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Ukrainian Orthodoxy |
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The Radiant Beauty of the Saints
Fr. Anthony Coniaris has written: "...[W]hen a saint gets to heaven, he will be surprised by three things. First, he
will be surprised to see many he did not think would be there. Second, he will be surprised that some are not there
whom he expected to see. Third, he will be surprised that he himself is there."
The veneration of Saints and prayerful requests for their help in our daily walk are essential components of Orthodox
Christian spirituality. The following meditations are gleaned and edited from various published sources and passed
through the filter of this sinner's personal experience and pastoral work. He offers them for the encouragement and
edification of fellow-sojourners on the way to the Kingdom - which has already manifested through these glorified
Brothers and Sisters of ours and which is yet to come.
A| B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | Unclassified
On some Orthodox Calendars March 25 (which is March 12 on the Julian Calendar) is the day we commemorate a prominent Old Testament Saint, Aaron, the brother of Moses the Prophet and God-seer. Aaron, together with his grandson, the Righteous Phineas.
Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Abercius, Bishop and Wonder Worker of Hierapolis
On August 30 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is August 17 on the Julian Calendar) we celebrate the memory of an early monastic Saint of Kyivan Rus’, the Venerable Alypius (he reposed in the Lord in 1114), who was especially dedicated to preserving and manifesting the image of God, which is the vocation of every Christian.
January 1 on the Gregorian calendar (which is December 19 according to the Julian calendar) marks the day of repose in 1971 of St. Amphilochius of Pochayiv, who was canonized by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) in May of 2002.
On December 6 on the Gregorian calendar (which is November 23 on the Julian), we celebrate the memory of our Holy Father among the Saints, Amphilochius of the Kyivan Caves, Bishop of Volyn’.
On October 29 (corresponds to November 11 New style) we celebrate the memory of the first of the them, the Venerable (the title of a monastic Saint) Martyr Anastasia the Roman. She is called that to distinguish her from the other Anastasia who glorified the Lord by martyrdom in the fourth century in the city of Sirmium (today it is Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia).
On January 30 on the Gregorian calendar (which is January 17 according to the Julian calendar) we celebrate the memory of one of the first Desert Fathers, St. Anthony the Great, who was the first person to be canonized who was not martyred for the Faith. Instead, he took upon himself a voluntary ongoing martyrdom, that of living a solitary monastic life in the Egyptian desert.
On August 16 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is August 3 on the Julian Calendar) we celebrate the memory of an unusual Saint – not that any Saint, or any person for that matter, is “usual”. This Saint however is linked with a rather extraordinary miracle. It is St. Anthony the Roman, Wonderworker of Novgorod.
A Letter from Afghanistan from Deacon Anthony Perkins
On December 15 on the Gregorian calendar (which is December 2 on the Julian), we celebrate the memory of our the Venerable Father, Athanasius “the Resurrected”, Recluse of the Kyivan Caves, who reposed in the Lord in 1176 and whose Relics are in the Near Caves (of St. Anthony).
Barbara (we commemorate her on December 4, which is December 17 on the Gregorian Calendar) lived and suffered during the reign of the Roman emperor Maximian (305-311).
As the liturgical cycle of immobile Feastdays is drawing to an end with the arrival of the Indiction on September 14 (which is September 1 on the Julian Calendar), the Church remembers another of Christ’s Twelve Apostles, St. Bartholomew (known also by the name Nathaniel which means “gift of God”). On September 7 (August 25 on the Julian Calendar) we celebrate the Feast of the Translation of his holy Relics.
On August 15 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is August 2 on the Julian) we celebrate the memory of one of those unusual Orthodox Saints who are called “Fools-for-Christ”. It is St. Basil, who is popularly known as “Vasyliy Blazhennyy” (literally “Basil the Blessed”). So profoundly has he been venerated that the renowned Cathedral which is one of Moscow’s most familiar sights, the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Theotokos on the Moat, is rarely known by that name but rather as “St. Basil’s Cathedral” simply because his body is buried in one of its eleven sanctuaries.
On February 24 (which is February 11 on the Julian Calendar) we celebrate the memory of a saint beloved by humans and animals, the Hieromartyr Blaise (Blasius), Bishop of Sebaste. He ministered to his flock during the reign of the Roman emperors Diocletian (284-305) and Licinius (307-324), who were fierce persecutors of Christians.
Martyr Boniface of Tarsus (Feast Day January 1)
The day February 14 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is February 1 on the Julian Calendar), on which it is common to celebrate Valentine’s Day (named after a Christian martyr of the third century, the priest St. Valentine), is also the Feast of a famous Irish Saint, the Venerable Brigid (Bridget, Brigitte or Bride are the same names) of Kildare, as celebrated according to the Julian Calendar.
On November 26 (which is November 13 on the Julian Calendar) we celebrate the memory of a great luminary of the Church. It is John Chrysostom.
Hieromartyr Clement the Pope of Rome (101)
On August 9 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is July 27 on the Julian Calendar) we celebrate the memory of five Slavs who were disciples of the Holy Brothers known as the Enlighteners of the Slavs - Saints Cyrils and Methodius of Thessalonica. These five are Saints Clement, Naum, Sava, Gorazd and Angelar. Most distinguished among these five is the one known as “Equal-to-the-Apostles”, St. Clement of Ochrid, Bishop of Greater Macedonia. It is likely that the choice of commemorating these five on this day, which is mainly dedicated to St. Panteleimon, the Holy Great-Martyr and Healer, is due to the pioneering missionary work which St. Clement directed from the St. Panteleimon Monastery which he founded in the city of Ochrid.
On the Seventh Sunday after Pascha the Holy Church commemorates the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council. This Council was convened by St. Constantine, Equal-to-the-Apostles, the Emperor of Rome who stopped all persecution of the Faith of Christ and made it the faith of his Empire. English | Ukrainian
Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine and his mother, Helena
On September 29 on the Gregorian calendar (which is September 16 on the Julian), we celebrate the memory of St. Cyprian, Metropolitan of Kyiv, whose life and ministry were quite complex as it was his task to bear his Cross during the “Time of Troubles” in the Church of Rus’.
Holy and Glorious Great Martyr Demetrius the Myrrh-streamer of Thessalonica
As last year drew to a close on December 30 (it corresponds to December 17 on the Julian calendar) the Ecclesia (the Church) celebrated the birthday into Heaven of a great Man of God, St. Dionysius of Zakynthos.
On August 21 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is August 8 on the Julian) we celebrate the memory of a Bishop who upheld and defended the Church’s veneration of Icons before the iconoclast (“icon-smashing”) emperor Leo V the Armenian. It is St. Emilian, Bishop of Cyzicus.
“Enter into yourself, dwell within your heart, for God is there.” Venerable Ephraim the Syrian
St. Epiphanius the Bishop of Cyprus
The story of the Saints we celebrate on December 24, Julian Calendar (which is January 6, Gregorian) is a stirring one. It is that of Eugenia, born in Alexandria, Egypt, to a high-ranking official, Philip, and his wife, Claudia, in the 3rd century A.D. More
On July 5 (which is June 22 on the Julian Calendar) we celebrate the memory of St. Eusebius of Samosata, a Bishop noted for his defence of the teaching about Christ proclaimed at the First Ecumenical Council held in Nicea (today Iznik in Turkey) in 325. His life gave his colleague and friend, St. Gregory the Theologian, the occasion to praise him as: “a pillar of the Church", "a gift of God" and "a rule of faith".
“We must never admit evil thoughts that fill us with sorrow and hatred…” Venerable Euthymius the Great
The saying goes that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. And a lion figures prominently in the story of a Saint who is celebrated on March 17 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is March 4 on the Julian). It is St. Gerasimus of the Jordan – so called to differentiate him from another Gerasimus, the “walking Saint” who is the Patron of the Greek Island of Kephalonia.
There are a number of Hilarions commemorated on November 3 (corresponds to October 21on the Julian Calendar). One of them is the Venerable Hilarion of the Kyiv Caves, who is usually identified with the first Ukrainian Metropolitan of Kyiv (all the previous ones since the Baptism of Rus’ in 988 had been Greeks) who was enthroned in 1051 in the splendid new Cathedral of Holy Wisdom (Sophia) and most likely reposed in 1053.
Very close to Christmas, on December 20, which is January 2 on the Gregorian Calendar, we commemorate an Apostolic Father, St. Ignatius the Godbearer, disciple of St. John the Theologian.
On June 18 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is June 5 on the Julian) we celebrate the Feast of the Translation of the Relics of the Holy Right-Believing Passion-Bearer Ihor, in Baptism George, Tonsured Gabriel, Knyaz’ of Chernihiv and Great Knyaz’ of Kyiv.
On December 9 (November 26 Julian Calendar) we celebrate the memory of another of the marvelous Saints offered to Christ by the people of Ukraine. It is that of St. Innocent, the first Bishop of Irkutsk in Siberia.
On May 14/27 the Orthodox Church commemorates the one of its great multitude of monastic saints, a man with a unique title given to him because of the consistency and dependability of his words. It is St. Isidore Tverdyslov – “Constant of Word” - who reposed in the Lord in 1474. English | Ukrainian
On December 23 (December 10 according to the Julian Calendar) we commemorate the memory of another great Saint from Ukraine. It is St. Joasaph, Bishop of Belgorod (in western Russia, 40 kilometers from the border of Ukraine).
Today (May 8/21) the Orthodox Church commemorates the Beloved Disciple, St. John (his name means “God is gracious”) the Theologian. English | Ukrainian
Today July 9 (which is June 26 according to the Julian Calendar) we celebrate the memory of a Man of God who is remembered for saying something quite different. It is Saint John, Bishop of the Goths who laboured in the Lord’s Vineyard in the eighth century at a time when the Eastern Church was assailed by the controversy over Icons. English | Ukrainian
St. John of the Ladder On the Fourth Sunday of the Great Fast the Orthodox Church commemorates a Holy Father born in the 6th century in Constantinople who became a monk around the age of 16 and laboured in the spirit in a Monastery on Mount Sinai.
St. John "the Russian" (Ukrainian)
St. John the New Martyr of Suchava
On September 13 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is August 31 on the Julian) we celebrate the memory of another Kyivan Metropolitan, John II sometimes surnamed Prodromos (Forerunner), which is the Greek surname for St. John, the Baptizer of Christ. The Metropolitan reposed in the Lord on this day in 1089, having served at his post since 1077.
On November 25 on the Gregorian calendar (which is November 12 on the Julian), we celebrate the memory of our Holy Father, St. John the Merciful (also called St. John the Compassionate, the name of an Orthodox benevolent mission-house in Toronto).
For May 30 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is May 17 on the Julian) the Ridna Nyva of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada lists another twentieth-century Ukrainian Saint – the Righteous Priest Jonah Moyseyevych Atamansky of Odesa, on the day of his repose in the Lord in 1924.
On the Sunday after the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ, we commemorate the Righteous Elder Joseph the Betrothed, to whom Ukrainian carols lovingly refer by the title “the Righteous Joseph” (“Pravednyi Yosyf”) or “the elderly Joseph” )”Yosyk Satren’kyi”).
Today July 2 (which is June 19 according to the Julian Calendar) we celebrate the memory of a wonderful Man of God, the Holy Apostle Jude, who was – according to Orthodox hagiographical sources – the “stepbrother” of our Lord, being the son of Joseph and Salome, his wife. . . .English | Ukrainian
On October 11 on the Gregorian calendar (which is September 28 on the Julian), we celebrate the Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Kyivan Monastery of the Caves, whose Relics are in the Near Caves (of St. Anthony). There are 70 of them. The 71st person whose Relics repose in these Caves is a young girl, the Knyahynia (Princess) St. Juliana (a popular form of the name among Ukrainians is “Ulyana”) Ol’shans’ka who departed this earthly life at the age of 16.
On May 9 (April 26 on the Julian Calendar) one of the Saints whose memory is celebrated (on the day he reposed, or was “born into Heaven”) is Stephen Khrap, a man born of a Russian father, Simeon, a cleric of the Cathedral, and Maria, a Komi mother, in Ustiug.
January 19 (which is January 6 on the Julian Calendar), the Feast of Theophany, marked the 58th anniversary of the repose of a Ukrainian saint of modern times, the Venerable Lavrentiy of Chernihiv. During my visit to Chernihiv in the summer of 2006 I had heard of this remarkable man who kept the the Faith as a monk in the some of the most difficult days that the people of Ukraine have known. He is much revered in this district of Ukraine which has given many Saints.
On May 6 according to the Gregorian Calendar (which is April 23 on the Julian) we commemorate, beside the greatly renowned Great Martyr George, another much less familiar one. It is the New Martyr Lazarus the Shepherd, of Bulgaria who gave his life for the Lord in the year 1802.
St. Leo, the first Pope of Rome to be called “the Great”, was born in the lovely hill country of Tuscany in Italy. He was consecrated to the throne of Rome in 440.
St. Lucian, Presbyter of Antioch
On December 26 on the Gregorian calendar (which is December 13 on the Julian), we celebrate the memory of the Virgin-Martyr Lucy of Syracuse.
"Lord, as You will and as You know, have mercy on me.” Saint Macarius the Great of Egypt
On May 14 (Gregorian – which is May 1 on the Julian Calendar) we celebrate the memory of a Saint whose Holy Relics are venerated in the St. Volodymyr Cathedral in Kyiv, the seat of Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate). It is the Hieromartyr Macarius, Metropolitan of Kyiv, who gave his life for Christ on this day in 1497 during the celebration of Liturgy in the village of Stryholovo on the banks of the Prypyat’ River in what is now Belarus’.
On September 20 on the Gregorian calendar (which is September 7 on the Julian), we celebrate the memory of a remarkable man of faith (Venerable Hieromartyr Macarius) who lived and served the Lord in one of the most turbulent times in Ukrainian history and frequently told his fellow-monks: “One cannot attain the heavenly crown without being tortured for keeping [God’s] law”.
St. Mary of Egypt On the Fifth Sunday of the Great Fast the Orthodox Church commemorates a woman who after 17 years of licentious living in Alexandria in Egypt, found the grace of repentance in Jerusalem at the Church of the Holy Resurrection and spent nearly 50 years in the desert beyond the Jordan in spiritual labour and rejoicing.
On February 3 on the Gregorian calendar (which is January 21 according to the Julian calendar) we celebrate the memory of a hero of the Faith, St. Maximus the Confessor. He suffered slander, torture and exile for his unswerving defense of the saving truth that in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, God the Son, truly and fully became human while always remaining divine.
On January 13 (which is December 31 on the Julian Calendar) Ukrainians traditionally celebrate the eve of the civic New Year (the ecclesiastical New Year is September 1/14 – the Indiction – marking the beginning of a new agricultural cycle after the bringing in of the harvest). They call such celebrations “Malanka” which comes from the name of the Saint of the day, St. Melania the Younger of Rome who reposed on this day in 439.
St. Michael, First Metropolitan of Kyiv On June 28 (which is June 15 on the Julian Calendar) we celebrate the memory of the first Metropolitan of Kyiv, St. Michael, who reposed in the Lord on that day in 992. Very little is known about his origins. He is said to have been a Syrian, Bulgarian or Serbian. The Patriarch of Constantinople sent him to Ukraine in 988, shortly after the Baptism of Rus’, to lead the work of the Kniaz’ St. Volodymyr the Great in establishing his people in the Orthodox faith.
On October 3 on the Gregorian calendar (which is September 20 on the Julian), we celebrate the memory of the Martyrs and Confessors, Michael, Knyaz’ of Chernihiv, and his Counsellor, Theodore, Wonderworkers, who bore witness to Christ in the Mongol Horde in 1245.
On July 19 (which is July 6 on the Julian calendar) we celebrate the memory of one of the many Saints of the undivided Church of the first millennium – St. Monenna, foundress of the the Killevy (often spelled “Killeavy”) Monastery in Northern Ireland.
On September 10 (which corresponds to August 28 on the Julian Calendar) we celebrate the life of a remarkable Saint, Moses the Black. A slave who was cast out by his master in Egypt for theft and possible murder, Moses eventually became one of the Desert Fathers, 49 of whose sayings are preserved in the famous “Apophthegmata Patrum” (Sayings of the Fathers), which offer perceptive and insightful counsel on walking the spiritual life.
English and Ukrainian
On January 27 (which is January 14 on the Julian Calendar), we celebrate the memory of a remarkable woman, St. Nina, whom the Church calls “Isapostolos” which means “Equal to the Apostles”. It was by her ministry that the nation of Georgia became one of the first Christian nations.
"I mostly feed and quench my thirst on the sweet words of God": Venerable Onuphrius the Great English | Ukrainian
Panteleimon the Great Martyr and Healer (305)
On November 19 (which is November 6 on the Julian Calendar) we celebrate the memory of a Bishop, Paul, whose life was marked by controversy, suffering, exile and finally martyrdom at the hands of those who opposed his orthodox faith.
On June 19 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is June 6 on the Julian) we commemorate the Venerable Paisius Abbot of Uglich, an Orthodox monk who laboured for the Lord in his particular vocation for 96 years. It was on this the day that he reposed in the Lord in 1504 at the age of 107 years!
On December 20 on the Gregorian calendar (which is December 7 on the Julian), we celebrate the memory of our Venerable Father Paul the Obedient.
On September 6 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is August 24 on the Julian Calendar) we celebrate the Feast of the Translation of the Relics of St. Peter, Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Rus’. It was on this day that the final transfer of his Relics to the newly-rebuilt Cathedral of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Moscow took place in 1479.
On October 18 on the Gregorian calendar (which is October 5 on the Julian), we celebrate the memory of three Metropolitans of Kyiv, Sts. Peter, Alexis and Jonah, who led their flock in very difficult times of Mongol invasions and occupation of their lands, which made it necessary for them to exercise their archpastoral ministry, under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople, from the city of Moscow, thereby laying the foundations for the Church of Russia.
St. Photena, the Smaritan Woman
On December 1 on the Gregorian calendar (which is November 18 on the Julian), we celebrate the memory of the Holy Great-Martyr Plato of Ancyra, which today is Ankara the capital city of Turkey.
On March 7 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is February 23 on the Julian) we celebrate the memory of St. Polycarp, a disciple of the Apostle John, whose name means “much fruit”.
Last Sunday we meditated upon the life of the great luminary of the Church, St. John Chrysostom. Today, December 3 (which is November 20 on the Julian Calendar) we celebrate the memory of his disciple, St. Proclus, who received consecration to the diaconate and priesthood from his hands.
On February 27 on the Gregorian Calendar, which is February 14 on the Julian, we celebrate the memory of a Saint from the Patriarchate of Antioch part of whose education took place in Kyiv and by whose labours the Ukrainian Orthodox community of Montreal, Quebec, too, was blessed. It is St. Raphael (Hawaweeny), Bishop of Brooklyn, a portion of whose Holy Relics are also held in St. George Antiochian Church in Montreal.
On May 23 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is May 10 on the Julian – this year, 2010, it coincides with Pentecost) we celebrate the memory of another “Podvyzhnyk” (Ascetic) of the early Kyivan Church. It is St. Simon, a Monk of the Kyivan Caves Lavra who became first Bishop of the newly-created diocese of Volodymyr (on the Klyaz’ma River) and Suzdal’.
On April 4 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is March 22 on the Julian) we celebrate the memory of one of the countless martyrs of the Communist persecution in the captive lands which comprised the former Soviet Union. It is the New-Martyr, Schema-Abbess Sophia of the Holy Protection Monastery of Kyiv.
On August 1 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is July 19 on the Julian) we celebrate the uncovering, in 1903, of the Relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov, universally beloved by Orthodox and other Christians throughout the world.
On August 10 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is July 29 on the Julian) we celebrate the memory of a female Martyr of the second century who seems to be the first among the Saints of the Church whose name is linked with the celestial beings called the Seraphim, who, according to the Prophet Isaiah surround the Throne of God. It is St. Seraphima, a maiden of Antioch who bore witness to the power of Christ during the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian (Publius Aelius Hadrianus, 117-138).
On November 13 on the Gregorian calendar (which is October 31 on the Julian), we celebrate the memory of our Venerable Fathers, Saints Spiridon and Nicodemus, Prosphora-Bakers of the Near Kyivan Caves.
On May 10 (Gregorian Calendar – which is April 27 on the Julian) we commemorate a Ukrainian Holy Father from the eleventh century. It is the Venerable Stephen, third Abbot of the Kyivan Cave Monastery (Kyyivo-Pechers’ka Lavra), who later was the Bishop of Volodymyr-Volyns’kyy.
Right-believing Tamara, Queen of Georgia: “Do away with every wickedness beginning with me.” English | Ukrainian
On March 10 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is February 25 on the Julian) we remember a Saint after whom the great poet of Ukraine Taras Shevchenko was most likely named as he was born on the day before his Feastday and died on that very Feastday, 47 years later. It is St. Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople.
On January 25 (which is January 12 on the Julian Calendar), the Church celebrates the memory of a young woman of third century Rome, Tatiana, whose courage and prayers destroyed a series of idols of the most prominent of pagan gods and challenged one of the mightiest of earthly empires with the values of the true Kingdom of the King of kings.
It seems quite appropriate to preface a meditation on the life of a Saint with a quote from the particular Servant of God who is the subject of that meditation. Try as I might I could find no quotation to attribute to the Saint whom the Orthodox Church commemorates on September 3 (which is August 21 on the Julian Calendar): St. Thaddeus, Apostle of the Seventy. English | Ukrainian
On July 25 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is July 12 on the Julian) we remember the first Martyrs for the Faith of Christ in the lands of Kyivan-Rus`(today Ukraine) who bore testimony to it with their lives on this day in 983. There is a curious link between Sts. Theodore and John, the Varangian Martyrs of Kyiv, and St. Stephen the first Christian Martyr, as we shall see.
On the first Saturday of the Great Fast (and also on March 2 on the Gregorian Calendar, which is February 17 on the Julian Calendar), we celebrate the memory of a youthful Saint named Theodore the Tyro.
“A sheep of the flock of Christ, teaching by humility.” On February 18 (corresponds to February 5 according to the Julian Calendar) we commemorate the repose in 1696 of St. Theodosius, Archbishop of Chernihiv.
On October 19 (corresponds to October 6 on the Julian Calendar) we celebrate the memory of the Apostle Thomas. English and Ukrainian
On November 3 on the Gregorian calendar (which is October 21on the Julian), we celebratethe memory of St. Ursula and her companions, martyred at Cologne, Germany, in the fourth century. They are Saints of the undivided Church of the first millennium.
The run-off election of the President of sovereign Ukraine on Sunday, February 7 (which is January 25 on the Julian Calendar), 2010, falls on the day we commemorate the first Hieromartyr of the atheistic Bolshevik persecution of the Church, St. Volodymyr, Metropolitan of Kyiv and Halych, who was martyred this day in 1918.
St. Winifred of Holywell, Wales
On October 25 on the Gregorian calendar (which is October 12 on the Julian), we celebrate the memory of St. Wilfrid (ancient versions of his name include Wufrid and Wilfrith), who held the post of Archbishop of York, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury, in the English Church.
On June 3 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is May 21 on the Julian) we commemorate the Wonderworkers of Murom, the Holy Knyaz’ Yaroslav and his sons, Michael and Theodore.
“He sought to see who Jesus was” Holy Apostle Zaccheus (1st century)
The Sunday following Pentecost is dedicated to All Saints, both those who are known to us, and those – a huge number - who are known only to God. English | Ukrainian
On November 3 on the Gregorian Calendar (which corresponds to October 21 on the Julian) we celebrate the memory of a great Saint of Kyivan Rus’, the first Metropolitan of Kyiv who was chosen to hold this distinguished position from among the people of Rus’. Prior to him the position had been held by Greeks and after him this continued for a time.
Often the Church Calendar besides the names of the Saints lists also Holy Icons, especially those of the Mother of God. The Orthodox Church has a special reverence for Icons for our Church experienced a most trying time of persecution of iconodules (those who venerated Icons) in the age of iconoclasm which lasted from 725 to 842. The veneration of Icons was confirmed in the Orthodox Church based on its teaching on the Incarnation of the Son of God, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity.
On December 18 (December 5 Julian Calendar) we celebrate the memory of a great monastic Saint who struggled to follow the way of Christ in the land where our Lord ministered. A special link to the Lord’s Nativity to which we are drawing near may be found in the fact that the Monastery he founded, the Mar Saba Lavra, continues to function to this day just under 15 kilometers from Bethlehem where Jesus was born.
The New Martyrs of Kholm and Pidlyashya
On February 10 (which is January 28 on the Julian Calendar), the Church celebrates the memory of a wonderful man of the Spirit, whose inclusion on the Calendar of Saints shows that canonical boundaries do not determine a person’s sanctity. More
On December 18 (December 5 Julian Calendar) we celebrate the memory of a great monastic Saint who struggled to follow the way of Christ in the land where our Lord ministered. A special link to the Lord’s Nativity to which we are drawing near may be found in the fact that the Monastery he founded, the Mar Saba Lavra, continues to function to this day just under 15 kilometers from Bethlehem where Jesus was born.
On August 2 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is July 20 on the Julian Calendar) we celebrate the memory of four Orthodox Christians, the Paris Martyrs, who bore worthy testimony to the reality of the hope brought into this world by our Lord, Jesus Christ, in the fiery furnace of the second world war.
On July 26 (Gregorian calendar – which is July 13 on the Julian Calendar) we celebrate a feast which seems to just come out of nowhere. It is the Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel. Usually a Synaxis follows a major feast day as a liturgical assembly in honour of the Saint or Saints involved in the primary celebration. Such is not the case here. Why it is celebrated on this day is a bit of a mystery.
On August 23 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is August 10 on the Julian Calendar) we celebrate the memory of an illustrious company of martyrs who bore testimony to Christ during the persecution of Emperor Valerian (253-260).
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