Monthly Archives: December 2023

Jan. 1 The Circumcision of Our Lord and the Commemoration Our Holy father Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia

The circumcision of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ: Coming eight days after the birth of Christ, this feast commemorates his naming and his becoming a member of the Covenant of Moses.  Our Holy father Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, who is called “great” in learning and wisdom. He taught meditation […]

Dec. 31 Our Venerable Mother Melany of Rome

Our venerable mother Melany the Younger of Rome set out with her husband, St. Pinianus, for the Holy City of Jerusalem in the 5th century. There she lived among the women consecrated to God and her husband among the monks. They practiced the religious life and both came to rest in a holy death.    […]

Dec. 30 The Martyr Anysia; The Venerable Zoticus, Priest and Protector of Orphans

The holy martyr Anysia was arrested at Thessalonica when she entered that city to attend the synaxis of the faithful, and was put to death in 304 during the reign of Maximian Galerius. The venerable Zoticus was a holy priest of Rome who went to Constantinople where he established hospitals and havens of refuge for the […]

Dec. 29 The Holy Innocents; Our Venerable Father Marcellus, Hegumen of the Akimetes

The holy innocents killed for Christ by Herod in Bethlehem of Judea: the impious king did this in the expectation that, with them, the infant Jesus would perish. They have been honored as martyrs from the first ages of the Church, the first-fruits of all who would pour out their blood for God and the […]

Dec. 28 The Twenty Thousand Martyrs of Nicomedia

The twenty-thousand martyrs of Nicomedia: During the reign of emperor Maximian Hercules, the Christian faith was brutally persecuted in Nicomedia. When the local Christians gathered in the church to celebrate the Nativity of the Lord, he ordered his soldiers to surround the church and set it on fire. Those inside were offered free passage out, […]

Dec. 27 The Holy Apostle, First Martyr, and Archdeacon Stephen; Our Venerable Father Theodore the Branded

The holy apostle, proto-martyr, and archdeacon Stephen was a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. First of the seven deacons whom the Apostles chose to be fellow-laborers in the ministry, he was also the first of the disciples of the Lord to pour out his own blood at Jerusalem. He provided testimony for […]

Dec. 26 The Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos; The Holy Martyr Euthymius, Bishop of Sardis

The synaxis of the Theotokos: On the second day of the Christmas feast, the Church gives glory and praise to the most holy Theotokos, who bore our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ. The holy martyr Euthymius, Bishop of Sardis in Lydia, was forced into exile on account of his veneration of the Holy Images […]

Dec. 25 The Nativity of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ

Christ is Born!  Glorify Him! Christos Rozdajetsja!  Slavite Jeho! The Nativity in the Flesh of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ: “When the fullness of time was come, God sent his only-begotten Son” (Galatians 4:4) to save the human race. Nine months after his conception in the womb of the Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary, […]

Dec. 24 The Holy Great Martyr Eugenia

The holy great martyr Eugenia’s father was Eparch of All Egypt. Eugenia ministered to the Christians who had been forced to flee the city of Alexandria due to persecution, and was then baptized. She assumed men’s clothing and lived in a monastery. She was betrayed to the Eparch, who then found his daughter (who he […]