Jerusalem Archives - Saint Sophia

Veneration of the Precious Chains of the Holy and All-Glorious Apostle Peter

01/16/2026

The Veneration of the Honorable Chains of the Holy and All-Praised Apostle Peter: In about the year 42, on the orders of Herod Agrippa, the Apostle Peter was thrown into prison for preaching about Christ the Savior. In prison he was held secure by two iron chains. During the night before his trial, an angel of the Lord removed these chains from the Apostle Peter and led him out from the prison (Acts 12:1-11). Christians

The Fifth Day of Christmas. 14,000 Infants (the Holy Innocents) slain by Herod at Bethlehem

12/29/2025

14,000 Holy Infants were killed by King Herod in Bethlehem. When the time came for the Incarnation of the Son of God and His Birth of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, Magi in the East beheld a new star in the heavens, foretelling the Nativity of the King of the Jews. They journeyed immediately to Jerusalem to worship the Child, and the star showed them the way. Having worshipped the divine Infant, they did not

The Third Day of Christmas. The Life of Saint Stephen the Deacon and First Martyr

12/27/2025

(Commemorated on December 27) St. Stephen was a relative of St. Paul. He was the first of seven deacons whom the holy apostles ordained for the service of the poor in Jerusalem. This is why he is called the Archdeacon – the first, or chief, of them. St. Stephen did many things for the poor and widows in Jerusalem and by the power of his faith, he worked many miracles. He lived his life to

The Twenty-Fifth Day of Christmas Advent. The Conception by Righteous Anna of the Most Holy Mother of God (9 December)

12/09/2025

Saint Anna, the mother of the Virgin Mary, was the youngest daughter of the priest Nathan from Bethlehem, descended from the tribe of Levi. She married Saint Joachim (September 9), who was a native of Galilee. For a long time, Saint Anna was childless, but after twenty years, through the fervent prayer of both spouses, an angel of the Lord announced to them that they would be the parents of a daughter, who would bring

The Twenty-First Day of Christmas Advent. Venerable Savvas the Sanctified

12/05/2025

Saint Savvas the Sanctified was born in the fifth century at Cappadocia of pious Christian parents, John and Sophia, and his father was a military commander. Journeying to Alexandria on military matters, John and Sophia left their five-year-old son Savva in the care of an uncle. When the boy was eight years old, he entered the nearby Monastery of Saint Flavian. The gifted child quickly learned to read and became an expert on the Holy

On the Feast of St. Philip the Apostle

11/14/2025

~By S. Michael Phillips, November 14, 2004 In the Name of the + Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ! “Philip ran to [the Ethiopian eunuch], and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.” [1] Introduction Before it was a

Saint Kyriakos the Anachorite

09/29/2025

† Dionysios, Metropolitan of Servia and Kozani Today the Church honours and celebrates the sacred memory of Blessed Kyriakos the Anchorite, who was born in Corinth in 408. His father was called Ioannis and was a priest, while his mother was Evdoxia. The then bishop of Corinth, Petros, who was Kyriakos’ uncle on his father’s side, ordained him reader. But Kyriakos did not find inner peace in Corinth and so, at the age of eighteen,

The Elevation of the Precious Cross

09/14/2025

Fr. Gennadios Manolis, Theologian The Lord’s Precious Cross is the supreme symbol of sacrifice and sanctification for the Church of Christ, Who was crucified and then rose, because the Cross, together with the Resurrection, are the two pillars which support the life for the Church and its members. The honour paid by the Orthodox Church to the Precious Cross on 14 September (though not only on that day) began in the very first, Apostolic years,

The Dormition of the Mother of God: A Liturgical Approach

08/05/2025

Ioannis Foundoulis The feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God is celebrated on August 15 by the Christian world and is the greatest of those established by the Church in honour of the Mother of the Lord. It may be the oldest of all. The first evidence we have for it dates from the 5th century, round about the time when the 3rd Ecumenical Synod was called in Ephesus (451), at which the

The Dormition of Saint Anna

07/25/2025

Saint Anna (also Ann or Anne, from Hebrew Hannahחַנָּה, meaning “favor” or “grace”) of David’s house and line, was the mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother of Jesus Christ according to Christian Tradition. St Anna is the Greek rendering of her Hebrew name Hannah. Mary’s mother is not named in the canonical gospels. Christian view: According to the Gospel of James, a document of the New Testament apocrypha, St Anna and her husband St

Archive

Veneration of the Precious Chains of the Holy and All-Glorious Apostle Peter

The Fifth Day of Christmas. 14,000 Infants (the Holy Innocents) slain by Herod at Bethlehem

The Third Day of Christmas. The Life of Saint Stephen the Deacon and First Martyr

The Twenty-Fifth Day of Christmas Advent. The Conception by Righteous Anna of the Most Holy Mother of God (9 December)

The Twenty-First Day of Christmas Advent. Venerable Savvas the Sanctified

On the Feast of St. Philip the Apostle

Saint Kyriakos the Anachorite

The Elevation of the Precious Cross

The Dormition of the Mother of God: A Liturgical Approach

The Dormition of Saint Anna

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