Hieromartyr Hierotheus, the first Bishop of Athens, was a member of the Athenian Areopagos and was converted to Christ by the Apostle Paul together with Saint Dionysius the Areopagite (October 3). The saint was consecrated by the Apostle Paul to the rank of bishop. According to Tradition, Bishop…
The Uncovering of the relics of Saint Gurias, First Archbishop of Kazan, and Saint Barsanuphius, Bishop of Tver, occurred at Kazan in the year 1595. During the construction of a new stone church in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord at the Savior-Transfiguration monastery, which had been…
Today the Church honors the holy hierarchs of Kazan: Bishop Barsanuphius of Tver (April 11 and October 4) Archbishop Herman (June 23, September 25, and November 6) Archbishop Gurias (June 20, October 4, and December 5).
The holy right-believing Prince Vladimir Yaroslavich of Novgorod, the Wonderworker, was the eldest son of Great Prince Yaroslav the Wise, and was born in the year 1020. At age fourteen, his father made him administrator of Novgorod. The military commander Vyshata and the holy Bishop Menignus…
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Saints Ammon the Recluse of the Kiev Caves, Far Caves, was given the title “Lover of Labor.” The saint went to Athos and to Jerusalem. Upon his return, he became famous for his exploits, and he was an image of holy life for the brethren. He was buried in the Far Caves. His memory is…
Saints Gaius, Faustus, Eusebius, and Chaeremon were deacons and disciples of Saint Dionysius of Alexandria (October 5). They were arrested and banished from from Alexandria along with with Saint Dionysius. They were tortured and beheaded during the persecution of Valerian (253-259).
Saint Peter was born and raised in the city of Capitolias (an ancient city in eastern Jordan, on the way to Damascus), and he was both wise and very prudent. He was married with three children, and after his wife died he became a monk. He was ordained to the holy priesthood by the Bishop of Busra…
Saint Domnina was a woman with two daughters named Verine (Saint John Chrysostom calls her Vernike, or Berenice) and Prosdoce. Leaving their home and family, they settled in Edessa on the plain of Mesopotamia. Berenice’s father and her husband, who were pagans, took the women to Hieropolis in…
Saint Ammon of Egypt was raised in Christian piety. He entered into marriage at the urging of his parents, but by agreement with his spouse preserved his virginity and they lived as brother and sister. The spiritual spouses pursued asceticism in fasting, prayer and joint effort for twenty years.…
Saint Paul the Simple of Egypt also lived in the fourth century and was called the Simple for his simplicity of heart and gentleness. He had been married, but when he discovered his wife’s infidelity, he left her and went into the desert to Saint Anthony the Great (January 17). Paul was…
The holy martyr Callisthene was born in Ephesus, and her father was the eparch Audactus. She was to marry the emperor Maximian Galerius (305-311), but her father would not consent to the match because the emperor was a pagan. Therefore, Audactus was deprived of his wealth and position, and was…
Saint Stephen Stiljianovich of Serbia was born into a pious Christian family in the Serbian city of Zhupa (south of Zakholmya). During this time Serbia was often subjected to invasions by the Turks, who devastated the land. Saint Stephen defended his native land, did military service in the army of…
Saint Evdemoz led the Georgian Orthodox Church in the mid-17th century during the reign of King Rostom-Khan (1632-1658), a Georgian who had converted to Islam. Having murdered King Luarsab II of Kartli and chased out King Teimuraz I of Kakheti, the Persian shah Abbas I had declared Rostom-Khan…
Princess Elena was the wife of the Despot Stephen Štiljanović who is also venerated as a Saint. After his death around 1515, she fled to Germany in order to escape from the Turks. Later, a light appeared at his grave by night, which led to the discovery of his holy relics. The Saint's body was…
Saints Jonah and Nectarius of Kazan were called John and Nestor Zastolsky before they received monastic tonsure. When Saint Gurias (December 5 ) was sent to the newly established Kazan diocese, the boyar John Zastolsky went with him. Under the spiritual guidance of Saint Gurias, John led a virtuous…
1. The Hieromartyr Hierotheos.
He was a friend of Dionysius the Areopagite, and received the Christian faith from the Apostle Paul a little after Dionysius. This Apostle later made him bishop in Athens. At the time of the Dormition of the most holy Mother of God, Hierotheos arrived in Jerusalem and took part in the funeral. With his divine singing, he brought heartfelt joy to many and showed himself to be greatly inspired. He laboured greatly for the sake of the Gospel, brought many pagans to the truth, governed his flock well and finally ended a martyr for Christ, who gave him a twofold wreath in His heavenly Kingdom: of the hierarch and of the martyr.
2. St Stephen Stiljanovic.
A Serbian despot, born of the Pastrovic family, he governed the Serbian people during a most difficult period, struggling courageously against the Turks and the Latins. A righteous and godly man and a patriot, this great prince can be compared with St Alexander Nevsky or with the holy king John Vladimir. He entered into rest at the beginning of the sixteenth century (according to some, in 1515). A light appeared at his grave at night, by means of which his holy relics were found, being kept for a long time in the monastery of Sisatovac in the Fruska Gora* and then, during the Second World War, taken to Belgrade and placed in the Cathedral beside the body of Prince Lazar. His wife Helena, seeing Stephen's uncorrupt relics and the miracles wrought by them, became a nun and gave herself to asceticism till her death.
*Translator's note: A mountain range in north-east Yugoslavia.
3. Our Holy Father Ammon of Nitria.
An Egyptian and a wine-grower by profession, he was forced by his kinsmen to marry against his will, but he would not live with a woman. On the first day, he called his bride his sister and counselled her, together with him, to guard her virginity for the sake of greater good things from heaven, and they lived thus for a whole eighteen years. Later, by mutual arrangement, his wife founded a womens' monastery in their house and Ammon went off to the Nitrian desert, where he gave himself to the ascesis of solitude. He received great gifts of insight and wonderworking from God for the purity of his heart. A man and woman brought him their insane son that he might heal him by his prayers, but Ammon would not do so. After long pestering on the part of the parents, Ammon said: 'The sickness and health of your son are in your hands. Return the stolen ox to the widow (and he named her), and your son will be healed.' The parents, amazed at such insight on the saint's part, acknowledged their sin and promised that they would return the stolen ox as soon as they got home. Then holy Ammon prayed to God, and the child was healed. Ammon was a close friend of St Antony the Great. When Ammon died in Nitria in about 350, St Antony saw from his cell window the soul of Ammon in the heights, and said to the brethren: 'Abba Ammon has today moved on, and I see his holy soul being borne by the angels into heaven.'
4. Our Holy Father Paul the Simple.
He lived in the world as a married man to the age of sixty. Catching his wife in sin, he left everything and went to St Antony in the desert, becoming a monk at his hands. Although he was simple and unlettered, he achieved such spiritual perfection that he saw every man's soul as ordinary men see each other's bodies. He was a great wonderworker and, in some things, outstripped St Antony himself. He died in great old age, in 340, and went to angelic joy.
