Lives of the Saints

4th Saturday of Great Lent: Memorial Saturday

Saturday is the day which the Church has set aside for the commemoration of Orthodox Christians departed this life in the hope of resurrection and eternal life. Since the Divine Liturgy cannot be served on weekdays during Great Lent, the second, third, and fourth Saturdays of the Fast are appointed…

Venerable Hilarion the New, Abbot of Pelekete

Venerable Hilarion the New, Abbot of Pelekete

Saint Hilarion the New, Igumen of Pelekete Monastery, from his youth devoted himself to the service of God and spent many years as a hermit. Because of his holy and blameless life he was ordained to the holy priesthood, and later he was made igumen of the Pelekete monastery (near the Dardanelles).…

Venerable Stephen, Wonderworker, Abbot of Triglia

Venerable Stephen, Wonderworker, Abbot of Triglia

Saint Stephen the Confessor, Igumen of Triglia Monastery, suffered under the iconoclast emperor Leo the Armenian (813-820). From a young age, the holy ascetic dedicated his life to God and received monastic tonsure. He later became head of the Triglia monastery near Constantinople. When…

Monastic Martyr Eustratius of the Kiev Near Caves

Monastic Martyr Eustratius of the Kiev Near Caves

Martyr Eustratius of the Caves was born in the eleventh century at Kiev into a wealthy family. As an adult, he received monastic tonsure at the Kiev Caves monastery, after giving away all his possesions to the poor. Saint Eustratius humbly underwent obediences at the monastery, strictly fulfilling…

Venerable Hilarion of Pskov, Lake Gdov

Saint Hilarion of Gdov and Pskov Lake, was a disciple of Saint Euphrosynus of Pskov (May 15). In 1460 on the banks of the River Zhelcha, not far from Gdov, he founded the Ozersk [Lake] Monastery of the Protection of the Mother of God. The monastery bordered the territory of the Livonian Knights,…

Martyred brothers Barachisius and Jonah, and those with them, in Persia

Saint Barachisius was the brother of Saint Jonah. They were Christians who lived in the village of Yasa in Persia during the time of the emperor Sapor (310-331), a fierce persecutor of Christians. Learning that Christians were being tortured in the city of Baravokh, they went there to the prison…

Martyr Boyan, Prince of Bulgaria

The Holy Martyr Boyan, Prince of Bulgaria, suffered for Christ around the year 830. When his pagan brother Malomir [Vladimir] ascended the Bulgarian throne, Prince Boyan asked him to free the learned Christian Kinamon, who had been in prison for a long time for refusing to participate in pagan…

Venerable John, Bishop of Manglisi

Venerable John, Bishop of Manglisi

Saint John (Saakadze) of Manglisi was born in 1668 and spiritually nurtured in the Davit-Gareji Wilderness. Outstanding in virtue, John was quickly ordained a hieromonk, and soon after consecrated bishop of Manglisi. In 1724 Saint John left Davit-Gareji for Derbend, Dagestan, where he constructed…

Saint Hesychios the Presbyter of Jerusalem

Saint Hesychios lived a life of asceticism in Palestine in the IV century, and distinguished himself by writing spiritual treatises. He was born and raised in Jerusalem. After studying the depths of the Holy Scriptures, he enriched himself with the knowledge of God. Then, after he left, he became a…