Category: Saints

  • Intercession of the Saints

    No early Church Father (typically defined as writers from the 1st to 5th centuries, especially ante-Nicene and Nicene eras) explicitly denied or rejected the intercession of departed saints in a clear, systematic way — that is, no major patristic figure wrote a treatise or statement outright condemning the belief that saints in heaven can pray…

  • Early Life Abuse

    (Part 1 Therapy for the soul) Most of the saints had very Godly mothers so this doesn’t apply as much to them as it does to us regular folks.. Orthodox Christian “therapy for the soul” (as described in the Patristic tradition and especially in Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos’s Orthodox Psychotherapy) does involve dealing with the deep…

  • Prayers for the Dead

    Prayers for the dead were a Jewish practice in the Second Temple period, before the time of Jesus Christ (who lived circa 4 BCE–30 CE). The clearest evidence comes from 2 Maccabees 12:38–46, a Jewish text composed around 124 BCE during the Hellenistic era. In this account, Judas Maccabeus and his men discover that fallen…

  • Happy Hannukah

    Jesus went to the temple in Jerusalem for Hannukah, and the Jews there tried to kill Him. Recapitulating the slaughter of the innocent martyrs in Maccabees. The miracle that happened then was Jesus escaped their hands. John 10 portrays Jesus as fulfilling or surpassing the rededication theme, claiming divine unity in the very space rededicated…

  • St Justinian and Symphōnia

    Saint Justinian I (c. 482–565 CE), Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565, is one of history’s most influential figures in harmonizing ecclesiastical and imperial authority—a relationship often termed the “symphony” between church and state (from the Greek symphōnia, meaning “agreement” or “concord”). Though the term itself was formalized later (notably in the 6th-century Epanagoge under…

  • The Chosen People

    New Testament fulfillment of Old Testament passages.

  • Honoring Relics

    The Patriarchs commanded their sons to take their bones out of Egypt and bring them into the Promised Land. Their bones were buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. To this day, Jews go there to pray. Why would Christian tradition be any different? We have the same roots. If they honor Abraham…

  • Online Orthodox Drama?

    Eastern Orthodox vs Oriental Orthodox Statement of the Orthodox Church of Antioch on the Relations between the Eastern and Syrian Orthodox Churches The debate that started it earlier??? Dyer insults Oriental Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary – Livonia, MI A lot of brown brothers in this Antiochian Orthodox parish in Michigan. Orthodoxy and Racism Racist Rage…

  • Saints – 2025-04-07

    Calliopus and Akylina the Martyrs George, Bishop of Mytilene Gerasimos the God-Bearer of Byzantium Righteous Father Savvas the New of Kalymnos Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and Enlightener of North America

  • Saints – 2025-04-06

    Eutychius, Patriarch of Constantinople 120 Martyrs of Persia Gregory of Sinai Platonis the Nun of Nisibis

  • Saints – 2025-03-26

    26 Martyrs in Crimea Presbyter Bercus; Monk Arpilus; laymen and women Abibus, Agnus, Reasus, Igathrax, Iscoeus (Iskous), Silas, Signicus, Sonirilus, Suimbalus, Thermus, Phillus (Philgas), Bathusius, Anna, Alla, Larissa, Monco (Manca), Uirko (Virko), Animais (Animaida), Queen Gaatha, and Princess Duklida, were among twenty-six martyrs who were killed by the Goths around the year 375 under Jungerich,…

  • Saints – 2025-03-24

    Forefeast of the Annunciation of the Theotokos The Feast of the Annunciation to the Most Holy Theotokos is celebrated on one day March 25, exactly nine months before the Nativity of Christ. There is one day of Prefeast (March 24), followed by the Feast itself. On March 26, we celebrate the Synaxis of the Archangel…

  • Saints – 2025-03-10

    Quadratus the Martyr & his Companions By order of the impious emperor Decius (249-251), the military prefect Jason arrived at Corinth to torture and slay Christians. Since Quadratus was the eldest, he spoke for the rest. The saint bravely defended his faith in Christ the Savior, then they began the torture. Saint Quadratus, despite inhuman…

  • Saints – 2025-03-07

    The Holy Martyred Bishops of Cherson – Basileus, Ephraim, Eugene, Capito, Aetherius, Agathodorus, and Elpidius The Hieromartyrs Basil, Ephraim, Eugene, Elpidius, Agathodorus, Aetherius, and Capiton carried the Gospel of Christ into the North Black Sea region from the Danube to the Dniper, including the Crimea. They were bishops of Cherson at different times during the…

  • Saints – 2025-03-06

    42 Martyrs of Amorion in Phrygia During a war between the Byzantine Emperor Theophilus (829-842) and the Saracens, the Saracens managed to besiege the city of Ammoria (in Galicia in Asia Minor). As a result of treason on the part of the military commander Baditses, Ammoria fell, and forty-two of its generals were taken captive…

  • Saints – 2025-03-05

    Conon the Gardener The Holy Martyr Conon the Gardener was born in Nazareth of Galilee, but he lived in the city of Mandona, where he occupied himself with gardening. He was a God-fearing man, sincere in heart, and without malice. The saint suffered for his faith in Christ under the emperor Decius (249-251). When they…

  • Saints – 2025-03-04

    Gerasimus the Righteous of Jordan Saint Gerasimus was a native of Lycia (Asia Minor). From his early years he was distinguished for his piety. Having received monastic tonsure, he withdrew into the desert of the Thebaid (in Egypt). Thereafter, in about the year 450, the monk arrived in Palestine and settled at the Jordan, where…

  • Saints – 2025-03-03

    The Holy Martyrs Eutropius, Cleonicus, and Basiliscus The Holy Martyrs Eutropius, Cleonicus and Basiliscus suffered in the city of Pontine Amasea (Asia Minor) in about the year 308. The brothers Eutropius and Cleonicus, and Basiliscus the nephew of the Great Martyr Theodore the Recruit (February 17), were comrades. After the martyric death of Saint Theodore,…

  • Saints – 2025-02-26

    Porphyrius, Bishop of Gaza The Saint for today is Saint Porphyrius, Bishop of Gaza. Saint Porphyrius, Archbishop of Gaza, was born about the year 346 at Thessalonica. In 395 the bishop of the city of Gaza (in Palestine) died. The local Christians went to Caesarea to ask Metropolitan John to send them a new bishop…

  • Saints – 2025-02-24

    First & Second Finding of the Venerable Head of John the Baptist OCA Site Romanos, Prince of Uglich Boswell, Abbot of Melrose Abbey Cumine the White, Abbot of Iona

  • Saints – 2025-02-23

    Judgment Sunday (Meatfare Sunday) The Fast approaches. Today is the last day for eating meat and meat products until Pascha, though eggs and dairy products are permitted every day during the coming week. This limited fasting prepares us gradually for the more intense fasting of Great Lent. Polycarp the Holy Martyr & Bishop of Smyrna…

  • Saints – 2025-02-18

    Leo the Great, Pope of Rome Saint Leo I the Great, Pope of Rome (440-461), received a fine and diverse education, which opened for him the possibility of an excellent worldly career. He yearned for the spiritual life, however, and so he chose the path of becoming an archdeacon under holy Pope Sixtus III (432-440),…

  • Saints – 2025-02-17

    Theodore the Tyro, Great Martyr The Holy Great Martyr Theodore the Recruit1 was a soldier in the city of Amáseia in Pontus (Asia Minor) on the coast of the Euxine (Black) Sea, under the command of the Praepositus (regimental commander) Brincus. Saint Theodore was ordered to offer sacrifice to idols, but he proclaimed his faith…

  • Saints – 2025-02-12

    Meletius, Archbishop of Antioch Saint Meletius, Archbishop of Antioch, was Bishop of Sebaste in Armenia (ca. 357), and afterwards he was summoned to Antioch by the emperor Constantius to help combat the Arian heresy, and was appointed to that See. Saint Meletius struggled zealously against the Arian error, but through the intrigues of the heretics…