Saint Pelagia the Penitent was converted to Christianity by St Nonnus, Bishop of Edessa (Saturday of Cheesefare Week). Before her acceptance of Christianity through Baptism, Pelagia was head of a dance troupe in Palestinian Antioch, living a life of frivolity and prostitution. One day Pelagia,…
Saint Dositheus, Abbot of Verkhneostrov and Pskov was a disciple of St Euphrosynus of Spasoeleazarov and Pskov (May 15). In 1470, he founded the Peter and Paul Verkhneostrov monastery at Lake Pskova, where he was igumen.
Saint Tryphon, Archimandrite of Vyatka, came of pious parents, living in the Archangelsk diocese. His parents intended to marry Tryphon off, but from his youth, he desired the monastic life, and he secretly left his home for the city of Ustiug, where he took up residence with a parish priest who…
Saint Thais of Egypt, raised by her mother in a spirit far removed from Christian piety, led a depraved and dissolute life. She was famed for her beauty, leading many on the path to perdition. The account about the prodigal Thais spread throughout all Egypt and reached even St Paphnutius, a strict…
The holy Virgin Martyr Pelagia was a fifteen-year-old girl when she suffered martyrdom in Antioch during the Diocletian persecution. When soldiers came to her home to seize her, St Pelagia jumped out the window in order to avoid defilement.
The holy New Martyr Ignatius was born in the village of Eski Zagora in the Trnovo region of Bulgaria, and was named John in Baptism. While he was still a young child, his parents George and Maria moved to the city of Philippopolis and enrolled him in a school there. Although he did well at school,…
Saint Philotheus was a native of Thessalonica, and received the monastic tonsure at an early age. After living for a time at Mt Sinai, he went to Mt Athos and became the igumen of the Great Lavra. In 1347 he became Metropolitan of Heraclea, Thrace. Later, he served as Patriarch of Constantinople…