Hieromartyr Phocas was born in the city of Sinope. From youth he led a virtuous Christian life, and in his adult years he became Bishop of Sinope. Saint Phocas converted many pagans to faith in Christ. At the time of a persecution against Christians under the emperor Trajan (98-117), the governor…

The Holy Prophet Jonah lived in the eighth century before the birth of Christ and was a successor of the Prophet Elisha. The Book of the Prophet Jonah contains prophecies about the judgments on the Israelite nation, the sufferings of the Savior, the downfall of Jerusalem, and the end of the world.…

Saint Jonah the Presbyter, Father of Saints Theophanes the Hymnographer (October 11) and Theodore the Branded (December 27), lived in Palestine in the late eighth to early ninth centuries. Saint Jonah lived a virtuous and holy life. He had two sons who were glorified afterwards for their…

Saint Jonah of Yash Lake was born in the village of Shoksha, sixteen versts from the monastery later established by him. The foundation of the monastery took place in 1580, when a wooden church was built in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, and eight monks joined together with…

Saint Phokas (Phokás) came from Sinope (Sinópē) and his only possessions were a garden which he cultivated with great diligence. His income from the garden was very small. But since he was a good steward and frugal in his needs, he would always have something for the poor. Saint Phokas studied…

Saint Peter, Former Tax-Collector, was the chief collector of taxes in Africa in the service of the emperor Justinian (527-565). He was a cruel and merciless man. One day he threw a morsel of bread to a beggar who annoyed him by incessantly begging alms. In a vision Peter saw himself as dead and…

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Saint Alexander Nevsky, Great Prince August 30 (translation of relics in 1724), November 22 (his burial in 1263) Saint Alexander, soldier, schemamonk, disciple of Saint Sergius. September 7 (+1390) Saint Alexander, soldier, schemamonk, disciple of Saint Sergius. September 7 (+1380) Saint Boris…

Saint Cosmas the Anchorite of Zographou Monastery was born into an aristocratic family in Bulgaria toward the end of the XVIII century, and was proficient in Greek as well as Bulgarian. When his parents desired him to get married, he left their home surreptitiously and headed for the far-famed Holy…

This wonderworking Icon is at Zographou Monastery on Mount Athos. The name of the Hearer Icon of the Mother of God (Παναγία Επακούουσα, or Услы́шательница in Russian) is explained by the following miraculous sign. The venerable Cosmas was living a life of asceticism…