The holy martyr Euphemia the Illustrious was handed over to the beasts after various tortures under the emperor Diolcetian. Her passing is kept on Sept. 16; today is the day that her holy relics confirmed the orthodox faith at the Fourth Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon. The passing of Olga, princess of Kiev, baptized Helen, at […]
Category Archives: Daily Devotionals
July 10 The Holy 45 Martyrs in Nicopolis in Armenia; Our Venerable Father Anthony of the Kiev Lavra; The Holy Martyred Brothers Francis, Mutius, Raphael, and their companions, martyred in Damascus
The holy forty-five martyrs in Nicopolis in Armenia: Of saints Leontius, Mauritius, Daniel, Antonius, Anicetus, Sisinnus, and others, who under the emperor Licinius and the governor Lysias were tortured in many ways in the year 319. Our venerable father Anthony of Kiev was a hermit, who in the lavra called “the Caves”, followed the monastic […]
July 9 The Holy Martyr Pancratius, Bishop of Toarmina
The hieromartyr Pancratius, Bishop of Taormina, was born when our Lord Jesus Christ yet lived upon the earth. The parents of Pancratius were natives of Antioch. Hearing the good news of Jesus Christ, Pancratius’ father took his young son with him to Jerusalem to see the greater Teacher for himself. It was during this period […]
July 8 The Holy Great Martyr Procopius
The holy great martyr Procopius was born Neanius, raised by his pagan mother, and worked in service of the emperor Diocletian. He was sent to Alexandria to persecute the Church of God. On his way there he had a vision, similar to that of Saul on his voyage to Damascus, and the Lord Jesus appeared […]
July 7 Our Venerable Fathers Thomas of Maleum and Acacius, Mentioned in the Ladder
Our venerable father Thomasof Maleum was a 10th century general famed for courage and wealth. He was a huge man, a source of fear for his enemies. He came to know Christ, and left his worldly life behind to go into the desert. When people heard of this, they came to him, and St. Thomas […]
July 6 Our Venerable Father Sisoes the Great
Our venerable father Sisoes the Great was a 5th century hermit in Egypt and was very remarkable in the exercise of the monastic life. Many of his “words” are recorded in the Apophthegmata Patrum (Sayings of the Desert Fathers). A brother once told him that he could not hold the wise sayings in his head […]
July 5 Our Venerable Father Athanasius of Mt. Athos
Our venerable father Athanasius of Mt. Athos, hegumen, humble and peaceful, who founded the cenobitic way of living in the Great Lavra. Despite many trials, he was father to many monks who followed his ascetic model. He lived during the end of the 10th century. Troparion The angels in heaven marveled at your life […]
July 4 Our Holy Father Andrew of Jerusalem; Our Venerable Mother Martha, Mother of St. Simeon of the Wondrous Mountain
Our holy father Andrew of Jerusalem, archbishop of Crete, whose passing over is remembered this day at Erissus on the island of Lesbos. He was bishop of Gortyna, and sang –a singular art– praises to God by his prayers, hymns, and songs. He exalted the Virgin Mother of God, immaculate, and assumed into heaven. Our […]
July 3 The Holy Martyr Hyacinth
The holy martyr Hyacinth, a native of Caesarea in Cappadocia, was raised in a Christian family. The emperor Trajan made the boy his chamberlain, unaware that he was a secret Christian. One day, while the emperor and his entourage were offering sacrifices to idols, the young Hyacinth remained at the palace, shut himself up in […]
July 2 The Deposition of the Venerable Robes of our most holy Lady, the Theotokos at Blachernae Constantinople
During the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Leo the Great (457-474), the brothers Galbius and Candidus, associates of the emperor, set out from Constantinople to Palestine to venerate the holy places. In a small settlement near Nazareth they stayed in the home of a certain old Jewish woman. In her house they noticed a room […]