supporter of Orthodoxy. When the heresy of Macedonius arose, it was Saint Oustrykhios who set forth the Orthodox teaching about the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Holy Trinity, one in essence and indivisible, at the Third Ecumenical Council, which met at Ephesus in the year 381.

The holy hierarch raised Akakios with love, made him a Reader, and later ordained him as a deacon, and then to the holy priesthood. Saint Akakios served the Church well, instructing both adults and children in the Holy Scripture, and in the Orthodox Confession of faith. Among his disciples was Saint Euthymios the Great (January 20).

After the death of Saint Oustrykhios, Saint Akakios was elevated to the hierarchal throne of Melitēnḗ by general acclamation. He governed his diocese wisely, and because of his firm faith, humility and deeds, the Saint received the grace of working miracles. Once, during a dry summer, the Saint served the Liturgy in an open field, suddenly the wine in the Holy Chalice was mixed with the falling rain, which fell throughout the land.

The holy Bishop prayed when the river flooded, and it turned back, rising no higher than the stone which the Saint had placed at the riverbank. On one of the islands of the River Azar, the Saint built a temple in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos, despite opposition from the pagans.

The builders of the church, either by their carelessness or malice, were not diligent in building the dome. During the Liturgy the dome was ready to collapse, and people rushed out of the church in terror. But the Saint halted their flight saying, “The Lord is the defender of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 26/27:1). The dome remained suspended in the air. Only when the service had ended, and the Saint was the last one to leave the church, did the dome collapse, causing harm to no one. After this, the church was rebuilt.

Saint Akakios participated in the Third Ecumenical Council (431) and he defended the Orthodox teaching of Christ's two natures (divine and human), and of His seedless birth from the Most Holy Virgin Theotokos.

Saint Akakios reposed peacefully around the year 435. He should not be confused with Saint Akakios the Confessor (March 31), who was also a Bishop of Melitēnḗ.

¹ Saint Oustrykhios (or Bostrykhios) was one of the 33 Martyrs of Melitēnḗ.

Saint Zosimas, the Igumen of Solovki and great luminary of the Russian North, was the founder of cenobitic monasticism on Solovki Island. He was born in the Novgorod diocese, in the village of Tolvui near Lake Onega. From his early years he was raised in piety, and after the death of his parents Gabriel and Barbara, he gave away his possessions and received the monastic tonsure.

In search of a solitary place, he journeyed to the shores of the White Sea, and at the mouth of the Suma he met Saint Herman (July 30), who told him of a desolate sea island, where he had spent six years with Saint Sabbatius (September 27).

About the year 1436, the ascetics crossed the sea and, providentially, they arrived at the Solovki islands. There Saint Zosimas beheld a vision of a beautiful church in the sky. With their own hands the monks built cells and an enclosure, and they began to cultivate the land and to plant seeds.

Once, in late autumn, Saint Herman had to go to the mainland for provisions. Because of the autumn weather he was unable to return. Saint Zosimas remained alone on the island all winter, enduring many temptations in his struggles with the demons. Death by starvation threatened him, but miraculously two strangers appeared and left him a supply of bread, flour and oil. In the spring Saint Herman returned to Solovki with a fisherman named Mark, and he brought supplies of food and some materials to make fishing nets.

When several hermits had gathered on the island, Saint Zosimas built a small wooden church in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord, and a trapeza. At Saint Zosimas's request, an Igoumen was sent from Novgorod to the newly-formed monastery with an antimension for the church. Thus the renowned Solovki Monastery had its beginning. In the severe conditions of the remote island the monks knew how to economize. But the Igoumens who were sent from Novgorod to Solovki could not endure life under such harsh conditions, and so the brethren chose Saint Zosimas as their Igoumen.

Saint Zosimas occupied himself with building up the inner life of the monastery, and he introduced a strict cenobitic Rule. In 1465 he transferred the relics of Saint Sabbatius to Solovki from the River Vyg. The monastery suffered from the nobles of Novgorod, who confiscated the fish caught by the monks. The saint was obliged to go to Novgorod in order to seek the Archbishop's protection.

Following the Archbishop's advice, he visited the homes of the nobles and asked them not to allow the monastery to suffer harm. The influential and wealthy Martha Boretskaya impiously ordered Saint Zosimas to be thrown out, but then she repented and invited him to a meal. At this meal he suddenly saw that six of the illustrious nobles sat there without their heads. Saint Zosimas told his disciple Daniel about this vision, and predicted the impending death of the nobles. His prediction came to pass in the year 1478, when the six boyars were executed during the capture of Novgorod by Ivan III (1462-1505).

Shortly before his repose, the Saint prepared his own grave, in which he was buried beyond the altar of the Transfiguration church (+ April 17, 1478). Later on, a chapel was built over his relics. His relics and those of Saint Sabbatius were moved to the chapel which was dedicated to them at the Transfiguration cathedral on August 8, 1566.

Many miracles took place when Saint Zosimas and Saint Sabbatius appeared to fishermen who were perishing in the depths of the sea. Saint Zosimas is also considered a patron of bee-keeping and a guardian of beehives; and he is even known as "The Bee-keeper.” Those who are sick often hasten to Saint Zosimas, asking to be healed. The many hospital churches dedicated to him attest to the great healing power of his prayers to God.

Saint Zosimas is also commemorated on August 8, and on the First (1566) and Second (1992) transfers of the relics of Saints Zosimas and Sabbatius.

Saint Alexander of Svir died on August 30, 1533. His incorrupt relics were uncovered in 1641 during the reconstruction of the Transfiguration cathedral.

On April 17, 1641, the relics of Saint Alexander of Svir were found and examined. The discovery was accompanied by special signs; on April 15 and 16 there was extraordinary thunder and lightning, which ran along the ground above the grave of the holy founder of the monastery. Then during the Divine Liturgy on April 17 (the Saturday of the Righteous Lazarus) the workers were digging a hole for the walls of the new stone church of the Transfiguration of the Lord; and in the altar of the old church they found the Saint's coffin. The ground above it was in the shape of a cave, with nothing to support it.

All the monks came down to see the decayed coffin (only the lower board was well preserved). When Igoumen Abraham removed the top board, a strong fragrance was noticed. The Saint's body was intact, and was clothed in a mantya and the schema. His face was covered, and beneath the schema, part of his beard could be seen; both legs lay as if he were recently deceased, with the right foot upward, and the left foot facing to the side, both feet were in sandals.

From his body emanated a fragrance like myrrh, or flowers. Metropolitan Aphthonios of Novgorod was present at the uncovering of the relics. With reverence and joy, the relics were placed in a new coffin and were taken to the temple of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker in that same Hermitage.

The monks, who had seen the incorrupt flesh of their heavenly patron, were amazed, and they made a detailed description of the shrine. Particularly surprising was the face, which was so life-like that the Saint seemed asleep. The face matched the icons which had been painted by his contemporaries. The authors of the description also noted the unusual position of the Saint's hands and feet and the amber-yellow color of his skin. Soon the relics were placed in a silver reliquary donated by Tsar Michael, and were moved to the newly rebuilt Transfiguration Cathedral.

At the same time, the commemoration of Saint Alexander was appointed on two dates: August 30, the day of his blessed repose, and April 17, the day of the uncovering of his relics.

The incorrupt relics of the saint were removed from the Svir Monastery by the Bolsheviks on December 20, 1918 after several unsuccessful attempts to confiscate them. There was an infamous campaign to liquidate the relics of the saints which continued from 1919 to 1922. Many relics of Russsian saints were stolen and subjected to “scientific examination” or displayed in antireligious museums. Some were completely destroyed.

Hoping to prove that the relics were fakes, the Soviets conducted many tests. However, the tests only confirmed that the relics were genuine. Finally, the holy relics were sent to Petrograd’s Military Medical Academy. There they remained for nearly eighty years.

A second uncovering of Saint Alexander’s relics took place in December 1997.

The relics were found to be incorrupt, just as they were when they were confiscated. The saint’s appearance matched the description in the records from 1641. Once it was determined that these were in fact the relics of Saint Alexander, Metropolitan Vladimir of Saint Petersburg permitted them to be taken to the church of Saint Sophia and her three daughters Faith, Hope, and Love (September 17) for four months before their return to the Svir Monastery. As people venerated Saint Alexander’s relics they noticed a fragrant myrrh flowing from them.

The holy relics were taken to the Saint Alexander of Svir Monastery in November 1998, and miraculous healings continue to take place before them.

See August 30 for the Life of Saint Alexander.

The Holy Martyr Adrian suffered during the time of the reign of the emperor Decius (249-251). Like many other Christians at that time, Saint Adrian was locked up in prison. During a pagan festival they brought out all the Christian prisoners to offer sacrifice to the idols. They ordered Saint Adrian to throw some incense on the coals, but the holy martyr scattered the fire and wrecked the sacrifice. The pagans fell upon him in a rage, beating him with sticks and iron rods, and striking him with stones. Finally, they threw him into a fire, and he won the crown of martyrdom.

Saint Agapitus, Bishop of Rome, was a zealous adherent of Orthodoxy. By his pious life he won the general esteem and was elevated to the See of Rome in the year 535.

The Gothic king Theodoric the Great sent Agapitus to Constantinople for peace negotiations. Along the way, Saint Agapitus encountered a man who was lame and mute. He healed him of his lameness, and after receiving the Holy Mysteries the mute one spoke. After arriving in Constantinople, the saint healed a blind beggar.

At that time, a local Council was convened in Constantinople. Saint Agapitus participated in it and zealously defended the Orthodox teaching against the heretic Severus, who taught that the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ was subject to decay similar to every man’s body.

Saint Agapitus died at Constantinople in the year 536.

Saint Makarios was born in Trikala, of Corinth in 1731, to devout parents who were descended from the famous Notaras family of Constantinople. His father’s name was George and his mother’s was Anastasia. In Baptism he received the name Michael. His teacher in Kephalonia was named Eustathios. Young Michael was very zealous for the solitary life, and so he left his parents’ house in secret, and went to the Great Cave (Μέγα Σπήλαιον) Monastery. The Monastery was so named because it is the largest monastery of the Peloponnesos, and it was built in front of a cave. His father discovered where he was, however, and had Michael sent back home, where he spent much of his time studying the Divine Scriptures and other edifying books.

Since Corinth had lacked a teacher for a long time, Michael taught the young people for six years without payment. Even when he was very young, it was apparent that he did not care for the material things of this world, but only for spiritual treasures. When his father appointed him as the supervisor of an area where he could become very wealthy, he gave his money to the poor, and his father scolded him.

He excelled as a teacher, and the Corinthians loved him for his exemplary way of life. After the death of His godfather Archbishop Parthenios of Corinth in 1764, they suggested to Patriarch Samuel of Constantinople that he appoint Michael, who was then a layman, as his successor. Thus, he passed through the various degrees of ordination and was consecrated as Archbishop of Corinth by Patriarch Samuel.

The blessed one did not seek the hierarchal office for power, or as a means of acquiring wealth, but out of his paternal concern for the security and the salvation of his flock, for which he would have to render an account to the Lord and God of all. He rid the Church of corrupt and ineffectual priests and replaced them with priests who were virtuous and qualified. Those who were not qualified were sent to monasteries to be educated and trained how to serve.

When the Russo-Turkish War began in 1768, Archbishop Makarios was forced to flee to Zakynthos with his family, and from there to Hydra, where he lived in a monastery. When things settled down, the Holy Synod of Constantinople chose a new Archbishop of Corinth, perhaps because Archbishop Makarios had abandoned his See.¹

He visited Hydra and from there he went to Chios. From Chios he went to Mount Athos, fulfilling his persistent and praiseworthy desire to visit the Holy Mountain and to experience its way of life. When the divine Makarios arrived on Mount Athos in 1777, he settled in the kelli² of Saint Anthony, which belonged to his compatriot Elder David. There he met Saint Νikόdēmos the Hagiorite once again. At that time, the Athonite community was divided by quarrels and controversies over Memorial Services and kollyva. The reason for the dispute was a disagreement about when the departed ought to be commemorated in church.

The Church’s Tradition is to have services for the departed on Saturdays, and that Memorial Services are not permitted on Sundays or Feast Days. Hence, disputes arose out of the intense quarrels and contradictions which also extended to other areas of Church life. The situation there saddened the hierarch. Because of the riots and disturbances on the Holy Mountain, he feared for his own life, and so he returned to Chios. After remaining there for a brief time, he departed for Patmos.

During his stay in Patmos, the Saint sought a permanent residence, and since he was attracted by the location, he founded the Sacred Kathisma³ of All Saints (Ιερό Κάθισμα των Αγίων Πάντων) in 1782.

After the Saint’s father reposed, his two brothers wanted him to act as executor of his will. Saint Makarios gave everything to his brothers without keeping anything for himself. Then he returned to Chios to obtain some letters of recommendation, and went to Smyrna to meet with Prince John Maurogordatos of Moldovo-Vlakhia.⁴ The Prince knew Saint Makarios by reputation, and therefore he received him with reverence and respect for him as a man of God. Not only was he happy to show him hospitality in his home, but Maurogordatos also contributed money for the publication of The Philokalia, and for the publication of the Holy Catechism of Metropolitan Platon of Moscow.

From Smyrna the Saint returned to Chios. He chose his place of residence at the church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in the north-northwestern edges of Vrontados at the foot of Aippus. He found spiritual peace with Saint Athanasios Parios (who wrote his Life), Saints Nikephoros and Niphon of Chios, Gregory of Nisyros, and Athanasios of Armenia, all of whom had left the Holy Mountain several years earlier, because of the disturbances and scandals over Memorial Services.

Saint Makarios remained in his hermitage on Chios for the rest of his life (1790-1805), engaging in severe ascetical struggles, practicing interior prayer, writing books, confessing and counseling people, instructing them in the Faith, inspiring them to virtue, and helping those in need.

He also prepared several individuals who had denied Christ to go back to the place where they had done this, and confess that they only worshiped Christ, the true God. Of course, the Turks put these New Martyrs to death when they heard such talk, so he encouraged the martyrs by his words, and strengthened them by prayer and fasting, so that they would not lose their courage and deny Christ again.

Saint Makarios departed to the Lord on April 17, 1805. His honorable body was buried in the courtyard of the church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul on the south side. The recovery of his relics took place in 1808.

¹ It has been suggested that Saint Makarios was replaced because the Turks thought that he encouraged the Greeks in their desire to revolt. In any case, the Saint retained his rank and was permitted to serve unhindered anywhere he wished.

² A Kelli is a monk’s cell, or a monastic establishment consisting of a building with a chapel in it, and some surrounding land. Usually it is occupied by three monks.

³ In an Orthodox context, a Kathisma refers to a division of the Psalter, a chair or seat, or a monastic establishment, perhaps a type of hermitage.

⁴ This region is now part of modern Romania.

On Bright Thursday the Gospel reading is John 3:1-15, which mentions the Pharisee Νikόdēmos who came by night to speak to Christ. The Lord told him that a man could not see the Kingdom of God unless he were born again. Νikόdēmos, taking Him much too literally, could not understand how such a thing was possible.

The Savior then clarified His words, saying that one must be born “of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5), referring to Baptism. Νikόdēmos, however, still found it difficult to understand Him.

The Lord said, “If I have told you of earthly things, and you believe not, how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?” (John 3:12).

The reading from Acts 2:38-41 also speaks of Baptism. Saint Peter told the crowd, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you… and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

The main focus of today’s readings is on Baptism, but they also point to other things. We are to raise our mind and understanding from earthly to heavenly things, and to seek the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Martyrs Agape, Irene, and Chionia were sisters who lived at the end of the third century to the beginning of the fourth century, near the Italian city of Aquilea. They were left orphaned at an early age.

The young women led a pious Christian life and they turned down many offers of marriage. Their spiritual guide was the priest Xeno. It was revealed to him in a vision that he would die very soon, and that the holy virgins would suffer martyrdom. Also at Aquilea and having a similar vision was the Great Martyr Anastasia (December 22), who is called “Deliverer from Potions,” because she fearlessly visited Christians in prison, encouraging them and healing them from potions, poisons, and other harmful things. The Great Martyr Anastasia visited the sisters and urged them to endure all things for Christ. Soon what was predicted in the vision came to pass. The priest Zeno died, and the three virgins were arrested and brought to trial before the emperor Diocletian (284-305).

Saint Chionia (“snow” in Greek) preserved the purity of her baptism according to the words of the Prophet-King David, “You will wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Ps. 50/51:7).

Saint Irene (“peace” in Greek) preserved the peace of Christ within herself and manifested it to others, according to the Savior’s word, “My peace I give you” (John 14:27).

Saint Agape (“love” in Greek) loved God with all her heart, and her neighbor as herself (Mt.22:37-39).

Seeing the youthful beauty of the sisters, the emperor urged them to deny Christ and he promised to find them illustrious bridegrooms from his entourage. The holy sisters replied that their only Bridegroom was Christ, for Whom they were ready to suffer. The emperor demanded they renounce Christ, but neither the elder sisters, nor the youngest, would consent. They called the pagan gods mere idols made by human hands, and they preached faith in the true God.

By order of Diocletian, who was leaving for Macedonia, the holy sisters were also to be brought there. And they brought them to the court of the governor Dulcititus.

When he saw the beauty of the holy martyrs, he was aroused with impure passion. He put the sisters under guard, and he told them that they would receive their freedom if they agreed to fulfill his desires. But the holy martyrs replied that they were prepared to die for their Heavenly Bridegroom, Christ.

Then Dulcititus decided to have his way by force. When the holy sisters arose at night to glorify the Lord in prayer, Dulcititus came to the door and tried to enter, but an invisible force prevented him. He staggered about, unable to find his way out. Then he fell down in the kitchen among the cooking utensils, the pots and pans, and he was covered all over with soot. The servants and the soldiers recognized him only with difficulty. When he saw himself in a mirror, he then realized that the holy martyrs had made a fool of him, and he decided to take his revenge on them.

At his court, Dulcititus gave orders to strip the holy martyrs. But the soldiers were not able to do this, no matter how much they tried. Their clothing seemed to be stuck to the bodies of the holy virgins. During the trial Dulcititus suddenly fell asleep, and no one could rouse him. Just as they carried him into his house, he immediately awoke.

When they reported to the emperor Diocletian everything that had happened, he became angry with Dulcititus and he gave the holy virgins over to Sisinius for trial. He began with the youngest sister, Irene. Seeing that she remained unyielding, he sent her to prison and then attempted to sway Saints Chionia and Agape. He also failed to make them renounce Christ, and Sisinius ordered that Saints Agape and Chionia be burned. On hearing the sentence, the sisters gave thanks to the Lord for their crowns of martyrdom. In the fire, Agape and Chionia surrendered their pure souls to the Lord.

When the fire went out, everyone saw that the bodies of the holy martyrs and their clothing had not been scorched by the fire, and their faces were beautiful and peaceful, as if they were asleep. On the day following, Sisinius gave orders to bring Saint Irene to court. He threatened her with the fate of her older sisters and he urged her to renounce Christ. Then he threatened to hand her over for defilement in a brothel. But the holy martyr answered, “Even if my body is defiled by force, my soul will never be defiled by renouncing Christ.”

When the soldiers of Sisinius led Saint Irene to the brothel, two luminous soldiers overtook them and said, “Your master Sisinius commands you to take this virgin to a high mountain and leave her there, and then return to him and report to him that you have fulfilled his command.” And the soldiers did so.

When they reported back to Sisinius, he flew into a rage, since he had given no such orders. The luminous soldiers were angels of God, saving the holy martyr from defilement. Sisinius went to the mountain with a detachment of soldiers and saw Saint Irene on the summit. For a long while they searched for the way to the top, but they could not find it. Then one of the soldiers wounded Saint Irene with an arrow. The martyr cried out to Sisinius, “I mock your impotent malice, and I go my Lord Jesus Christ pure and undefiled.” Having given thanks to the Lord, she lay down upon the ground and surrendered her soul to God on the very day of Holy Pascha (+ 304).

The Great Martyr Anastasia heard about the end of the holy sisters, and she buried their bodies with reverence.

The Holy Martyr Leonidas and the Holy Martyrs Charissa, Nike (Nika, Victoria), Galina, Kalista (Kalida), Nunekhia, Basilissa, Irene, and Theodora suffered at Corinth in the year 258. They threw them into the sea, but they did not drown. Instead, they walked upon the water as if on dry land, singing spiritual hymns. The torturers overtook them in a ship, tied stones around their necks and drowned them.

No information available at this time.

No information available at this time.

The Il'insk (Prophet Elias)-Chernigov Icon of the Mother of God was painted in 1658 by the iconographer Gregory Dubensky (Gennadios in monasticism). The history of the Icon's creation and its miracles are described by a witness of these events, Saint Demetrios, Metropolitan of Rostov, in the works "A Miracle of the Most Holy and Most Blessed Virgin Mary," and "The Bedewed Fleece" (Руно орошенное). Some miracles are also mentioned by Saint John (Maximovich), Metropolitan of Tobolsk (June 10) in a poem "To the Virgin Theotokos." In 1662 there was a miraculous flow of tears from the Il'insk-Chernigov Icon, which continued from April 16-24, in connection with which a Feast Day was appointed for the Icon. In the same year, Chernigov was attacked by the Tatars, who ravaged the city and its environs, including the Holy Trinity-Il'insk Monastery, but, as Saint Demetrios testifies, the Icon and its precious oklad remained unharmed. The brethren who had taken refuge in the underground caves were also spared.

From the XVII century, cases of miracles from the Il'insk-Chernigov Icon were recorded with particular care. In "The Bedewed Fleece," Saint Demetrios described in detail 24 miraculous healings (one every hour) from all sorts of ailments of the residents of Chernigov and its environs. The list of miracles was augmented when the book was reprinted. Thus, by 1696, there were 56 cases of healing (5 from blindness, 3 from a disease of the legs, 3 from "gostza" (rheumatism). 1 from paralysis, 15 from demonic possession, 14 from clouding of the mind, 15 from various chronic diseases, and 1 instance of a boy raised from the dead. In the XIX century, several healings were observed: a Romny bourgeois from a fever (1865), a Chernigov girl from a mental disorder (on the Icon's Feast Day in 1874), and an infant from a high fever (1887 or 1888), the son of a Poltava landowner from diphtheria (until 1898), and a staff captain from Sveaborg from a chronic illness (until 1898), and several others.

Before HolyTrinity Cathedral was built in the Monastery (1679-1695), the Icon was kept in the church of the Prophet Elias near the caves, to the right near the pillar closest to the iconostasis. In 1786-1794, in connection with the planned opening of the University of Holy Trinity-Il'insk Monastery at Chernigov, but this did not occur, so the Icon was placed in the Dormition Cathedral of the Yelets Chernigov Convent, which was dedicated to the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. In the XIX century, the Icon was in the cathedral, but only during the summertime. In winter, the Icon was transferred to the heated church of the Nativity of Christ, and placed in a special case behind the right kliros. At the beginning of the XX century, in winter, the Il'insk-Chernigov Icon of the Mother of God was kept in the Sretensky church in the Bishop's residence, and a substitute icon was left in the cathedral. The wonderworking Icon disappeared after the closure of Holy Trinity-Il'insk Monastery in 1924.

At the end of the XVII century, by the initiative of Archbishop Lazarus (Baranovich) and at the expense of Hetman I. S. Mazepa (whose initials and coat of arms were on the case), a silver oklad and a kiot were made (these have not been preserved). A crown with precious stones was donated by the Chernigov Colonel V. Dunin-Borkovsky, who received healing from the Icon in 1687 The dimensions of the Icon (1 arshin, 5 vershkas by 14.5 vershts – 93.37×64.45 cm) were increased when placed in the kiot because it was overlaid with a frame covered with silver plates with additional images engraved on them (2 arshins 2 vershkas by 1 arshin 6 vershks (151.24×97.8 cm) together with the frame). Attached to the case were plaques with inscriptions: "This holy image of the Mother of God, called Il'insk-Chernigov, was painted in 1658" and "The miraculous flow of tears from the Icon apparently occurred in 1662, from the 16th to the 24th day of the month of April." "In 1662 the Tatars invaded the city of Chernigov, but the hands of the impious Saracens could not touch this wonderworking Icon." In 1897 the oklad was replaced by a new one, made in Moscow by M. N. Ryndin with donations from the residents of Chernigov. There was an inscription on it: "This silver riza was made to replace the old one, which had fallen into disrepair, with the blessing of Bishop Anthony of Chernigov and Nizhyn, with the zeal of the benevolent donors of Chernigov. Hierodeacon Varlaam was sent to Moscow to order this riza from the master M. N. Ryndin, 1897, the weight of this riza is 33 ф. 29 з."

Revered copies of the Il'insk-Chernigov Icon, made at the end of the XVII-XVIII centuries, were in all the churches of Chernigov. At present, two copies are venerated in the Yelets Dormition Monastery in Chernigov.

The wonderworking copy of the Chernigov Icon of the Mother of God, which was kept in the Gethsemane Skete of Holy Trinity-Saint Sergius Lavra, became famous in 1869.

The Icon belongs to the traditional Hodegetria type. The Child blesses with His right hand, and a scroll in his left. He sits on the left hand of His Mother. The heads of the Mother of God and the Child are slightly inclined toward each other, the Child's legs are tightly together. The figure of the Mother of God has an almost generational edge, characteristic of the southern and western Russian iconography of the Mother of God of the XVII century. The Child is dressed in a white shirt with a collar. A distinctive feature of Il'insk-Chernigov iconography. The Icon is a gesture of the Infant's hand stretched forward. Identical or fairly similar compositional solutions are present in a number of other wonderworking Icons of the Mother of God associated with Belarus and Ukraine (Borkolabovskaya, Trigorskaya, Poddubetska, Gerbovetskaya Icons of the Mother of God).

In copies of the wonderworking Icon, crowns were often depicted on the heads of the Mother of God and her Child, which were absent on the Icon itself, but were present on its oklad. For the first time, crowns were depicted in an engraving of 1683 in Saint Demetrios of Rostov's book "The Bedewed Fleece." Obviously, this engraving became a model for Ukrainian and Russian icons, and on such copies the identifying inscription at the bottom was usually repeated (icon of 1778, Chernigov State Icon, Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve).

In 1686, Saint Pitirim (July 28) came to Tambov and, along with other relics, he brought with him a copy of the Il'insk-Chernigov Icon of the Mother of God, considered to be the patroness of the southwestern region. For this reason, the Icon was placed at the southwestern gate of the city. Over time, the Icon began to be called Tambov, especially since there were some differences between it and the Il'insk-Chernigov Icon of the Mother of God.

On the borders of the Icon, on the right and on the left, were depicted: Saint Alexei, the Man of God, and Saint Eudoxia. It is assumed that these were the heavenly patrons of Bishop Pitirim's parents, and it is quite possible that he himself painted the images of those Saints.

Later, on the site of the southwestern city gate, a small wooden church was built and dedicated to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. It was in this church that the Icon was kept. And when the merchant Ivan Utkin built the stone church of the Holy Protomartyr Stephen at his own expense in 1771-1778, the Tambov Icon was transferred there and placed in the altar above the altar. People began to call the church by the name of the builder Utkinskaya, and the Icon was later completely forgotten.

But the Queen of Heaven reminded people of herself. At the beginning of the XIX century, a priest in Kaluga, was suffering from a malady of his legs and could not walk. He saw this Icon of the Mother of God in a dream. She told him: "Find this icon. Pray before it and you shall be healed." After the dream, the priest received some relief from his illness, so that he was able to walk, and immediately he began to search for the Icon he had seen in the dream. After visiting various villages and towns, he finally reached Tambov, where, after inspecting all the churches, he found the Icon he had seen in his dream in the altar of the Utkin church. After praying before it, he received complete healing. This incident became widely known in the city, and afterward there were several more miraculous healings of the townspeople.

The Tambov Icon became famous again, and when in 1835 the old Utkin church was severely damaged. At the request of the townspeople, the right side altar was consecrated in honor of the Tambov Icon of the Mother of God. With the passage of time, the grateful Tambov residents adorned the Icon with a luxurious silver-gilt riza with many precious stones. There were so many cures from the Icon that there was no time to record all of them. In 1888, by decree of the Holy Synod, a Cross Procession took place in all the churches of the city on April 16 in honor of the Tambov Icon, and in 1900 the church was once again called the church of the Theotokos.

After the 1917 revolution, Tambov's churches were devastated, and the wonderworking Icon also suffered. The riza was removed and the stones were pried out, and then it disappeared without a trace. There are revered copies of the wonderworking Icon in the city.

The Tambov Icon is commemorated on April 16, and again on July 28 (the repose of Bishop Pitirim).

On Bright Wednesday we commemorate the holy monastic Fathers who have shone forth on the God-trodden Mt Sinai. This commemoration was established by the Church of Russia on April 17, 1997.

Saints Theocharis and Apostolos are local saints of Arta. The first fell asleep in 1845 and the second a little later. Saint Theocharis was a teacher at Komboti, Arta. The icons of these saints are in the church of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) in Arta.

The Kasperov Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos is also commemorated today. Tradition says that this holy icon had been brought to Cherson from Transylvania by a Serb at the end of the sixteenth century. Passing down from parent and child, the icon had come to a certain Mrs. Kasperova of Cherson in 1809.

One night in February of 1840 she was praying, seeking consolation in her many sorrows. Looking at the icon of the Virgin, she noticed that the features of the icon, darkened by age, had suddenly become bright. Soon the icon was glorified by many miracles, and people regarded it as wonderworking.

During the Crimean War (1853-1856), the icon was carried in procession through the city of Odessa, which was besieged by enemy forces. On Great and Holy Friday, the city was spared. Since that time, an Akathist has been served before the icon in the Dormition Cathedral of Odessa every Friday.

The icon is painted with oils on a canvas mounted on wood. The Mother of God holds Her Son on her left arm. The Child is holding a scroll. Saint John the Baptist (Janurary 7) is depicted on one side of the icon, and Saint Tatiana (January 12) on the other. These were probably the patron saints of the original owners of the icon.

The Kasperov Icon is commemorated on October 1, June 29, and Bright Wednesday.

Saint Aristarchus was one of the Seventy Apostles, whom the Lord Jesus Christ sent to proclaim the good news of the Gospel (Luke. 10:1-24).

Saint Aristarchus, a co-worker of the holy Apostle Paul, became bishop of the Syrian city of Apamea. His name is repeatedly mentioned in the Acts of the Holy Apostles (Acts 19:29, 20:4, 27:2) and in the Epistles of Saint Paul (Col. 4:10, Philemon 1:24). He accompanied Saint Paul on his travels (Acts 16:29), and was Bishop of Apamea, Syria.

Saint Aristarchus is commemorated on April 15 with Saints Pudens and Trophimus and on September 27 together with Saints Mark and Zenas.

Saint Pudens was one of the Seventy Apostles whom the Lord Jesus Christ sent before him with the good news of the Gospel (Luke 10:1-24).

Saint Pudens is mentioned in Saint Paul’s second Epistle to Timothy (2 Tim. 4:21). He occupied high position as a member of the Roman Senate. The saint received the foremost Apostles Peter and Paul in his home, where believing Christians gathered. His house was converted into a church, receiving the name “Pastorum”. According to Tradition, the holy Apostle Peter himself served in it as priest.

Saint Pudens suffered martyrdom at Rome under the emperor Nero (54-68). He is also commemorated on January 4.

Saint Trophimus was one of the Seventy Apostles, whom the Lord Jesus Christ sent to proclaim the good news of the Gospel (Luke. 10:1-24).

Saint Trophimus hailed from the city of Edessa. His name is mentioned in the Acts of the Holy Apostles (Acts 20:4) and in Saint Paul’s second Epistle to Timothy (2 Tim. 4:20). He was a disciple and companion of the Apostle Paul, sharing with him all the sorrows and persecution.

Saint Trophimus is also commemorated on January 4.

The Holy Women Martyrs Basilissa (Vasilissa) and Anastasia lived in Rome and were converted to Christianity by the holy Apostles Peter and Paul. They devoted themselves to the service of the Lord.

When the emperor Nero (54-68) persecuted Christians and gave them over to torture and execution, Saints Basilissa and Anastasia took the bodies of the holy martyrs and gave them reverent burial. Rumors of this reached Nero, so Saints Basilissa and Anastasia were locked up in prison. They subjected them to cruel tortures: they scourged them with whips, scraped their skin with hooks, and burned them with fire. The holy martyrs remained unyielding, however, and bravely confessed their faith in Christ the Savior. By Nero’s command, they were beheaded with the sword (+ ca. 68).

The Holy Martyr Suchias and his 16 Georgian Companions were illustrious dignitaries who served at the court of the Albanian (Hagbanite) ruler (i.e. “Caucasian Albania” on the present day territory of Azerbaizhan).

Escorting the Albanian ruler’s daughter Satenika, wife of the Armenian emperor Artaxar (88-123), Saint Suchias and his sixteen companions arrived in Artashat, the ancient capital of Armenia (the city was later destroyed by the Romans in the year 163).

Preaching there at the time was a Greek Christian named Chrysos, who had been enlightened and ordained by the holy Apostle Thaddeus (August 21). The Georgian dignitaries came to believe in Christ the Savior, and they resolved to devote their lives to the service of God. All seventeen of the newly-converted followed Chrysos into Mesopotamia. When Bishop Chrysos baptized them in the waters of the Euphrates, they were permitted to behold the Lord of Glory, Jesus Christ.

The holy martyrs set up a cross at the place of their Baptism and named it the “Cross of the Annunciation.” Bishop Chrysos gave all the saints new names: the eldest was called Suchias (replacing his old name Bagadras), and his companions were named Andrew, Anastasius, Talale, Theodoritus, Ivherion, Jordan, Kondrat, Lukian, Mimnenus, Nerangius, Polyeuctus, James, Phoka, Domentian, Victor and Zosimas.

After the martyric death of Bishop Chrysos, Saint Suchias became the spiritual leader of the brethren. All soon resettled in a wild locality on Mount Sukaketi, not far from the mountain village of Bagrevandi. Here the former dignitaries led very strict ascetic lives. The scant mountain vegetation served as their food, and they drank from a cold spring of water.

The new ruler of pagan Albania, Datianos, learned that his former officials had accepted Christianity and had gone into solitude. He sent his associate Barnapas with a detachment of soldiers to persuade them to return to court and return also to their former faith. Barnapas searched for Saint Suchias and his companions, but keeping their vow of service to God, they refused all entreaties.

Then by order of Barnapas, Saint Suchias and his companions were stretched out and nailed to the ground, and then burned. After this, their bodies were dismembered and scattered all about Mount Sukaketi, from which the martyrs received also the title the “Mesukevians” (more correctly, “Sukaketians”). This occurred in the year 123 (by another account, in the year 130; although an Athos manuscript of the eleventh century from the Ivḗron monastery gives the year as 100).

The holy relics of the martyrs remained incorrupt and unburied until the fourth century, when they were placed in graves and consigned to the earth by local Christians (the names of the holy martyrs were found written on a cliff).

The holy hieromartyr Gregory, Enlightener of Armenia (September 30), built a church on this spot and established a monastery. And afterwards, a curative spring of water was discovered there.

The Holy Martyr Savva, a Goth, lived during the fourth century. At this time the Arian bishop Wulfilas preached Christianity among the Goths, and Saint Savva was among those who were baptized.

Saint Savva led a virtuous life, devout, peaceful, temperate, simple, and quiet. He avoided women, and spent all his days in prayer. He often sang in church and devoted himself to its welfare, boldly preaching Christianity.

The Gothic princes and judges, under the influence of the pagan priests, began a persecution against the Christians and demanded that they eat meat offered to idols. Many of the pagans, to save the lives of their friends and relatives who had accepted Christianity, gave them ordinary meat instead of meat offered to idols.

Some Christians agreed to such a ruse, but Saint Savva refused and declared that Christians ought to confess their faith without dissimulation. After this, Saint Savva was driven out by those who lived in his village, but they later asked him to return. When the persecution of Christians had intensified, the fellow villagers of Saint Savva decided to go to the judge and swear that there were no Christians among them. Saint Savva declared, “Do not swear for me, because I am a Christian.”

The inhabitants then swore that there was only one Christian in their village. On the judge’s orders, Saint Savva was brought to him. The judge, seeing his poverty, decided that he could neither help nor harm anyone, so he set him free.

Meanwhile, the persecution continued. Soon, Atharid, one of the Gothic military commanders, descended on the village during the Feast of Holy Pascha. Saint Savva was preparing to greet the Great Feast with Bishop Guthik, but along the way an angel returned him to his own village. The priest Sapsal had recently arrived there from Greece. Soldiers arrested Sapsal and Saint Savva, whom they did not even allow to get dressed.

The priest rode on a cart, but Saint Savva had to walk naked behind the cart through the thorns, and they beat him with rods and switches. The Lord preserved the martyr, so that in the morning when they reached the city, Saint Savva said to his oppressors, “Look at my body, and see whether there are any traces of the thorns or of your blows.”

The soldiers were astonished, seeing the martyr healthy and unharmed, without the slightest trace of injury. Then they stretched Saint Savva on the axles of a cart, and they beat him the whole day. During the night, a certain pious woman got up to prepare food for the household, and seeing the martyr, she set him free. He began to help her with the housework.

During the day, by Atharid’s order, they suspended Saint Savva from the lintel of the house. They placed meat offered to idols before him and the priest, offering to set them free if they ate it. The priest Sapsal replied, “We would prefer that Atharid crucify us, than to eat meat defiled by devils.”

Saint Savva asked, “Who has sent this food?”

“Master Atharid,” the servant replied.

“There is only one Master, God, Who is in Heaven,” said the martyr. In anger one of the servants struck Saint Savva in the chest with a spear. Everyone thought that the martyr was dead, but the saint did not feel any pain. He said to the one who had struck him, “Your blow felt as if you had struck me with soft wool.”

Atharid gave orders to put Saint Savva to death. They left the priest Sapsal tied up, and led Saint Savva to the River Mussova to drown him. Along the way the saint gave thanks to God for allowing him to suffer for His Holy Name.

During all this the servants said, “Why shouldn’t we free this innocent man? Atharid will not find out if we free him.” Saint Savva heard them and cried out, “Do as you are commanded! For I see angels coming with glory to receive my soul!” Then they threw the martyr into the river, after they tied a large beam of wood to his neck.

Saint Savva suffered on April 12, 372, when he was thirty-eight years old. The executioners recovered the body of the martyr and threw it on shore, but Christians later hid it. Still later, one of the Scythian leaders, the Christian Junius Saran, brought the relics of Saint Savva to Cappadocia, where they were reverently received by Saint Basil the Great (January 1).

On June 20, 1992, the Romanian Orthodox Church glorified the Holy Martyr Savva of Buzău. This was the third canonization in its history, following those in 1517 and 1955-56.

The Romanian Orthodox Church has established the annual Feast Day of Saint Savva as April 12th. His Feast Day is on April 15 according to Slavic usage, but on April 18 in Greek practice.

Saint Ephraim the Great of Atsquri—one of the most important figures in the Georgian Church of the 8th and 9th centuries—was a disciple and companion of Saint Grigol of Khandzta.

On his way from Klarjeti in southern Georgia to Abkhazeti in the northwest, Saint Grigol met the young Ephraim and immediately perceived in him a like-minded companion and the future wonderworker and bishop of Atsquri.

Grigol promised to take the young man as his disciple. On his way back to Klarjeti Saint Grigol accompanied Ephraim and another youth, Arsenius, the future Catholicos of Georgia. He entrusted the upbringing of these two holy youths to his spiritual sons Christopher and Theodore.

The brothers of Khandzta Monastery objected to the arrival of the youths, since the monastery rules prohibited young visitors. But Saint Grigol told them that God had revealed this as His will and that, after being raised at the monastery, these young men would be like spiritual successors of Saint Ephraim the Syrian and Saint Arsenius the Great.

Saint Ephraim was later consecrated bishop of Atsquri and became a major figure in the Church of his time. He significantly contributed to the definitive strengthening of the autocephaly of the Georgian Church. As a result of his labors, the Georgian Church received a blessing from Antioch to prepare its own chrism in Mtskheta.

Saint Ephraim administered the diocese of Atsquri for forty years. God endowed him with the gifts of prophecy, wonderworking, and healing. He lived to an advanced age and reposed peacefully. Even today, those who approach his holy relics are healed of their infirmities.

Saint Ephraim of Atsquri is also mentioned in the Life of Saint Arsenius the Great [commemorated September 25].

Commemoration of Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene of Lesbos

The Newly-Appeared Martyrs of Lesbos, Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene These Saints were martyred by the Turks on Bright Tuesday
(April 9, 1463) ten years after the Fall of Constantinople. For nearly 500 years, they were forgotten by the people of Lesbos, but “the righteous Judge… opened the things that were hid” (2 Maccabees 12:41).

For centuries the people of Lesbos would go on Bright Tuesday to the ruins of a monastery near Thermḗ, a village northwest of the capital, Mytilene. As time passed, however, no one could remember the reason for the annual pilgrimage. There was a vague recollection that once there had been a monastery on that spot, and that the monks had been killed by the Turks.

In 1959, a pious man named Angelos Rallis decided to build a chapel near the ruins of the monastery. On July 3 of that year, workmen discovered the relics of Saint Raphael while clearing the ground. Soon, the Saints began appearing to various inhabitants of Lesbos and revealed the details of their lives and martyrdom. These accounts form the basis of Photios Kontoglou’s 1962 book A Great Sign (in Greek).

Saint Raphael was born on the island of Ithaka around 1410, and was raised by pious parents. His baptismal name was George, but he was named Raphael when he became a monk. He was ordained to the holy priesthood, and later attained the offices of Archimandrite and Chancellor.

In 1453, Saint Raphael was living in Macedonia with his fellow monastic, Deacon Nicholas, a native of Thessaloniki. In 1454, the Turks invaded Thrace, so the two monks fled to the island of Lesbos. They settled in the Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos near Thermi, where Saint Raphael became the Igoumen.

In the spring of 1463, the Turks raided the monastery and captured the monks. They were tortured from Holy Thursday until Bright Tuesday. Saint Raphael was tied to a tree, and the ferocious Turks sawed through his jaw, killing him. Saint Nicholas was also tortured, and he died while witnessing his Elder’s martyrdom. He appeared to people and indicated the spot where his relics were uncovered on June 13, 1960.

Saint Irene was the twelve-year-old daughter of the village mayor, Basil. She and her family had come to the monastery to warn the monks of the invasion. The cruel Hagarenes cut off one of her arms and threw it down in front of her parents. Then the pure virgin was placed in a large earthen cask and a fire was lit under it, suffocating her within. These torments took place before the eyes of her parents, who were also put to death. Her grave and the earthen cask were found on May 12, 1961 after Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene had appeared to people and told them where to look.

Others who received the crown of martyrdom on that day were Basil and Maria, the parents of Saint Irene; Theodore, the village teacher; and Eleni, the fifteen-year-old cousin of Saint Irene.

The Saints appeared separately and together, telling people that they wished to be remembered. They asked that their icon be painted, that a Church Service be composed for them, and they indicated the place where their holy relics could be found. Based on the descriptions of those who had seen the Saints, the master iconographer Photios Kontoglou painted their icon. The ever-memorable Father Gerasimos of Little Saint Anne Skete on Mount Athos composed their Church Service.

Many miracles have taken place on Lesbos, and throughout the world. These Saints hasten to help those who invoke them, healing the sick, consoling the sorrowful, granting relief from pain, and bringing many unbelievers and impious individuals back to the Church.

Saint Raphael is tall, middle-aged, and has a beard of moderate length. His hair is black with some grey in it. His face is majestic, expressive, and filled with heavenly grace. Saint Nicholas is short and thin, with a small blond beard. He stands before Saint Raphael with great respect. Saint Irene usually appears with a long yellow dress reaching to her feet. Her blonde hair is divided into two braids which rest on either side of her chest.

Saints Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene (and those with them) are also commemorated on Bright Tuesday. Dr. Constantine Cavarnos has given a detailed account of their life, miracles, and spiritual counsels in Volume 10 of his inspirational series Modern Orthodox Saints (Belmont, MA, 1990).

The Appearance of the Ivḗron (Portaίtissa) Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos on Mount Athos

This Icon was the property of a pious widow who lived in the area of Nicaea in Asia Minor during the time of the iconoclastic Emperor Theophilos (829-842). When the Emperor’s men arrived there to find and destroy every holy icon, this faithful widow threw the wonderworking Icon of the Theotokos into the sea. Then she beheld a strange wonder. The Icon stood upright on the water and traveled westward across the waves in this position.

After a time the Icon arrived in front of the Ivḗron Monastery on Mount Athos. A certain ascetic named Gabriel took it from the water, and gave it to the monks. They built a small church for the Icon near the gate of the monastery, and placed the Icon there. From that time it was known as the Portaίtissa, or Gate-Keeper.

Since then the Most Holy Theotokos has worked many miracles through her holy Icon. She has cured those who were possessed by demons, healed those who were lame, and given sight to the blind. At the same time, she has protected the monastery from every danger and saved it from invasions of foreigners. Among those who received benefit from the Portaitissa was a Russian princess, the daughter of Tsar Alexei Michailovitch (1651).

The Icon arrived at the Holy Mountain on Bright Tuesday in 1004. Therefore, the Ivḗron Monastery celebrates this radiant festival even to the present day. The Divine Liturgy takes place in the church by the sea, where a spring gushed forth at the place where the Icon had rested.

The Ivḗron (Portaitissa) Icon is also commemorated on February 12, March 31, and October 13.

Ktitórissa or Bematárissa Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of Vatopaidi Monastery. (Παναγία Κτιτόρισσα ή Βηματάρισσα)

When certain Arabs invaded Vatopaidi Monastery, Hierodeacon Savva, the Bematáris (custodian of the sanctuary) was responsible for the sacred relics and other valuables kept there. He managed to hide the Icon and Constantine's Cross in a well of the Holy Altar, with an oil lamp burning before them. The monastery was looted and the monks were taken captive and brought to Crete. Seventy years later, Hierodeacon Savva was released and he returned to his monastery. There he found some young monks whom he didn't know, and they knew nothing about the hidden relics. Then they uncovered the well and discovered the Icon and the Cross standing upright upon the water, with the oil lamp still burning!

Today the Ktitórissa Icon is in the synthronon (stone seats behind the altar) of the Holy Sanctuary, and it is also called the Foundress, or Builder, because her discovery may be related to the rebuilding of the monastery by three brothers (the monks Athanasios, Nicholas and Anthony) who lived there around the end of the X century.

In memory of this event, the Paraklesis (Canon of Supplication) to the Theotokos is sung every Monday evening, and the Divine Liturgy is served every Tuesday morning in the katholikon. The Ktitórissa Icon is honored on Bright Tuesday, when it is taken around the Monastery in procession.

The Martyrs of Saint David of Garesja Monastery in Georgia in 1616 (also April 4)

Venerable Patápios, Nikon, and Hypomonḗ.

These Saints struggled in a cave where the Monastery of Saint Patápios was built (in the metropolis of Corinth). There the skulls of Saint Patápios the New and Saint Hypomonḗ are treasured, and also the jaw of Saint Nikon the New. These holy relics were placed in silver reliquaries by the Most Reverend Metropolitan Panteleimon (Karanikola).

Saint Patápios is also commemorated on December 8.

Saint Martin the Confessor, Pope of Rome, was a native of the Tuscany region of Italy. He received a fine education and entered into the clergy of the Roman Church. After the death of Pope Theodore I (642-649), Martin was chosen to succeed him.

At this time the peace of the Church was disturbed by the Monothelite heresy (the false doctrine that in Christ there is only one will, whereas in fact He has a divine, and a human will). The endless disputes of the Monothelites with the Orthodox took place in all levels of the population. Even the emperor Constans (641-668) and Patriarch Paul of Constantinople (641-654) were adherents of the Monothelite heresy. The emperor Constans II published the heretical “Pattern of Faith” (Typos), obligatory for all the population. In it all further disputes were forbidden.

The heretical “Pattern of Faith” was received at Rome in the year 649. Saint Martin, a firm supporter of Orthodoxy, convened the Lateran Council at Rome to condemn the Monothelite heresy. At the same time Saint Martin sent a letter to Patriarch Paul, persuading him to return to the Orthodox confession of faith. The enraged emperor ordered the military commander Olympius to bring Saint Martin to trial. But Olympius feared the clergy and the people of Rome who had descended upon the Council, and he sent a soldier to murder the holy hierarch. When the assassin approached Saint Martin, he was blinded. The terrified Olympius fled to Sicily and was soon killed in battle.

In 654 the emperor sent another military commander, Theodore, to Rome. He accused Saint Martin of being in secret correspondence with the enemies of the Empire, the Saracens, and of blaspheming the Most Holy Theotokos, and of uncanonically assuming the papal throne.

Despite the proofs offered by the Roman clergy and laity of Saint Martin’s innocence, the military commander Theodore with a detachment of soldiers seized Saint Martin by night and took him to Naxos, one of the Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea. Saint Martin spent an entire year on this almost unpopulated island, suffering deprivation and abuse from the guards. Then they sent the exhausted confessor to Constantinople for trial.

They carried the sick man on a stretcher, but the judges callously ordered him to stand up and answer their questions. The soldiers propped up the saint, who was weakened by illness. False witnesses came forward slandering the saint and accusing him of treasonous relations with the Saracens. The biased judges did not even bother to hear the saint’s defense. In sorrow he said, “The Lord knows what a great kindness you would show me if you would deliver me quickly over to death.”

After such a trial they brought the saint out in tattered clothes to a jeering crowd. They shouted, “Anathema to Pope Martin!” But those who knew the holy Pope was suffering unjustly, withdrew in tears. Finally the sentence was announced: Saint Martin was to be deposed from his rank and executed. They bound the half-naked saint with chains and dragged him to prison, where they locked him up with thieves. These were more merciful to the saint than the heretics.

In the midst of all this the emperor went to the dying Patriarch Paul and told him of the trial of Saint Martin. He turned away from the emperor and said, “Woe is me! This is another reason for my judgment.” He asked that Saint Martin’s torments be stopped. The emperor again sent a notary and other persons to the saint in prison to interrogate him. The saint answered, “Even if they cripple me, I will not have relations with the Church of Constantinople while it remains in its evil doctrines.” The torturers were astonished at the confessor’s boldness, and they commuted his death sentence to exile at Cherson in the Crimea.

Saint Martin departed to the Lord, exhausted by sickness, hunger and deprivations on September 16, 655. Two other bishops, who were banished to Cherson, also died after many hardships. The Saint was buried just outside the city of Cherson, in the Blachernae church of the Most Holy Theotokos. Great crowds of people visited his tomb because of the many miracles which took place there. Later, his relics were transferred to Rome, and placed in a church dedicated to Martin of Tours (November 11). The transfer of his relics is commemorated on November 12.

The Monothelite heresy was condemned at the Sixth Ecumenical Council in 680.

In Greek usage, the holy Confessor Martin is commemorated on April 13 and on September 20, while the Slavic churches commemorate him on April 14.

The Holy Martyrs Anthony, John, and Eustathius [Kumetis, Nezilas (Nežilas), and Krulis] were brothers who suffered for Christ under the Lithuanian Great Prince Algirdas (1345-1377). The prince was married to the Orthodox princess Maria Yaroslavna (+ 1346). He was baptized and during his wife’s lifetime he allowed the preaching of Christianity. Two brothers, Nezilas and Kumetis (Nezhilo and Kumets), received holy Baptism from the priest Nestor, and they received the names Anthony and John. And at the request of Maria Yaroslavna an Orthodox church was built at Vilnius (Vilna).

After the death of his spouse, Prince Algirdas began to support the pagan priests of the fire-worshippers, who started a persecution against Christians. Saints John and Anthony endeavored not to flaunt their Christianity, but they did not observe pagan customs. They did not cut their hair as the pagans did, and on fast days they did not eat forbidden foods.

The prince soon became suspicious of the brothers, so he interrogated them and they confessed themselves Christians. Then he demanded that they eat meat (it was a fast day). The holy brothers refused, and the prince locked them up in prison. The brothers spent an entire year behind bars. John took fright at the impending tortures and declared that he would obey all the demands of the Great Prince. The delighted Algirdas released the brothers and brought them to himself.

But Anthony did not betray Christ. When he refused to eat meat on a fast day, the prince again locked him up in prison and subjected him to brutal tortures. The other brother remained free, but both Christians and pagans regarded him as a traitor and would not associate with him.

Repenting of his sin, John went to the priest Nestor and entreated him to ask his brother to forgive him. “When he openly confesses Christ, we will be reconciled,” Anthony replied. Once, while serving the prince at the bath, Saint John spoke privately with him about his reconciliation with the Church. Algirdas did not display any anger and said that he could believe in Christ, but must conduct himself like all the pagans. Then Saint John confessed himself a Christian in the presence of numerous courtiers. They beat him fiercely with rods and sent him to his brother in prison. The martyrs met with joy, and received the Holy Mysteries that same day.

Many people went to the prison to see the new confessor. The brothers converted many to Christ by their preaching. The prison was transformed into a Christian school. The frightened pagan priests demanded the execution of the brothers, but they did not fear death.

On the morning of April 14, 1347 the Martyr Anthony was hanged on a tree after receiving the Holy Mysteries. This oak, which the pagans considered sacred, became truly sacred for Orthodox Christians.

The pagan priests who hoped that Christian preaching would stop with the death of Saint Anthony, were disappointed. A multitude of the people gathered before the walls of the prison where Saint John was being held. On April 24, 1347 they strangled him and hanged his dead body upon the same oak. The venerable bodies of both martyrs were buried by Christians in the church of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker.

A third sufferer for Christ was their relative Krulis (Kruglets). At Baptism the priest Nestor named him Eustathius. Krulis stood out because of his comeliness, valor and bravery, but even more because of his mind and virtue of soul. A favorite of Algirdas, he could count on a very promising future. However, he also refused to eat meat at the festal table. Saint Eustathius openly declared that he was a Christian and would not eat meat because of the Nativity Fast.

They began to beat him with iron rods, but the youth did not make a sound. The prince tried refining the torture. Algirdas gave orders to strip the martyr naked, take him out on the street and to pour icy water in his mouth. But this did not break his spirit. Then they broke his ankle bones, and ripped the hair and skin from his head, and cut off his ears and nose. Saint Eustathius endured the torments with such gladness and courage, that the very torturers themselves were astounded by the divine power which strengthened him. The martyr Eustathius was sentenced to death and hanged on the same oak where Saints John and Anthony received a martyr’s death (December 13, 1347).

For three days no one was permitted to take down the body of the martyr, and a column of cloud protected it from birds and beasts of prey. A church was later built on the hill where the holy martyrs suffered. The trinity of venerable passion bearers glorified the true God worshiped in the Holy Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit. The church was dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity. The altar table was built on the stump of the sacred oak on which the martyrs died.

Soon their relics were found to be incorrupt. In 1364 Patriarch Philotheus of Constantinople (1354-1355, 1364-1376) sent a cross with the relics of the holy martyrs to Saint Sergius of Radonezh (September 25). The Church established the celebration of all three martyrs on April 14.

The holy martyrs were of immense significance for all the Western frontier. Vilnius’s monastery of the Holy Trinity, where the holy relics are kept, became a stronghold of Orthodoxy on this frontier. In 1915 during the invasion of the Germans, these relics were taken to Moscow.

The relics of the holy passion-bearers were returned to the Vilnius Holy Spirit monastery in 1946. The commemoration of their return (July 13) is solemnly observed at the monastery each year.

The Holy Martyr Ardalion suffered for Christ under the emperor Maximian Galerius (305-311). Saint Ardalion was a talented actor.

Once, he played the role of a Christian. In the play, the actor at first refused to offer sacrifice to idols, but then consented to renounce Christ. Suddenly the saint ordered everyone to be quiet and declared that he actually was a Christian.

Saint Ardalion continued to confess his faith in Christ. Then the governor ordered the martyr to be thrown onto a red-hot iron grill. So Saint Ardalion attained a martyr’s crown.

Saint Azades (Azat) was a wealthy man who served in the household of King Shapur II of Persia, and enjoyed his confidence. He was arrested for professing Christianity, and then suffered martyrdom with 1000 other Christians. After this, the king repented and ordered an end to the persecution of Christians.

The Vil'na Icon of the Mother of God is one of those attributed to the Holy Evangelist Luke. For a long time it was a sacred heirloom of the Byzantine Emperors in Constantinople.

In 1472, this Holy Icon was taken to Moscow by Sophia Palaiologos, the wife of Great Prince John III of Moscow (1462–1505). In 1495, the Great Prince gave the Icon as a blessing to his daughter Elena when she married the Lithuanian King Alexander. Later, the Holy Icon was placed in the church of the Most Pure (Theotokos), where Princess Elena was buried.

Tsar Ivan the Terrible, hoping to bring the wonderworking Icon back to Moscow, offered King Sigismund fifty noble Lithuanian captives in exchange for it, but he refused, because all the clergy, both the Orthodox and the Uniates, did not want to lose this treasure.

The Icon remained in the Cathedral of the Mother of God until the XVIII century, Later, it was moved to the church of Saint John the Forerunner. Afterward, the Icon was transferred to Vil'na's Holy Trinity Monastery, which was then in the possession of the Uniates, and the Cathedral of the Mother of God was also given to them.

Only in 1839 were Holy Trinity Monastery and the Vil'na Icon returned to the Orthodox. Since that time, the Icon of the Mother of God has remained there with other local icons, and is venerated by all Orthodox Christians. It replaced the lost Ostro Bram (Dawn Gates) Icon (commemorated on December 26 and April 14).

During the First World War, many sacred objects were evacuated from the frontline zones of Lithuania and Belarus, including the Vil'na Icon. In 1915, the Icon was brought to the Donskoy Monastery in Moscow, along with the relics of the Vil'na Martyrs. Its later fate is unknown.

The Vil'na Hodēgḗtria Icon is painted on four boards which have been joined together. Some are made of cypress wood, and the others of birch. It was restored in 1864.

The Vil'na Icon is commemorated on April 14, the day it was brought to Moscow in 1472, and also on February 15, the day it was brought from Moscow to Vil'na (the former capital of Lithuania) in 1495.

On Bright Monday the Church commemorates the Sweet-Kissing (Glykophilousa) Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos.

Like the Ivḗron Icon (March 31), the Sweet-Kissing Icon was also saved from the iconoclasts by a pious woman in the ninth century. It also traveled miraculously upon the sea, arriving at Mt. Athos, the “Garden of the Theotokos,” where it was honored by the monks.

A nobleman named Simeon was an iconoclast who shared the emperor Theophilus’s hatred for the holy icons. Simeon’s wife Victoria, on the other hand, venerated icons, especially a certain icon of the Mother of God before which she prayed each day. Simeon could not tolerate his wife’s piety, so he demanded that she give him the icon so he could burn it. Victoria threw the icon into the sea, hoping that it would be preserved through God’s providence.

Years later, the icon appeared on the shores of Mt. Athos near the monastery of Philotheou. The igumen and the brethren of the monastery retrieved the icon and placed it in the church, where it worked many miracles.

In 1830 a pilgrim came to the monastery from Adrianopolis. He listened to the history of the icon and the miracles associated with it, but regarded such things as childish fables. The monk who had related all this was surprised and grieved by the pilgrim’s disbelief, fearing that such doubts indicated an unhealthy spiritual state. He did all that he could to remove the pilgrim’s skepticism, but the man stubbornly adhered to his opinion.

The Mother of God, in her compassion, finally healed the pilgrim’s soul in a rather dramatic way. On the very day that he had his discussion with the monk, the pilgrim was walking on an upper balcony. Suddenly, he lost his footing and began to fall. In his distress he called out, “Most Holy Theotokos, help me!” The Mother of God heard him, and he landed on the ground completely unharmed.

The icon is one of the Eleusa (Tenderness) type. It is unusual in that it shows the Virgin kissing her Child. Christ raises His hand as if to repulse His mother’s caress.

Other Sweet-Kissing (Tenderness) icons are:

Lubyatov (March 19)

Novgorod (July 28)

Pskov (May 21, June 23, August 26, October 7)

Smolensk (March 19)

Sviatogorsk (July 17)

Yaroslavl (May 14)

Like the Panagia Portaitissa, the Glykophilousa Icon is one of those which were saved during the iconoclastic period and brought miraculously to Mount Athos. It originally belonged to Victoria, the devout wife of the senator Symeon. Victoria was one who venerated the holy icons, especially that of the Most Holy Theotokos, before which she prayed each day. Her husband was an iconoclast who found her piety offensive, for he, like Emperor Theophilos (r. 829-842), found the veneration of icons distasteful. Symeon told his wife to give him her icon so that he could burn it. In order to save the icon from being destroyed, she threw it into the sea, and it floated away standing upright on the waves. After a few years, the icon appeared on the shores of Mount Athos near the Monastery of Philotheou, where it was received with great honor and rejoicing by the Abbot and Fathers of the Monastery, who had been informed of its impending arrival through a revelation of the Theotokos.

A spring of holy water sprouted forth on the very spot where they placed the icon on the shore. Every year on Monday of Bright Week there is a procession and blessing of water. Numerous miracles have occurred.

Although there are many miracles of the Glykophilousa Icon, we will mention only a few. In 1713, the Mother of God answered the prayers of the devout Ecclesiarch Ioannikios, who complained about the poverty of the monastery. She assured him that she would provide for the material needs of the monastery.

Another miracle took place in 1801. A pilgrim, after seeing the precious offerings having from the icon, planned to steal them. He stayed in the Temple after the Ecclesiarch closed it. Then he stole the offerings and left for the port of Ivḗron Monastery. There he found a boat that was leaving for Ierissos. After a while the ship sailed, but despite the excellent weather, it remained stationary in the sea. When the Ecclesiarch saw what had happened, the abbot sent monks out in various directions. Two went to the port of Ivḗron and when they saw the immobile ship, they realized what happened. The guilty man who committed this fearful sacrilege asked for forgiveness. The monks were magnanimous and did not want the thief to be punished.

A pilgrim from Adrianopolis visited Philotheou Monastery in 1830. He listened attentively to a monk tell the story of the holy Icon and the miracles associated with it, but he regarded the account as a fictitious tale which only a child might believe. The monk was grieved at the man’s unbelief, and tried to persuade him that everything he had said was absolutely true. The unfortunate pilgrim remained unconvinced.

That very day, as the pilgrim was walking on an upper balcony, he slipped and began to fall. He cried out, “Most Holy Theotokos, help me!” The Mother of God heard him and came to his assistance. The pilgrim landed on the ground completely unharmed.

The Glykophilousa Icon belongs to the Eleousa (the Virgin of Tenderness) category of icons, where the Mother accepts the affection shown by the Child Christ. The icon is commemorated by the Church on March 27 and also on Bright Monday. The icon depicts the Theotokos inclining toward Christ, Who embraces her. She seems to be embracing Him more tightly than in other icons, and her expression is more affectionate.

The Icon is located on a pillar on the left side of the katholikon (main church).

The Hieromartyr Artemon (Artémon) was born of Christian parents in Laodikeia (Laodίkeia), Syria in the III century. From his youth, he devoted himself to the service of the Church, and was a Reader for sixteen years. For his zeal, Bishop Sisίnnius ordained him as a Deacon. Saint Artemon also carried out this service with fervor and diligence for twenty-eight years, then he was ordained to the priesthood. In that position, Saint Artemon served the Church of God for another thirty-three years, preaching Christianity among pagans. When Emperor Diocletian (reigned 284-305) began his fierce persecution of the Church, issuing an edict ordering Christians to offer sacrifice to the idols, Saint Artemon was already quite old.

Knowing of the impending arrival of the military commander Patricius at Laodikeia, Saint Sisίnnius went with the priest Artemon and some other Christians into the temple of the "goddess" Artemis. There they smashed and burned the idols, reducing them all to dust.

Afterward, Saint Sisίnnius and Saint Artemon gathered the flock into the church and fervently exhorted the Christians to remain firm in the Faith, and not to fear the threats of torturers.

When he arrived in Laodikeia, Patricius celebrated a five-day festival in honor of the pagan "gods," and then entered the temple of Artemis to offer sacrifice. When he was told who had destroyed the temple, he went with a detachment of soldiers to the church where the Christians were praying.

As he approached the church, Patricius suddenly felt a chill, and then developed a fever, which left him scarcely alive. He was carried him home and put to bed. “The Christians have put a curse on me, and their God torments me,” he said to those around him. Although Patricius prayed to the idols, they did not relieve his sufferings. He sent a messenger to Bishop Sisίnnius, asking for his help, and promised to set up a gold statue of that Hierarch in the middle of the city. The Saint replied, “Keep your gold, but if you believe in Christ, He will heal you.”

Patricius was afraid of death, so he declared that he believed in Christ, and the affliction left him. But even this miracle did not affect the obdurate pagan's soul. Although he did not raise a hand against Bishop Sisίnnius, he did enforce the imperial edict against other Christians in the city of Caesarea.

Along the way he encountered Saint Artemon, who was followed by six wild donkeys and two deer. When Patricius asked how he was able to control these wild beasts, Saint Artemon replied that he held them with the Word of Christ. Patricius learned from the idolaters that it was Artemon who had destroyed the pagan temple of Artemis, so he ordered that Artemon be arrested and taken to the city of Caesarea. The Saint went with the soldiers without fear, but he told the animals to go to Saint Sisίnnius. Seeing the animals, Bishop Sisίnnius asked, “Why have these animals come here?”

A doe received the gift of speech from God and said, “The servant of God Artemon is being held by the impious Patricius, and is being brought to Caesarea in chains. He commanded us to come here to give you this news.”

Do not be astonished that the Lord, Who opened the mouth of Balaam’s ass (Numbers 22:28), also permitted the doe to speak. The Bishop sent Deacon Phileas to Caesarea to verify what he had been told.

At Caesarea, Patricius brought Saint Artemon to trial and tried to force him to offer sacrifice in the temple of Asclepius. In that pagan temple there were many poisonous vipers. The pagan priest never opened the doors, nor did he place the sacrifice before the idol. But Saint Artemon, calling on the Name of Jesus Christ, went into the temple and drove the snakes out. The pagans fled, but the Saint stopped them and killed the snakes by his breath. Vitalius, one of the pagan priests, believed in Christ and asked Saint Artemon to baptize him.

Patricius thought that Saint Artemon killed the snakes by sorcery, and again he interrogated and tortured him. Then the doe which had spoken arrived at Caesarea. She lay down at the Martyr's feet, licking his wounds. By God’s command the doe spoke again, denouncing the impious pagans. Addressing Patricius, the doe predicted that he would be seized by two birds of prey, and dropped into a cauldron of burning pitch. Patricius was enraged because he had been censured by a wild beast. He commanded his soldiers to shoot the doe with arrows, but she escaped. Afraid that the miracles performed by Saint Artemon would attract more people to him, Patricius ordered his execution.

An enormous cauldron was filled with boiling pitch, and the soldiers intended to throw Saint Artemon into it. But when Patricius rode up to the cauldron on horseback to see if the pitch was indeed boiling, two Angels in the form of eagles seized him and dropped him into the cauldron. His body was consumed so that not a single bone remained, but Saint Artemon survived.

Seeing this miracle, everyone ran away except Saint Artemon, who blessed and glorified God. When the Saint finished his prayer, a spring of water gushed forth from the ground. Saint Artemon baptized the pagan priest Vitalius and many pagans, who had come to believe in Christ. On the following morning, Saint Artemon communed the newly-baptized with the Holy Mysteries. Many of the baptized were ordained to the diaconate and the priesthood, and Vitalius was made Bishop of Palestine.

The Bishop of Caesarea came to visit Saint Artemon, noting the place where he had suffered. Subsequently, a church was built on that site.

Instructed by God's voice, Saint Artemon preached the Gospel in Asia Minor. Then an Angel appeared and transported him to the place which had been revealed to him, and there he converted many to Christ. The pagans arrested the Saint and beheaded him († 303).

In the Roman Martyrology, Saint Artemon is listed under October 8, while in Greek usage he is commemorated on April 12.

Saint Artémon the Presbyter of Laodikeia should not be confused with Saint Artemon the Bishop of Seleukeia (March 24).

The Holy Martyr Crescens (Kreskes) was descended from an illustrious family and lived in Myra of Lycia. When a throng of city inhabitants were on the way to the pagan temple, he urged them to forsake paganism and come to Christ. This incident became known to the city prefect.

When the prefect asked the saint about his parentage, the saint, not wishing to bring unpleasantness to his parents, said nothing except that he was a Christian. The prefect knew Saint Crescens’ father and wanted to do him a favor. He suggested that Saint Crescens only appear to offer sacrifice to idols, while remaining a Christian.

The holy martyr replied, “It is impossible for the body not to do as the soul thinks, since the soul governs and moves the body.” They beat the holy martyr Crescens and raked him with iron claws, and then burned him in a fire.

Saint Andrew of Crete (July 4) mentions the Martyr Crescens in his Sermon on the Feast of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker (December 6), who also came from Myra of Lycia.

The Holy Martyr Thomais (Thomaίs) was born into a Christian family in the city of Alexandria. She was raised in piety, and loved to read spiritual books.

When she was fifteen, Thomais married a fisherman, who was also a Christian. The young couple lived in the home of her husband’s family, where Saint Thomaίs was loved for her mild and gentle disposition, and for her other good traits.

Her father-in-law, at the prompting of the devil, was captivated by her beauty. One night, when his son went out fishing, he attempted to lead his daughter-in-law into sin. Horrified, Saint Thomais admonished the senseless old man, reminding him of the Last Judgment and the penalty for sin. Infuriated by her steadfastness, he grabbed a sword and threatened to cut off her head. Saint Thomaίs replied: “Even if you cut me to pieces, I shall not stray from the Lord's commandments.” Overcome with passion, the old man cut Saint Thomais in two with the sword. Thus, the Saint received the crown of martyrdom in the year 476.

Divine punishment overtook the murderer. He was struck blind and could not find the door in order to escape. The next morning, the friends of the Saint’s husband came to the door. They saw her body, and the blind old man covered with blood. The murderer confessed his evil deed and asked to be taken to the judge for punishment. He was then beheaded for his crime.

At this time, Saint Daniel of Skete (Skḗtē) (June 7) happened to be in Alexandria. He told the monks of the Oktokaidekaton Monastery (at the eighteenth milestone on the road leading west from Alexandria) to bring the Martyr's body to the Monastery and bury her in the cemetery with the departed Fathers. Some of the monks were scandalized because he wanted to bury a woman’s body with the monks. Saint Daniel replied, “She is a mother to me and to you, because she died for her chastity.”

After the funeral Saint Daniel returned to Skete. Soon one of the young monks confessed to him that he was being tormented by carnal passions. Saint Daniel ordered him to go and pray at the grave of the Holy Martyr Thomais. The monk obeyed the Elder. As he prayed at the grave, he fell into a light sleep. Saint Thomaίs appeared to him and said, “Father, receive my blessing and go in peace.”

When he awakened, the monk felt joy and peace in his soul. After this, he told Saint Daniel that he was no longer bothered by the temptations of the flesh. Abba Daniel exclaimed, “Great is the boldness of those who have struggled for chastity.”

Many found both spiritual joy and release from their passions at the grave of Saint Thomais. Her holy relics were transferred to Constantinople to one of the women’s monasteries. The Russian pilgrim Archdeacon Zosimas venerated them in 1420.

Saint Thomais is invoked by those seeking deliverance from sexual impurity. Other Saints whose intercession we seek for this purpose are: Saint John the Much-Suffering (July 18), and Saint Moses the Hungarian (July 26).

Part of the Saint's Holy Skull is located in the Holy Monastery of Dionysiou on Mount Athos.

In Greek usage, Saint Thomaίs is commemorated on April 14.

Pascha (Easter)

Enjoy ye all the feast of faith; receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness.
(Sermon of Saint John Chrysostom, read at Paschal Matins)

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the center of the Christian faith. Saint Paul says that if Christ is not raised from the dead, then our preaching and faith are in vain (I Cor. 15:14). Indeed, without the resurrection there would be no Christian preaching or faith. The disciples of Christ would have remained the broken and hopeless band which the Gospel of John describes as being in hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. They went nowhere and preached nothing until they met the risen Christ, the doors being shut (John 20: 19). Then they touched the wounds of the nails and the spear; they ate and drank with Him. The resurrection became the basis of everything they said and did (Acts 2-4): “. . . for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have” (Luke 24:39).

The resurrection reveals Jesus of Nazareth as not only the expected Messiah of Israel, but as the King and Lord of a new Jerusalem: a new heaven and a new earth.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. . . the holy city, new Jerusalem. And I heard a great voice from the throne saying “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. . . He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away (Rev. 21:1-4).

In His death and resurrection, Christ defeats the last enemy, death, and thereby fulfills the mandate of His Father to subject all things under His feet (I Cor. 15:24-26).

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing (Rev. 5: 12)

THE FEAST OF FEASTS

The Christian faith is celebrated in the liturgy of the Church. True celebration is always a living participation. It is not a mere attendance at services. It is communion in the power of the event being celebrated. It is God’s free gift of joy given to spiritual men as a reward for their self-denial. It is the fulfillment of spiritual and physical effort and preparation. The resurrection of Christ, being the center of the Christian faith, is the basis of the Church’s liturgical life and the true model for all celebration. This is the chosen and holy day, first of sabbaths, king and lord of days, the feast of feasts, holy day of holy days. On this day we bless Christ forevermore (Irmos 8, Paschal Canon).

PREPARATION

Twelve weeks of preparation precede the “feast of feasts.” A long journey which includes five prelenten Sundays, six weeks of Great Lent and finally Holy Week is made. The journey moves from the self-willed exile of the prodigal son to the grace-filled entrance into the new Jerusalem, coming down as a bride beautifully adorned for her husband (Rev. 21:2) Repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and study are the means by which this long journey is made.

Focusing on the veneration of the Cross at its midpoint, the lenten voyage itself reveals that the joy of the resurrection is achieved only through the Cross. “Through the cross joy has come into all the world,” we sing in one paschal hymn. And in the paschal troparion, we repeat again and again that Christ has trampled down death—by death! Saint Paul writes that the name of Jesus is exalted above every name because He first emptied Himself, taking on the lowly form of a servant and being obedient even to death on the Cross (Phil. 2:5-11). The road to the celebration of the resurrection is the self-emptying crucifixion of Lent. Pascha is the passover from death to life.

Yesterday I was buried with Thee, O Christ.
Today I arise with Thee in Thy resurrection.
Yesterday I was crucified with Thee:
Glorify me with Thee, O Savior, in Thy kingdom (Ode 3, Paschal Canon).

THE PROCESSION

The divine services of the night of Pascha commence near midnight of Holy Saturday. At the Ninth Ode of the Canon of Nocturn, the priest, already vested in his brightest robes, removes the Holy Shroud from the tomb and carries it to the altar table, where it remains until the leave-taking of Pascha. The faithful stand in darkness. Then, one by one, they light their candles from the candle held by the priest and form a great procession out of the church. Choir, servers, priest and people, led by the bearers of the cross, banners, icons and Gospel book, circle the church. The bells are rung incessantly and the angelic hymn of the resurrection is chanted.

The procession comes to a stop before the principal doors of the church. Before the closed doors the priest and the people sing the troparion of Pascha, “Christ is risen from the dead…”, many times. Even before entenng the church the priest and people exchange the paschal greeting: “Christ is risen! Indeed He is risen!” This segment of the paschal services is extremely important. It preserves in the expenence of the Church the primitive accounts of the resurrection of Christ as recorded in the Gospels. The angel rolled away the stone from the tomb not to let a biologically revived but physically entrapped Christ walk out, but to reveal that “He is not here; for He has risen, as He said” (Matt. 28:6).

In the paschal canon we sing:

Thou didst arise, O Christ, and yet the tomb remained sealed, as at Thy birth the Virgin’s womb remained unharmed; and Thou has opened for us the gates of paradise (Ode 6).

Finally, the procession of light and song in the darkness of night, and the thunderous proclamation that, indeed, Christ is risen, fulfill the words of the Evangelist John: “The light shines in darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

The doors are opened and the faithful re-enter. The church is bathed in light and adorned with flowers. It is the heavenly bride and the symbol of the empty tomb:

Bearing life and more fruitful than paradise
Brighter than any royal chamber,
Thy tomb, O Christ, is the fountain or our resurrection (Paschal Hours).

MATINS

Matins commences immediately. The risen Christ is glorified in the singing of the beautiful canon of Saint John of Damascus. The paschal greeting is repeatedly exchanged. Near the end of Matins the paschal verses are sung. They relate the entire narrative of the Lord’s resurrection. They conclude with the words calling us to actualize among each other the forgiveness freely given to all by God:

This is the day of resurrection.
Let us be illumined by the feast.
Let us embrace each other.
Let us call “brothers” even those who hate us,
And forgive all by the resurrection. . .

The sermon of Saint John Chrysostom is then read by the celebrant. The sermon was originally composed as a baptismal instruction. It is retained by the Church in the paschal services because everything about the night of Pascha recalls the Sacrament of Baptism: the language and general terminology of the liturgical texts, the specific hymns, the vestment color, the use of candles and the great procession itself. Now the sermon invites us to a great reaffirmation of our baptism: to union with Christ in the receiving of Holy Communion.

If any man is devout and loves God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. . . the table is fully laden; feast you all sumptuously. . . the calf is fatted, let no one go hungry away. . .

THE DIVINE LITURGY

The sermon announces the imminent beginning of the Divine Liturgy. The altar table is fully laden with the divine food: the Body and Blood of the risen and glorified Christ. No one is to go away hungry. The service books are very specific in saying that only he who partakes of the Body and Blood of Christ eats the true Pascha. The Divine Liturgy, therefore, normally follows immediately after paschal Matins. Foods from which the faithful have been asked to abstain during the lenten journey are blessed and eaten only after the Divine Liturgy.

THE DAY WITHOUT EVENING

Pascha is the inauguration of a new age. It reveals the mystery of the eighth day. It is our taste, in this age, of the new and unending day of the Kingdom of God. Something of this new and unending day is conveyed to us in the length of the paschal services, in the repetition of the paschal order for all the services of Bright Week, and in the special paschal features retained in the services for the forty days until Ascension. Forty days are, as it were, treated as one day. Together they comprise the symbol of the new time in which the Church lives and toward which she ever draws the faithful, from one degree of glory to another.

O Christ, great and most holy Pascha.
O Wisdom, Word and Power of God,
grant that we may more perfectly partake of Thee in the never-ending day of Thy kingdom
(Ninth Ode, Paschal Canon).

The V. Rev. Paul Lazor
New York, 1977

Saint Basil the Confessor, Bishop of Parium, lived during the eighth century. He was elected as bishop by the inhabitants of Parium, who venerated the saint as a true pastor of the flock of Christ.

When the Iconoclast heresy broke out, Saint Basil resolutely came out on the side of icon veneration and refused to sign the orders for their abolition (the “Iniquitous Scroll”) of the Council of 754 which was convened under the emperor Constantine V Copronymos (741-775). The saint avoided any contact with the heretics and did not permit them into his diocese. For his zeal he suffered much persecution, hunger and deprivation.

Saint Basil remained faithful to the Orthodox Church until his death.

Saint Zeno, Bishop of Verona, was born a Greek and came from Syria. In his youth he became a monk and devoted himself to the study of Holy Scripture. Visiting several monasteries, the saint came to the city of Verona and settled there. The people chose him as bishop of the city.

The emperors Constantius (353-361) and Valens (364-378), were advocates of the Arian heresy, which had been condemned at the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea in the year 325. Under their patronage the Arians began a persecution against the Orthodox. Saint Zeno bravely endured all the oppression from the heretics.

In his sermons and letters he firmly asserted the Orthodox teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ as the Only-Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. Saint Zeno wrote sixteen long and seventy-seven short discourses and directives. He died around the year 360.

Saint Gregory Dialogus (March 12) speaks of a miracle in the year 558 on Saint Zeno’s Feast day. There were spring floods in Italy. The River Tiber overflowed its banks and inundated the surrounding area. The River Atesis flowing past Verona also flooded. The water reached the church built in honor of the hieromartyr Zeno, and came up to the windows of the church. The doors of the temple were open, but the water did not rush inside. It stopped at the wall, and did not harm the church.

Saint Isaac the Syrian lived during the mid-sixth century. He came to the Italian city of Spoleto from Syria. The saint asked permission of the church wardens to remain in the temple, and he prayed in it for two and a half days. One of the church wardens began to reproach him with hypocrisy and struck him on the cheek. Then the punishment of God came upon the church warden. The devil threw him down at the feet of the saint and cried out, “Isaac, cast me out!” Just as the saint bent over the man, the unclean spirit fled.

News of this quickly spread throughout the city. People began to flock to the saint, offering him help and the means to build a monastery. The humble monk refused all this. He left the city and settled in a desolate place, where he built a small cell. Disciples gathered around the ascetic, and so a monastery was formed. When his disciples asked the Elder why he had declined the gifts, he replied, “A monk who acquires possessions is no longer a monk.”

Saint Isaac was endowed with the gift of clairvoyance. Saint Gregory Dialogus (March 12) speaks of this in his “Dialogues About the Lives and Miracles of the Italian Fathers.” Once, Saint Isaac bade the monks to leave their spades in the garden for the night, and in the morning he asked them to prepare food for the workers. Some robbers, equal to the number of spades, had come to rob the monastery, but the power of God forced them to abandon their evil intent. They took the spades and began to work. When the monks arrived in the garden, all the ground had been dug up. The saint greeted the toilers and invited them to refresh themselves with food. Then he admonished them to stop their thievery, and gave them permission to come openly and pick the fruits of the monastery garden.

Another time, two almost naked men came to the saint and asked him for clothing. He told them to wait a bit, and sent a monk into the forest. In the hollow of a tree he found the fine clothes the travelers had hidden in order to to deceive the holy igumen. The monk brought back the clothes, and Saint Isaac gave them to the wanderers. Seeing that their fraud was exposed, they fell into great distress and shame.

It happened that a certain man sent his servant to the saint with two beehives. The servant hid one of these hives along the way. The saint said to the servant, “I accept the gift, but be careful when you go back for the beehive that you hid. Poisonous snakes have entered into it. If you stretch forth your hand, they will bite you.” Thus the saint unmasked the sins of people wisely and without malice, desiring salvation for all.

Saint Isaac died in 550. This saint should not be confused with the other Saint Isaac the Syrian, Bishop of Ninevah, who lived during the seventh century (January 28).

The Monk Martyrs Menas, David and John lived in Palestine. They were martyred in the seventh century by Arabs, who shot them through with arrows (+ post 636, when Jerusalem was captured by the Arabs).

The holy princess Anthusa of Constantinople was the daughter of the Iconoclast emperor Constantine Copronymos (reigned 741-775) and his third wife Eudokia. She and her twin brother, the future emperor Leo the Khazar (775-780), were born on January 25, 750.

Constantine had tortured the holy Abbess Anthusa of Mantinea (July 27) because she venerated the holy icons. During a campaign in Paphlagonia, he had her brought before him again, promising her even harsher torments if she did not come around to his way of thinking. She remained steadfast in defending the icons, however. Constantine told her that his wife was having difficulty in her pregnancy, and he asked her to pray for the empress. She agreed to do so, and told him that the children would be born safely, and even spoke about their future life.

Empress Eudokia's daughter was given the name Anthusa, in thanksgiving for the safe delivery of the twins. When Saint Anthusa's prediction was fulfilled, she was allowed to return to her convent, where she died at a ripe old age.

When she grew up, the emperor began to urge his daughter to marry. But from her youth Saint Anthusa yearned for monasticism and refused to consider his suggestions. After the death of her father, she shared her possessions with the poor, and used her wealth to adorn many churches. She became a mother to orphans, and was also a protector of widows. She devoted herself entirely to a life of piety, constantly offering prayers to the Lord and reading the Holy Scriptures. The devout empress Irene (780-802), wife of Leo the Khazar, regarded Saint Anthusa with love and esteem and invited her to be a co-regent. Saint Anthusa, however, did not desire any worldly honors. Since she lived at the palace, she wore clothes befitting her position as an emperor's daughter, but underneath her finery she wore a hair-shirt.

Desiring a life of solitary asceticism, Anthusa entered the monastery of Saint Euthymia, and received the monastic tonsure from Saint Tarasius, the Patriarch of Constantinople (Feb. 25). She founded the Omonia (Concord, or Charity) monastery at Constantinople, which was known for its strict Rule. Saint Anthusa was an example of humility to the other nuns. She did hard work, she cleaned the church, and carried water. She never sat at the table during meals, but served the sisters instead. She made sure that no one left the monastery in need.

The humble and gentle ascetic lived until the age of fifty-two, and died peacefully in 801. Other sources say she reposed in 808 when she was fifty-seven.

Saint Athanasia was abbess of a monastery on the island of Aegina in the ninth century. She was born into a pious Christian family, and her parents were named Nicetas and Marina. Already at seven years of age the girl studied the Psalter, which she read constantly and with feeling. Once, while working at the weaver’s loom, Saint Athanasia saw a shining star coming down to her from above, which touched her bosom and lightened all her being, and then disappeared. From that moment, the maiden was illumined in soul and she firmly resolved to enter a monastery.

When Saint Athanasia reached the age of sixteen, her parents entreated her to marry. She consented, but after sixteen days her husband was killed by barbarians who invaded Aegina.

Saint Athanasia decided to take advantage of her unexpected freedom and dedicate herself to God. Then the emperor Michael the Stammerer (820-829) issued a decree ordering all young widows and virgins to take husbands. Therefore, Saint Athanasia was forced to marry again. It is said that her second husband was a Moslem, whom she converted by her holy way of life.

She led a pious and virtuous life. She did housework, helped the sick and those in need, and took in wanderers. On Sundays and feastdays she invited family and acquaintances to her home and read the Holy Scriptures to them. Under her influence, her husband entered a monastery, and progressed in virtue and holiness. Soon, he departed to the Lord.

The saint gave away her property, became a nun, and founded a women’s monastery in a remote place. After four years, the sisters asked Saint Athanasia to become the abbess of the small community. In spite of her position, the saint surpassed all the others in meekness and humility. She asked about the infractions of the sisters with love, not anger.

Although Saint Athanasia had the title of abbess, she regarded herself as the least of the sisters and always had in mind the commandment of the Savior: “Whoever would be first among you, let him be your servant” (Mt. 20:27). The saint never permitted the sisters to wait on her, not even to pour water over her hands.

Saint Athanasia wore a hair-shirt, and over it clothes of coarse sheep’s wool. She slept very little, and prayed most of the night. By day she labored together with the sisters. On most days she ate only bread and water, and that in moderation, and only after the ninth hour of the day. She never ate cheese or fish except on Pascha and on the twelve Great Feasts. During Lent, she did not eat bread or drink water. She would only eat some vegetables every other day.

On the island of Aegina lived a certain monk named Matthew, who had been an igumen. Each night he read the whole PSALTER, and also read prayers. The saint slept sitting up and only for a short time. He could not refrain from tears when the Psalms were chanted, while reading prayers, or offering the Bloodless Sacrifice.

He wore only a coarse hair-shirt, and through his temperance and struggles his body became completely withered. He had a special love for Saint John the Theologian. Once, during the the Divine Liturgy he saw the Apostle standing by the altar table.

The saint healed a paralytic with his mantle; by making the Sign of the Cross he corrected the face of a man distorted by the actions of the devil; he cast out demons and worked many other miracles. Saint Matthew blessed Saint Athanasia to go to a more isolated place with her sisters. She built a monastery on a desolate hill of the island near an ancient church of the Protomartyr Stephen.

Saint Athanasia was granted the gift of healing by God. After she healed a man afflicted with a malady of the eyes, a crowd of people began to flock to her in order to receive healing from their infirmities of soul and body. From the abundant gifts brought to the monastery, she built three churches at the monastery: one dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos, another to the holy Prophet John the Forerunner, and the third to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker.

Her increasing celebrity distressed the saint, and she took the two sisters closest to her in spirit (Maria and Eupraxia) and went secretly to Constantinople. There, as a simple nun, she entered one of the women’s monasteries, where she lived for seven years.

Again, her holy life attracted attention. The sisters of the Aegina monastery learned where their abbess had gone, and they went to her imploring her to return. Submitting to the will of God, she returned to the monastery she founded. Soon after this she had a vision of two radiant men, giving her a document which said: “Here is your freedom, take it and rejoice.”

Saint Athanasia spent the twelve days before her death in unceasing prayer. On the eve of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos she summoned the sisters and said that she was able to read the PSALTER only as far as the twelfth Psalm. The saint asked them to continue reading the PSALTER for her in church. The sisters went to church and there fulfilled her request, and then they came to bid the saint farewell. She blessed them and asked them to celebrate the Feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos solemnly and joyfully, and also to provide a meal for the poor and destitute. Then, after Divine Liturgy, they could bury her body. With these words, Saint Athanasia fell asleep in the Lord on August 14, 860.

The saint predicted that she would receive glory in Heaven forty days after her death. On the fortieth day, two devout sisters were granted to see Saint Athanasia and two radiant men standing before the royal doors of the iconostasis. They clothed her with a purple robe embroidered with gold, pearls, and precious stones. They set a crown on her head, handed her a gleaming staff, and led her through the royal doors into the altar.

Before her death, Saint Athanasia ordered the nuns to feed the poor for forty days. The sisters, however, did not fulfill her request and set out the memorial meal for only ten days. The saint appeared to some of the sisters and said, “Let everyone know that alms given for a departed soul for forty days after death, and food offered to the hungry, appease God. If the departed souls are sinful, they receive forgiveness from God. If they are righteous, then the good deeds bring God’s mercy on the souls of those who perform them.”

Then she thrust her staff into the ground and became invisible. The staff left behind sprouted the next day and became a live tree. A year after the saint’s death, they led a possessed woman to the grave. When they dug up the ground, they then noticed a fragrance and removed the coffin. After she touched it, the demoniac was immediately healed. Then they opened the lid of the coffin and saw the saint’s incorrupt body, from which myrrh flowed.

Saint Athanasia looked like she was asleep. Her face shone brightly, her body was preserved incorrupt and soft, and even her hands were supple. The priests decided to place her body in church. When they transferred the body into a new coffin, the nuns removed the hair-shirt from her holy relics and wanted to dress her in silken clothes, but the hands of Saint Athanasia were so firmly clasped to her bosom, that the nuns could not dress her in the silken garb. Even in death the saint displayed her love for poverty. Then one of the sisters knelt down and began to pray to the saint, saying, “O lady, hear us as you heard us when you lived with us. Now consent to be dressed in these clothes, our humble gift to you.” Saint Athanasia, as though alive, lifted and extended her hands into the clothing.

The holy relics of Saint Athanasia were put into a crypt and became a source of healings.

The Life of Saint Athanasia is found in Vatican codex 1660, which dates from the year 916.

Saint Athanasia of Aegina is commemorated on April 12 (Slavic usage), and on April 18 (Greek usage).

Saint Acacius the New was a monk at the Holy Trinity monastery of Saint Dionysius of Olympus (January 24) at Zagora. After visiting several monasteries on Mount Athos, the saint on the advice of his father-confessor, Father Galacteon, settled in the skete monastery of Saint Maximus the Hut-Burner (“Kavsokalyvites”, January 13), who repeatedly appeared to the ascetic.

The exploits of Saint Acacius were extremely severe: in place of bread he ate dry grass, which he crushed with a piece of marble. When asked how much a monk ought to sleep, he said that for a true monk half an hour even was sufficient. He said, “In order to conquer the flesh, a monk must practice two virtues: fasting and vigil.” In spite of his age and illness, he was an example of this.

Once, when Saint Acacius had come on a Sunday to the skete church, the igumen Neophytus handed him his own staff and said, “Father, take the staff, and be the Superior for all these brethren until your last breath.” Saint Acacius kissed the hand of the igumen, and accepted the staff with all humility. Although previously he had walked with a staff because of his age, from that time forward the righteous one no longer held a staff in his hand.

For his exalted exploits Saint Acacius was granted the gifts of unceasing mental prayer and divine revelations. He fell asleep in the Lord on April 12, 1730, being nearly a hundred years old.

This icon was brought from Kiev to Murom by the Holy Prince Constantine of Murom (May 21) early in the XII century. For a long time, but quite unsuccessfully, Saint Constantine tried to attract the pagan inhabitants of the Murom principality to Christianity. His counsels met with no sympathy; moreover, they filled the people with hatred and contempt.

The more fanatical pagans plotted and swore to kill the Prince, or drive him out of Murom. When Constantine discovered the plot he prayed fervently to God. Then taking with him the Icon of the Mother of God, which he brought from Kiev, he went to confront the conspirators, trusting in the intercession and the help of the Queen of Heaven. When the pagans saw the Icon, they were so overcome with astonishment that they begged the Prince to forgive them. Then they agreed to be baptized into the Christian Faith.

The Murom icon is renowned for many other miracles, the most remarkable of which is the following. At the end of the XII century, Saint Basil was the Bishop of Murom. The people, mistakenly suspecting him of living in a way which was not appropriate for his high episcopal rank, intended to kill him. When Saint Basil learned of this decision, he asked his enemies to postpone his death until morning. All night long he prayed in the Church of Saints Boris and Gleb. After serving the Divine Liturgy, he went to the temple of the Annunciation and there he served a Moleben before the Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, which he brought from Kiev. Placing all his hope in the Queen of Heaven, Saint Basil took the miraculous Icon and went to the Oke River. Removing his mantya, he spread it upon the water and stood upon it holding the Icon of the Mother of God. Suddenly there was a strong wind and Saint Basil was carried upstream against the current. Six hours later, the Bishop sailed to a place called Old Ryazan. There the people and the Prince received the Saint with honor. However, since Old Ryazan was poorly protected from the invasion of the Tatars, under whose yoke Russia was at that time, Saint Basil decided to look for another, safer place.

In 1291 he moved to New Ryazan, taking with him the Icon of the Mother of God. Since then, all his successors have lived in New Ryazan. Thus, with the abolition of the Murom cathedra, a new episcopal cathedra was established – that of New Ryazan.

Originally, the commemoration of the Murom-Ryazan Icon of the Mother of God took place on the second Sunday of the Apostle's Fast, then in 1810 (1814?) the Holy Synod, at the request of the residents of Ryazan, changed the Feast Day to April 12, when Saint Basil is commemorated.

The Murom Icon bears a certain resemblance to the Yakhrom Icon (October 14), in which the Divine Child is cradled on His Mother's left arm; His right hand touches her chin, while His left hand hangs down holding a scroll representing the Scriptures. In the Murom Icon, however, the head of the Divine Child leans back against His Mother's shoulder, and the scroll is open to reveal the words, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me" (Luke 4:18).

The original Icon has not been preserved (all traces of it were lost when it was transferred from Murom to Ryazan). Frequently, copies of the Murom Icon were made, many of which are now found in various churches and museum collections. One of the copies was kept in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Theotokos in Murom until its destruction in the XX century.

The Belynich Icon of the Mother of God initially was in one of the Orthodox churches of the Mogilev district. After the emergence of the Unia (1596) the icon passed into the hands of the Catholics and was placed in a church of the Belynich Catholic monastery, founded in 1622-1624 by the hetman of Great Lithuania, Lev Sapega, on the banks of the River Druta, 45 versts from Mogilev. The icon was venerated both by Catholics and by Orthodox. In 1832 the monastery was dissolved, and the Catholic church became a parish church.

In 1876 the icon was given to the Orthodox after the restoration of the monastery. On April 12 of that year the first Divine Liturgy was served in the church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos on the altar table consecrated by an Orthodox bishop.

The Belynich Icon of the Mother of God is venerated throughout the Christian world.

On this day we also remember the Transfer of the Venerable Belt of the Mother of God from Zila to Constantinople in the year 942.

The journey was made from the diocese of Zḗla (in Cappadocia) to Constantinople in the year 942, when the Emperors were Constantine and Romanos, the Porphyrogénnētoi.¹ The Zone (Sash) was then placed in the Holy Soros² of Chalkopratia on April 12.

¹ Born in the purple. This refers to a room in the Palace where the Empress gave birth to her children. The walls were hung with purple draperies, a color reserved for royalty.

² The Holy Soros was a chest containing the Robe and the Sash (Zone) of the Theotokos.

Great and Holy Saturday is the day on which Christ reposed in the tomb. The Church calls this day the Blessed Sabbath.

“The great Moses mystically foreshadowed this day when he said:
God blessed the seventh day.
This is the blessed Sabbath
This is the day of rest,
on which the only-begotten Son of God rested from all His works….”

(Vesperal Liturgy of Holy Saturday)

By using this title the Church links Holy Saturday with the creative act of God. In the initial account of creation as found in the Book of Genesis, God made man in His own image and likeness. To be truly himself, man was to live in constant communion with the source and dynamic power of that image: God. Man fell from God. Now Christ, the Son of God through whom all things were created, has come to restore man to communion with God. He thereby completes creation. All things are again as they should be. His mission is consummated. On the Blessed Sabbath He rests from all His works.

THE TRANSITION

Holy Saturday is a neglected day in parish life. Few people attend the Services. Popular piety usually reduces Holy Week to one day—Holy Friday. This day is quickly replaced by another—Easter Sunday. Christ is dead and then suddenly alive. Great sorrow is suddenly replaced by great joy. In such a scheme Holy Saturday is lost.

In the understanding of the Church, sorrow is not replaced by joy; it is transformed into joy. This distinction indicates that it is precisely within death that Christ continues to effect triumph.

TRAMPLING DOWN DEATH BY DEATH

We sing that Christ is “…trampling down death by death” in the troparion of Easter. This phrase gives great meaning to Holy Saturday. Christ’s repose in the tomb is an “active” repose. He comes in search of His fallen friend, Adam, who represents all men. Not finding him on earth, he descends to the realm of death, known as Hades in the Old Testament. There He finds him and brings him life once again. This is the victory: the dead are given life. The tomb is no longer a forsaken, lifeless place. By His death Christ tramples down death by death.

THE ICON OF THE DESCENT INTO HADES

The traditional icon used by the Church on the feast of Easter is an icon of Holy Saturday: the descent of Christ into Hades. It is a painting of theology, for no one has ever seen this event. It depicts Christ, radiant in hues of white and blue, standing on the shattered gates of Hades. With arms outstretched He is joining hands with Adam and all the other Old Testament righteous whom He has found there. He leads them from the kingdom of death. By His death He tramples death.

“Today Hades cries out groaning:
I should not have accepted the Man born of Mary.
He came and destroyed my power.
He shattered the gates of brass.
As God, He raised the souls I had held captive.
Glory to Thy cross and resurrection, O Lord!”
(Vesperal Liturgy of Holy Saturday)

THE VESPERAL LITURGY

The Vespers of Holy Saturday inaugurates the Paschal celebration, for the liturgical cycle of the day always begins in the evening. In the past, this service constituted the first part of the great Paschal vigil during which the catechumens were baptized in the “baptisterion” and led in procession back into the church for participation in their first Divine Liturgy, the Paschal Eucharist. Later, with the number of catechumens increasing, the first baptismal part of the Paschal celebration was disconnected from the liturgy of the Paschal night and formed our pre-paschal service: Vespers and the Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great which follows it. It still keeps the marks of the early celebration of Pascha as baptismal feast and that of Baptism as Paschal sacrament (death and resurrection with Jesus Christ—Romans 6).

On “Lord I Call” the Saturday Resurrectional stichiras of Tone 1 are sung, followed by the the special stichiras of Holy Saturday, which stress the death of Christ as descent into Hades, the region of death, for its destruction. But the pivotal point of the service occurs after the Entrance, when fifteen lessons from the Old Testament are read, all centered on the promise of the Resurrection, all glorifying the ultimate Victory of God, prophesied in the victorious Song of Moses after the crossing of the Red Sea (“Let us sing to the Lord, for gloriously has He been glorified”), the salvation of Jonah, and that of the three youths in the furnace.

Then the epistle is read, the same epistle that is still read at Baptism (Romans 6:3-11), in which Christ’s death and resurrection become the source of the death in us of the “old man,” the resurrection of the new, whose life is in the Risen Lord. During the special verses sung after the epistle, “Arise, O God, and judge the earth,” the dark lenten vestments are put aside and the clergy vest in the bright white ones, so that when the celebrant appears with the Gospel the light of Resurrection is truly made visible in us, the “Rejoice” with which the Risen Christ greeted the women at the grave is experienced as being directed at us.

The Liturgy of Saint Basil continues in this white and joyful light, revealing the Tomb of Christ as the Life-giving Tomb, introducing us into the ultimate reality of Christ’s Resurrection, communicating His life to us, the children of fallen Adam.

One can and must say that of all services of the Church that are inspiring, meaningful, revealing, this one: the Vespers and Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great and Holy Saturday is truly the liturgical climax of the Church. If one opens one’s heart and mind to it and accepts its meaning and its light, the very truth of Orthodoxy is given by it, the taste and the joy of that new life which shines forth from the grave.

Rev. Alexander Schmemann

The Hieromartyr Antipas, a disciple of the holy Apostle John the Theologian (September 26), was bishop of the Church of Pergamum during the reign of the emperor Nero (54-68).

During these times, everyone who would not offer sacrifice to the idols lived under threat of either exile or execution by order of the emperor. On the island of Patmos (in the Aegean Sea) the holy Apostle John the Theologian was imprisoned, he to whom the Lord revealed the future judgment of the world and of Holy Church.

“And to the angel of the Church of Pergamum write: the words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword. I know where you live, where the throne of Satan is, and you cleave unto My Name, and have not renounced My faith, even in those days when Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells” (Rev 2:12-13).

By his personal example, firm faith and constant preaching about Christ, Saint Antipas began to turn the people of Pergamum from offering sacrifice to idols. The pagan priests reproached the bishop for leading the people away from their ancestral gods, and they demanded that he stop preaching about Christ and offer sacrifice to the idols instead.

Saint Antipas calmly answered that he was not about to serve the demons that fled from him, a mere mortal. He said he worshiped the Lord Almighty, and he would continue to worship the Creator of all, with His Only-Begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit. The pagan priests retorted that their gods existed from of old, whereas Christ was not from of old but was crucified under Pontius Pilate as a criminal. The saint replied that the pagan gods were the work of human hands and that everything said about them was filled with iniquities and vices. He steadfastly confessed his faith in the Son of God, incarnate of the Most Holy Virgin.

The enraged pagan priests dragged the Hieromartyr Antipas to the temple of Artemis and threw him into a red-hot copper bull, where usually they put the sacrifices to the idols. In the red-hot furnace the martyr prayed loudly to God, imploring Him to receive his soul and to strengthen the faith of the Christians. He went to the Lord peacefully, as if he were going to sleep (+ ca. 68).

At night Christians took the body of the Hieromartyr Antipas, which was untouched by the fire. They buried him at Pergamum. The tomb of the hieromartyr became a font of miracles and of healings from various sicknesses.

We pray to the Hieromartyr Antipas for relief from toothache, and diseases of the teeth.

Saint James of Zheleznoborov was born in the second half of the XIV century, a son of the noble Anosov (or Amosov) line, which had their lands at Galich (Kostroma Province) As a young man he became the disciple of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, who tonsured him, and he remained at Holy Trinity Monastery for several years. In 1392, with his Elder's blessing, Saint James retreated into the forest, seeking solitude at a place on the banks of the Tebza River, which was known as Iron Pines (Железный Борок) because of the deposits of iron ore in the Kostroma region.

The sanctity of his life, worthy of admiration, was already known during his lifetime. In 1415 Sophia (Synklētikḗ in monasticism, + 1453), the wife of Great Prince Basil (1389-1425), became seriously ill before giving birth. The Prince sent a message to Saint James begging him to pray for his wife, and asking him if she would live. The Saint advised him to pray to the Holy Martyr Longinus, and predicted the birth of his son, Basil the Dark. In 1450, that child, Great Prince Basil the Dark (1425-1462), visited the Monastery of Saint James and prayed there to give thanks for his victory over Prince Dēmḗtrios Shemyaka.

The grateful Prince Basil the Dark rewarded Saint James and gave him money to build a Monastery dedicated to the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple, with a church in honor of the Holy Prophet and Forerunner John. Then the Tatars lay waste to the area around Galich. Saint James went deep into the forest with his disciples. When they returned, they found the Monastery in ruins. Everything had to be rebuilt.

The Saint built a church dedicated to Saint Nicholas, and he dug out ponds with the brethren. Following the example of the Trinity-Saint Sergius Monastery a strict cenobitic Rule was introduced. Many of the hungry and destitute people, displaced by the Tatars, were fed at the Monastery.

After many years of common ascetical labors, the monks entreated Saint James to be their Igoumen. With great humility, he agreed to their request and journeyed to Moscow, where he was ordained as a priest. Soon after his return to the Monastery, he became severely ill. Sensing that his death was near, Saint James appointed his disciple Dosίtheos to succeed him as Igoumen of the Monastery.

After partaking of the Holy Mysteries and giving the monks his final blessing, Saint James reposed on April 11, 1442 and was buried in the church of Saint John the Forerunner at the Monastery he had founded. On his tomb the monks placed his stone cross, hair shirt, and chains – evidence of his ascetical labors.

The relics of Saint James were found to be incorrupt on May 5, 1613. Now he is buried behind the left choir of the Monastery's cathedral church.

Official Church approval for the local veneration of Saint James of Zheleznoborov was granted before 1628; and the first chapel dedicated to Saint James existed as early as 1635 (in Borisoglebsky church in the city of Galich). There have been about fifty cases of sick people being healed at the relics of Saint James, including the demoniac Néphon, and the monk Theodosios, who lay paralyzed for three years, and recovered only after vowing before the Saint's relics that he would not leave the Monastery. Following these events a special icon of Saint James, with fifteen scenes from his life, was commissioned. On the side panels of the Icon some of the most famous healings were depicted (this Icon disappeared after the closure of the Monastery during the Soviet period).

The last miracles were recorded in the early twenties of the XX century, when Hieromonk Joasaph (Sazonov) served a Moleben before the Saint's relics. These events served as an excuse for Hieromonk Joasaph's arrest in 1924, when he was accused of committing "deceptive acts using the religious prejudices of the believing masses."

Saint James is commemorated on April 11, the day of his repose, on May 5, the discovery of his relics in 1613, on July 6 (Synaxis of the Radonezh Saints), and on January 23 (Synaxis of Kostroma Saints).

Saint Barsanuphius of Tver was born in the year 1495, and was from Serpukhov. He was named John in Baptism, and he was taught to read and write. While still a youth, he was captured by the Crimean Tatars. Accepting this as the Lord’s will, he meekly submitted to his masters, and dutifully accomplished the work they assigned him to do. After three years, John’s father ransomed him. He then went to Moscow and became a monk in the Andronikov Monastery, where he received the monastic name Barsanuphius.

Devoting himself to the ascetical life, he became proficient in virtue and piety. In 1544, he was appointed as igumen of the Pesnosha Monastery. Later, he went to Kazan and founded a monastery dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Lord.

While in Kazan, Archimandrite Barsanuphius was able to help Saint Gurias (December 5) in spreading Christianity among the Moslems and pagans. His knowledge of the Tatar language proved to be very useful in this work.

In 1567, Saint Barsanuphius was consecrated Bishop of Tver. He healed many sick people with his knowledge of medicine, but he also healed those suffering from infirmities of the soul.

When the God-pleaser reached old age, he returned to Kazan and to the Transfiguration Monastery which he founded. There he received the Great Schema, and he died at the monastery in 1576.

The holy relics of Saints Gurias and Barsanuphius were uncovered on October 4, 1596. They were placed in shrines in a side chapel of the church at the orders of Patriarch Job. On June 20, 1630 their grace-filled relics were transferred from the Transfiguration Monastery to the Cathedral of the Annunciation.

The Holy Martyrs Processus and Martinian were pagans and they served as guards at the Mamertine prison in Rome.

State criminals were held in this prison, among them some Christians. Watching the Christian prisoners and listening to their preaching, Processus and Martinian gradually came to the knowledge of the Savior. When the holy Apostle Peter was locked up at the Mamertine prison, Processus and Martinian came to believe in Christ. They accepted holy Baptism from the apostle and released him from prison.

The jailer Paulinus learned about this, and he demanded that Saints Processus and Martinian renounce Christ. But they fearlessly confessed Christ, and they spat at the golden statue of Jupiter. Paulinus ordered that they be slapped on the face, and then seeing the resolute stance of the holy martyrs, he subjected them to torture. The martyrs were beaten with iron rods, scorched with fire, and finally, thrown into prison.

A certain illustrious and pious woman by the name of Lucina visited them in prison and gave them help and encouragement. The torturer Paulinus was soon punished by God. He fell blind and died three days later. The son of Paulinus went to the city ruler demanding that the martyrs be put to death. Saints Processus and Martinian were beheaded by the sword (+ ca. 67).

Lucina buried the bodies of the martyrs. Today their tomb is in the south transept of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Saint Pharmuthius lived during the fourth century at the same desert monastery where Saint John (March 29) lived in asceticism within a well, to whom Saint Pharmuthius gave food.

Saint John was a disciple of Saint Gregory the Decapolite (November 20). See April 18.

Our holy Father Callinicus (Calinic) of Cernica, who served as bishop of Ramnicu Valcea in Romania was born in Bucharest on October 7, 1787, near the church of Saint Bessarion. His parents, Anthony and Flora (Floarea) Antonescu, were honest and pious people. In holy Baptism he received the name Constantine.

Constantine’s mother brought her son to church and taught him his prayers, instilling in him a deep love for the Most Holy Theotokos. When he was old enough, he was sent to school in Bucharest. In addition to the usual subjects taught at that time, he also learned Greek.

After raising her children, Flora became a nun in the monastery of Pasarea, and was given the new name Philothea. Her first son became a priest, and later he received the monastic tonsure, taking the name Acacius. It is not surprising that the younger son, Constantine, became attracted to the monastic life and wished to follow their example.

On Feast Days, Constantine loved to visit the monastery of Cernica. The igumen at that time was the most devout George, who was a disciple of Saint Paisius Velichkovsky (November 15). The Cernica monastery also followed the Rule of Saint Paisius.

In 1807, when he was twenty years old, Constantine left his home and entered the monastery. He was given into the care of Father Pimen, a master woodcarver, and one of the Spiritual Fathers of the monastery. In a short time, Constantine surprised the rest of the monks by the way he fulfilled his monastic obediences, by his prayer and fasting, and by his exceptional love and innate goodness.

The young monk continued to fulfill his obediences, and amazed the brethren with his purity, knowledge, long-suffering, kindness, and unfeigned love (2 Cor. 6:6-7). Therefore, Father Pimen decided not to wait for the full three years of monastic trial for Constantine. On November 9, 1808, with the blessing of Igumen Timothy, Brother Constantine was tonsured with the name Callinicus.

Father Callinicus prayed, fasted, fulfilled all the rules, and permitted himself only three hours of sleep each day. Because of the strictness of his life, and his good example to others, he was ordained to the diaconate on December 3, 1808. He remained under the supervision of Father Pimen, for no one may enter the Kingdom of Heaven without obedience.

Hierodeacon Callinicus, because of the strictness of his life, soon attracted the notice of Igumen Timothy. In 1813, after many of the priests at the monastery had died from cholera, Deacon Callinicus was found worthy of the holy priesthood. His ordination took place on February 4, 1813. Though at twenty-six he was younger than most of the other monks, they respected his wisdom and asked him to become their Confessor and Spiritual Father. So it was that on September 20, 1815 Metropolitan Nectarius himself made him the Spiritual Father of the monastery.

So great were his spiritual qualities that many people came to him for Confession, not only monks and laymen from various lands, but even the Metropolitan himself. They all found in him the consolation and tenderness of God. Since the humble Callinicus knew the monastery’s rules so well, Igumen Timothy also made him the Ecclesiarch.

Elder Timothy reposed on March 3, 1816, departing this life with his soul at peace. He had built a large church on the island of Saint Nicholas, and dedicated it to that saint. Although the work of painting icons in the church was only half finished, he knew that others would complete the work he had begun.

Saint Callinicus took part in this work himself. In 1812 he and his Spiritual Father Pimen went to Moldavia looking for help. Upon their return, Father Pimen went to the Holy Mountain for greater tranquility. Saint Callinicus found himself under obedience to Father Dorotheus, who was elected to replace Father Timothy as Igumen in 1816.

Since Father Dorotheus was quite old, most of the cares of the monastery rested on the shoulders of Saint Callinicus. These responsibilities did not interfere with his work of enlightening his own soul, however.

In 1817, Father Dorotheus, feeling that his end was near, sent Saint Callincus and the monk Dionysius (who spoke Turkish) to bring Father Pimen back from Mount Athos so that he could replace him as igumen. Saint Callinicus was happy to undertake this journey. Arriving on the Holy Mountain, Saint Callinicus and Father Pimen visited many of the monasteries there, observing the life of the monks. He learned many things which he later applied when he was the igumen of the monastery, and even as bishop. He listened to the counsels of the Athonite monks, both the learned and those who were humble.

After helping the monasteries with whatever they had, they celebrated the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos. Then Saint Callinicus and Father Pimen returned to Romania in 1818. When they got to Cernica, they found Father Dorotheus still alive, and he told Father Pimen to take his place. The Lord, however, decreed otherwise.

The ever-memorable Father Dorotheus fell asleep in the Lord on December 13, 1818. On the following day, the monks of Cernica elected Saint Callinicus as the next igumen. Father Pimen was not saddened by this at all. He remained as the Spiritual Father of Saint Callinicus, and until his death he continued to advise and to love his former disciple. Father Pimen was placed in charge of the monastery’s vestments, and of all the monastery’s business. He introduced some new rules to Cernica, which were similar to those he found on Mount Athos. The monks of Cernica found these rules very difficult to follow. Perhaps that is the reason why Saint Callinicus was chosen as igumen, rather than Father Pimen.

Eleven years had passed since the saint entered the monastery, and now he was thirty years old. In less than two years he had completed the iconography work in the church of Saint Nicholas on the island. He also finished the exterior of the church, and furnished it with everything needful. Seeing the zeal which Saint Callinicus had for God’s house, Metropolitan Dionysius Lupu raised him to the rank of Archimandrite.

Saint Callinicus was very patient and kind with people, but he could also be very strict when it was necessary. He counseled those who were lazy or disobedient, and he sent some of them away to other monasteries so that his monks would not be influenced by their bad example. He would not allow slander in the monastery, considering this vice to be “the death of the soul.” Abba Or says something similar. See SAYINGS OF THE DESERT FATHERS, transl. Benedicta Ward London, 1975, p. 207, # 15.

The saint fulfilled his responsibilities as igumen with great fervor, though he knew what a difficult task it was to govern men. He believed that the igumen should be “the heart of all hearts who seek him or ask him for instruction or consolation. He is the path to perfection for all the believing souls around him.”

Just as Saints Anthony the Great (January 17), Pachomius (May 15) and Macarius (Jan. 19) were responsible for many monasteries in the desert of Egypt, so was Saint Callinicus responsible for several monasteries and sketes in addition to his own: the monasteries of Pasarea, Tiganesti, Caldarusani, and the Sketes of Saint John of Tigia, Poiana Marului, Ratesti, and Ciorogirla.

The parish churches at Campina, Ghenoaia, and Tohani Buzaului were also under his authority. In the latter church, it was the prerogative of the Spiritual Father of Cernica to choose the chief priest.

Saint Callinicus was the igumen of Cernica during difficult times. In March of 1821 the uprising of Tudor Vladimirescu began. After this, the Turks attacked the country, and many of the citizens of Bucharest sought shelter in the monastery of Cernica.

Saint Callinicus received everyone with paternal love, hiding them in the cells of the church of Saint Nicholas. At this time he sent monks to the island of Saint George. On May 15 of the same year, the Turks came to the town of Catsela, which was close to the monastery. Someone informed the Turks that some rebels were hiding in the monastery. The Turks surrounded the buildings and placed cannons everywhere, intending to raze the monastery.

Learning of this danger, Saint Callinicus assembled the people and the monks in the church. After encouraging them, he prayed all night in the church with them, asking that they and the monastery might be spared. The next day he sent a monk to the Pasha at Catsela to assure him that there were only simple folk from Bucharest with women and children in the monastery. The Pasha changed his mind, and sent soldiers to protect the monastery from danger.

The supply of food for those staying in the monastery began to run low, but the monks had no more provisions. Deeply saddened, Saint Callinicus prostrated himself in front of an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos and Saint Nicholas, and prayed for assistance. When he finished praying, a miracle took place. Five carts loaded with bread and drawn by two bulls came through the monastery gates.

Another Pasha came to the monastery of Pasarea in the village of Panteleimon, and kidnapped one of the nuns. Saint Callinicus moved the rest of the nuns from Pasarea to the monastery of Snagov for their safety. He then wrote a letter of protest to the governor, who ordered the Pasha to release the nun. The Pasha swore that he would destroy the monastery of Cernica and take revenge upon Saint Callinicus. Once again, the saint learned of the Pasha’s intentions, and he prayed all night long with his clergy for the monastery to be spared.

At midnight, the Pasha was prepared to attack the monastery, but first he asked for a cup of coffee. A servant handed him the coffee, and as he did so, he shot the Pasha. The bullet struck the bag of gold coins which he wore under his shirt, and so he was not killed. In gratitude for his deliverance, he sent the gold to Saint Callinicus saying that it should be used to build a well for the monastery.

Fearing some sort of trickery, the saint told the Turks, “If you wish, and if you are telling the truth, then you yourselves should build the well next to the bridge.” Workmen built the well on the north shore of Saint George’s Island, and it is known as the Well of the Turk, to this very day.

On another occasion, the monastery cook told Saint Callinicus that they had no more flour. He replied, “Let us place our hope in the Mother of God and in Saint Nicholas, and we shall want for nothing.” The saint went to his cell to pray before the holy icons, asking Saint Nicholas to help them.

A miracle took place that evening after Vespers. A cart with two drivers came to the monastery with a load of flour. They asked Father Charalampus, the ecclesiarch, where to unload the flour which their master had sent as a gift. When the monk asked for the name of their master, they said that he wished to remain anonymous. Saint Callinicus served a Molieben of Thanksgiving to Saint Nicholas, and then went to bless the flour, which was used to bake bread for the consolation of the brethren.

In 1827, a certain man came to the monastery when Saint Callinicus was speaking to his Spiritual Father, Pimen. The man asked if he might borrow fifty lei (Romanian currency). An hour after this man had left; a young man came to Saint Callinicus and kissed his hand saying, “Holy Father, my father has died. Before his death he told me to give one thousand lei to the monastery. I do not have the full amount now, but here are five hundred lei, and later on I will bring you another five hundred lei.”

Saint Callinicus realized that the person who had requested the loan of fifty lei had been sent by God to test his mercy and his love, and so he received ten times that amount in return. Father Pimen asked him, “What were you thinking, Father Callinicus, when you gave alms to that man?”

The saint replied, “I wanted to give one hundred lei, but I did not have that much. I gave him fifty and received five hundred. As the Gospel says, ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy’ (Matt. 5:7).”

After Matins one morning in July of 1829, Saint Callinicus was in his cell reading the Life of Saint Nicholas. When he got to the sixth chapter, he fell asleep from weariness after the all-night Vigil. Suddenly, Saint George appeared in his armor and Saint Nicholas in the vestments of a bishop. Behind them was Father George, the late igumen of Cernica.

“Arise,” said Saint Nicholas, “and on this island build a church dedicated to the Holy Great Martyr George.” Saint George told him, “We will send you everything that you require.” Then Igumen George said, “Do not doubt in your heart.” They departed after saying these things.

When he woke up, Father Callinicus continued reading the Life of Saint Nicholas until he reached the end. Then he went out to visit his Spiritual Father Pimen on the small island of Saint George in order to ask him whether this vision might have been some sort of temptation from the Devil. “No, my child,” Father Pimen replied, “this is not demonic, but is really something from God. These same three individuals also appeared to me three times tonight, ordering the work to begin at once. I have just finished getting dressed so that I could pass on their instructions to you.”

At that time there were only a few cells on Saint George’s Island, among them was the cell of the late Igumen George, where Father Pimen had now taken up his residence. There was also a small church dedicated to Saint George, a gift from Bratovian. Next to this, Saint Callinicus built a large and beautiful church.

In time, the words of Saint George were fulfilled, and indeed all that was necessary was provided. Several years after the uprising of Tudor Vladimirescu, a certain Romanian noble made a secret agreement to banish the Phanariots from the country and to choose a Romanian king. They collected money and other necessities for this purpose. The funds were to be held by Bishop Ioannicius, who lived in Bucharest. The nobles told him that if their plan failed, and if they had to flee the country, that the money should be used to build a church. The holy bishop also contributed some of his own money to this sum.

In 1831, during an outbreak of cholera, Bishop Ioannicius came to Cernica and entrusted all the money to Saint Callinicus. The building of the church had already begun in 1823. It was completed in 1836 and consecrated that year on the Feast of the Transfiguration (Aug. 6).

In January of 1838, the church was destroyed by a great earthquake. The saint restored it and built cells nearby, surrounding the buildings with strong walls. This work was completed in 1842. In 1846, he began construction of a church at the Skete of Pasarea, which was consecrated the following year.

Saint Callinicus also built a church in Buesti on the Baragan River, and he built stone houses in the village for the overseers. He also built barns for Cernica Monastery’s animals. Many people were surprised when he tilled the land and planted willow trees in the middle of the field.

Several times when Alexander Ghica was governor, Saint Callinicus was selected to become Metropolitan, but he always declined. He had no wish to leave the monastery where he had labored for so many years.

About this time, someone in the monastery poisoned the saint. The brethren of the monastery were much saddened by this evil deed. Since he was near death, he advised the monks to select someone to replace him as Igumen. They chose the most devout Benjamin Katulos.

One night, as Saint Callinicus lay in bed waiting for the Lord to take him, he entreated, “O Lord my God, I did not think. I do not wish to die from poison.” At that moment he seemed to hear a voice say to him, “You will not die from poison. Arise and be well, for soon you shall become the Bishop of Ramnicu Valcea. There you will guide the church on a true course, for some have caused it to deviate from the right path.”

At once, he felt himself to be completely well. He got up and went into the church, where the monks were chanting the midnight service. They were amazed to see him fully recovered and standing in his usual place. They went to his cell after the service to ask him how he had become well all of a sudden. He shared with them everything that the voice had told him. They all rejoiced, giving glory to God.

The assigned governor of Romania, Barbu Demetrius Stirbei had just returned from the Sublime Porte (this was the official name of the gate leading to a block of buildings in Constantinople which housed government offices). He was an intelligent man and a good ruler. As such, he decided to put the Church’s affairs in order, as well. So he had bishops elected to fill sees which were vacant.

Saint Callinicus was elected Bishop of Ramnicu Valcea (a city located north and west of Bucharest) on September 14, 1850, and only with great reluctance did he accept the position. He accepted only because he did not wish to make the sovereign sad. Since he would have to leave his monastery in order to fulfill the responsibilities of a bishop, the monks elected Archimandrite Nikander to replace him.

The monks loved their Spiritual Father who had guided them on the path to salvation by his words and by his example. When he left Cernica, the great bell was rung until everyone had gathered in the church to bid the saint farewell. There were about 350 monks in the monastery at that time, and even those who were ill got up from their beds in order to receive his blessing one last time.

Saint Callinicus entered the church and read the Prayer of Forgiveness, asking them to maintain the rules of the Church and of the monastery. When the service had concluded, everyone left and went outside and walked to the waiting carriage, to the sound of the monastery’s bells. Many were weeping, and even the hardest hearts were softened. Saint Callinicus took several monks with him so that they might assist at the Divine Services in the diocese. In this manner the saint left the monastery of Cernica where he had lived for almost 43 years, serving as Igumen for 32 of those years. As the carriage bore him away, Saint Callinicus looked out the window at the domes of the monastery’s two churches. As he remembered his life in this place, his eyes filled with tears.

Ramnicu Valcea, the see of the diocese, was in Craiova, the capital of the province of Olteni. During the long journey, he would stop at several towns and villages, where the people greeted him with the traditional bread and salt. At Craiova the church bells rang, and many people sang songs written in his honor. So many people came to see him that the church of the holy Great Martyr Demetrius could not contain them all. Prayers were offered for the new bishop’s health, and official representatives of the city’s clergy and lay leaders congratulated him and wished him success in his archpastoral ministry.

Saint Callinicus began his work the next day, visiting churches and monasteries, and correcting those things that were not according to the proper order of the Church. His door was always open to the poor and downtrodden, and he taught his flock by word and by personal example.

Things continued in this way until 1854 when war broke out between Russia and the Turks. These were also difficult times for Romania, because the Turks entered the province of Olteni on July 18. Even though Saint Callinicus had been ordered to return to Bucharest with his clergy and staff, he went instead to Ramnicu Valcea, the former See of the diocese. The church and its surrounding buildings had been damaged when a fire broke out there on March 27, 1847. Saint Callinicus was able to restore everything in two years.

The holy bishop was also a writer. He composed a “Lamentation,” various poems, and an “Instruction” for monks, in addition to a Chronicle of the events of 1821. At the same time that the See was returned to Ramnicu Valcea from Craiova, Saint Callinicus set up a printing press so that he could print service books for the churches, and spiritual books for the benefit of the faithful.

The saint had the gift of working miracles, and many people were aware of this at the time. A young monk who was close to him and was able to observe his holy life said of him, “I was struck by his spiritual life, because I had read a great deal concerning the lives of other Holy Fathers. I understood then that I was serving a living saint.”

Saint Callinicus also knew the thoughts of others. The same young monk recalled that after evening prayers the bishop would call him and talk to him about faith and about his obligations as a monk. One time he was listening to the bishop and thought that His Grace might be glorified as a saint after his death. Saint Callinicus answered his unspoken thoughts, “Why do you think so highly of me? I ask God that after my death my sinful body might be returned to the earth, and not what you are thinking, my pious one.”

The monk asked his forgiveness because he had this thought about him. Then the bishop told him not to speak of his gift of discerning thoughts during his lifetime. “My son,” he said, “there are monks and laymen who are believers only in word. Their thoughts, however, are far from Christian righteousness; thus, they do not need to know what you know of me. After my death, you may tell those who are true Christians about me, through both the spoken and written word.”

Saint Callinicus once made the body of a person who was long dead turn to dust. In the summer of 1854 he went up the river Valea Jiului to the skete of Lainici. Many of the faithful from all the villages came out to receive his blessing. Among these were the sons of a certain wealthy man who had died some time before. They asked the bishop to stay in their home that night, because the next day was a Saturday and they wanted him to serve a Memorial Service for their father.

The saint agreed to stay at their home that night. With great sadness they told him that their father had reposed a long time before, but that his body had not yet turned to dust. They opened his grave three times, and had bishops and priests conduct Memorial Services for him. Since the body still had not decayed, they thought that some sort of curse had been placed on him.

The next day Saint Callinicus served the Divine Liturgy in the village church, then went to the man’s grave, which had been opened for the fourth time. The body was taken from the grave and placed by the church wall. All of his clothes looked as if they were new.

After the service the bishop read the prayer of forgiveness of all sins. As he was reading, the body began turning to dust, starting with the feet. When the prayer was finished, nothing was left of the body but a pile of dust and some white bones. Those present began to glorify God, Who had endowed Bishop Callinicus with such miraculous power.

After three days at the Skete of Lainici, Saint Callinicus set off along a mountain path for his metochion. At a certain hill, he suddenly stopped, sat down on the ground, and started to weep. One of his disciples asked if he felt ill. “No, my son,” he replied, “but I did not think that I would outlive the Elder of Cernica. Elder Nikander has fallen asleep.”

The disciple noted the exact day and time of this conversation. Later, when he went to Bucharest on business, he stopped at Cernica. There he was told that Elder Nikander had indeed reposed on the very day and at the very hour that he had spoken to Saint Callinicus in the mountains.

On another occasion, Saint Callinicus healed a woman who had been possessed by a demon. He performed this miracle in one of the churches of Ramnicu Valcea. This took place in the presence of Father Kostako, the Archpriest of that city, Archimandrite Anastasius Baldovin, and the land owner Kostako, who built the Skete of Frasinei and other sketes.

Saint Callinicus had just finished serving the Divine Liturgy when he was asked to read a prayer for a woman who was quite ill. Possessed by an evil spirit, she was restrained by four men. Her clothes were tattered and torn, and she screamed and foamed at the mouth. It was only with great difficulty that they brought her to the bishop and had her kneel.

The saint read the prayer, blessed her three times and said, “Arise, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” At once the woman got up, completely healed in soul and in body. She bowed before the holy icons and gave thanks to God. She asked for some clothes, since she could not go out in the rags she was wearing.

Saint Callinicus also healed the son of the land owner Kostako, who showed signs of epilepsy. Each day he seemed to get worse. When the young man fell to the ground foaming at the mouth the land owner went to the bishop and told him about his son. “Go home,” the saint told him, “and pray to the Mother of God.”

When Kostako reached his home he found his son praying before an icon of the Theotokos. The young man told his father and his family, “You should pray to the Mother of God, as well. Do you not see how the bishop is praying? Now I shall not be sick any more.”

Kostako went back to the bishop to thank him for this miracle. At the gate to his home Kostako met Archimandrite Anastasius Baldovin, who carried a silver reliquary containing the head of the holy Martyr Mercurius (November 24). The monk asked him where he was going. “I am going to thank the bishop, because my son has become well,” he answered.

“His Grace has sent me here with the relic of Saint Mercurius so that your son may venerate it,” said Father Anastasius. From that hour the young man was completely well.

A certain peasant in the village of Muereasca-Valcea had a daughter who was ill. She could not be brought to the bishop at the nearby Skete of Frasinei because Saint Callinicus did not allow women there. He followed the example of Saint Athanasius of Athos (July 5), who did not permit women to set foot on Mount Athos, the Garden of the All-Holy Theotokos.

A tablet had been placed at the boundary between the Skete and Muioriaska-Vylcha. The inscription read: “Callinicus, by the mercy of God Bishop of Ramnicu Valcea and Noul Severin, orders that no woman should set foot beyond this place.”

No one disobeyed the order, because the people were afraid to do so. In the summer of 1862 or 1863 a girl from Muereasca unknowingly crossed the boundary line while chasing a cow. She became ill and had fits. Her parents asked the village priest to ask for Saint Callinicus to forgive and heal her. When the bishop heard of this he agreed to go and see the girl.

Upon entering the girl’s house, Saint Callinicus found her in bed and in great pain. He asked her, “Do you recognize me?” The afflicted one nodded her head. As he caressed her head the saint told her, “You will become well; yes, you will become well. I have forgiven you; now let us pray to the Lord that He may also forgive you.” He read the Prayer of Forgiveness, and told her again, “Yes, you will be well.” The girl, of course, was healed, and news of the miracle spread throughout the district.

Saint Callinicus performed similar miracles during the seventeen years he served as Bishop of Ramnicu Valcea. When he reached the age of 80, he began to feel the approach of death. He had served the Lord for sixty-two years, and he was much weakened by all his labors, and thought that he should retire from his Episcopal duties. He decided to return to the monastery of Cernica, where he wanted to be buried.

On May 24, 1867, the saint arrived at the monastery, where he saw some of the monks he had known in his younger days. As he looked around him, he saw many reminders of his earlier accomplishments. There was Saint George’s Island, and the church of Saint George which he had built, and surrounded with strong walls. Everything in this place was dear to him, and it was fitting that he should come here to rest, and also to die.

On the second day after his arrival, Saint Callinicus went into the church and prayed for a long time in front of the holy icons. After the service, he gave out prosphora to everyone and gave them his blessing. After this, he returned to his cell, and he never left it again until the end of his life.

For nearly a year, the saint remained in his cell. On Great and Holy Thursday in 1868, he called seven priests to come and administer to him the Mystery of Holy Unction. At the end of the service he said to them, “Fathers, pray to the Lord for me, for soon we will be parted.”

On the radiant day of Christ’s Resurrection, he asked one of the priests to bring him Holy Communion. After partaking of the Holy Mysteries, he received one of the monks who wanted to obtain his blessing to travel to Ramnicu Valcea, where he was being sent.

“You will go on April the eleventh,” he told the monk, “but until then, please read the Prayer Rule for me, since in my weakness I cannot read it for myself.”

At five o’clock on the morning of the date specified, the saint asked his disciple Germanus to give him a clean shirt, for several high-ranking individuals had come to bid him farewell. Saint Callinicus also asked that a cross be placed in his hand. He kissed it and said, “Holy Cross, help me.” Placing his head on the breast of Father Germanus, he sighed three times and gave his soul to God.

Saint Callinicus had lived almost eighty-one years. He had lived for forty-three years at Cernica, spent seventeen years as bishop, and returned to Cernica in the last year of his life. About two weeks before his repose, he told the pious Anastasius Baldovin, “I have fourteen days to live, and then I shall leave you. Do not forget to clothe me in the garments which I have shown you.”

Saint Callinicus fell asleep in the Lord on April 11, 1868. Not only did he know the time of his own death, but also foresaw the date of the repose of Metropolitan Niphon, his spiritual child. When the Metropolitan came to confess to him, the saint spoke with him for some time. When the Metropolitan left, Father Germanus entered the cell of Saint Callinicus. The saint told him that there was hope that Niphon would live for another seven years. “My son,” he continued, “seven years after they dig me up, Metropolitan Niphon himself will be placed in the grave.”

So it came to pass. Seven years later, on May 5, 1875, Metropolitan Niphon reposed.

Saint Callinicus also made predictions concerning the Romanian land. He prophesied that a foreign prince would be placed on the throne, that in 1877 the Russian Tsar would cross the Danube with his army and do battle with the Turks, and that there would be a great war, “such as there has never been upon the earth (World War I).”

News of the saint’s repose spread quickly to Bucharest, and to other cities and towns. Many people came to Cernica to see the holy bishop for the last time.

Saint Callinicus was dressed in the vestments he had received as a gift from Savva Brancoveanu when he was consecrated as bishop. He was brought to the church seated in a chair, holding the Gospel and a staff in his hands. He remained there for two days.

On Saturday, April 16, 1868, Metropolitan Niphon arrived at Cernica with four bishops, and chanted the service for the departure of a soul together with all the clergy of the monastery. Afterward, Saint Callinicus was buried in the narthex of the church of Saint George.

Saint Callinicus died in poverty, for he gave everything away to widows and orphans, donated funds for the building of churches, and also for other charitable purposes. Though he renounced worldly riches, he had acquired great spiritual treasures during the course of his holy and God-pleasing life. Through the prayers of Saint Callinicus, let us strive to lay up for ourselves similar spiritual treasures, holy and incorruptible, in the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 6:19-21). Amen.

Great and Holy Friday

On Great and Holy Friday, Christ died on the Cross. He gave up His spirit with the words: “It is finished” (John 19:30). These words are better understood when rendered: “It is consummated.” He had accomplished the work for which His heavenly Father had sent Him into the world. He became a man in the fullest sense of the word. He accepted the baptism of repentance from John in the Jordan River. He assumed the whole human condition, experiencing all its alienation, agony, and suffering, concluding with the lowly death on the Cross. He perfectly fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

“Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he has poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

(Isaiah 53:12)

The Man of Sorrows

On the Cross Jesus thus became “the man of sorrows; acquainted with grief” whom the prophet Isaiah had foretold. He was “despised and forsaken by men” and “smitten by God, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:3-4). He became the one with “no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2). His appearance was “marred beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the sons of men” (Isaiah 52:14). All these Messianic prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus as he hung from the Cross.

As the end approached, He cried: “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). This cry indicated His complete identification with the human condition. He had totally embraced the despised, forsaken and smitten condition of suffering and death—alienation from God. He was truly the man of sorrows.

Yet, it is important to note that Jesus’ cry of anguish from the Cross was not a sign of His loss of faith in His Father. The words which He exclaimed are the first verse of Psalm 22, a messianic Psalm. The first part of the Psalm foretells the anguish, suffering and death of the Messiah. The second part is a song of praise to God. It predicts the final victory of the Messiah.

The Formal Charges

The death of Christ had been sought by the religious leaders in Jerusalem from the earliest days of His public ministry. The formal charges made against Him usually fell into the following two categories:

1) violation of the Law of the Old Testament, e.g., breaking the Sabbath rest;
2) blasphemy: making Himself equal with God.

Matters were hastened (consummated) by the moment of truth which followed His entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. He had the people behind Him. He spoke plainly. He said that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. He chastised the scribes and Pharisees for reducing religion to a purely external affair;

“You are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matthew 23:27-28).

It was the second formal charge; however, that became the basis for His conviction.

The Religious Trial

Christ’s conviction and death sentence required two trials: religious and political. The religious trial was first and took place during the night immediately after His arrest. After considerable difficulty in finding witnesses for the prosecution who actually agreed in their testimony, Caiaphas, the high priest, asked Jesus the essential question: “Are you Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus, who had remained silent to this point, now responded directly:

“I am; and you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:61-62).

Jesus’ reply recalled the many other statements He had made beginning with the words, “I am.” “I am the bread of life . . . I am the light of the world. . . I am the way, the truth, and the life. . . before Abraham was, I am.” (John 6 through 15). The use of these words themselves was considered blasphemous by the religious leaders. The words were the Name of God. By using them as His own Name, Jesus positively identified Himself with God. From the burning bush the voice of God had disclosed these words to Moses as the Divine Name:

“Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:13-14).

Now Jesus, as He had done on many other occasions, used them as His own Name. The high priest immediately tore his mantle and “they all condemned Him as deserving death” (Mark 14:64). In their view He had violated the Law of the Old Testament:

“He who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall be put to death” (Leviticus 24:16).

The Political Trial

The Jewish religious leaders lacked the actual authority to carry out the above law: to put a man to death. Such authority belonged to the Roman civil administration. Jesus had carefully kept His activity free of political implications. He refused the temptation of Satan to rule the kingdoms of the world by the sword (Luke 4: 1-12). He often charged His disciples and others to tell no one that He was , the Christ, because of the political overtones that this title carried for many (Matthew 16: 13-20). He rebuked Peter, calling him Satan, when the disciple hinted at His swerving from the true nature of His mission (Matthew 16:23). To Pilate, the spineless and indifferent Roman Governor, He said plainly: “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). Jesus was not a political revolutionary who came to free the people from Roman control and establish a new kingdom based on worldly power.

Nevertheless, the religious leaders, acting in agreement with the masses, devised political charges against Him in order to get their way. They presented Christ to the Romans as a political , leader, the “King of the Jews” in a worldly sense, a threat to Roman rule and a challenge to Caesar. Pilate became fearful of his own position as he heard the charges and saw the seething mobs. Therefore, despite his avowed testimony to Jesus’ innocence, he passed formal sentence, “washed his hands” of the matter, and turned Jesus over to be crucified (John 19:16).

Crucifixion—The Triumph of Evil

Before succumbing to this cruel Roman method of executing political criminals, Jesus suffered still other injustices. He was stripped, mocked and beaten. He wore a “kingly” crown of thorns on His head. He carried His own cross. He was finally nailed to the cross between two thieves at a place called Golgotha (the place of the skull) outside Jerusalem. An inscription was placed above His head on the Cross to indicate the nature of His crime: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” He yielded up His spirit at about the ninth hour (3 p.m.), after hanging on the Cross for about six hours.

On Holy Friday evil triumphed. “It was night” (John 13:30) when Judas departed from the Last Supper to complete his act of betrayal, and “there was darkness over all the land” (Matthew 27:45) when Jesus was hanging on the Cross. The evil forces of this world had been massed against Christ. Unjust trials convicted Him. A criminal was released to the people instead of Him. Nails and a spear pierced His body. Bitter vinegar was given to Him to quench His thirst. Only one disciple remained faithful to Him. Finally, the tomb of another man became His place of repose after death.

The innocent Jesus was put to death on the basis of both religious and political charges. Both Jews and Gentile Romans participated in His death sentence.

“The rulers of the people have assembled against the Lord and His Christ.” (Psalm 2—the Prokeimenon of the Holy Thursday Vesperal Liturgy)

We, also, in many ways continue to participate in the death sentence given to Christ. The formal charges outlined above do not exhaust the reasons for the crucifixion. Behind the formal charges lay a host of injustices brought, on by hidden and personal motivations. Jesus openly spoke the truth about God and man. He thereby exposed the false character of the righteousness and smug security, both religious and material, claimed by many especially those in high places. The constantly occurring expositions of such smugness in our own day teach us the truly illusory nature of much so-called righteousness and security. In the deepest sense, the death of Christ was brought about by hardened, personal sin—the refusal of people to change themselves in the light of reality, which is Christ.

“He came to His very own, and His own received Him not” (John 1:11).

Especially we, the Christian people, are Christ’s very own. He continues to come to us in His Church. Each time we attempt to make the Church into something other than the eternal coming of Christ into our midst, each time we refuse to repent for our wrongs; we, too, reject Christ and participate in His death sentence.

The Vespers

The Vespers, celebrated in the Church on Holy Friday afternoon, brings to mind all of the final events of the life of Christ as mentioned above: the trial, the sentence, the scourging and mocking, the crucifixion, the death, the taking down of His body from the Cross, and the burial. As the hymnography indicates, these events remain ever-present in the Church; they constitute the today of its life.

The service is replete with readings from Scripture: three from the Old Testament and two from the New. The first of the Old Testament readings, from Exodus, speaks of Moses beholding the “back” of the glory of God—for no man can see the glory of God face to face and live. The Church uses this reading to emphasize that now, in the crucifixion and death of Christ, God is making the ultimate condescension to reveal His glory to man—from within man himself.

The death of Christ was of a wholly voluntary character. He dies not because of some necessity in His being: as the Son of God He has life in Himself! Yet, He voluntarily gave up His life as the greatest sign of God’s love for man, as the ultimate revelation of the Divine glory:

“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

The vesperal hymnography further develops the fact that God reveals His glory to us in this condescending love. The Crucifixion is the heart of such love, for the One being crucified is none other than He through whom all things have been created:

Today the Master of creation stands before Pilate. Today the Creator of all is condemned to die on the cross. . . The Redeemer of the world is slapped on the face. The Maker of all is mocked by His own servants. Glory to Thy condescension, 0 Lover of man! (Verse on “Lord I call”, and the Apostikha)

The verses also underscore the cosmic dimensions of the event taking place on the Cross. Just as God who revealed Himself to Moses is not a god, but the God of “heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible,” so the death of Jesus is not the culmination of a petty struggle in the domestic life of Palestine. Rather, it is the very center of the epic struggle between God and the Evil One, involving the whole universe:

All creation was changed by fear
when it saw Thee hanging on the cross, 0 Christ! The sun was darkened,
and the foundations of the earth were shaken.
All things suffered with the Creator of all.
0 Lord, who didst willingly endure this for us, glory to Thee!
(Verse I on “Lord, I Call”)

The second Reading from the Old Testament (Job 42:12 to the end) manifests Job as a prophetic figure of the Messiah Himself. The plight of Job is followed in the services throughout Holy Week, and is concluded with this reading. Job is the righteous servant who remains faithful to God despite trial, humiliation, and the loss of all his possessions and family. Because of his faithfulness, however, “The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning” (Job 42: 12)

The third of the Old Testamental readings is by far the most substantial (Isaiah 52:13 to 54:1). It is a prototype of the Gospel itself. Read at this moment, it positively identifies Jesus of Nazareth as the Suffering Servant, the Man of Sorrows; the Messiah of Israel.

The Epistle Reading (I Corinthians 1:18 to 2:2) speaks of Jesus crucified, a folly for the world, as the real center of our Faith. The Gospel reading, a lengthy composite taken from Matthew, Luke and John, simply narrates all the events associated with the crucifixion and burial of Christ.

All the readings obviously focus on the theme of hope. As the Lord of Glory, the fulfillment of the righteous Job, and the Messiah Himself, humiliation and death will have no final hold over Jesus. Even the parental mourning of Mary is transformed in the light of this hope:

When she who bore Thee without seed
saw Thee suspended upon the Tree,
0 Christ, the Creator and God of all,
she cried bitterly: “Where is the beauty of Thy countenance, my Son?
I cannot bear to see Thee unjustly crucified. Hasten and arise,
that I too may see Thy resurrection from the dead on the third day!
(Verse IV on “Lord I call.”)

Near the end of the Vespers, the priest vests fully in dark vestments. At the appointed time he lifts the Holy Shroud, a large icon depicting Christ lying in the tomb, from the altar table. Together with selected laymen and servers, a procession is formed and the Holy Shroud is carried to a specially prepared tomb in the center of the church. As the procession moves, the troparion is sung:

The Noble Joseph, when he had taken down Thy most pure body from the tree, wrapped it in fine linen and anointed it with spices, and placed it in a new tomb.

At this ultimate solemn moment of Vespers, the theme of hope once again occurs—this time more strongly and clearly than ever. As knees are bent and heads are bowed, and often tears are shed, another troparion is sung which penetrates through this triumph of evil, to the new day which is contained in its very midst:

The Angel came to the myrrh-bearing women at the tomb and said: “Myrrh is fitting for the dead, but Christ has shown Himself a stranger to corruption.

A new Age is dawning. Our salvation is taking place. The One who died is the same One who will rise on the third day, to “trample down death by death,” and to free us from corruption.

Therefore, at the conclusion of Holy Friday Vespers, at the end of this long day of darkness, when all things are apparently ended, our eternal hope for salvation springs forth. For Christ is indeed a stranger to corruption:

“As by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.” (I Cor. 15:21-32)

“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (Mark 8:35)

– Father Paul Lazor

The Holy Martyr Terence and his companions suffered under the emperor Decius (249-251). The emperor issued an edict commanding all subjects to offer sacrifice to the pagan idols.

When the governor of Africa Fortunianus received this edict, he gathered the people into the city square, set out cruel instruments of torture and declared that everyone without exception had to offer the sacrifice to the idols.

Many, afraid of torture, complied. However, Saint Terence and forty other Christians bravely affirmed their faith in the Savior and ridiculed the idols. Fortunianus was amazed at their boldness and he asked how they as rational people, could confess as God, One Whom the Jews crucified as a malefactor.

Saint Terence answered that their belief was in the Savior, Who voluntarily endured death on the Cross and rose on the third day. Fortunianus saw that Terence inspired the others by his example, and so he ordered him to be isolated in prison with his three closest companions: Africanus, Maximus, and Pompeius. Fortunianus was determined to force the rest of the martyrs, including Zeno, Alexander and Theodore, to renounce Christ.

Neither threats nor terrible tortures could sway the holy martyrs. They burned them with red-hot iron, they poured vinegar on the wounds, they sprinkled on salt, and they raked them with iron claws. In spite of their sufferings, the saints did not weaken in their confession of Christ, and the Lord gave them strength.

Fortunianus gave orders to lead the martyrs into the pagan temple, and once again he urged them to offer sacrifice to the idols. The valiant warriors of Christ cried out, “O Almighty God, Who once sent down fire on Sodom for its iniquity, destroy this impious temple of idolatry.” The idols fell down with a crash, and then the temple lay in ruins. The enraged governor gave orders to execute them, and the martyrs, glorifying God, bowed their necks beneath the executioner’s sword.

After the execution of the thirty-six martyrs, Fortunianus summoned Terence, Maximus, Africanus and Pompeius before him. He showed them the martyrs’ bodies and again urged them to offer sacrifice to the idols. The martyrs refused. The governor put heavy chains on them, and gave orders to starve them to death. By night, an angel of the Lord removed the martyrs’ chains and fed them.

In the morning, the guards found the saints cheerful and strong. Then Fortunianus ordered sorcerers and conjurers to carry snakes and all kinds of poisonous creatures into the prison. The guards looked into the cell through an opening in the ceiling and saw the martyrs unharmed, praying, and the snakes crawling at their feet. When the sorcerers opened the door of the prison cell, the snakes bit them. The furious Fortunianus gave orders to behead the holy martyrs. Christians took up their holy bodies and buried them with reverence outside the city.

The Holy Martyrs James the Presbyter and the deacons Azadanes and Abdikius died in Persia under the emperor Sapor in about the year 380. They were arrested together with Bishop Akepsimas (November 3). Weak from hunger, the sufferers had mustard and vinegar inserted into their nostrils. Then they were stripped and led out to stand all night in the cold.

In the morning, after new torments, the martyrs were returned to prison and beheaded.

In the 14th century, during the reign of King Bagrat V (1360-1394), Timur (Tamerlane) invaded Georgia seven times. His troops inflicted irreparable damage on the country, seizing centuries-old treasures and razing ancient churches and monasteries.

Timur’s armies ravaged Kartli, then took the king, queen, and the entire royal court captive and sent them to Karabakh (in present-day Azerbaijan). Later Timur attempted to entice King Bagrat to renounce the Christian Faith in exchange for permission to return to the throne and for the release of the other Georgian prisoners.

For some time Timur was unable to subjugate King Bagrat, but in the end, being powerless and isolated from his kinsmen, the king began to falter. He devised a sly scheme: to confess Islam before the enemy, but to remain a Christian at heart. Satisfied with King Bagrat’s decision to “convert to Islam,” Timur permitted the king to return to the throne of Kartli. At the request of King Bagrat, Timur sent twelve thousand troops with him to complete Georgia’s forcible conversion to Islam.

When they were approaching the village of Khunani in southeastern Georgia, Bagrat secretly informed his son Giorgi of everything that had happened and called upon him and his army to massacre the invaders.

The news of Bagrat’s betrayal and the ruin of his army infuriated Timur, and he called for immediate revenge. At their leader’s command, his followers destroyed everything in their path, set fire to cities and villages, devastated churches, and thus forced their way through to Kvabtakhevi Monastery.

Monastics and laymen alike were gathered in Kvabtakhevi when the enemy came thundering in. Having forced open the gate, the attackers burst into the monastery, then plundered and seized all its treasures. They captured the young and strong, carrying them away.

The old and infirm were put to the sword. As the greatest humiliation, they mocked the clergy and monastics by strapping them with sleigh bells and jumping and dancing around them.

Already drunk on the blood they had shed, the barbarians posed an ultimatum to those who remained: to renounce Christ and live or to be driven into the church and burned alive.

Faced with these terms, the faithful cried out: “Go ahead and burn our flesh—in the Heavenly Kingdom our souls will burn with a divine flame more radiant than the sun!” And in their exceeding humility, the martyrs requested that their martyrdom not be put on display: “We ask only that you not commit this sin before the eyes of men and angels. The Lord alone knows the sincerity of our will and comforts us in our righteous afflictions!”

Having been driven like beasts into the church, the martyrs raised up a final prayer to God: “In the multitude of Thy mercy shall I go into Thy house; I shall worship toward Thy holy temple in fear of Thee. O Lord, guide me in the way of Thy righteousness; because of mine enemies, make straight my way before Thee (Ps. 5:6-7) that with a pure mind I may glorify Thee forever….”

The executioners hauled in more and more wood, until the flames enveloping the church blazed as high as the heavens and the echo of crackling timber resounded through the mountains. Ensnared in a ring of fire, the blissful martyrs chanted psalms as they gave up their spirits to the Lord.

The massacre at Kvabtakhevi took place in 1386. The imprints of the martyrs’ charred bodies remain on the floor of the church to this day.

The Holy Patriarch Gregory (George Angelopoulos in the world) was born in 1745 at Dēmētsána in the Pelopónnēsos. He began his education in the village schools, since his father could not afford to send him to better schools. In 1765, he went to Athens to study under the renowned teacher Dēmḗtrios Vodas, and in 1767, he went to Smyrna to attend an ecclesiastical school. Later, he went to Patmos for further study, and was ordained as a Deacon in 1775 at Smyrna. Soon after, he was ordained as a Hieromonk.

In 1785 he was consecrated as a Bishop, and was chosen as the Metropolitan of Smyrna. His ministry produced much spiritual fruit, and he edified his flock by his eloquent sermons, by building schools, and by writing books. On May 1,1797 he was elected as Patriarch of Constantinople. From that day forward, he concerned himself with the internal and external order of the Patriarchate. He established rules for his household and staff, called regular meetings, and set agendas for the Synod of Bishops.

In the early XIX century, Greece was suffering under the heavy Turkish yoke, though many Greek patriots hoped to regain their independence. They found support from the Holy Patriarch, whose connections with Greek patriots were revealed only after Alexander Ypsilantis crossed the Prut River with his army against Sultan Mahmud.

The Patriarch was an ascetic who kept the fasts and devoted himself to the unceasing Prayer of the Heart. Such traits did not endear him to everyone, and he had many enemies. The Saint's austerity annoyed some bishops, who slandered him, resulting in his removal and exile to Mount Athos from 1798-1806, where he lived in the Greatest Lavra.

His second tenure as Patriarch began amid political turmoil. Once more he began a program of building churches and schools. Turkey declared war in 1807 as the result of Russian activity in the Balkans. The Sultan ordered Saint Gregory to issue an encyclical against Russia in order to prevent the Greeks from cooperating with them. He bore no malice toward Russia, but he was trying to avoid massacres and insurrections. Three times during his second Patriarchate, Saint Gregory was forced to quell Greek attempts to revolt. Nevertheless, he was deposed and exiled to the Holy Mountain in 1808.

In January 1819, the Holy Hierarch ascended the Patriarchal throne for the final time. He established a fund to help the poor of Constantinople and reorganized the Patriarchal printing press, which published many spiritual books. In March, several bishops were imprisoned or executed because of the failed insurrection of Alexander Ypsilantis in Moldavia. When the Greek Revolution began on March 25, 1821, the Turks ordered the Patriarch and his Synod to issue an anathema against Ypsilantis and those who had cooperated with him. The anathema was ignored, because the Greeks knew that it had been issued under duress.

During that Lent, jailings and executions were common. One of the Patriarch's friends advised him to flee from Constantinople to the Morea. Saint Gregory replied: "I have a premonition that the fish of the Bosphorus will eat my body, but I will die calmly, for the sake of of saving my nation."

On Holy Pascha, April 10, 1821, the Patriarch was seized at 10:00 A.M. and hanged at the gate of the Patriarchate, and then his body was thrown into the sea. That gate has remained shut ever since.

Greek sailors noticed the place where the Hieromartyr's body was abandoned, and placed it on a ship from Kephalonia under the command of Captain Macri Sklavos, and then it was taken to Odessa under the Russian flag. The Hierarch's relics were buried in the Greek church of the Holy Trinity on June 19, 1821. Patriarchal vestments were sent from Moscow for the Saint's relics, as well as a mitre and a cross, which had belonged to His Holiness Patriarch Nikon (1652-1658). The Hieromartyr Gregory V of Constantinople, held the See of Constantinople three times (1797-1799, 1806-1808, 1819-1821).

In 1871, at the request of the Greek government, permission was granted to transfer Patriarch Gregory's relics from Odessa to Athens for the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Greek independence. A special Service was composed in Athens in honor of the Hierarch, whose martyrdom heralded the triumph of Christianity in Greece.

The Hieromartyr Gregory was glorified as a Saint in 1921. The scroll on his Icon reads: "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not be entangled again with the yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1).

THURSDAY: The Last Supper

Two events shape the liturgy of Great and Holy Thursday: the Last Supper of Christ with His disciples, and the betrayal of Judas. The meaning of both is in love. The Last Supper is the ultimate revelation of God’s redeeming love for man, of love as the very essence of salvation. And the betrayal of Judas reveals that sin, death and self-destruction are also due to love, but to deviated and distorted love, love directed at that which does not deserve love. Here is the mystery of this unique day, and its liturgy, where light and darkness, joy and sorrow are so strangely mixed, challenges us with the choice on which depends the eternal destiny of each one of us. “Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was come… having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end…” (John 13:1). To understand the meaning of the Last Supper we must see it as the very end of the great movement of Divine Love which began with the creation of the world and is now to be consummated in the death and resurrection of Christ.

God is Love (1 John 4:8). And the first gift of Love was life. The meaning, the content of life was communion. To be alive man was to eat and to drink, to partake of the world. The world was thus Divine love made food, made Body of man. And being alive, i.e. partaking of the world, man was to be in communion with God, to have God as the meaning, the content and the end of his life. Communion with the God-given world was indeed communion with God. Man received his food from God and making it his body and his life, he offered the whole world to God, transformed it into life in God and with God. The love of God gave life to man, the love of man for God transformed this life into communion with God. This was paradise. Life in it was, indeed, eucharistic. Through man and his love for God the whole creation was to be sanctified and transformed into one all-embracing sacrament of Divine Presence and man was the priest of this sacrament.

But in sin man lost this eucharistic life. He lost it because he ceased to see the world as a means of Communion with God and his life as eucharist, as adoration and thanksgiving. . . He loves himself and the world for their own sake; he made himself the content and the end of his life. He thought that his hunger and thirst, i.e. his dependence of his life on the world—can be satisfied by the world as such, by food as such. But world and food, once they are deprived of their initial sacramental meaning—as means of communion with God, once they are not received for God’s sake and filled with hunger and thirst for God, once, in other words, God is no longer their real “content,” can give no life, satisfy no hunger, for they have no life in themselves… And thus by putting his love in them, man deviated his love from the only object of all love, of all hunger, of all desires. And he died. For death is the inescapable “decomposition” of life cut from its only source and content. Man thought to find life in the world and in food, but he found death. His life became communion with death, for instead of transforming the world by faith, love, and adoration into communion with God, he submitted himself entirely to the world, he ceased to be its priest and became its slave. And by his sin the whole world was made a cemetery, where people condemned to death partook of death and “sat in the region and shadow of death” (Matt. 4:16).

But if man betrayed, God remained faithful to man. He did not “turn Himself away forever from His creature whom He had made, neither did He forget the works of His hands, but He visited him in diverse manners, through the tender compassion of His mercy” (Liturgy of Saint Basil). A new Divine work began, that of redemption and salvation. And it was fulfilled in Christ, the Son of God Who in order to restore man to his pristine beauty and to restore life as communion with God, became Man, took upon Himself our nature, with its thirst and hunger, with its desire for and love of, life. And in Him life was revealed, given, accepted and fulfilled as total and perfect Eucharist, as total and perfect communion with God. He rejected the basic human temptation: to live “by bread alone”; He revealed that God and His kingdom are the real food, the real life of man. And this perfect eucharistic Life, filled with God, and, therefore Divine and immortal, He gave to all those who would believe in Him, i,e. find in Him the meaning and the content of their lives. Such is the wonderful meaning of the Last Supper. He offered Himself as the true food of man, because the Life revealed in Him is the true Life. And thus the movement of Divine Love which began in paradise with a Divine “take, eat. ..” (for eating is life for man) comes now “unto the end” with the Divine “take, eat, this is My Body…” (for God is life of man). The Last Supper is the restoration of the paradise of bliss, of life as Eucharist and Communion.

But this hour of ultimate love is also that of the ultimate betrayal. Judas leaves the light of the Upper Room and goes into darkness. “And it was night” (John 13:30). Why does he leave? Because he loves, answers the Gospel, and his fateful love is stressed again and again in the hymns of Holy Thursday. It does not matter indeed, that he loves the “silver.” Money stands here for all the deviated and distorted love which leads man into betraying God. It is, indeed, love stolen from God and Judas, therefore, is the Thief. When he does not love God and in God, man still loves and desires, for he was created to love and love is his nature, but it is then a dark and self-destroying passion and death is at its end. And each year, as we immerse ourselves into the unfathomable light and depth of Holy Thursday, the same decisive question is addressed to each one of us: do I respond to Christ’s love and accept it as my life, do I follow Judas into the darkness of his night?

The liturgy of Holy Thursday includes: a) Matins, b) Vespers and, following Vespers, the Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great. In the Cathedral Churches the special service of the Washing of Feet takes place after the Liturgy; while the deacon reads the Gospel, the Bishop washes the feet of twelve priests, reminding us that Christ’s love is the foundation of life in the Church and shapes all relations within it. It is also on Holy Thursday that Holy Chrism is consecrated by the primates of autocephalous Churches, and this also means that the new love of Christ is the gift we receive from the Holy Spirit on the day of our entrance into the Church.

At Matins the Troparion sets the theme of the day: the opposition between the love of Christ and the “insatiable desire” of Judas.

“When the glorious disciples were illumined by washing at the Supper,
Then was the impious Judas darkened with the love of silver
And to the unjust judges does he betray Thee, the just Judge.
Consider, 0 Lover of money, him who hanged himself because of it.
Do not follow the insatiable desire which dared this against the Master,
0 Lord, good to all, glory to Thee.”

After the Gospel reading (Luke 12:1-40) we are given the contemplation, the mystical and eternal meaning of the Last Supper in the beautiful canon of Saint Cosmas. Its last “irmos,” (Ninth Ode) invites us to share in the hospitality of the Lord’s banquet:

“Come, 0 ye faithful
Let us enjoy the hospitality of the Lord and the banquet of immortality
In the upper chamber with minds uplifted….”

At Vespers, the stichira on “Lord, I have cried” stress the spiritual anticlimax of Holy Thursday, the betrayal of Judas:

“Judas the slave and Knave,
The disciple and traitor,
The friend and fiend,
Was proved by his deeds,
For, as he followed the Master,
Within himself he contemplated His betrayal….”

After the Entrance, three lessons from the Old Testament:

1) Exodus 19: 10-19. God’s descent from Mount Sinai to His people as the image of God’s coming in the Eucharist.

2) Job 38:1-23, 42:1-5, God’s conversation with Job and Job’s answer: “who will utter to me what I understand not? Things too great and wonderful for me, which I knew not…”—and these “great and wonderful things” are fulfilled in the gift of Christ’s Body and Blood.

3) Isaiah 50:4-11. The beginning of the prophecies on the suffering servant of God,

The Epistle reading is from I Corinthians 11:23-32: Saint Paul’s account of the Last Supper and the meaning of communion.

The Gospel reading (the longest of the year is taken from all four Gospels and is the full story of the Last Supper, the betrayal of Judas and Christ’s arrest in the garden.

The Cherubic hymn and the hymn of Communion are replaced by the words of the prayer before Communion:

“Of Thy Mystical Supper, O Son of God, accept me today as a communicant,
For I will not speak of Thy Mystery to Thine enemies,
Neither like Judas will I give Thee a kiss;
But like the thief will I confess Thee:
Remember me, O Lord, in Thy Kingdom.”

by The Very Rev. Alexander Schmemann, S.T.D.
Professor of Liturgical Theology, Saint Vladimir’s Seminary

The Holy Martyr Eupsychius was born in the city of Caesarea in Cappadocia and received a Christian upbringing by his illustrious parents.

During the reign of Julian the Apostate (361-363), Saint Eupsychius entered into a Christian marriage.

At Caesarea there was a pagan temple to the goddess Fortuna, whom Julian the Apostate revered. As Eupsychius was going to his wedding, the pagans were offering sacrifice to the goddess Fortuna.

Saint Eupsychius was filled with zeal for the Lord, and he destroyed the temple. He knew that this would inevitably result in his punishment. Saint Eupsychius distributed all his possessions to the poor and prepared himself for martyrdom.

The enraged emperor Julian loosed his wrath not only upon Saint Eupsychius, but against all the inhabitants of this city. Some of the citizens were executed, while the more respectable were sent into exile. Christian clergy were drafted into military service, and he looted the churches of anything valuable. The city was deprived of its title Caesarea [i.e. “Imperial”] and resumed its original name of Maza. He also imposed a severe tax on the inhabitants. The emperor threatened to annihilate the city altogether, if the people did not build a new pagan temple in place of the one destroyed.

Julian tried to compel Saint Eupsychius to offer sacrifice to idols. For many days they tormented the saint on a rack, and also with iron claws. But his faith was firm, and the judge sentenced the martyr to be beheaded with a sword.

Then Julian embarked on a campaign against the Persians, marching through Cappadocia and approaching Caesarea. Danger threatened the city, since the emperor intended to raze it to its foundations. But then Saint Basil the Great (January 1), showing Julian the proper respect as sovereign authority, came out to meet him carrying with him three loaves of barley bread, which he ate. The emperor ordered his retainers to take the loaves, and to give Saint Basil a pinch of hay saying, “You have given us barley, cattle fodder. Now receive hay from us in return.”

The saint answered, “O Emperor, we bring you that which we ourselves eat, and you give us cattle feed. You mock us, since you, by your might, are not able to transform hay into bread, the essential food of mankind.”

Julian angrily retorted, “I’ll shove this hay down your throat when I return here from Persia. I shall raze this city to its very foundations, and plow over this ground and turn it into a field. I know that it was on your advice that the people dared to destroy the statues and temple of Fortuna.”

After this the emperor continued on his way, but soon perished in his campaign against the Persians. He was struck down in the year 363 by the holy Great Martyr Mercurius (November 24).

After the emperor’s demise, the Christians of the city of Caesarea built a splendid church over the grave of Saint Eupsychius, and from his holy relics they received help and healing.

The Holy Martyrs Bishop Desan, Presbyter Mariabus, Abdiesus, and 270 others were put to death under the Persian emperor Sapor II. Imprisoned, they refused to turn away from the Christian Faith. In their number also was the Martyr Ia, who is commemorated also on September 11.

Monk Martyr Archimandrite Bademus (Vadim) was born in the fourth century in the Persian city of Bithlapata, and was descended from a rich and illustrious family. In his youth, he was enlightened with the Christian teaching. The saint gave away all his wealth to the poor and withdrew into the wilderness, where he founded a monastery. He would go up on a mountain for solitary prayer, and once was permitted to behold the Glory of God.

During this period the Persian emperor Sapor (310-381) began to persecute Christians. They arrested Saint Bademus and his seven disciples, and tortured them in prison, hoping that they would renounce Christ and worship the sun and fire. But Saint Bademus and his disciples held firmly to the Christian Faith. The confessors spent four months in jail. All this time Saint Bademus was a spiritual leader and support for the Christians living in Persia.

One of the associates of the emperor Sapor, Nirsanes, was a Christian and suffered imprisonment for this. He did not hold up under torture and denied Christ, promising to fulfill whatever the emperor commanded. Sapor demanded that Nirsanes personally cut off the head of Saint Bademus. For this he was promised a reprieve and great rewards. Nirsanes was not able to overcome his fear of new tortures, and he agreed to follow the path of betrayal walked by Judas.

When they brought Saint Bademus to him, he took the sword and turned toward him, but overcome by conscience, he trembled and stood petrified. Saint Bademus said to him, “Has your wickedness now reached this point, Nirsanes, that you should not only renounce God, but also murder His servants? Woe to you, accursed one! What will you do on that day when you stand before the Dread Judgment Seat? What answer will you give to God? I am prepared to die for Christ, but I don’t want to receive death at your hands.”

Nirsanes struck with the sword, but his hands shook, and he could not behead the saint immediately, and the fire-worshippers began to call him a coward. The holy martyr Bademus stood motionless, enduring many terrible blows, until the murderer succeeded in cutting off his head.

The just punishment for his misdeeds were not slow in overtaking the hapless fellow. Tormented by his conscience, he did away with himself, throwing himself on a sword. After the death of the emperor Sapor, the seven disciples of Saint Bademus were released from prison.

Saint Eleni (who was also called Susanna) is one of the New Martyrs of Lesbos who are commemorated on Bright Tuesday. She was Saint Irene’s older cousin, and suffered along with Saints Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene on April 9, 1463 (Bright Tuesday).

On November 12, 1961 Mrs. Basilike Rallis had a dream in which she saw herself by the church at Karyes near the town of Thermi on the Greek island of Lesbos. As she looked inside the church, she saw a young girl about fourteen or fifteen years old, with a dark complexion and dark hair. Since the girl was praying, Mrs Rallis also began to pray. The girl turned to her and said, “Do you know who I am? I am a martyr. Not like Renoula (a diminutive form of Irene), of course, but if you only knew what I endured! I lived with the mayor’s family, and I was also with them when the Turks tortured them here. They mistreated me and gave me such a horrible beating that I died from the pains. My name is Eleni.”

The saint also told Mrs Rallis about an icon of the Mother of God that she had been asking about, revealing to her the place where it would be found.

When she awoke, Mrs Rallis was reluctant to mention this dream to anyone. She said to herself, “If there really is another martyr named Eleni, I’ll see her again. Maybe someone else will see her, too, then I’ll tell. But who was this Eleni who lived with the mayor’s family? Perhaps she was their servant.”

The next night, she dreamed that she was in the village church. She saw three clerics coming out through the left door of the altar. She made the Sign of the Cross at once, for she thought that Satan might be tempting her. Then she saw the three clerics make the Sign of the Cross, too. They looked at her and smiled as they slowly proceeded to the center of the church.

“I recognized Saint Raphael and Saint Nicholas right away,” Mrs Rallis recalled, “but did not know the other saint. He was tall, middle-aged with a long grey beard and a lordly air about him.”

At that moment, a girl with a round face came out by the same door. She was beautiful, and she wore a rose-colored dress. Mrs Rallis approached her and, kneeling before her, she asked, “Are you also a saint?”

“Yes,” the girl replied. “Sit down beside me, watch quietly and I will explain some things to you.”

Then other people began to come out from the same door and approached the saints. First, a man of medium height with civilian clothes and a long grey jacket. The girl said to Mrs Rallis, “The teacher, Theodore.” He was followed by another well-formed man. The saint said, “The mayor, Basil (Saint Irene’s father).” Then a tall, stout woman of about forty came forth with two girls whom Mrs Rallis recognized at once.They were Saints Irene and Eleni, of whom she had dreamt the night before.

The unknown saint who had appeared with Saints Raphael and Nicholas identified the tall woman as Maria, the mayor’s wife, and the two girls as Renoula and Eleni. He asked Mrs Rallis, “Why, when you dreamed about her last evening, did you say that you would not say anything about it to anyone? Eleni is also a martyr, and she wishes to be remembered. She was not the mayor’s servant, but his orphaned niece who lived with them. Her proper name, which she signed on papers, was Eleni. However, they also called her Susanna. She also had that name.”

Mrs Rallis slowly approached Saint Irene. She embraced her and began to weep, saying, “O Renoula, my tortured little girl, how could these heartless evil-doers burn you?” Then Saint Irene also started to cry.

When Mrs Rallis woke up, her eyes were filled with tears, and she thought that she would faint. So powerful was the dream that she later said, “Ah, that tortured child! How I ached for her! Every time I go to Karyes I will sit by her little tomb and I will mourn as if she were my own child. Just think, they tortured the child in front of her father, in front of her mother who bore her. It seems to me that there does not exist a more terrible martyrdom for parents.”

The Newly-Appeared Martyrs of Lesbos are also commemorated on April 9. Detailed accounts of these saints may be found in A GREAT SIGN (in Greek) by Photios Kontoglou (Astir, 1964).

Newly-Appeared Martyrs of Lesbos, Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene were martyred by the Turks on Bright Tuesday (April 9, 1463) ten years after the Fall of Constantinople. For nearly 500 years, they were forgotten by the people of Lesbos, but “the righteous Judge… opened the things that were hid” (2 Macc. 12:41).

For centuries the people of Lesbos would go on Bright Tuesday to the ruins of a monastery near Thermi, a village northwest of the capital, Mytilene. As time passed, however, no one could remember the reason for the annual pilgrimage. There was a vague recollection that once there had been a monastery on that spot, and that the monks had been killed by the Turks.

In 1959, a pious man named Angelos Rallis decided to build a chapel near the ruins of the monastery. On July 3 of that year, workmen discovered the relics of Saint Raphael while clearing the ground. Soon, the saints began appearing to various inhabitants of Lesbos and revealed the details of their lives and martyrdom. These accounts form the basis of Photios Kontoglou’s 1962 book A GREAT SIGN (in Greek).

Saint Raphael was born on the island of Ithaka around 1410, and was raised by pious parents. His baptismal name was George, but he was named Raphael when he became a monk. He was ordained to the holy priesthood, and later attained the offices of Archimandrite and Chancellor.

In 1453, Saint Raphael was living in Macedonia with his fellow monastic, the deacon Nicholas, a native of Thessalonica. In 1454, the Turks invaded Thrace, so the two monks fled to the island of Lesbos. They settled in the Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos near Thermi, where Saint Raphael became the igumen.

In the spring of 1463, the Turks raided the monastery and captured the monks. They were tortured from Holy Thursday until Bright Tuesday. Saint Raphael was tied to a tree, and the ferocious Turks sawed through his jaw, killing him. Saint Nicholas was also tortured, and he died while witnessing his Elder’s martyrdom. He appeared to people and indicated the spot where his relics were uncovered on June 13, 1960.

Saint Irene was the twelve-year-old daughter of the village mayor, Basil. She and her family had come to the monastery to warn the monks of the invasion. The cruel Hagarenes cut off one of her arms and threw it down in front of her parents. Then the pure virgin was placed in a large earthen cask and a fire was lit under it, suffocating her within. These torments took place before the eyes of her parents, who were also put to death. Her grave and the earthen cask were found on May 12, 1961 after Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene had appeared to people and told them where to look.

Others who also received the crown of martyrdom on that day were Saint Irene’s parents Basil and Maria; Theodore, the village teacher; and Eleni, the fifteen-year-old cousin of Saint Irene.

The saints appeared separately and together, telling people that they wished to be remembered. They asked that their icon be painted, that a church service be composed for them, and they indicated the place where their holy relics could be found. Based on the descriptions of those who had seen the saints, the master iconographer Photios Kontoglou painted their icon. The ever-memorable Father Gerasimos of Little Saint Anne Skete on Mt Athos composed their church service.

Many miracles have taken place on Lesbos, and throughout the world. The saints hasten to help those who invoke them, healing the sick, consoling the sorrowful, granting relief from pain, and bringing many unbelievers and impious individuals back to the Church.

Saint Raphael is tall, middle-aged, and has a beard of moderate length. His hair is black with some grey in it. His face is majestic, expressive, and filled with heavenly grace. Saint Nicholas is short and thin, with a small blond beard. He stands before Saint Raphael with great respect. Saint Irene usually appears with a long yellow dress reaching to her feet. Her blonde hair is divided into two braids which rest on either side of her chest.

Saints Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene (and those with them) are also commemorated on Bright Tuesday. Dr. Constantine Cavarnos has given a detailed account of their life, miracles, and spiritual counsels in Volume 10 of his inspirational series Modern Orthodox Saints (Belmont, MA, 1990).

On Great and Holy Wednesday, the hymns of the Bridegroom Service remind us of the sinful woman who poured precious ointment on Christ’s head at Simon the leper’s house (Mt. 26:7).

The disciples complained about the wasteful extravagance, for the myrrh could have been sold and the money given to the poor. On this same day Judas agreed to betray the Lord for thirty pieces of silver. Because the betrayal took place on Wednesday, Orthodox Christians fast on most Wednesdays during the year.

On the other hand, the Savior declared that the woman’s actions would be remembered wherever the Gospel is preached (Mt. 26:13), for she had anointed Him in preparation for His burial (Mt. 26:12).

Saints Herodion (Rodion), Agabus, Asyncritus, Rufus, Phlegon and Hermes were among the Seventy Apostles, chosen by Christ and sent out by Him to preach (Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles: January 4).

The holy Apostle Herodion was a relative of Saint Paul, and his companion on many journeys. When Christianity had spread to the Balkan Peninsula, the Apostles Peter and Paul established Saint Herodion as Bishop of Patara. Saint Herodion zealously preached the Word of God and converted many of the Greek pagans and Jews to Christianity.

Enraged by the preaching of the disciple, the idol-worshippers and Jews with one accord fell upon Saint Herodion, and they began to beat him with sticks and pelt him with stones. One of the mob struck him with a knife, and the saint fell down. But when the murderers were gone, the Lord restored him to health unharmed.

Saint Herodion continued to accompany the Apostle Paul for many years. When the holy Apostle Peter was crucified (+ c. 67), Saint Herodion and Saint Olympos were beheaded by the sword at the same time.

The holy Apostle Agabus was endowed with the gift of prophecy. He predicted (Acts 11:27-28) the famine during the reign of the emperor Claudius (41-52), and foretold the suffering of the Apostle Paul at Jerusalem (Acts 21:11). Saint Agabus preached in many lands, and converted many pagans to Christ.

Saint Rufus, whom the holy Apostle Paul mentions in the Epistle to the Romans (Rom. 16:11-15), was bishop of the Greek city of Thebes. Saint Asyncritus (Rom. 16:14) was bishop in Hyrcania (Asia Minor). Saint Phlegon was bishop in the city of Marathon (Thrace). Saint Hermes was bishop in Dalmatia (there is another Apostle of the Seventy by the name of Hermas, who was bishop in the Thracian city of Philippopolis).

All these disciples for their intrepid service to Christ underwent fierce sufferings and were found worthy of a martyr’s crown.

Saint Niphon was a monk of the Kiev Caves Monastery, where he struggled in asceticism. In imitation of the Holy Fathers, he uprooted the passions through fasting, vigil, and prayer, and adorned himself with every virtue. He was chosen as Bishop of Novgorod when Bishop John retired to a monastery after twenty-five years of episcopal service. Saint Niphon was consecrated bishop in Kiev by Metropolitan Michael and other hierarchs.

Saint Niphon embraced his archpastoral duties with great zeal, strengthening his flock in the Orthodox Faith, and striving to prevent them from becoming separated from the Church, which is the same as being separated from Christ Himself.

The saint was also zealous in building and repairing churches. He built a new stone church in the center of Novgorod, dedicating it to the Most Holy Theotokos. He repaired the roof of the church of Holy Wisdom (Christ, the Wisdom of God), and adorned the interior with icons.

When war broke out between Novgorod and Kiev, Saint Niphon showed himself to be a peacemaker. Meeting with the leaders of both sides, he was able to pacify them and avert the war. In the same way, he always tried to settle arguments and to reconcile those who were at enmity.

He instructed his flock in the law of God, preaching to them, reproving, rebuking, and exhorting them patiently and with sound doctrine (2 Timothy 4:2) so that they might obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory (2 Timothy 2:10).

When the people of Novgorod drove away their prince, Vsevolod, they invited Prince Svyatslav to govern them. The new prince wanted to enter into a marriage which was against the Church canons. Not only did Saint Niphon refuse to perform the ceremony, he also told his clergy to regard this betrothal as unlawful. Prince Svyatoslav brought priests in from elsewhere to perform the wedding, and the holy hierarch was not afraid to denounce his behavior.

After the death of Metropolitan Michael of Kiev, the Great Prince Isaiaslav wished to have the schemamonk Clement succeed him. However, he wanted to have Clement consecrated without the blessing of the Patriarch of Constantinople.

At a council of bishops, Saint Niphon declared that he would not approve the consecration without the permission of the Patriarch of Constantinople. He reminded the other bishops that this was contrary to the tradition of the Russian Church, for Russia had received the Orthodox Faith from Constantinople. Starting in 1448, however, the Russian Church began to elect its own primate without seeking confirmation from Constantinople.

The uncanonical consecration took place despite the objections of Saint Niphon. Metropolitan Clement tried to force the saint to serve the Divine Liturgy with him, but he refused. He called Clement a wolf rather than a shepherd, for he had unjustly assumed an office which he did not deserve. Saint Niphon refused to serve with Clement, or to commemorate him during the services.

In his fury, Clement would not permit Saint Niphon to return to Novgorod. Instead, he had the saint held under house arrest at the Kiev Caves Monastery. When Isaiaslav was defeated by Prince George, Saint Niphon returned to Novgorod, where the people welcomed him with great joy.

The Patriarch of Constantinople sent a letter praising Saint Niphon for his steadfast defense of church teachings. He also sent Metropolitan Constantine to Rus in order to depose Metropolitan Clement, and to assume the see of Kiev himself.

Saint Niphon again took up residence in the Kiev Caves Monastery, where he became ill. Thirteen days before his death, he revealed to the brethren that he had had a wondrous dream. Saint Theodosius (May 3) appeared to him and announced his imminent departure from this world.

Saint Niphon reposed in peace on April 8, 1156. Now he stands before the throne of God, interceding for us before the All-Holy Trinity, to Whom be all glory, honor, and worship forever.

Saint Rufus the Obedient, Hermit of the Caves, lived at the Kiev Caves monastery during the fourteenth century. He was distinguished for his obedience and glorified as a lover of labor and fasting. He was buried in the Far Caves. He is celebrated a second time on August 28, the Synaxis of the Fathers of the Far Caves.

The Holy Martyr Pausilippus suffered under the emperor Hadrian (117-138). Denunced by the pagans, he was brought to trial before the emperor and staunchly declared himself a Christian.

They beat him with iron rods and handed over to the governor named Precius, who for a long time attempted to make the martyr offer sacrifice to idols. The martyr remained steadfast, and finally the governor gave orders to fetter him and execute him.

Along the way, Saint Pausilippus prayed fervently that the Lord would spare him from the hand of the executioner and grant him a quick death. The Lord heard him. The martyr, beaten up and weak, was suddenly filled with such strength that he shattered the iron fetters and freed himself. Tossing them aside, Saint Pausilippus thought to escape, but he died as he fled. Christians buried the body of the martyr with reverence.

Saint Celestine, Pope of Rome (422-432), a zealous champion of Orthodoxy, lived during the reign of the holy Emperor Theodosius the Younger (408-450). He received an excellent education, and he knew philosophy well, but most of all he studied the Holy Scripture and pondered over theological questions.

The virtuous life of the saint and his authority as a theologian won him the general esteem and love of the clergy and people. After the death of Saint Boniface (418-422), Saint Celestine was chosen to be the Bishop of Rome.

During this time, the heresy of Nestorius emerged. At a local Council in Rome in 430, Saint Celestine denounced this heresy and condemned Nestorius as a heretic. After the Council, Saint Celestine wrote a letter to Saint Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria (January 18), stating that if Nestorius did not renounce his false teachings after ten days, then he should be deposed and excommunicated.

Saint Celestine also sent a series of letters to the churches in Constantinople and Antioch, in which he unmasked and denounced the Nestorian heresy.

For two years after the Council, Saint Celestine proclaimed the true teaching about Christ the God-Man, and he died in peace on April 6, 432.

The appearance of this Icon dates back to the VIII century. With the help of the Mother of God, King Pelagius of Spain, won a brilliant victory over the Saracens in 718. In the same year, in the east, the Saracens were defeated by Emperor Leo the Isaurian. In remembrance of these events, a Feast Day for the Spanish Icon of the Mother of God was established. In this Icon, which is one of the "Most Pure" (Άχρáντου) type, the Mother of God is depicted seated on a throne with the Pre-eternal Child in her arms.

Information concerning another Spanish Icon, called the Abul Icon, is found under June 11.