Feb. 28 Our Venerable Father and Confessor Basil, Fellow Ascetic of Procopius

St. Basil the Confessor was a monk and suffered during the reign of the iconoclast emperor Leo the Isaurian. When a persecution started against those who venerated holy icons, St. Basil and his companion St. Procopius of Decapolis were subjected to much torture and locked up in prison. Here both martyrs languished for a long […]

Feb. 27 Our Venerable Father and Confessor Procopius the Decapolite

St. Procopius the Decapolite lived during the eighth century in the region of Decapolis, to the east of Lake Galilee. There he labored for his salvation, struggling in asceticism. St. Procopius, his fellow ascetic St. Basil, and others zealous for holy Orthodoxy rose up against the Iconoclast heresy of those times. By order of the […]

Feb. 25 Our Holy Father Tarasius, Archbishop of Constantinople

St. Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople was of illustrious lineage. He was born and raised in Constantinople, where he received a fine education. He was rapidly promoted at the court of emperor Constantine VI (780-797) and Constantine’s mother, the holy Empress Irene, and the saint attained the rank of senator. Proceeding through all the clerical ranks […]

Feb. 24 The First and Second Finding of the Head of the Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist John

The great and glorious Baptist John was beheaded at the wish and instigation of the wicked Herodias, the wife of Herod. When John was beheaded, Herodias ordered that his head not be buried with his body, for she feared that this awesome prophet would somehow resurrect. Therefore, she took his head and buried it deep […]

Feb. 22 The finding of the Venerable Relics of the Martyrs of Eugenius

During the persecution against Christians the relics of holy martyrs were usually buried by believers in hidden places. So at Constantinople, near the gates and tower in the Eugenius quarter, the bodies of several martyrs were found. Their names remain unknown by the Church. When miracles of healing began to occur at this spot, the […]

The Fast of Cheese-fare Week (Fasting from Meat after feasting during Meatfare)

Today this fast is considered part of the Great Fast, a preparation period in which we enter gradually into the asceticism of the Fast. It originated, however, in the Oriental Orthodox (non-Chalcedonian) Churches and was separate from the Great Fast. It was called the fast of Nineveh, and was observed three weeks before the Great […]

Feb. 21 Our Venerable Father Timothy of Symbola; Our Father among Saint Eustathius, Archbishop of Great Antioch

St. Timothy of Symbola was of Italian descent. He became a monk at a young age and pursued asceticism at a monastery called “Symbola”, in Asia Minor near Mount Olympus. At that time Theoctistus was the archimandrite of the monastery. St. Timothy was a disciple of Theoctistus and also of St. Platon of the Studion […]