Russia Archives - Saint Sophia

Church New Year. Beginning of the Indiction: Ecclesiastical New Year

09/01/2025

Commemorated on September 1 The first day of the Church New Year is also called the beginning of the Indiction. The term Indiction comes from a Latin word meaning, “to impose.” It was originally applied to the imposition of taxes in Egypt. The first worldwide Indiction was in 312 when the Emperor Constantine (May 21) saw a miraculous vision of the Cross in the sky. Before the introduction of the Julian calendar, Rome began the

Saints Julitta & Kyrikos the Martyrs (15 July). Equal of the Apostles Great Prince Vladimir, in Holy Baptism Basil, the Enlightener of the Russian Land

07/15/2025

Saint Julitta was from the city of Iconium. Fearing the persecution of Diocletian, she took her son Cyricus, who was three years old, and departed for Seleucia; but finding the same evil there, she went over to Tarsus in Cilicia, where the ruler arrested her. He took her son from her and tried with flatteries to draw the youth to himself. But the little one, in his childish voice, called on the Name of Christ

The Twenty-Second Day of Christmas Advent. Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia

12/06/2024

Saint Nicholas, the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia is famed as a great saint pleasing unto God. He was born in the city of Patara in the region of Lycia (on the south coast of the Asia Minor peninsula), and was the only son of pious parents Theophanes and Nonna, who had vowed to dedicate him to God. As the fruit of the prayer of his childless parents, the infant Nicholas from the very

The Sixteenth Day of Christmas Advent. St. Andrew the First-called Apostle

11/30/2024

Saint Andrew the Apostle (Greek: ‘Ανδρέας, Andreas; early first century—mid to late first century AD), called in the Orthodox tradition Protokletos, or the First-called, is the brother of Peter the Apostle. The name “Andrew” (from Greek: “ανδρεία”, Andreia, manhood, or valour), like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the second or third century BC. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him. The New Testament records that Andrew

Holy Wonderworkers and Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian of Mesopotamia

11/01/2024

The Holy Wonderworkers and Unmercenary Physicians Cosmas and Damian and their mother Saint Theodota were natives of Asia Minor (some sources say Mesopotamia). Their pagan father died while they were still quite small children. Their mother raised them in Christian piety. Through her own example, and by reading holy books to them, Saint Theodota preserved her children in purity of life according to the command of the Lord, and Cosmas and Damian grew up into

Saints Kyrikos & Julitta, the Martyrs of Tarsus. Equal of the Apostles Great Prince Vladimir, in Holy Baptism Basil, the Enlightener of the Russian Land.

07/15/2024

The Holy Martyrs Kyrikos and Julitta lived in the city of Iconium in the province of Lykaoneia in Asia Minor. Saint Julitta was descended from an illustrious family and was a Christian. Widowed early on, she raised her three-year old-son Kyrikos. During the emperor Diocletian’s persecution of Christians, Saint Julitta departed the city with her son and two trustworthy servants, leaving behind her home, property, and servants. Concealing her noble rank, she hid out first

Equal-to-the-Apostles Blessed Great Princess Olga (in Holy Baptism Helen)

07/11/2024

Commemorated on July 11 Saint Olga, Equal of the Apostles, was the wife of the Kievan Great Prince Igor. The struggle of Christianity with paganism under Igor and Olga, who reigned after Oleg (+ 912), entered into a new phase. The Church of Christ in the years following the reign of Igor (+ 945) became a remarkable spiritual and political force in the Russian realm. The preserved text of a treaty of Igor with the Greeks

The Third Wednesday of Great Lent: Saint Silouan, the Great Spiritual Figure of the 20th Century

04/03/2024

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on September 25, 2021 Alexandros Christodoulou Saint Silouan the Athonite Saint Siouan- Symeon Ivanovich Antonov, before his tonsure- was born in 1866 into a peasant family in the Tambov region of Russia. From the age of four he began wondering: ‘Where is this God? When I grow up, I’ll travel the whole world looking for Him’. When he was a little bit older he heard about the life of a holy

Saint Maximus the Greek

01/21/2024

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on January 21, 2022 Georgios Martzelos St Maximos the Greek was one of the most distinguished monks and theologians of the 16th century, famed for his missionary activities and reforming achievements in the Russia of his time. He was born in Arta in around 1470 of respected and prosperous parents, and his name in the world was Mikhail Trivolis. At an early age he went to study in Italy, at major centres of the

Sacrifice and Worship

10/27/2023

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, November 21, 2017 In the 1970’s, the BBC did a series, “The Long Search,” in which Ronald Eyre explored various religions. To my mind, it remains the best such series I’ve seen. When it came to Christianity, the series wisely presented three separate treatments: the Orthodox, the Catholics and Protestants. In its program on Orthodoxy, Eyre traveled to Romania, which was then under the boot of Ceausescu and official “atheism.” The

Archive

Church New Year. Beginning of the Indiction: Ecclesiastical New Year

Saints Julitta & Kyrikos the Martyrs (15 July). Equal of the Apostles Great Prince Vladimir, in Holy Baptism Basil, the Enlightener of the Russian Land

The Twenty-Second Day of Christmas Advent. Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia

The Sixteenth Day of Christmas Advent. St. Andrew the First-called Apostle

Holy Wonderworkers and Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian of Mesopotamia

Saints Kyrikos & Julitta, the Martyrs of Tarsus. Equal of the Apostles Great Prince Vladimir, in Holy Baptism Basil, the Enlightener of the Russian Land.

Equal-to-the-Apostles Blessed Great Princess Olga (in Holy Baptism Helen)

The Third Wednesday of Great Lent: Saint Silouan, the Great Spiritual Figure of the 20th Century

Saint Maximus the Greek

Sacrifice and Worship

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