Lives of the Saints

Venerable Sebastian Dabovich

Venerable Sebastian Dabovich

Venerable Sebastian (Dabovich) of Jackson, California was born on June 9, 1863 in San Francisco to Serbian emigrĂ©s. Jovan Dabovich studied at the Kiev and St. Petersburg Theological Academies. In 1887, while pursuing his studies at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, he was tonsured as a monk,…

Apostle Andrew, the Holy and All-Praised First-Called

Apostle Andrew, the Holy and All-Praised First-Called

The Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called was the first of the Apostles to follow Christ, and he later brought his own brother, the holy Apostle Peter, to Christ (John 1:35-42). The future apostle was from Bethsaida, and from his youth he turned with all his soul to God. He did not enter into…

Saint Frumentius, Archbishop of Abyssinia, Ethiopia

Saint Frumentius, Archbishop of Inda (Ethiopia, formerly Abyssinia), was a native of the city of Tyre. While still a child, he came to Abyssinia by divine Providence. Growing up near the imperial court, he became a friend and chief counselor of the Abyssinian emperor, and afterwards tutor to his…

Saint Vakhtang Gorgasali, King of Georgia

Saint Vakhtang Gorgasali, King of Georgia

The holy and right-believing king Vakhtang I ascended the throne of Kartli at the age of fifteen. At that time Kartli was continually being invaded by the Persians from the south and by the Ossetians from the north. The situation was no better in western Georgia: the Byzantines had captured all the…

Hierarch Peter, first Catholicos of Georgia

Hierarch Peter, first Catholicos of Georgia

Saint Peter was the first catholicos of Georgia. He led the Church of Kartli from the 460s through the beginning of the 6th century. According to God’s will, Saint Peter inaugurated the dynasty of the chief shepherds of Georgia. It is written in the biography of Holy King Vakhtang IV…

Hierarch Samuel, Second Catholicos of Georgia

Hierarch Samuel, Second Catholicos of Georgia

Saint Samuel ascended the throne of the Apostolic Orthodox Church of Georgia in the 6th century, after the holy catholicos Peter. Like Saint Peter, Samuel was a native of Byzantium. He arrived with Catholicos Peter in Georgia as a bishop, at the invitation of King Vakhtang Gorgasali and with the…