In the Church’s annual liturgical cycle, Pentecost is “the last and great day.” It is the celebration by the Church of the coming of the Holy Spirit as the end—the achievement and fulfillment—of the entire history of salvation. For the same reason, however, it is also…
The Church calls Saint Constantine (306-337) “the Equal of the Apostles,” and historians call him “the Great.” He was the son of the Caesar Constantius Chlorus (305-306), who governed the lands of Gaul and Britain. His mother was Saint Helen, a Christian of humble birth. At…
The Holy Princes Constantine and his sons Michael and Theodore of Murom lived during the eleventh-twelfth centuries. Prince Constantine, a descendant of Saint Vladimir, asked his father, Prince Svyatoslav of Chernigov, to give him the city of Murom, which was inhabited by pagans, so he might…
Today we commemorate Saint Cassian's patron Saint: the Holy Emperor Constantine the Great, Equal-of-the-Apostles, who received the name Constantine at his Baptism. When Saint Cassian became a monk, he was tonsured with the new name Cassian, in honor of Saint John Cassian (February 28), (February 29…
The Celebration of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was established to commemorate the deliverance of Moscow from an invasion of Tatars led by Khan Makhmet-Girei in 1521. The Tatar hordes approached Moscow, burning and destroying Russian cities and villages, and exterminating their…
The sacred Tenderness Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was painted and brought to the Pskov Caves monastery through the efforts of the devout Pskov merchants Basil and Theodore. It was transferred it to the town of Pskov in the year 1521, and was glorified by miracles of healing in 1524. The…