Lives of all saints commemorated on April 13

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.