Author Archives: maryadmin

Our venerable father 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 […]

In the town of Catania below the volcanic Mount Ezra, lived our venerable father Leo, a good shepherd and compassionate teacher of the people. He had great concern for the sick and the poor. His zeal for the Faith was as great as his charity toward the less fortunate. A magician named Heliodorus appeared in […]

The holy apostle  Archippus, one of the Seventy, was a student and companion of the holy Apostle Paul. In the Epistle Philemon, Paul mentions St. Archippus as his companion, and mentions him again in the Epistle to the Colossians (Col. 4:17). St. Archippus was bishop of Colossae in Phrygia. During the persecution against Christians under […]

Our holy father Leo, Pope of Rome who was born in Etruria [Tuscany], first stood out as a diligent deacon of Rome. He was then elevated to the chair of Peter, where rightly and by his  merit he deserved to be called “the Great.” He nourished his flock by his excellent and prudent discourse. He […]

The holy Great martyr Theodore the Recruit (Tyro) was a soldier in the city of Alasium of the Pontine district (a northeastern province of Asia Minor along the Black Sea), under command of a certain Brincus. They commanded him to offer sacrifice to idols. St. Theodore firmly confessed his faith in Christ the Savior in […]

The holy martyrs: the presbyter Pamphilius, Porphyry, and their companions, who received the crowns of martyrdom: Pamphilus the priest; Valentine, a deacon of Jerusalem; Paul, born in the city of Jamnia, who passed two years in prison; Porphyry, a servant of Pamphilus; Seleucus the Cappadocian, who was of high military rank; Theodulus, an old man […]

The holy apostle Onesimus was one of the Seventy Apostles. He was a slave but transgressed against his master and fled to Rome. There he heard the Gospel from Apostle Paul and was baptized. Later, Onesimus was consecrated a bishop by the apostles themselves, and he accepted the episcopal throne at Ephesus at the death […]

Our venerable father Auxentius on Mount Skopa in Bithynia, priest and archimandrite, who argued the Chalcedonian faith with a strong voice in a prominent place as if established in a place of authority. The passing of our venerable father Constantine, whose monastic name was Cyril, the Apostle of the Slavs: This man from Thessalonica, along with […]

At the age of 18, our venerable father Martinian retreated to a mountain in Cappadocia called the Place of the Ark, where he lived for 25 years in fasting, vigil and prayer, struggling with many temptations. When a woman came to tempt him, Martinian, perceiving that he would succumb to sin with her, jumped into […]

Our holy father Meletius, archbishop of Antioch, was elected to the Patriarchal See in 360, but within a month was exiled by Emperor Constantius. Reinstated in 379, he held a council for 150 bishops and took a prominent role in the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople in 381. He was persecuted on account of the Nicene […]