We are Orthodox Christian Greeks.
Because we are Orthodox Christians, we love our country, our people and all the peoples of the earth; this of course includes our African brothers and sisters.
Τρίτη 2 Ιανουαρίου 2018
Saints Basil the Great, Seraphim of Sarov, Nikephoros the Leper & others Orthodox Saints in January 1, 2 & 3
On the eighth day after His Nativity, our
Lord Jesus Christ was circumcised in accordance with the Old Testament
Law. All male infants underwent circumcision as a sign of God’s
Covenant with the holy Forefather Abraham and his descendants [Genesis
17:10-14, Leviticus 12:3]. After this…
St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia
Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea
in Cappadocia, “belongs not to the Church of Caesarea alone, nor merely
to his own time, nor was he of benefit only to his own kinsmen, but
rather to all lands and cities worldwide, and to all people he brought
and still brings benefit, and for…
Saint Basil lived in the time of Julian the
Apostate (331-363), and confessed his faith in Christ before the
governor Saturninus. He was tortured in Ancyra, then sent to
Constantinople, where he was suspended from a tree, stretched on a rack,
beaten, then stabbed with red-hot needles. He was also…
Saint Basil the Great’s mother Saint Emilia
was the daughter of a martyr. On the Greek calendar, she is commemorated
on May 30. Saint Basil’s father was also named Basil. He was a lawyer
and renowned rhetorician, and lived at Caesarea. Ten children were born
to the elder Basil and…
Forefeast of the Theophany of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
The first day of the Forefeast of Theophany
falls on January 2. Like the hymns for the Nativity, many of the
Church’s hymns of this period are slightly modified versions of the
hymns of Holy Week. One of the hymns at Matins today says that the
coming Feast of Theophany will be “even…
Repose of the Venerable Seraphim the Wonderworker of Sarov
Saint Seraphim of Sarov, a great ascetic of
the Russian Church, was born on July 19, 1754. His parents, Isidore and
Agathia Moshnin, were inhabitants of Kursk. Isidore was a merchant.
Toward the end of his life, he began construction of a cathedral in
Kursk, but he died before the completion of the…
Saint Sylvester, Bishop of Rome (314-335) was
born at Rome of Christian parents named Rufinus and Justa. His father
soon died, and the saint remained in the care of his mother. Sylvester’s
teacher, the presbyter Quirinus, gave him a fine education and raised
him as a true Christian. When he…
Saint Sylvester of the Caves lived during the
twelfth century and was igumen of the Mikhailovsk Vydubitsk monastery
at Kiev. He continued the work of Saint Nestor the Chronicler (October
27) and he wrote nine lives of the holy saints of the Kiev Caves. In the
service to the Fathers venerated in the…
Righteous Juliana of Lazarevo and Murom
presents an astonishing example of a self-denying Russian Christian
woman. She was the daughter of the nobleman Justin Nediurev. From her
early years she lived devoutly, kept the fasts strictly and set aside
much time for prayer. Early on having become…
Hieromartyr Theogenes the Bishop of Parium on the Hellespont
The Hieromartyr Theogenes was bishop of the
Asia Minor city of Parion at the beginning of the fourth century. During
the reign of the emperor Licinius (311-324), a coruler with Constantine
the Great, the tribune Zalinkinthius demanded that he give up the
priesthood, to renounce Christ and to enlist…
Saint George (Zorzes) was from Georgia, and
was sold into slavery when he was young. His master, a Muslim from the
Greek island of Mytilene, forced him to embrace Islam and renamed him
Sali. After his master died, George remained on the island and opened a
small shop. In 1770, when he was seventy…
January 3Forefeast of the Theophany of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
The second day of the Forefeast of Theophany
falls on January 3. Today’s hymns invite us to go in spirit to the
Jordan River where the Creator comes to be baptized. He is the Light
which shines in the darkness (John 1:5), and today He begins to overcome
that darkness.
The Holy Prophet Malachi lived 400 years
before the Birth of Christ, at the time of the return of the Jews from
the Babylonian Captivity. Malachi was the last of the Old Testament
prophets, therefore the holy Fathers call him “the seal of the
prophets.” Manifesting himself an image of…
The Martyr Gordius was born at the end of the
third century in the city of Caesarea of Cappadocia into a Christian
family. When he came of age, he entered military service. Because of his
valor and military skill, he was made a centurion. During the
persecution of Christians at the beginning of the…
Saint Genevieve was born of wealthy parents
in Gaul (modern France) in the village of Nanterre, near Paris, around
422. Her father’s name was Severus, and her mother was called Gerontia.
According to the custom of the time, she often tended her father’s
flocks on Mt. Valerien. When she…
Saint Ekvtime (Euthymius) Takaishvili, called
the “Man of God,” was born January 3, 1863, in the village of Likhauri,
in the Ozurgeti district of Guria, to the noble family of Svimeon
Takaishvili and Gituli Nakashidze. He was orphaned at a young age and
raised by his uncle. From early…
The second day of the Forefeast of Theophany
falls on January 3. Today’s hymns invite us to go in spirit to the
Jordan River where the Creator comes to be baptized. He is the Light
which shines in the darkness (John 1:5), and today He begins to overcome
that darkness.
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου