Category Archives: Daily Devotionals

Fifteenth and last of the Judges of Israel, the prophet Samuel lived approximately eleven hundred years before Christ. Born in the tribe of Levi, son of Elkanah and Hannah, he was promised to the Lord by his till-then barren mother. At the age of twelve, Samuel had his first revelation from the Lord God. Samuel […]

The holy martyr Andrew Stratelates was a military commander in the Roman army during the reign of the emperor Maximian (284-305). They loved him in the Roman army because of his bravery, invincibility, and sense of fairness. When a large Persian army invaded the Syrian territories, the governor entrusted St. Andrew with the command of […]

The holy martyrs Florus and Laurus were brothers by birth not only in flesh but in spirit. They lived in the 2nd century in Byzantium, and afterwards they settled in Illyria [now Yugoslavia]. By occupation they were stone masons. The prefect of Illyria, Likaion, sent the brothers to a nearby district for work on the […]

The holy martyr Myron was a priest in the town of Achaia. He was of wealthy and prominent origin, yet was kind and meek by nature- a lover of both God and man. During the reign of Emperor Decius, on the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, pagans charged into the church, dragged Myron out […]

The Translation of the Icon of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, the icon “not made by human hands,” from Edessa to Constantinople in 944: Tradition related that Abgar, prince of the city of Edessa, suffered from leprosy. Having heard of Jesus the healer in Palestine, he sent a portrait painter named Ananias with […]

The Dormition of the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary: Tradition relates that the Mother of God died in Jerusalem, after a visit with all of Christ’s apostles. They carried her coffin to the Garden of Gethsemane where it was placed into a tomb. The apostle Thomas came late and asked that the tomb be […]

The holy prophet Micah was of the tribe of Judah and from the village of Morasth. He was a contemporary of the prophets Isaiah, Amos, and Hosea. He denounced the vices of the people, foretold the fall of Samaria, and was a seer of the coming Messiah. He named Bethlehem as the birthplace of the […]

Our venerable father Maximos the Confessor was the hegumen of Chrysopolis near Constantinople. He was notable for his teaching and zeal for the Catholic truth. When he vigorously fought against the Monothelites, he had his right hand cut off by the heretical emperor Constans. Along with two of his disciples, both named Anastasius, after a […]

The holy martyrs Photius and Anicetus bore witness to the Christian faith before the emperor Diocletian(284-305). Both of them were tortured, and then imprisoned for three years. Eventually they were thrown into an enormous burning furnace in the year 305.    Troparion Your martyrs, O Lord our God, in their struggles received their incorruptible crowns […]

The martyr Archdeacon Euplus suffered in the year 308 under the emperors Diocletian (284-305) and Maximian (305-311). He served in the Sicilian city of Catania. Always carrying the Gospel with him, St. Euplus preached constantly to the pagans about Christ. Once, while he read and explained the Gospel to the gathered crowd, they arrested him […]