Saint John of Rilas founded the renowned monastery of that name in Bulgaria in the tenth century. Over the centuries, great and wondrous healings have flowed from his holy relics. Reading copyright Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, used by permission. All rights reserved.
Continue ReadingThis Apostle was an Antiochean, a physician by trade, and a disciple and companion of Paul. He wrote his Gospel in Greek after Matthew and Mark, after which he wrote the Acts of the Apostles, and dedicated both works to Theophilus, who, according to some, was Governor of Achaia. He lived some eighty-six years and […]
Continue ReadingSaint Kosmas was from the Holy City, Jerusalem, and was a contemporary and peer of Saint John of Damascus (Dec. 4), with whom also he was reared when, because of his orphanhood he was adopted by Sergius, Saint John’s father, and with whom he had the same instructor. About the year 743, he was elected […]
Continue ReadingSaint Symeon became a monk of the Studite Monastery as a young man, under the guidance of the elder Symeon the Pious. Afterwards he struggled at the Monastery of Saint Mamas in Constantinople, of which he became abbot. After enduring many trials and afflictions in his life of piety, he reposed in 1022. Marvelling at […]
Continue ReadingSaint Philip, who had four daughters that prophesied, was from Caesarea of Palestine. He preached throughout Samaria; it was he also who met the eunuch of Candace, the Queen of the Ethiopians, as the eunuch was reading the Prophet Esaias, and he instructed and baptized him (Acts 8:26-39). He reposed in Tralles of Asia Minor […]
Continue ReadingThe holy Apostle James was one of the Twelve, and preached Christ to many nations, and finally suffered death by crucifixion. Reading copyright Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, used by permission. All rights reserved.
Continue ReadingThese holy Martyrs were Romans of high rank in the service of the Emperor Maximian, to whom it was reported that they did not take part in the festivals of the idols. When he called them into his presence, they confessed their Faith in the one God. He had them arrayed in women’s clothes and […]
Continue ReadingThe name Thomas means, “twin.” He was one of the Twelve, a Galilean by birth. Sophroneus (not the famous Patriarch of Jerusalem [7th Century, celebrated March 11], but a friend of Jerome’s), quoted also by Jerome, says that Saint Thomas preached to the Parthians, Pesians, Medes, Hyrcanians, Bactrians, and neighbouring nations. According to Heracleon, the […]
Continue ReadingSaint Charitina contested for Christ during the reign of Diocletian, in the year 290. The handmaid of a certain Claudius, she was betrayed as a Christian to Dometian, the Count, before whom she fearlessly confessed Christ. After suffering the most terrible tortures, including the uprooting of her teeth and nails, she gave up her soul […]
Continue ReadingAccording to some, Hierotheos, like Saint Dionysios, was a member of the court of Mars Hill. Having first been instructed in the Faith of Christ by Paul, he became Bishop of Athens. He, in turn, initiated the divine Dionysios more perfectly into the mysteries of Christ; the latter, on his part, elaborated more clearly and […]
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