This Sunday was originally dedicated to Saint Polycarp of Smyrna (February 23). After his glorification in 1368, a second commemoration of Saint Gregory Palamas (November 14) was appointed for the Second Sunday of Great Lent as a second “Triumph of Orthodoxy.” Saint Gregory Palamas,…
On the second Sunday of Great Lent, we commemorate the Synaxis of all the Venerable Fathers of the Kiev Caves Monastery: those who rest in the Near Caves of Saint Anthony (see September 28), as well as those who rest in the Far Caves of Saint Theodosios (see August 28). The Canon, which was added…
Holy Monastic Martyr Eudokia was a Samaritan, a native of the city of Heliopolis in Phoenicia (modern Baalbek), who lived during the reign of Trajan (98-117). Her pagan impiety took her off the good path, and for a long time she led a sinful life. Her soul was deadened and her heart hardened.…
Saint Martyrius of Zelenets, in the world Menas, was born in the city of Veliki Luki (Great Meadow) in the sixteenth century. His parents, Cosmas and Stephanida, died when he was just ten years old. He was raised by his spiritual Father, a priest of the city’s Annunciation church, and the…
The Holy Martyrs Nestor, Tribimius, Marcellus, and Anthony of Perge (Pérgē) in Pamphylia (Pamphylίa)1 lived during the reign of the impious Emperor Decius.2 As Christians, they fearlessly preached Christ, therefore the pagans denounced them to the governor of the region. The latter immediately…
The Holy Martyr Antonina suffered at Nicea during a persecution under the emperor Maximian (284-305). After fierce tortures, Saint Antonina was thrown into prison, but Maximian could not force the saint to renounce Christ and offer sacrifice to idols. Angels of God appeared to the holy martyr and…
Saint Marcellus and Saint Anthony were thrown into a fire, where they shone forth brighter than gold in a crucible, receiving crowns of martyrdom from Christ our God.
The Life of Saint Domnina the Younger1 was written by Theodoret of Cyrrhus in his Historia Religiosa (English title: A History of the Monks of Syria), containing the Lives of thirty ascetics. The holy virgin Domina was born in the city of Cyrrhus in Syria, to pious and God-loving parents. From a…
Saint Agapius of the Holy Mountain, was a novice in obedience to a virtuous Elder who lived in silence at the Holy Trinity kellia at Kolitsa, within the boundaries of Vatopedi on Mt. Athos. He was taken into captivity by Turks who had landed on the shore of Athos. They took him to Magnesia and…
Saint David, Patron of Wales, said to have been the son of a Welsh chieftain, lived in the latter half of the sixth century. Ordained to the priesthood, he studied under the tutorship of a disciple of Saint Germanus, who later became Bishop of the Isle of Man, and engaged in missionary work and…