On the day after every Great Feast, the Orthodox Church honors the one through whom the Feast is made possible. On the day following the Nativity of the Lord, for example, we celebrate the Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos (December 26). On the day after Theophany, we commemorate Saint John the…

The Hieromartyr Dorotheus was bishop of the Phoenician city of Tyre, during the time of the persecution against Christians under the emperor Diocletian (284-305). Heeding the words of the Gospel (Mt.10:23), the saint withdrew from Tyre and hid from the persecutors. He returned to Tyre during the…

The Transfer of Relics of Saint Igor, Great Prince of Kiev The Kievan Great Prince Igor Ol’govich, in holy Baptism George (September 19), in the year 1146 suffered defeat and was taken captive by prince Izyaslav, who imprisoned him in one of the monasteries of Russian or Southern…

In 1147 Saint Igor Ol’govich (September 19, June 5) was defeated and captured by Izyaslav Mstislavich, the grandson of Saint Vladimir (July 15). Izyaslav then replaced Saint Igor as Great Prince. The See of Kiev had been left vacant after the death of Metropolitan Michael in 1145, and…

Holy Prince Theodore of Novgorod, the elder brother of Saint Alexander Nevsky, was born in the year 1218. His princely service to his native land began at a very early age. In 1229 both brothers had been left in Novgorod by their father Yaroslav Vsevolodovich as his representatives. But not even a…

Saints Bassian and Jonah were monks of the Solovki Transfiguration monastery and disciples of Igumen Philip, who later became Metropolitan of Moscow (January 9). These holy monks were glorified by the Lord after their death in 1561. Fishermen and sailors came to pray in the chapel, built in 1599…

The Holy Martyrs Marcian, Nicander, Hyperechius, Apollonius, Leonidas, Arius, Gorgias, Pambo, and the women martyrs Selenia and Irene were natives of Egypt and suffered during the reign of Maximian (305-311). For their steadfast confession of faith in Christ they were subjected to a fierce…

Saint Theodore the Wonderworker lived during the sixth century. In his youth he forsook the world in order to become a monk, withdrawing into the Jordanian wilderness. He lived a life of asceticism, and so he received from God the gift of wonderworking. Once, while he was journeying to…

Saint Anubius the Ascetic bravely endured tortures during the time of persecutions against Christians in the fourth century, but he remained alive and withdrew into the wilderness, where he dwelt until old age. He founded a small skete, in which he lived with six monks, one of whom was his brother…

The Holy Abba Dorotheus was a disciple of Saint John the Prophet in the Palestinian monastery of Abba Seridus in the sixth century. In his youth he had zealously studied secular science. “When I sought worldly knowledge,” wrote the abba, “it was very difficult at first. When I…

Saint Peter was born in 1211 in the village of Unjimir between the city of Pech and the Field of Kosovo. As a child, he was meek and humble, and seldom participated in children’s games. At an early age, he and his younger sister Helena devoted themselves to prayer and fasting. When he was ten…

The Igor Icon of the Mother of God. The holy Passion-Bearer and Great Prince of Kiev Igor Ol’govich (September 19, 1147), prayed before this icon during the last moments of his life. It was in the chapel of Saint John the Theologian in the Dormition cathedral of the Kiev Caves Lavra. This…