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Photios, Patriarch of Constantinople

Reading As for the thrice-blessed Photius, the great and most resplendent Father and teacher of the Church, the Confessor of the Faith and Equal to the Apostles, he lived during the years of the emperors Michael (the son of Theophilus), Basil the Macedonian, and Leo his son. He was the son of pious parents, Sergius and Irene, who suffered for the Faith under the Iconoclast Emperor Theophilus; he was also a nephew of Saint Tarasius,

St. Gregory the Theologian

By Fr. Matthew Jackson, Feb 7, 2011, 10:00 In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen. Christ is in our midst! He is and shall be! Today we celebrate the feast of St. Gregory of Nazianzus – Gregory the Theologian. I’d like us to hear something of the life of this saint this morning. I certainly don’t think we can always preach about the saints, but the legacy of

Memory of Saint Timothy the Apostle

January 22, 2022 Saint Timothy was a faithful disciple of Saint Paul the Apostle and is addressed as the recipient of the First and Second Epistles to Timothy. These two books are a group of three books of the canonical New Testament, which are called pastoral epistles, because they addressed not to Christian communities but to spiritual shepherds-bishops with pastoral oversight of local churches, such as Timothy, who shepherded with ardor and self-denial the Church

The Eighth Day of Christmas: Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. The Circumcision of Christ. St. Telemachus, Peacemaker

On January 1 the Greek Orthodox church commemorates Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. Saint Basil was born in the year 330 in Caesarea, to a family renowned for their learning and holiness. His mother, Emilia (commemorated on July 19) and his grandmother Macrina (commemorated on June 14) are Saints of the Church, together with his brothers and sisters: Macrina, his elder sister (July 19), Gregory of Nyssa (January 10), Peter of Sebastia (January 9), and

The Holy and Blessed Martyr Paraskevi (26 July)

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on July 26, 2021 Saint Nicodemus the Hagiorite A Saint who passed through fire and iron* This saint lived at the time of Emperor Antoninus, about the year 140. She came from a village near Old Rome [as opposed to New Rome, i.e. Constantinople] and was the daughter of Christian parents, called Agathon and Politeia. They were meticulous in their observance of the Lord’s commandments, but were childless and constantly entreated the Lord to

Dormition of the Righteous Anna, the Mother of the Most Holy Theotokos

Commemorated on July 25 Saint Anna was the daughter of the priest Matthan and his wife Mary. She was of the tribe of Levi and the lineage of Aaron. According to Tradition, she died peacefully in Jerusalem at age 79, before the Annunciation to the Most Holy Theotokos. During the reign of Saint Justinian the Emperor (527-565), a church was built in her honor at Deutera. Emperor Justinian II (685-695; 705-711) restored her church, since Saint

The Personality of Saint Mary Magdalene, Equal to the Apostles

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on July 24, 2021 Georgios Zaravelas, Theologian Saint Mary Magdalene is the most outstanding person in the circle of Christ’s women disciples, and, indeed, the most significant female figure in the Christian Church, after the Mother of God. Her importance for the Church is expressed in the lengthy references to her in the Lives of the Saints. We have very little information concerning her life. She was born in Magdala, a town to the

Great Martyr Marina (Margaret) of Antioch in Pisidia

Commemorated on July 17 The Holy Great Martyr Marina was born in Asia Minor, in the city of Antioch of Pisidia (southern Asia Minor), into the family of a pagan priest. In infancy she lost her mother, and her father gave her into the care of a nursemaid, who raised Marina in the Orthodox Faith. Upon learning that his daughter had become a Christian, the father angrily disowned her. During the time of the persecution against

May 29, 1453: The Day Constantinople Fell

By Philip Chrysopoulos, May 29, 2021 The fall of Constantinople, which occurred on May 29,1453 was the final phase of the Byzantine-Ottoman Wars (1265-1453) and the darkest page in Greek history and in the Orthodox Church. The seat of the Byzantine Empire for a millennium, Constantinople was the main target of the Ottomans. Ascending to the Ottoman throne in 1451, Mehmed II began making plans to conquer the Byzantine capital. The Byzantine empire had been declining in power

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! BRIGHT FRIDAY: THE LIFE-GIVING SPRING OF THE THEOTOKOS

Outside of Constantinople, towards the district of the Seven Towers, there was in ancient times a very large and most beautiful church named in honour of the Theotokos; it had been built about the middle of the fifth century by the Emperor Leo the Great (also called “Leo of Thrace,” he is commemorated on Jan. 20). Before he became Emperor, he had encountered there a blind man, who being tormented with thirst asked him to