The paschal season of the Church is preceded by the season of Great Lent, which is also preceded by its own liturgical preparation. The first sign of the approach of Great Lent comes five Sundays before its beginning. On this Sunday the Gospel reading is about Zacchaeus the tax-collector. It tells…
The seventh day of the Afterfeast of Theophany falls on January 13. Many of the Church’s hymns during this period rejoice in the manifestation of God (Theophany) at Christ’s baptism in the Jordan. The voice of the Father is heard, the Son enters the water, and the Holy Spirit appears in…
The Holy Martyrs Hermylus and Stratonicus, Slavs by origin, lived at the beginning of the fourth century during a persecution against Christians by the emperor Licinius (311-324). Saint Hermylus served as deacon in the city of Singidunum (Belgrade). Condemned by Licinius to imprisonment, he was…
Irenarchus, Hermit of Rostov, was born into a peasant family in the village of Kondakovo in the Rostov district. In Baptism he received the name Elias. In his thirtieth year, he was tonsured a monk at the Rostov Saints Boris and Gleb monastery. There he began fervently to labor at monastic tasks,…
Saint Eleazar of Anzersk was born in the city of Kozelsk into the merchant family Severiukov. With the blessing of his parents he went off to the Solovki monastery, where he received monastic tonsure from the igumen Saint Irenarchus (July 17). At the monastery he displayed an astonishing artistic…
Saint Peter was slain at Hieropolis between 309—320 for confessing Christ.
Saint James, Bishop of Nisibis, was the son of prince Gefal (Armenia) and received a fine upbringing. From the time of his youth he loved solitude, and for a long time he lived in the mountains around about the city of Niziba (on the border of the Persian and Roman Empires), where he carried out…
Saint Hilary, the great opponent of Arianism, was born around 320. He was raised as a pagan, but converted to Christianity as an adult. He became Bishop of Poitiers in 350. When the emperor Constantius II attempted to impose Arianism on the western Church, Saint Hilary led a vigorous opposition to…
Saint Maximus Kavsokalyvites was educated at the church of the Most Holy Theotokos at Lampsakos. At seventeen years of age he left his parental home, became a monk, and passed his obedience under Elder Mark, the finest spiritual instructor in Macedonia. After the death of his teacher, the saint…
Little is known of Saint Elian. While some accounts hold that he came by sea from Rome and landed in Anglesey at Porth yr Yehen in Northern Wales, where he established a church around 450 AD, others claim that he was of Cornish or Breton roots and lived during the sixth century. He was said to…
Jeremiah I was Ecumenical Patriarch from 1522-1546, with one interruption in the year 1526. He was from Zitsa in Epirus, and was elected Metropolitan of Sofia before 1513. He had a limited education, but was very popular and had great administrative skills. He was elected Ecumenical Patriarch by…