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…
Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos by Saint Anna
The Gospels and other books of the New Testament do not mention anything about Saint Anna, the mother of the Theotokos. According to Tradition, the priest Matthan (Matthew 1:15), a resident of Bethlehem, had three daughters: Mary,1 Sobe (Sobḗ), and Anna. Mary was married in Bethlehem, where she…
According to Saint Luke’s Gospel, “And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Aser. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband for seven years from her virginity; and she was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not leave the temple,…
The Holy Princess Anna of Novgorod, wife of Great Prince Yaroslav the Wise, gave her children a true Christian upbringing, marked by a strong faith in God; and love of work, integrity and learning. Her son Mstislav later became Great Prince of Kiev, and her daughter the queen of a western European…
Saint Eleni (also called Susanna), New Martyr of Lesbos
Saint Eleni (who was also called Susanna) is one of the New Martyrs of Lesbos who are commemorated on Bright Tuesday. She was Saint Irene’s older cousin, and suffered along with Saints Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene on April 9, 1463 (Bright Tuesday). On November 12, 1961 Mrs. Basilike Rallis…
Saint Shushanik (Susanna) was the wife of the Georgian prince Varsken, the ruler of Hereti (a province of southeastern Georgia). Hereti was under Persian control at that time; Varsken was essentially the viceroy for the Persians. Having been raised in a pious Christian family, she was deeply…
Glorification of Venerable Zabulon and Sosanna, parents of Saint Nino, Enlightener of Georgia
According to Holy Tradition, Saint Nino and Great-martyr George were blood relatives. At the same time as Saint George’s martyrdom, a certain nobleman, the servant of God Zabulon, arrived in Rome from Cappadocia. Zabulon began to serve in the emperor’s army, and before long he was…
The Finding of the honored relics of the Venerable right-believing Great Princess and Nun
Anna of Kashin, Wonderworker
The Holy right-believing Princess Anna of Kashin (Euphrosynē in monasticism) reposed on October 2, 1368. On July 21, 1649, Archbishop Jonah of Kazan and some of the local clergy opened Saint Anna's tomb, and noticed that her relics were incorrupt. Several miracles of healing occurred at that…
Virgin Martyrs Archelais, Thekla, and Susanna, at Salerno
The Holy Virgin Martyrs Archelais, Thekla and Susanna sought salvation in a small monastery near Rome. During the persecution by Diocletian (284-305), the holy virgins dressed themselves in men’s clothing, cut their hair and went to the Italian province of Campania. Settling in a remote area,…
Transfer of the relics of the Right-Believing Anna of Kashin
The Holy Right-Believing Princess Anna of Kashin died on October 2, 1338. A Church council decided to glorify the holy Princess Anna as a saint, and her holy relics were uncovered on July 21, 1649. The solemn transfer of her relics from the wooden Dormition cathedral into the stone Resurrection…
Recovery of the Relics (1650) and the Second Glorification (1909) of the Holy Venerable
Right-believing Great Princess Anna of Kashin, Wonderworker
In 1677 Patriarch Joachim proposed to the Moscow Council that the veneration of Saint Anna of Kashin (October 2) throughout Russia should be discontinued because of the Old Believers Schism, which made use of the name of Saint Anna of Kashin for its own purposes. When she was buried her hand had…
Saint Anna and her son, Saint John, of Constantinople
Saint Anna and her son Saint John lived in the ninth century. Saint Anna was the daughter of a deacon of the Blachernae church in Constantinople. After the death of her husband, she dressed in men’s clothing and called herself Euthymianus. She and her son Saint John lived in asceticism in one…
Saint Joanna was the wife of Herod's household stewart Khouza (Χουζά) and she served the
Lord during His public ministry, along with some other women. She is mentioned in Luke 8:3 and 24:10. According to Tradition, she recovered the head of Saint John the Baptist after Herodias had disposed…
Saint Anna (Susanna) of Leukadio (or Leukati) was born in Constantinople in 840 during the reign of Emperor Theophilos the iconoclast (829-842), and was the daughter of a wealthy and distinguished family. She had many physical and spiritual
gifts because she was raised “in the discipline and…
Venerable Geróntios, the Founder of the Skḗtē of Saint Anna on Mount Athos
Saint Geróntios was the Igoumen of the old Bouleuterίon Monastery on Mount Athos. But since this Monastery was near the seashore and was subject to many barbarian raids, it was abandoned by the monks, who moved to other inaccessible places on Mount Athos. So Saint Geróntios and his disciple…
Virgin Martyr Susanna, and those with her, at Rome
The Holy Martyr Susanna the Virgin was the daughter of Presbyter Gavinius and a niece of the Holy Bishop Caius of Rome (283-296). She was raised in strict Christian piety and in her youthful years dedicated herself to God. The family of the saint was related to the emperor Diocletian (284-305), who…
Righteous Anna the Prophetess and Daughter of Phanuel, who met the Lord at the Temple in Jerusalem
Righteous Anna the Prophetess was descended from the tribe of Aser, and was the daughter of Phanuel. She lived with her husband for seven years until he died. After his death, Righteous Anna led a strict and pious life, “not leaving the Temple, and serving God both day and night in fasting…
Saint Shushanik (Susanna) was the wife of the Georgian prince Varsken, the ruler of Hereti.1 Having been raised in a pious Christian family, she was deeply penetrated with love and the fear of God. At that time Kartli was under heavy political pressure from Persia, and Prince Varsken visited the…
Holy and Righteous Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna
Saint Joachim, the son of Barpathir, was of the tribe of Judah, and was a descendant of King David, to whom God had revealed that the Savior of the world would be born from his seed. Saint Anna was the daughter of Matthan the priest, who was of the tribe of Levi. Saint Anna’s family came from…
Repose of the Holy Right-believing Princess Anna of Kashin
The Holy Right-believing Princess Anna of Kashin, a daughter of the Rostov prince Demetrius Borisovich, in 1294 became the wife of the holy Great Prince Michael Yaroslavich of Tver, who was murdered by the Mongol-Tatars of the Horde in 1318, (November 22). After the death of her husband, Anna…
Hieromartyr Alexander, Bishop of Adrianopolis, and the Martyrs Heraclius, Anna, Elizabeth, Theodota, and Glyceria
The third century century was a time when Christianity experienced significant growth among those who worshipped idols. Many of these were killed simply because they believed in Christ and refused to worship idols. Saint Alexander was the Bishop of Adrianopolis, who proclaimed the Gospel with…
Saint Anna and her son Saint John lived in the ninth century. Saint Anna was the daughter of a deacon of the Blachernae church in Constantinople. After the death of her husband, she dressed in men’s clothing and called herself Euthymianus. She and her son Saint John lived in asceticism in one…
The Holy Princess Anna Vsevolodna was daughter of the Kievan Great Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich (1078-1093) whose wife was daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Monomachos. She did not wish to marry, and as a virgin she took monastic tonsure in 1082 at the Andreiev Yanchinov monastery built…
Saint Anna was a noblewoman who sold all her possessions and gave the money to the poor. She received the monastic tonsure from Saint Stephen the New while he was living on Mount Auxentius in Bithynia. He sent her to live in the women’s monastery called Trichinarion (Community of…
Prophetess Hannah the mother of the Prophet Samuel
The Holy Prophetess Hannah dwelt in marriage with Elkanah, but she was childless. Elkanah took to himself another wife, Phennena, who bore him children. Hannah grieved strongly over her misfortune, and every day she prayed for an end to her barrenness, and vowed to dedicate her child to God. Once,…