St Frumentius the Archbishop of Abyssinia, Ethiopia

Commemorated on November 30
 
Saint Frumentius, Archbishop of Inda (Ethiopia, formerly Abysssinia), was a native of the city of Tyre. While still a child, he came to Abyssinia by divine Providence. Growing up near the imperial court, he became a friend and chief counselor of the Abyssinian emperor, and afterwards tutor to his son, who ascended the throne while still a minor after the death of his father.

With the consent of the new emperor, St Frumentius journeyed to his native land and afterwards visited Alexandria and its patriarch, St Athanasius the Great (May 2). With the blessing of St Athanasius, Frumentius was elevated to become Bishop of Abyssinia and he returned to that country, which had sheltered him from his childhood.

After he returned from his consecration, St Frumentius began to perform miracles, bringing many people to the Church. The emperor said to him, “You have lived among us for many years, yet we never saw you perform such wonders. Why is it that you do so now?” The saint replied, “This has nothing to do with me, but is due to the grace of the priesthood.” Then the emperor and many of his subjects received holy Baptism.

Having accomplished the apostolic task of converting the Abyssinian nation to Christ, St Frumentius zealously and fruitfully guided the Church entrusted him by God for many years, then peacefully departed to the Lord in great old age.

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Venerable Nectarius the Obedient of the Kiev Near Caves

Commemorated on November 29
 
Saint Nectarius the Obedient of the Caves, a monk of the Kiev Caves monastery, pursued asceticism during the twelfth century. For his unquestioning obedience to the will of his elder, the brethren and his zeal for work,  he was termed “the Obedient.” St Nectarius was buried in the Antoniev Cave. His memory is also celebrated on September 28 and the second Sunday of Great Lent.

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Maryrs Timothy, Theodore, Peter, John, Sergius, Theodore, Nicephorus, Basil, Thomas,Hierotheus, Daniel, Chariton, Socrates, Comasius and Etymasius at Tiberiopolis

Commemorated on November 28

These Saints were imprisoned by Julian the Apostate (331-363) together Saint Timothy was a bishop who imprisoned by Julian the Apostate (331-363) together with his fellow bishop Theodore; the priests Peter, John, Sergius, Theodore, Nicephorus; the deacons Basil and Thomas; the monks Hierotheus, Daniel, Chariton, Socrates, Comasius; and Etymasius. They all suffered martyrdom in Tiberiopolis in 361.



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17 Monkmartyrs in India

Commemorated on November 27










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St Athanasius, “the Iron Staff” and St Theodosius of Cherepovetsm, disciples of St Sergius of Radonezh

Commemorated on November 26
 
Saints Athanasius (“the Iron Staff”) and Theodosius of Cherepovets were disciples of St Sergius of Radonezh. They settled in the region of Novgorod at the border of Cherepovets where the Rivulet Yagorba flows into the River Sheksna. Here they labored in monastic struggles. They built a church in honor of the Most Holy Trinity, and founded the Cherepovets Resurrection monastery.

The saints died in the year 1388, and were buried in the monastery’s cathedral church. Their memory is also celebrated on September 25.

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St Clement the Bishop of Ochrid and Enlightener of the Bulgarians

Commemorated on November 25

Saints Clement, Bishop of Ochrid, Equal of the Apostles, Naum, Sava, Gorazd and Angelar were Slavs, disciples of Sts Cyril and Methodius (May 11). At first they lived as ascetics in Moravia, where St Gorazd succeded St Methodius as bishop. He was fluent in Slavonic, Greek and Latin. Sts Clement, Naum, Angelar and Sava were priests.

The Enlighteners of the Slavs were opposed by German missionaries, who had the support of the Pope and the patronage of the Moravian prince Svyatopolk. The struggle centered around the questions of the need for divine services in Slavonic, the Filioque and Saturday fasting. Pope Stephen VI prohibited the use of Slavonic in church.

The proponents of the three-tongued heresy (who wanted to use only Hebrew, Greek, or Latin for Church purposes), after setting aside the ancestral language of the Slavic peoples, brought the disciples of St Methodius to trial, including St Clement. They subjected them to fierce torture: dragging them through thorns, and holding them in prison for a long time, just as they had done with their spiritual Father, St Methodius.

In 886, some of the prisoners were sold to slave-traders, and ended up in the Venice marketplace. The ambassador of the Byzantine Emperor Basil the Macedonian went to Venice, ransomed the saints and brought them to Constantinople. The older confessors were banished. It is not known where St Gorazd went, nor where St Sava found shelter. Naum and Angelar went to Bulgaria.

In 907 Moravia collapsed under the onslaught of the Magyars, and Moravian refugees escaped along those same paths followed earlier by the saints they had exiled.

The Bulgarians received the Slavonic confessors with respect and requested them to conduct divine services in the Slavonic language. The Bulgarian prince Boris sought out such people as the disciples of St Methodius, who labored for the enlightenment of his nation. The saints immediately began to study Slavonic books collected by the Bulgarian nobles.

St Angelar soon died, and St Clement received the appointment to teach at Kutmichivitsa, a region in southwest Macedonia. In the Eastern Church a worthy man was chosen to be a teacher, someone known for his pious life, and possessed with a gift of words. St Clement was a teacher while he was still in Moravia. In Bulgaria, St Clement worked as an instructor until 893. He organized a school at the princely court, which attained high esteem during the reign of Simeon. In southwest Macedonia he created separate schools for adults and for children.

St Clement instructed the children in reading and in writing. The total number of his students was enormous. Those chosen and accepted for the clergy amounted to 3500 men. In the year 893, St Clement became Bishop of Dremvitsa, or Velitsa, and St Naum took his place.

St Clement was the first Bulgarian hierarch to serve, preach and write in the Slavonic language. To this end he systematically prepared clergy from among the Slavic people. The holy bishop labored for the glory of God into his old age. When his strength failed, and he was unable to fulfill his responsibilities in the cathedral, he asked Tsar Simeon to let him retire.

The Tsar urged the saint not to forsake the cathedral, and St Clement agreed to continue his episcopal service. After this he went to Ochrid, to a monastery he founded. There the saint continued with his translation activities and translated important parts of the PENTEKOSTARION.

Soon the saint became seriously ill and departed to the Lord in the year 916. The saint’s body was placed in a coffin he made with his own hands, and was buried in Ochrid’s St Panteleimon monastery.

St Clement is considered the first Slavonic author. He not only continued the translation work begun by Sts Cyril and Methodius, but also left behind works of his own composition, the first samples of Slavonic spiritual literature.

Many of the lessons and sermons of St Clement were brought to Russia, where they were read and lovingly copied by pious Russian Christians.

St Clement is also commemorated on July 27.

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Martyr Philotheus the Romanian

Commemorated on November 24








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Hieromartyr Gregory (Peradze) of Georgia

Commemorated on November 23

Archimandrite Gregory (Peradze) was born August 31, 1899, in the village of Bakurtsikhe, in the Sighnaghi district of Kakheti. His father, Roman Peradze, was a priest.

In 1918, Gregory completed his studies at the theological school and seminary in Tbilisi and enrolled in the philosophy department at Tbilisi University. Three years later, in 1921, he began to teach at the university, but the Georgian Church soon sent him to Germany to study theology. From 1922 to 1925, Gregory studied theology and eastern languages at the University of Berlin, and in 1925 he transferred to the philosophy department at the University of Bonn, where he received a doctoral degree in philosophy for his dissertation “The Monastic Life in Georgia from Its Origins to 1064.”Gregory continued to attend lectures in theology at the University of Louvain until 1927.

In 1927, Gregory moved to England to continue his career in academia, and there he became acquainted with the old patristic manuscripts that were preserved in the library collections of the British Museum and Oxford University. In July of that year, Gregory was named an associate professor at the University of Bonn, and he returned there to lecture on the history of Georgian and Armenian literature. In 1931, Gregory was tonsured a monk, ordained a priest, and appointed dean of the Georgian church in Paris. A year later he was invited to Oxford to lecture on Georgian history.

A new period in St. Gregory’s life began later in 1932, when the Metropolitan of all Poland, Dionysius Waledinsky, invited him to be a professor of Patrology and the chair of Orthodox Theology at Warsaw University. He often delivered lectures at academic conferences and in academic centers throughout Europe. He sought tirelessly for ancient Georgian manuscripts and historical documents on the Georgian Church. His searches took him to Syria, Palestine, Greece, Bulgaria, Austria, Romania, Italy and England. As a result of his labors, many long-lost Georgian manuscripts surfaced again.

Humility and industriousness characterized the Hieromartyr Gregory throughout his life. In difficult moments he often repeated the words of St. John Chrysostom: “Glory be to God for all things!”

In the 1920s, as the Red Army was securing its occupation of Georgia, the nation’s treasures were carried away to France for safekeeping. Later, in the 1940s, Georgian society was unaware that, due to St. Gregory’s efforts alone, many treasures of Georgian national culture were spared confiscation by the Nazis in Paris. Risking execution at the hands of a firing squad, St. Gregory wrote in the official documentation presented to the Nazis that these items were of no particular value but were precious to the Georgians as part of their national consciousness.

Nor did most of Georgian society know that, in Paris, Archimandrite Gregory had founded a Georgian church in honor of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Nino and a parish journal called Jvari Vazisa, or “The Cross of Vines.”

In May of 1942, St. Gregory was arrested by the Gestapo. The priceless Georgian manuscripts he had preserved and many sacred objects that had been crafted by ancient Georgian masters and collected by St. Gregory during his travels (in hopes of returning them to Georgia) disappeared after his apartment was searched.

Archimandrite Gregory was arrested for sheltering and aiding Jews and other victims of the fascist persecutions. He was incarcerated at Pawiak Prison in Warsaw, and deported to Auschwitz at the beginning of November.

In the camp an inmate killed a German officer. The guards drove everyone out of the barracks absolutely naked, forcing them to stay in the below-freezing temperatures until someone confessed. St. Gregory decided to take the blame for the murder, thus saving innocent prisoners from freezing to death. The guards let loose the dogs on the martyr, poured gasoline over him, and lit him on fire. Then they said, “Poles, go warm yourselves around him, your intercessor.”

According to the official German documentation, Gregory Peradze died on December 6, 1942 [November 23, old style], at 4:45 in the afternoon. (According to another account, the martyr entered the gas chamber in place of a Jewish man with a large family. This was reported by a former prisoner, who, after being liberated, visited Metropolitan Dionysius and gave him St. Gregory’s cross.) In the end, like Christ Himself, Archimandrite Gregory died for having taken upon himself the sin of another.

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New Hieromartyr Elias (Gromoglasov) of Tver

Commemorated on November 22















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The Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple

November 21

Reading:

 

According to the tradition of the Church, the Theotokos was brought to the Temple at three years of age, where she was consecrated to God and spent her days until she was fourteen or fifteen years old; and then, as a mature maiden, by the common counsel of the priests (since her parents had reposed some three years before), she was betrothed to Joseph.

Apolytikion of Entry of the Theotokos in the Fourth Tone

 

Today is the prelude of God's pleasure and the proclamation of man's salvation. The Virgin is clearly made manifest in the temple of God and foretells Christ to all. Let us also cry out to her with mighty voice, "Hail, fulfillment of the Creator's dispensation."

Kontakion of Entry of the Theotokos in the Fourth Tone

 

Today, the most pure temple of the Savior, the precious bridal chamber and Virgin, the sacred treasure of God, enters the house of the Lord, bringing the grace of the Divine Spirit. The Angels of God praise her. She is the heavenly tabernacle.

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The Holy Martyrs Eustathius, Thespesius and Anatolius of Nicea

Commemorated on November 20
 
The Holy Martyrs Eustathius, Thespesius and Anatolius, natives of the city of Gangra, were the children of a rich merchant. They were baptized by Bishop Anthimus of Nicomedia (September 3). They died as martyrs at Nicea, after suffering fierce tortures.



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Venerable Barlaam the Abbot of the Kiev Near Caves

Commemorated on November 19
 
Saint Barlaam, Igumen of the Kiev Caves, lived during the eleventh century at Kiev, and was the son of an illustrious noble. From his youth, he yearned for the monastic life and he went to St Anthony of the Caves (July 10), who accepted the pious youth so firmly determined to become a monk, and he bade St Nikon (March 23) to tonsure him.

St Barlaam’s father tried to return him home by force, but finally became convinced that his son would never return to the world, so he gave up. When the number of monks at the Caves began to increase, St Anthony made St Barlaam igumen, while he himself moved to another cave and again began to live in solitude.

St Barlaam became the first igumen of the Kiev Caves monastery. In the year 1058, after asking St Anthony’s blessing, St Barlaam built a wooden church in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. Afterwards, St Barlaam became igumen of the newly-formed monastery in honor of the Great Martyr Demetrius.

St Barlaam twice went on pilgrimage to the holy places in Jerusalem and Constantinople. After he returned from his second journey, he died in the Vladimir Holy Mountain monastery at Volhynia in 1065 and was buried, in accord with his final wishes, at the Caves monastery in the Near Caves. His memory is celebrated September 28 and on the second Sunday of Great Lent.

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New Martyr Anastasius of Epirus

Commemorated on November 18














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Righteous Mother Hilda of Whitby

November 17

Reading:

 

Our righteous Mother Hilda was of noble birth, being a kinswoman of Saint Edwin, King of Northumbria (celebrated Oct. 12). At the age of thirty-three she renounced the world, and lived another thirty-three years as a nun and abbess. The last six years of her life she suffered a burning fever with patience and nobility, and reposed in peace in the year 680.

Apolytikion of Mother Hilda of Whitby in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

 

The image of God, was faithfully preserved in you, O Mother. For you took up the Cross and followed Christ. By Your actions you taught us to look beyond the flesh for it passes, rather to be concerned about the soul which is immortal. Wherefore, O Holy Hilda, your soul rejoices with the angels.

Kontakion of Mother Hilda of Whitby in the First Tone

 

For three and thirty years in the world, chaste and modest, for three and thirty years as a righteous monastic, thou camest, O Hilda, unto Christ's stature, and perfect man; and on being cleansed through grievous bodily sickness, thou wast taken up in light and glory to Heaven, Where thou dost pray God for us.

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Matthew the Apostle & Evangelist

November 16

Reading:

 

This Apostle, who was also called Levi, was the son of Alphaeus and had Galilee as his homeland. A publican before being called by Christ, he became one of the Twelve Apostles, and an Evangelist. While still in Palestine, he wrote his Gospel first in Hebrew, being also the first of all to write the Gospel. When he is depicted in icons, there is portrayed next to him the likeness of a man, one of the symbolic living creatures mentioned by Ezekiel (1.10), which, as Saint Irenaeus writes, is a symbol of our Saviour's Incarnation.

Apolytikion of Apostle and Evangelist Matthew in the Third Tone

 

O Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew, intercede to our merciful God, that He may grant our souls forgiveness of sins.

Kontakion of Apostle and Evangelist Matthew in the Fourth Tone

 

When thou didst cast away the publican's balance and wast united to the yoke of uprightness, then didst thou prove a merchant of great excellence, one that gathered in the wealth of the wisdom of Heaven; for this cause, the word of truth thou didst herald, O Matthew, and didst arouse the souls of sluggish men by signifying the dread day of reckoning.

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Martyr Demetrius of Thrace

Commemorated on November 15
 
Saint Demetrius was tortured for the sake of Christ by Pomplius the governor in the village of Daodus, and then he was beheaded.

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Holy Great New Martyr Constantine of Hydra

November 14

Reading:

 

Constantine was born on the island of Hydra in the 18th century. Born to a pious Orthodox Christian family, he left the island for the city of Rhodes in order to find work. There he worked for the Turkish governor and converted to Islam. He soon repented and returned to his Christian faith and lived on Mt Athos for a period of time as a monastic. He returned to Rhodes to confront the governor and confess his Christian faith. He died the death of a martyr by being beheaded on November 14, 1800.



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Monkmartyrs Damascene and Damian of Lavra on Mt Athos

Commemorated on November 13










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Nilus the Ascetic of Sinai

November 12

Reading:

 

Saint Nilus, who had Constantinople as his homeland, was a disciple of Saint John Chrysostom. He had formerly been an eparch of the city, then became an ascetic on Mount Sinai. He wrote epistles and various ascetical works, and reposed about 451.

Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

 

With the rivers of your tears, you have made the barren desert fertile. Through sighs of sorrow from deep within you, your labors have borne fruit a hundred-fold. By your miracles you have become a light, shining upon the world. O Nilus, our Holy Father, pray to Christ our God, to save our souls.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

 

By thine unsleeping prayer, O Father Nilus blest of God, thou didst most keenly cut away all the material that enkindleth the revolts of the body's passions; and since thou possessest boldness with the Lord of all, from all dangers that can be do thou deliver me that I may cry to thee: Rejoice, O universal Father.

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SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2013(with 2012's link here also and further, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and even 2007!)

Repose of St Stephen of Dechani, Serbia

Commemorated on November 11

Saint Stephen was the son of King Milutin and the father of King Dushan. He was blinded on the orders of his father. St Nicholas (December 6) appeared to him in the church of Ovche Polje (Sheep Pasture) and said, “Do not be afraid.Your eyes have been given to me, and I shall return them to you at the appropriate time.

St Stephen lived in Constantinople for five years at the Monastery of the Pantocrator. He surpassed not only the monks, but also all the inhabitants of Constantinople, in his spiritual struggles, patience, and meekness. At the end of the five years, St Nicholas appeared to him again. Making the Sign of the Cross over his eyes, he restored Stephen’s sight. In gratitude for this miracle, Stephen built the Dechani Monastery in Serbia.

In his old age, St Stephen was drowned by his son, receiving the crown of martyrdom in 1336.

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Venerable Theocteristus the Abbot of Symbola on Mt Olympus

Commemorated on November 10






SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2013(with 2012's link here also and further, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and even 2007!)

Venerable Theoctiste of the Isle of Lesbos

Commemorated on November 9
 
Saint Theoctiste was born in the city of Methymna on the island of Lesbos. At an early age she was left a complete orphan, and relatives sent her to a monastery to be raised. The girl was happy to be removed from the world of sin, and she liked the monastic life, the long church services, monastic obedience, the strict fasting and unceasing prayer. She learned much of the singing, prayer and psalmody by heart.

In the year 846 when she was already eighteen years old, she set off with the blessing of the abbess, on the Feast of the Resurrection of Christ, to a neighboring village to visit her sister and she remained there overnight. Arabs invaded the settlement, and they took captive all the inhabitants, loaded them on a ship, and by morning they were at sea.

The brigands took the captives to the desolate island of Paros so that they might examine them in order to assign a value to each when they were sold at the slave-market. The Lord helped the young maiden to flee, and the Arabs did not catch her. From that time St Theoctiste dwelt on the island for 35 years. An old church in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos served as her dwelling, and her food was sunflower seeds. All her time was spent in prayer.

Once, a group of hunters landed upon the island. One of them, pursuing his prey, went far off from the coast into the forest and suddenly he saw the church. He went into the church so as to offer up a prayer to the Lord. After the prayer the hunter saw what looked like a human form in a dim corner, not far from the holy altar table, through thick cobwebs. He went closer and heard a voice, “Stay there, fellow, and come no closer to shame me, since I am a naked woman.” The hunter gave the woman his outer clothing and she came out from concealment. He beheld a grey-haired woman with worn face, calling herself Theoctiste. With a weak voice she told of her life fully devoted to God.

When she finished her story, the saint asked the hunter, if he happened to come to this island again, that he should bring her a particle of the Presanctified Gifts. During all her time of living in the wilderness she not once was granted to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

A year later, the hunter again arrived upon the island and brought a small vessel with a particle of the Holy Mysteries. St Theoctiste met the Holy Gifts in the church, fell down to the ground and prayed long with tears. Standing up, she took the vessel and with reverence and in the fear of God she received the Body and Blood of Christ.

On the following day the hunter saw the dead body of the nun Theoctiste in the church. After digging a shallow grave, the hunter placed the venerable body of the nun in it. As he did so, he impudently cut off her hand, so as to take with him part of the relics of the great saint of God. All night the ship sailed upon a tempestuous sea, and in the morning it found itself at the very place from which it began. The man then perceived that taking the relic was not pleasing to God.

He returned to the grave and placed the hand with the body of the saint. After this the ship sailed off unhindered. On the journey the hunter told his companions everything that had happened on the island. Listening to him, they all decided immediately to return to Paros, to venerate the relics of the great ascetic, but they could not find her holy body in the grave.

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SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2013(with 2012's link here also and further, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and even 2007!)

Synaxis of the Archangel Michael & the other Bodiless Powers: Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Salaphiel, Jegudiel, & Barachiel

November 8

Reading:

 

All the Angels, according to the Apostle Paul, are ministering spirits, - sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation - (Heb. 1:14). God set them as overseers of every nation and people, and guides to that which is profitable (Deut. 32:8); and while one Angel is appointed to oversee each nation as a whole, one is also appointed to protect each Christian individually. He commands them to guard them that hope on Him, that nothing should harm them, neither should any evil draw nigh to their dwelling (Ps. 90:10-12). In the Heavens they always behold the face of God, sending up to Him the thrice-holy hymn and interceding with Him in our behalf, seeing they rejoice over one sinner that repents (Esaias 6:2-3; Matt. 18:10; Luke 15:7). In a word, they have served God in so many ways for our benefit, that the pages of Holy Scripture are filled with the histories thereof. It is for these reasons that the Orthodox Catholic Church, wisely honouring these divine ministers, our protectors and guardians, celebrates today the present Synaxis that is, our coming together in assembly for their common feast to chant their praises, especially for the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, who are mentioned in the Scriptures by name. The name Michael means "Who is like God?" and Gabriel means "God is mighty." The number of Angels is not defined in the divine Scriptures, where Daniel says that thousands of thousands ministered before Him, and ten thousands of ten thousands attended upon Him -(Dan. 7:10). But all of them are divided into nine orders which are called Thrones, Cherubim, Seraphim, Dominions, Powers, Authorities, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone

 

O Commanders of the Heavenly Host, we the unworthy beseech you, that through your entreaties you will fortify us, guarding us in the shelter of the wings of your ethereal glory, even as we fervently bow before you crying: "Deliver us from all danger, as Commanders of the Powers on high! "

Kontakion in the Second Tone

 

Chief Commanders of God; ministers of divine glory; guides for men and leadership of the Incorporeal; as Chief Commanders of the Incorporeal, plead for our welfare and for great mercy.

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SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2013(with 2012's link here also and further, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and even 2007!)

Lazarus the Wonderworker

November 7

Reading:

 

Our righteous Father Lazarus was born in 967 in Magnesia of Asia Minor, and passed through various regions of the East, visiting monasteries. He was tonsured a monk, and then ordained priest, at the Monastery of Mar Sabbas in Palestine. In 1005 he returned to his homeland, and beginning in the year 1012, he built the monasteries that are on Mount Galesion. He raised up a pillar, on which he lived as a stylite for many years, enduring unspeakable hardships for the love of Christ, and reposed in the Lord in deep old age in the year 1053, during the reign of Constantine Monomachus (1042-1055).

Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

 

In thy vigilant prayers, thou didst drench thy pillar with streams of tears; by thy sighings from the depths, thou didst bear fruit a hundredfold in labours; and thou becamest a shepherd, granting forgiveness to them that came to thee, O our righteous Father Lazarus. Intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone

 

With great joy, the Church of Christ doth glorify thee on this day with psalmic hymns as a great light unto us all; hence never cease thou to intercede with Christ to grant the forgiveness of sins to all.

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SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2013(with 2012's link here also and further, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and even 2007!)

Paul the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople

November 6

Reading:

 

Saint Paul was from Thessalonica. He became the secretary of Alexander, Patriarch of Constantinople (see Aug. 30), a deacon, and then the successor of Saint Alexander in about 337. Because of his virtue, his eloquence in teaching, and his zeal for Orthodoxy, the Arians hated and feared him. When the Arian Emperor Constantius, who was in Antioch, learned of Paul's election, he exiled Paul and proclaimed the Arian Eusebius Patriarch. Saint Paul went to Rome, where he found Saint Athanasius the Great also in exile. Provided with letters by Pope Julius, Paul returned to Constantinople, and after the death of Eusebius in 342, ascended again his rightful throne; the Arians meanwhile elected Macedonius, because he rejected the Son's con-substantiality with the Father (and the divinity of the Holy Spirit besides). When Constantius, yet at Antioch, learned of Paul's return, he sent troops to Constantinople to drive Paul out. The Saint returned to Rome, where Saint Athanasius also was again in exile. Constans, Emperor of the West, Constantius' brother, but Orthodox, wrote to Constantius that if Athanasius and Paul were not allowed to return to their sees, he would come with troops to restore them him-self. So Paul again returned to his throne. After the death of Constans, however, Constantius had Paul deposed. Because of the love of the people for Saint Paul, Philip the Prefect, who was sent for him, was compelled to arrest him secretly to avoid a sedition. Paul was banished to Cucusus, on the borders of Cilicia and Armenia; a town through which his most illustrious successor, Saint John Chrysostom would also pass on his way to Comana in his last exile. In Cucusus, about the year 350, as Saint Paul was celebrating the Divine Liturgy in the little house where he was a prisoner, the Arians strangled him with his own omophorion, so much did they fear him even in exile. His holy relics were brought back to Constantinople with honour by the Emperor Theodosius the Great.

Apolytikion in the Third Tone

 

Thy confession of the one divine Faith showed thee to the Church to be a new Paul and a zealot among priests, O holy one. The righteous blood both of Abel and Zachary with thee doth cry out together unto the Lord. Righteous Father, intercede with Christ God in our behalf that His great mercy may be granted unto us.

Kontakion in the Second Tone

 

Thou shonest on earth, a star bright with celestial light, and now thou dost shine enlightenment on all the Church, in behalf of which thou didst struggle, laying down thine own life, O Paul, and like Abel and Zachary, thy blood doth cry out most clearly to the Lord.

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SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2013(with 2012's link here also and further, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and even 2007!)

Apostles' Patrobas, Hermes, Linus, Gaius, Philologus, Apostles of the Seventy

Commemorated on November 5

Saints Patrobas, Hermes, Linus, Gaius, Philologus, Apostles of the Seventy preached the Gospel in various cities, each enduring various hardships in their service as bishops.

St Patrobas (Rom 16:14) was Bishop of Neopolis (now Naples) and Puteoli in Italy.

St Hermes was bishop in the city of Philippoplis where he died a martyr.

 Linus (2 Tim 4:21) was a successor to the Apostle Peter at Rome.

St Gaius (Rom 16:23),was Bishop of Ephesus after St Timothy.



The Apostle Andrew consecrated St Philologus (Rom 16:15) as bishop of the city of Sinope (in the Black Sea region).

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SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2013(with 2012's link here also and further, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and even 2007!)

Venerable Mercurius the Faster of the Kiev Caves

Commemorated on November 4






SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2013(with 2012's link here also and further, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and even 2007!)

St Snandulia of Persia

Commemorated on November 3
 
Saint Snandulia of Persia is mentioned in the account of the martyrdom of Sts Joseph the priest and Aithalas the deacon. The historian Sozomen also describes their sufferings in his CHURCH HISTORY (Book 2, ch. 13).

Snandulia was a devout Christian of the city of Arbela who visited those who suffered in prison for the sake of Christ. When she learned that Sts Joseph and Aithalas were in the prison, she went with her servants by night and bribed the guards with gold. They allowed her to take the saints to her home until daybreak. They were barely alive and unable to speak. She took them home and put them to bed, tending their wounds, and kissing their shattered hands and feet.

St Joseph recovered consciousness and saw Snandulia weeping. He told her that the compassion she had shown for him and for Aithalas was pleasing to God, but he thought that her bitter lamentations were contrary to Christian hope.

She replied, “When one is moved by compassion, it is natural to weep.”

“Nevertheless,” St Joseph said, “you should not weep for us, for tortures born for the sake of Christ are followed by eternal joy.”

The two saints were returned to prison the next morning, as promised. After six months their wounds had healed to some extent. They could stand and walk a little, but Aithalas’s hands hung at his side limp and useless.

Zerothus was appointed as a judge, and he entered the city offering sacrifice to the gods in the various temples. Some of the priests told him about Sts Joseph and Aithalas, who had been tortured on the orders of Prince Ardasabor, the head of all the Magi of Persia. They explained to Zerothus that their execution was being delayed until they recovered from their wounds.

When he heard this, Zerothus ordered that the martyrs be brought before him. He used flattery and then threats in an attempt to persuade them to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. When this proved unsuccessful, the judge had them beaten for a long time.

When they were brought before the judge again, Zerothus tried to get the saints to eat food which had been offered to the idols, but they refused. Then the judge had them beaten again, and ordered other Christians to stone them. Soldiers went to the homes of the Christians to force them to come to the judgment hall. They dug a hole and placed St Joseph in it, then put stones in the hands of the Christians and compelled them to stone him.

St Snandulia was among these Christians, but she refused to throw stones at the aged priest. Then they gave her a lance and told her to kill St Joseph. She said that she would rather drive the lance into her own heart than to wound the saint with it.

St Joseph was eventually killed by all the stones that were thrown at him, and the holy deacon Aithalas was also stoned in the same way.

St Snandulia stretched forth her arms to needful works and opened her hands to the needy (Proverbs 31:19-20), but she refused to lift her hands to do evil against St Joseph.

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SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2013(with 2012's link here also and further, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and even 2007!)

Ozerianka Icon of God of Shuiu-Smolensk

Commemorated on November 2

The Shuiu-Smolensk Wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God was painted in the years 1654-1655 in the Resurrection parish of the city of Shuiu, where an unrelenting pestilence raged. Trusting in the mercy of God and the intercession of the Mother of God, the parishioners of the Resurrection church commissioned a certain pious monk to paint the icon of the Smolensk Mother of God, an icon long attributed with being a rescuer of the Russian people from enemies and misfortune.

The parishioners spent the whole week in prayer and fasting while the image was being painted. When the icon was finished, the priest and the people took it to the church and set it in a specially built place. From that time the pestilence began to ease, at first in the area of the Resurrection parish, and then also in all the city.

From the Icon of the Mother of God many miracles of healing took place, especially of eye diseases. The icon is also celebrated on July 11, July 28, and Bright Tuesday.

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SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2013(with 2012's link here also and further, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and even 2007!)

David the Righteous of Evia

November 1







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SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2013(with 2012's link here also and further, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and even 2007!)