Afterfeast of the Dormition of the Mother of God
The Church continues to honor the passage of the Most Holy Theotokos from death to life. Just as Christ once dwelt in the virginal womb of His Mother, now He takes Her “to dwell in His courts.”
Lives of the Saints
Martyr Agathonicus of Nicomedia, and those with him, who suffered under Maximian
The Martyrs Agathonicus, Zoticus, Theoprepius, Acindynus, Severian, Zeno and others accepted death for Christ during the reign of the emperor Maximian (284-305). The Martyr Agathonicus was descended from the illustrious lineage of the Hypasians, and he lived at Nicomedia. Well versed in Holy…
Hieromartyr Athanasios, Venerable Anthousa, and others
Saint Anthousa lived during the reign of Emperor Valerian (253-259)1 and was from Seleukeίa in Syria. She was the daughter of wealthy pagan parents, Antoninos and Martyria (Maria). Desiring to see her teacher Bishop Athanasios at Tarsus in Cilicia, she persuaded her mother to let her go there with…
Virgin Martyr Eulalia of Barcelona and the Martyr Felix
The Martyr Eulalia lived in Spain, near the city of Barcionum (now Barcelona), and she was raised by her parents in piety and the Christian Faith. Already at fourteen years of age, the maiden spent a solitary life in her parental home with others of her own age, occupied in prayer, the reading of…
Icon of the Mother of God of Georgia
In 1622, the Persian Shah Abbas I, after the devastating invasion of Orthodox Georgia, took part of the Robe of the Lord, and some especially revered icons. Three years later, when the Russian clerk Stephen Lazarev was in Persia to do some trading, a certain person from the Shah's retinue offered…
Saint Bogolep, disciple of Saint Paisius of Uglich
Saint Bogolep lived during the XV and XVI centuries and was a disciple of Saint Paisios of Uglich (June 6). The Yaroslavl Paterikon (1912) credits Saint Bogolep with finding the wonderworking Icon of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos in 1482, which is mentioned in the Life of Saint Paisios.…
Venerable Isaac I of Optina
Saint Isaac (Antimonov) fell asleep in the Lord on August 22, 1894. The Moscow Patriarchate authorized local veneration of the Optina Elders on June 13,1996, glorifying them for universal veneration on August 7, 2000.