Lives of the Saints

Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee <em>Beginning of the Lenten Triodion</em>

Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee Beginning of the Lenten Triodion

The Sunday after the Sunday of Zacchaeus is devoted to the Publican and the Pharisee. At Vespers the night before, the Triodion (the liturgical book used in the services of Great Lent) begins. Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee who scrupulously observed the requirements of…

Venerable Timothy of Symbola in Bithynia

Venerable Timothy of Symbola in Bithynia

Saint Timothy of Symbola was of Italian descent. He became a monk at a young age and pursued asceticism at a monastery called “Symbola”, in Asia Minor near Mount Olympus. At that time Theoctistus was the archimandrite of the monastery. Saint Timothy was the disciple of Theoctistus and…

Saint Eustathius, Archbishop of Antioch

Saint Eustathius, Archbishop of Antioch

Saint Eustathius, Archbishop of Antioch (323-331) was born in Side, Pamphylia in 324. He was Bishop of Beroea (modern Aleppo), and enjoyed the love and esteem of the people, and at the request of his flock he was elevated by the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council (325) to the See of Antioch.…

Saint George, Bishop of Amastris on the Black Sea

Saint George was born at Kromne near Amastris in Paphlagonia on the Black Sea in 750. He was the son of pious parents, Theodosios and Megethousa. After completing his primary studies in his homeland, he left for the mountain of Syrikēs, or Sērikḗs (Συρίκης ή Σηρικής). There he…

&ldquo;Kozel'shchansk&rdquo; Icon of the Mother of God

“Kozel'shchansk” Icon of the Mother of God

This Icon is one of the latest of the wonderworking icons of the Mother of God to be glorified, and one of the most revered. The event which glorified this Icon received the widest publicity, and produced the deepest impression. This was not some ancient tradition which might be denied, but it…

Saint John “Scholasticus”, Patriarch of Constantinople

Saint John Scholasticus, Patriarch of Constantinople, was born in Sirimion near Antioch, and studied law. He was ordained a priest because of his great holiness and piety. Later he was elevated to the patriarchal throne, where he spent the years 565 to 577. While still a presbyter, he compiled a…

Saint Zacharias, Patriarch of Jerusalem

Saint Zacharias, Patriarch of Jerusalem, lived from the end of the sixth to the early seventh centuries. He became Patriarch of Jerusalem in 609. In the year 614 the Persian emperor Chosroes fell upon Jerusalem, looted it, and led many Christians into captivity, including Saint Zacharias. Chosroes…

Saint Makarios of Glinsk Hermitage

The holy Elder Hieromonk Makarios (Matthew Terent'evich Sharov in the world) was born in 1802, and came from a wealthy bourgeois family in the city of Ephraimov in Tula Province. His mother was particularly devout, always walking with a prayer rope in her hands, and she raised her children in the…