In the Orthodox Church, the last Sunday before Great Lent—the day on which, at Vespers, Lent is liturgically announced and inaugurated—is called Forgiveness Sunday. On the morning of that Sunday, at the Divine Liturgy, we hear the words of Christ: “If you forgive men their…
The sixth day of the Afterfeast of the Meeting of the Lord falls on February 8. The hymns of the day speak of Christ fulfilling the Law by being brought to the Temple, and of how the Theotokos “reveals to the world its Creator, and the Giver of the Law.”
The Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates came from the city of Euchaita in Asia Minor. He was endowed with many talents, and was handsome in appearance. For his charity God enlightened him with the knowledge of Christian truth. The bravery of the saintly soldier was revealed after he, with the help of…
The Prophet Zachariah the Sickle-Seer the eleventh of the twelve Minor Prophets. He was descended from the tribe of Levi, and seems to have been a priest (Nehemiah 12:4,16). He was called to prophetic service at a young age and became, in the wondrous expression of church hymnology, “a…
Born Predislav Nemanjic, the son of Saint-King Stephen Prvovencani the First-Crowned (September 24) and the nephew of Saint Savva I, the first Archbishop of Serbia (January 14), Saint Savva II distinguished himself in monastic life by his ascetic practices, in imitation of his sainted uncle. He…
Liuba Semyonova Sukhanovskaya was born in 1860 in the Ryazan region, in the city of Pronsk, into the family of Semyon and Maria Sukhanovsky, humble and God-fearing people. Later, her younger sister Olga was born. In 1874, the Sukhanovskys moved to Ryazan and settled in a house on the corner of…