On Wednesday of the sixth week of Pascha, we celebrate the Leavetaking of the Feast. While most Feasts have their Leavetaking on the eighth day, Pascha, the Feast of Feasts, has its Leavetaking on the thirty-ninth day. The fortieth day is the Feast of the Lord’s Ascension, which marks the end…
The Holy Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates suffered for Christ in Heraklea on February 8, 319. At the time of his sufferings the holy Great Martyr Theodore ordered his servant Varus to bury his body on the estate of his parents in Euchaita. The transfer of the relics of the Great Martyr Theodore…
The great wonderworker Saint Theodore, who was a Greek by birth, was the first Bishop of Rostov. He was consecrated as a bishop in the year 991 or 992. At that time, most of the Rostov territory was still pagan, and Saint Theodore worked tirelessly to proclaim the Gospel to the people of that area.…
The holy Princes Basil and Constantine Vsevolodovich of Yaroslavl. In their youth they lost their father, Vsevolod, who fell in battle with the Tatars (Mongols). Saint Basil, the elder brother, succeeded to the throne. As prince, he had to face a multitude of concerns, tasks and sorrows. The city…
Saint Ephraim, Patriarch of Antioch, a Syrian, was a military general under the emperors Anastasius (491-518) and Justin (518-527). The saint was distinguished for his virtue, piety, and compassion for all the destitute. In the year 526 the Lord punished Antioch for Christians falling into the…
Saint Zosimus of Phoenicia was born in the Syrian village of Synda, near the city of Tyre. He accepted monasticism and was zealous in his fasting, prayer, labors and other virtues. The monk received from God the gift of clairvoyance. When he was at Caesarea, he foresaw the terrible earthquake which…
The Yaroslavl Icon of the Mother of God became the first wonderworking Icon revealed by the Most Pure Theotokos during the Tatar-Mongol yoke. It was brought to Russia (probably from Kiev) almost immediately after Batu's invasions. In this way, the Icon of the Mother of God visited the Russian land…
This holy icon belonged to Saint Cyril of White Lake (June 9), and he kept it in his cell. Saint Cyril was living at the Simonov Monastery, but his soul yearned for solitude, and he asked the Mother of God to show him a place conducive for salvation. One night he was reading an Akathist in his cell…
Saint Tevdore was a simple priest who labored in the 16th century in the village of Kvelta. At that time the Ottoman Empire and Persia were locked in a bitter feud over control of the Near East. At the beginning of 1609 the Ottomans conquered first the city of Baghdadi, then part of Samtskhe in…