Lives of the Saints

1st Saturday of Great Lent: The Miracle of the Boiled Wheat

1st Saturday of Great Lent: The Miracle of the Boiled Wheat

Today we remember the miracle of Saint Theodore the Recruit and the boiled wheat. Fifty years after Saint Theodore’s martyrdom, Emperor Julian the Apostate (361-363), devised a plan to corrupt the Christians during the first week of Great Lent. He knew that Christians purify themselves…

7 Holy Youths “Seven Sleepers” of Ephesus

7 Holy Youths “Seven Sleepers” of Ephesus

The Seven Youths of Ephesus: Maximilian, Iamblicus, Martinian, John, Dionysius, Exacustodianus (Constantine) and Antoninus, lived in the third century. Saint Maximilian was the son of the Ephesus city administrator, and the other six youths were sons of illustrious citizens of Ephesus. The youths…

Martyr Eudokia of Persia

Martyr Eudokia of Persia

The Holy Martyr Eudokia was a native of Anatolia, living in the fourth century. The army of the Persian emperor Sapor took her into captivity with 9,000 Christians. Since she knew the Holy Scriptures well, she instructed the prisoners. The saint also preached to the Persian women and converted many…

Martyr Eleutherius of Constantinople

Martyr Eleutherius of Constantinople

The Holy Martyr Eleutherius served as the cubicularius (chamberlain) at the court of the emperor Maximian Hercules (284-305). When he accepted Christianity, he then settled on a country estate, and built a church at his home. One of the servants reported to the emperor that Eleutherius had become a…