Venerable Paisios of the Holy Mountain Venerable Father Paisios (Paϊsios) of the Holy Mountain was born to devout parents, Pródromos (Prodromos) and Eulampίa Enzepίde (Enzepίdē), at Pharasa (Phárasa) in Cappadocia on July 25, 1924. Shortly before the family left for Greece because of the exchange of populations,1 he was baptized by Saint Arsenios of Cappadocia (November…

Holy and Great Martyr Euphemia The Miracle of Saint Euphemia the All-Praised: The holy Great Martyr Euphemia (September 16) suffered martyrdom in the city of Chalcedon in the year 304, during the time of the persecution against Christians by the emperor Diocletian (284-305). One and a half centuries later, at a time when the Christian…

Venerable Father, the God-Bearer Anthony, Founder of the Lavra of the Kiev Caves and the Father of Russian Monasticism Saint Anthony of the Kiev Caves was born in the year 983 at Liubech, not far from Chernigov, and was named Antipas in Baptism. Possessing the fear of God from his youth, he desired to be…

Holy Hieromartyr Pancratius, Bishop of Taormina in Sicily The Hieromartyr Pancratius, Bishop of Taormina, was born when our Lord Jesus Christ yet lived upon the earth.  The parents of Pancratius were natives of Antioch. Hearing the good news of Jesus Christ, Pancratius’ father took his young son with him and went to Jerusalem in order…

St. Procopius of Ustiug, the Fool for Christ The incorrupt relics of Saint Procopius were uncovered during the eighteenth century near the Entry of the Theotokos parish church in Ustya (Vologda diocese) and placed in the church, where for two hundred years they remained in open view, a source of numerous healings. No account of…

Holy and Glorious Martyr Cyriaca Saint Kyriake was the only child of Dorotheus and Eusebia. Since she was born on a Sunday (Kyriake, in Greek), she was named Kyriake.  One day a wealthy magistrate wished to betroth Kyriake to his son. Not only was she young and beautiful, but her parents were wealthy, and the…

St. Sisoes the Great Saint Sisoes the Great (+ 429) was a solitary monk, pursuing asceticism in the Egyptian desert in a cave sanctified by the prayerful labors of his predecessor, Saint Anthony the Great (January 17). For his sixty years of labor in the desert, Saint Sisoes attained to sublime spiritual purity and he…

Venerable God-Bearing Father Athanasius th Athonite Saint Athanasius of Athos, in holy Baptism named Abraham, was born in the city of Trebezond. He was orphaned at an early age, and being raised by a certain good and pious nun, he imitated his adoptive mother in the habits of monastic life, in fasting and in prayer.…

Venerable Andrei Rublev Saint Andrew Rublev, Russia’s greatest iconographer, was born near Moscow sometime between 1360 and 1370. While still very young, he went to the Holy Trinity Monastery, and was profoundly impressed by Saint Sergius of Radonezh (September 25).  After the death of Saint Sergius in 1392, Saint Nikon (November 17) succeeded him as…

John of Moscow, the Fool for Christ Blessed John, Fool-for-Christ, Wonderworker of Moscow, was born on the outskirts of Vologda. In his youth he toiled at a saltworks, where he was a water-carrier. The saint combined strict fasting and prayer with his heavy work. Later he moved on to Rostov, where he began his exploit…