The Sunday following Pentecost is dedicated to All Saints, both those who are known to us, and those who are known only to God. There have been saints at all times, and they have come from every corner of the earth. They were Apostles, Martyrs, Prophets, Hierarchs, Monastics, and Righteous, yet all…
The “Unbreakable (or “Indestructible”) Wall” Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos is commemorated on the Sunday of All Saints. It is an XI century mosaic icon of the Blachernae type, above the main altar of Kiev's Holy Wisdom Cathedral. The Mother of God is depicted against a golden background,…
On the Seven Arrows Icon, the Most Holy Theotokos is depicted without the Divine Infant. She inclines her head toward her right shoulder, and her heart is pierced with seven arrows or swords, of which four are on the left side and three on the right. A similar image of the Mother of God is also…
The Transfer of the Relics of the Holy Martyrs, Unmercenaries and Wonderworkers, Cyrus and John from the city of Konopa, near Alexandria (where they suffered in the year 311) to the nearby village of Manuphin, took place in the year 412. This Egyptian village prompted fear in everyone, since in a…
Our holy Father Xenophon of Robeika was the disciple of Saint Barlaam of Khutyn (November 6). He became the third Igoumen of the Khutyn monastery after Igoumen Isidore (+1243), and at the insistence of Saint Anthony of Dymsk (June 24). After resigning as Igoumen, Saint Xenophon would later…
Saints Sergius and Herman settled on the island of Valaam in 1329. The brethren gathered by them spread the light of Orthodoxy in this frontier land. The Karelian people began to regard Christianity with renewed suspicion, with its authority in the fourteenth century being undermined by the Swedes,…
Saint Paul the Physician, from the city of Corinth, in his youth took monastic tonsure at one of the monasteries. Here the saint toiled much and became an experienced ascetic. Once Paul, through demonic malice, was slandered by a woman. She came to the monastery with a newborn infant and said,…
The Icon of the Mother of God, “Of the Three Hands”: In the eighth century during the time of the Iconoclasts, Saint John of Damascus (December 4) was zealous in his veneration of holy icons. Because of this, he was slandered by the emperor and iconoclast Leo III the Isaurian (717-740),…
The Hieromartyr Basil (Sitnikov) was a deacon of the Dalmatov - Saint Nicholas Church in the province of Perm. He graduated from the three classes of the religious school, and beginning in 1885, he served as a Reader. In 1898, he was ordained as a deacon, serving first at Saint John the Baptist…
Numerous Christians were slaughtered during the persecution under Diocletian and Maximian in the early IV century, and Saint Pappias was one of those arrested for preaching the Gospel. The idol-worshippers tried to force him to sacrifice to the pagan gods, but he refused to deny Christ.…
The Holy and Venerable Sergius of Paphlagonia came from the town of Niketia (Nikḗtia) in Amastrisos on the Black Sea. He belonged to an aristocratic family, and was related to the family of Empress Theodora, the wife of the iconoclastic Emperor Theophilos. Saint Sergius excelled in his studies…