Lives of the Saints

Leavetaking of the Transfiguration of our Lord

Leavetaking of the Transfiguration of our Lord

On the Leavetaking of the Transfiguration, all of the service for the Feast is repeated, except for the Entrance at Vespers, the Old Testament readings, Litya, the Polyeleos and Gospel at Matins, and the blessing of grapes at Liturgy. The Gospel and Epistle readings at Liturgy are those prescribed…

Saint Tikhon, Bishop of Voronezh, Wonderworker of Zadonsk and All Russia

Saint Tikhon, Bishop of Voronezh, Wonderworker of Zadonsk and All Russia

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, Bishop of Voronezh (in the world Timothy), was born in the year 1724 in the village of Korotsk in the Novgorod diocese, into the family of the cantor Sabellius Kirillov. (Afterward, a new family name, Sokolov, was given him by the head of the Novgorod Seminary). His father…

Translation of the relics of Saint Maximus the Confessor

Translation of the relics of Saint Maximus the Confessor

Saint Maximus the Confessor was born in Constantinople around 580 and raised in a pious Christian family. He received an excellent education, studying philosophy, grammar, and rhetoric. He was well-read in the authors of antiquity and he also mastered philosophy and theology. When Saint Maximus…

Uncovering of the relics of Venerable Maximus of Moscow the Fool-for-Christ

Uncovering of the relics of Venerable Maximus of Moscow the Fool-for-Christ

Saint Maximus of Moscow, the Fool for Christ. Nothing is known about his parents, or the time and place of birth. Saint Maximus chose one of the most difficult and thorny paths to salvation, having taken upon himself the guise of a fool for the sake of Christ. Summer and winter Maximus walked about…

Martyr Hippolytus of Rome and those with him: Martyr Concordia, Irenaeus, and Abundius

Martyr Hippolytus of Rome and those with him: Martyr Concordia, Irenaeus, and Abundius

The Martyr Hippolytus was a chief prison guard at Rome under the emperors Decius (249-251) and Valerian (253-259). He was converted to Christ by the Martyr Laurence (August 10), and he buried the martyr’s body. They informed the emperor of this, and Saint Hippolytus was arrested. Valerian…

Icon of the Mother of God “of the Passion”

Icon of the Mother of God “of the Passion”

On Tverskaya Street in Moscow there are beautiful buildings, a cathedral, high walls, and a small bell tower with the sonorous bells of the Passion Monastery. This Icon received its name because on either side of the Mother of God two Angels are depicted with the implements of the Lord’s Passion:…

"Seven Arrows" Icon of the Mother of God

"Seven Arrows" Icon of the Mother of God

On the Seven Arrows Icon, the Most Holy Theotokos is depicted without the Divine Infant. She inclines her head toward her right shoulder, and her heart is pierced with seven arrows or swords, of which four are on the left side and three on the right. A similar image of the Mother of God is also…

Icon of the Mother of God of Minsk

Icon of the Mother of God of Minsk

The Minsk Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was brought by the holy Prince Vladimir from Korsun in the Crimea, and placed in Kiev’s Cathedral of the Tithes, where it remained for more than 500 years. The consecration of that church in 996 is commemorated on May 12. In the year 1500, during the…

Holy Empress Irene (Schema-nun Xenia)

Holy Empress Irene (Schema-nun Xenia)

Saint Irene lived in the XII century and was a beautiful and virtuous daughter. The Emperor Alexios Komnenos noticed her and married her to his son John, who was called Kalioannis because of his many virtues. The virtuous Empress Irene, therefore, spent generously on charitable works. She even went…