Category Archives: Daily Devotionals

Our venerable father Pimen the Great was born about the year 340 in Egypt. He went to one of the Egyptian monasteries with his two brothers, Anoub and Paisius, and all three received monastic tonsures. The brothers were such strict ascetics that when their mother came to the monastery to see her children, they did […]

The holy martyrs Adrian and Natalie were married in their youth for one year prior to their martyrdom. They lived in Nicomedia during the time of  the emperor Maximian (305-311). The emperor promised a reward to anyone who would inform on Christians to bring them to trial. Then the denunciations began, and 23 Christians were […]

The relics of the holy apostle Bartholomew were stolen by the Armenians, and then taken to the town of Alipay’s. At the time of Theophilus the Iconoclast, they were translated again, this time to the town of Benevento. From there they were taken to Rome.  The holy apostle Titus is counted as one of the […]

The hieromartyr Eutyches, a disciple of the holy Apostles John the Theologian and Paul, was from the Palestinian city of Sebastea. Although St. Eutyches is not one of the 70 Apostles, he is called an Apostle because of his labors with the older Apostles, by whom he was made bishop. After hearing about Christ the […]

The martyr Lupus was a servant of St. Demetrius of Salonica. When his master was beheaded by the emperor Maximian, Lupus dipped the hem of his garment and his ring into his master’s blood. Through these relics he worked many miracles, even though he was not yet baptized. Having miraculously received the Holy Mysteries, he […]

The holy martyr Agathonicus was a citizen of Nicomedia and a Christian by faith. With great zeal he converted the Hellenes from idolatry and instructed them in the true Faith. At emperor Maximian’s orders, the regional governor cruelly persecuted Christians. The deputy captured St. Zoticus in a place called Carpe. He crucified Zoticus’ disciples and […]

The holy apostle Thaddeus was one of the Seventy, not the same as the Jude Thaddeus who was one of the Twelve. He went to Edessa in Syria and preached the gospel, there and throughout Syria and Phoenicia, and fell asleep in the Lord in Beirut.  The holy martyr Bassa, who was the wife of […]

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 […]