God Is Calling You

(Commemorated on September 5) St. Athanasius was born at the very end of the third century, near the city of Alexandria in Egypt. One day the bishop of Alexandria was in his home gazing through a window at the beach. He was surprised to see a group of small boys moving back …

(Commemorated on December 20) St. John was born in a village in Russia in 1829. His parents were very poor but were very dedicated to the Church. Even though he was poor, as a young boy John learned to feel compassion for others in their misfortune. His neighbors frequently …

Part A. It was a time when the nation of Assyria was rising to power in the Middle East. Its capital was Nineveh, a great city so large that it would take three days for someone to walk across it. The Assyrians were beginning to conquer all the lands near them and Israel was…

(Commemorated on December 27) St. Stephen was a relative of St. Paul. He was the first of seven deacons whom the holy apostles ordained for the service of the poor in Jerusalem. This is why he is called the Archdeacon - the first, or chief, of them. St. Stephen did many…

St. Romanos was born in Syria in the fifth century. His parents were neither rich nor famous but they were good Christians and loving parents. Romanos grew up with love for God in his heart. When he grew old enough he became an altar boy and then a singer and reader in church -…

(An American folk-tale adapted from the out-of-print book The Tale of Three Trees retold by Angela Elwell Hunt, Lion Publishing 1989.) Once upon a mountaintop, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up. The first little tree…