Lives of the Saints

Venerable Chariton the Confessor, Abbot of Palestine

Venerable Chariton the Confessor, Abbot of Palestine

Saint Chariton the Confessor was born at Iconium in the province of Lycaonia, and suffered there during a persecution against Christians in the reign of Emperor Aurelian (270-275). The example of the holy Protomartyr Thekla (September 24), who was also a native of his city, encouraged him to…

Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Kiev Near Caves

Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Kiev Near Caves

The Synaxis of Monastic Fathers who are venerated in the Near Caves of Saint Anthony, is now celebrated on September 28. This general commemoration was originally on the first Saturday after the Leave-taking of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (i.e. after September 21). The general…

Venerable Chariton of Syanzhemsk, Vologda

Saint Euthymius and his disciple Saint Chariton lived at the River Syanzhema during the close of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth centuries. Saint Euthymius came to the Spasokamensk monastery from the outskirts of Volokolamsk. For a long time he continued as a novice at the…

Venerable Herodion, Abbot of Iloezersk

Saint Herodion of Elias Lake and Novgorod, was a disciple of Saint Cornelius of Komel (May 19, 1537). After the death of his mentor, he settled at Elias Lake, 20 kilometers from White Lake, and there on a peninsula he built himself a cell and established a church in honor of the Nativity of the…

Prophet Baruch

Prophet Baruch

The Holy Prophet Baruch (his name means "blessed"), that courageous lover of truth, lived in the VII century B.C. He was the son of Nerias and the devoted follower and divinely-inspired secretary of the Prophet Jeremiah (May 1). When Jeremiah was imprisoned, Baruch wrote down the prophecies which…

Martyr Alexander and 30 others in Pisidia and Phrygia

The Holy Martyrs Alexander, Alpheius, Zosimus, Mark the Shepherd, Nikon, Neon, Heliodorus and others suffered for confessing the Christian Faith in various places of Asia Minor during the reign of Diocletian (284-305). Saint Mark, a shepherd, was arrested for his open confession of the Christian…

Martyr Wenceslaus, Prince of the Czechs

Martyr Wenceslaus, Prince of the Czechs

The Holy Prince Wenceslaus (Vyacheslav) of the Czechs was a grandson of the holy Martyr and Princess Ludmilla (September 16), and he was raised by her in deep piety. He began to rule at age eighteen after the death of his father Prince Bratislav (+ 920). In spite of his youthful age, he ruled…

Schema-monk Cyril and Schema-nun Maria, the parents of Saint Sergius of Radonezh

Schema-monk Cyril and Schema-nun Maria, the parents of Saint Sergius of Radonezh

Saint Cyril and his wife Maria were the parents of Saint Sergius of Radonezh (September 25). They belonged to the nobility, but more importantly, they were pious and faithful Christians who were adorned with every virtue. People were astonished when the child in Maria’s womb cried out three…