Venerable Sophia Our Venerable Mother Sophia was born in the province of Ainos in southeastern Thrace, and was the daughter of prominent and wealthy Christian parents. When she was of age, her parents arranged for her to be married. She and her husband had six children. Though she was occupied with worldly cares and responsibilities,…

St. Clotilde, Queen of the Franks Clotilde was the wife of King Clovis, who established a dynasty that ruled in France for several hundred years. When they were married in 492, Clovis was not Christian, but she brought him to the faith. Together, they founded a church in Paris that they named after Sts. Peter and…

Holy New Martyr Constantine The Holy New Martyr Constantine was born on the island of Hydra; his father was named Michael, and his mother was called Marina. At the age of eighteen, he left Hydra and went to Rhodes, where he served the Turkish ruler Hasan Kapetan. There Constantine converted to Islam and took the…

Holy Martyr Justin the Philosopher The Holy Martyr Justin the Philosopher was born around 114 at Sychem, an ancient city of Samaria. Justin’s parents were pagan Greeks. From his childhood the saint displayed intelligence, love for knowledge and a fervent devotion to the knowledge of Truth. When he came of age he studied the various…

Holy Father Philotheus, Bishop of Tobolsk and Metropolitan of Siberia The Most Reverend hierarch, the renowned Metropolitan of Siberia and Tobolsk, was from a noble, but poor family and received a theological degree at the then famous Kiev Theological Academy.  At the end of the course, he was ordained as a priest for one of…

St. Isaac the Confessor, Founder of the Monastery of Dalmatus in Constantinople Saint Isaac lived during the IV century, received the monastic tonsure and pursued ascetic labors in the desert. During the reign of Emperor Valens (364-378), a zealous adherent of the Arian heresy, there was a persecution of the Orthodox, and churches were closed…

Holy Virgin and Martyr Theodosia Saint Theodosίa of Tyre lived during the III and IV centuries. Once, during a persecution against Christians, which had already lasted for five years, the seventeen-year-old Theodosίa visited some condemned Christian prisoners in the Praetorium at Caesarea in Palestine. It was the day of Holy Pascha, and the Martyrs were…

Venerable Father Andrew the Fool for Christ Blessed Andrew, Fool-for-Christ, was a Slav and lived in the tenth century at Constantinople. From his early years, he loved God’s Church and the Holy Scriptures. Once during a dream, the saint beheld a vision of two armies. In the one were men in radiant garb, in the…

St. John the Russian, Confessor and Wonderworker The Holy Confessor John the Russian was born in Little Russia around 1690, and was raised in piety and love for the Church of God. Upon attaining the age of maturity he was called to military service, and he served as a simple soldier in the army of…

Holy Father Augustine, Bishop of Canterbury Saint Augustine was from Italy, and a disciple of Saint Felix, Bishop of Messana. Saint Gregory Dialogus (March 12) chose him to lead a mission of forty monks to evangelize the people of Britain. They arrived at Ebbsfleet (on the isle of Thanet) in Kent in 597.  King Ethelbert,…