Lives of the Saints

Saint Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople

Saint Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople

Saint Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople, a great Father and teacher of the Church, was born into a Christian family of eminent lineage in the year 329, at Arianzos (not far from the city of Cappadocian Nazianzos). His father, also named Gregory (January 1), was Bishop of…

Saint Moses, Archbishop of Novgorod

Saint Moses, Archbishop of Novgorod

Saint Moses, Archbishop of Novgorod (1325-1330, 1352-1359), in the world Metrophanes, was born at Novgorod. In his youth he secretly left his home and entered Tver’s Otroch monastery, where he became a monk. His parents found him, and at their insistence he transferred to a monastery near…

Martyr Felicitas of Rome, and her seven sons

Martyr Felicitas of Rome, and her seven sons

The Holy Martyr Felicitas with her Seven Sons, Januarius, Felix, Philip, Silvanus, Alexander, Vitalius and Marcial. Saint Felicitas was born of a rich Roman family. She boldly confessed before the emperor and civil authorities that she was a Christian. The pagan priests said that she was insulting…

Saint Publius the Ascetic of Syria

Saint Publius of Syria was born in the city of Zeugma on the Euphrates and was a senator. Renouncing the world, he gave away his possessions, became a monk, and lived an ascetical life in a cave on a mountain in the Syrian wilderness. Saint Publius founded two monasteries: one for Greeks, and…

Saint Mares the Singer in Syria

Saint Mares the Singer lived in a hut in fasting and prayer for thirty-seven years in the village of Homeron, not far from the city of Cyrrhus in Syria. He ate rough food, and wore clothes made from the hide of wild goats. He was handsome, and had a pleasant singing voice. Saint Mares reposed in…

Translation to Moscow of the Icon of the Mother of God “Assuage my Sorrow”

Translation to Moscow of the Icon of the Mother of God “Assuage my Sorrow”

The “Assuage my Sorrows” Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was glorified at Moscow by many miracles in the second half of the eighteenth century, particularly during a plague in 1771. The icon had been brought to Moscow by Cossacks in 1640 in the reign of Tsar Michael (1613-1645), and…

Icon of the Mother of God “The Unexpected Joy”

Icon of the Mother of God “The Unexpected Joy”

The “Unexpected Joy” Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, is painted in this way: in a room is an icon of the Mother of God, and beneath it a youth is kneeling at prayer. The tradition about the healing of some youth from a bodily affliction through this holy icon is recorded in the book of…

Saint Vladimir, Metropolitan of Kiev and Gallich

Saint Vladimir, Metropolitan of Kiev and Gallich

The holy Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev was the first bishop to be tortured and slain by the Communists at the time of the Russian Revolution. Basil Nikephorovich Bogoyavlensky was born in the province of Tambov of pious parents on January 1, 1848. His father, a priest, was later murdered. The…

New Martyr Auxentius of Constantinople

New Martyr Auxentius of Constantinople

The holy New Martyr Auxentius was born in 1690 in the diocese of Vellas, part of the Metropolitan district of Ioannina in Greece. When he was a young man, he moved to Constantinople with his parents and became a furrier. Later, he left his trade and went to work on the ships, leading a sinful life…

Venerable Anatole I of Optina

Saint Anatole (Zertsalov) was born with the name Alexis in the village of Bobolya on March 24, 1824. His father, Moses Kopev, was a deacon, and his mother’s name was Anna. The parents were exceptionally devout Christians who hoped that their children would enter the monastic life. Their only…

Saint Gabriel, Bishop of Imereti

Saint Gabriel, Bishop of Imereti

Bishop Gabriel (Kikodze) was born November 15, 1825, in the village of Bachvi, in the western Georgian district of Ozurgeti in Guria. His father was the priest Maxime Kikodze. From 1840 to 1845, Gabriel (Gerasime in the world) studied in Tbilisi and at the theological seminaries in Pskov and Saint…

Saint Vetranion of Tomis

Saint Vetranion (or Bretanion) lived during the IV century, and was the Bishop of Tomis, (now ConstanČ›a, Romania) in the Province of Scythia Minor.1 Little is known about his life except that he came from Cappadocia, and was elected to the See of Tomis about the year 360.2 He confessed the…