Lives of the Saints

Dormition of the Righteous Anna, the Mother of the Most Holy Theotokos

Dormition of the Righteous Anna, the Mother of the Most Holy Theotokos

Saint Anna was the daughter of the priest Matthan and his wife Mary. She was of the tribe of Levi and the lineage of Aaron. According to Tradition, she died peacefully in Jerusalem at age 79, before the Annunciation to the Most Holy Theotokos. During the reign of Saint Justinian the Emperor…

Holy Woman Olympias (Olympiada) the Deaconess of Constantinople

Holy Woman Olympias (Olympiada) the Deaconess of Constantinople

Saint Olympias the Deaconess was the daughter of the senator Anicius Secundus, and by her mother she was the granddaughter of the noted eparch Eulalios (he is mentioned in the life of Saint Nicholas). Before her marriage to Anicius Secundus, Olympias’s mother had been married to the Armenian…

Virgin Martyr Eupraxia of Tabenna

Virgin Martyr Eupraxia of Tabenna

Saint Eupraxia was daughter of the Constantinople dignitary Antigonos, a kinsman of the holy Emperor Theodosius the Great (379-395). Antigonus and his wife Eupraxia were pious and bestowed generous alms on the destitute. A daughter was born to them, whom they also named Eupraxia. Antigonos soon…

Venerable Makarios, Abbot of Zheltovod and Unzha

Venerable Makarios, Abbot of Zheltovod and Unzha

Our Venerable Father Makarios of Zheltovod and Unzha was born in the year 1349 at Nizhni-Novgorod into a pious family, and was baptized in the parish church of the Myrrh-bearing women. His secular name is unknown. At the age of twelve, he left his parents' home, and was tonsured at the…

Commemoration of the Holy 165 Fathers of the Fifth Ecumenical Council

Commemoration of the Holy 165 Fathers of the Fifth Ecumenical Council

The Fifth Ecumenical Council (Constantinople II) was held at Constantinople, under the holy Emperor Saint Justinian I (527-565) in the year 553, to determine the Orthodoxy of three dead bishops: Theodore of Mopsuetia, Theodoret of Cyrrhus and Ibas of Edessa, who had expressed Nestorian opinions in…