Lives of the Saints

New Martyrs and Confessors of Butovo

New Martyrs and Confessors of Butovo

On the fourth Saturday of Pascha, the Russian Orthodox Church commemorates the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors who suffered at Butovo (Бутово). This movable feast was added to the Menaion of the Russian Orthodox Church, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexei II of Moscow…

Righteous Job the Long-Suffering

Righteous Job the Long-Suffering

The righteous Job (whose name means “persecuted”), God’s faithful servant, was the perfect image of every virtue. The son of Zarah and Bossorha (Job 42), Job was a fifth-generation descendent of Abraham. He was a truthful, righteous, patient and pious man who abstained from every…

Venerable Micah, disciple of Venerable Sergius of Radonezh

Saint Micah of Radonezh was one of the first disciples of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, and lived with him in the same cell, and under his guidance he attained a high degree of spiritual perfection. For his meekness of soul and purity of heart, Saint Micah was permitted to witness the appearance of…

Martyr Barbarus the Soldier, and those with him, in Morea

The Holy Martyrs Barbarus the Soldier, Bacchus, Callimachus and Dionysius lived during the fourth century and served in the army of the emperor Julian the Apostate. Saint Barbarus was secretly a Christian, and in a war with the Franks he gained victory in single combat against a mighty enemy…

Martyr Barbarus in Thessaly, who was a robber

The Holy Martyr Barbarus, formerly a robber, lived in Greece and for a long time he committed robberies, extortions and murders. But the Lord, Who does not desire the death of a sinner, turned him to repentance. Once, when Barbarus was sitting in a cave and gazing upon his stolen possessions, the…

Saint Seraphim of Labodeia

Saint Seraphim of Labodeia

Saint Seraphim, who struggled on Dobou mountain in Lebadeia in central Greece, was born in the village of Zeli in Boeotia in 1527, and his name in the world was Sotiris. He was the son of pious and virtuous parents, who nurtured him with the living water of the Gospel (John 4:10). From the time he…