Christos Anesti

[VonBonfire]

Holy Fathers and Mothers of Atchara

Commemorated on Trinity Sunday

Atchara has been a Christian stronghold since apostolic times. It was through this region that St. Andrew the First-called entered Georgia, preaching the Gospel for the first time in the Iberian land. In this land, in the village of Gonio, the holy relics of the martyred Apostle Matthias are buried.
Since the 16th century Atchara has been subject to constant assaults by the Turks. Having attained a victory in the Ottoman-Persian War, the Turks gained a large part of southern and western Georgia: Samtskhe, Atchara, and Chaneti were declared Turkish provinces. The invaders knew well that, in order to completely conquer the Georgian people, it was necessary to uproot Christianity. Thus they instituted a systematic campaign of forced conversion to Islam.
When they failed to achieve their goal with bribery and deception, they resorted to violence. In his work The Islamization of Georgia, or the Spread of Islam in Western Georgia in the 17th–18th Centuries, the renowned early twentieth-century scholar Zakaria Chichinadze retold a story he had heard from one elderly Atcharan man: “In Atchara the implanting of Islam faced a powerful opposition. Many of the elderly men and the majority of women stood firmly by the Christian Faith, and even challenged and debated the Turkish mullahs.… The number of these aged men in Atchara was considerably high. In the end an order was issued: to arrest all dissidents, forcibly convert them to Islam, and execute those who resisted. Before long all the elderly Christians of Atchara were arrested and cast in prison. Then they were led to the River Atcharistsqali, to a 12th-century bridge known as the “Bridge of Queen Tamar.” On that bridge the Ottomans erected a guillotine.
They chopped off the heads of the elderly people, sent the ends of their tongues to the pasha, and threw their bodies into the river. This happened one hundred years ago, in the year 1790.”
Gallows and a guillotine were erected in the villages of Atcharistsqali, Keda, Chakvi, Khulo, Machakhela, and Gonio. The documents preserved in the manuscript collection at Akhaltsikhe Museum describe in even more horrific detail the martyrdom of the Atcharan Christians: “The human tongue is powerless to describe the tortures that the Georgians suffered in those years for confessing Christianity. While they were still alive their flesh was stripped and their bodies quartered; they were slashed to pieces with swords, their bellies ripped open; they were roasted over campfires. They were pierced with flaming rods, thrown into cauldrons of boiling water; molten lead was poured down their throats; they were tossed into pools of hot lime.…”
The Georgian Apostolic Church has numbered among the saints all the holy fathers and mothers of Atchara who sacrificed their lives in defense of the Christian Faith.

 

[DrewJD82]

I haven't come across Wes Huff. To be completely honest I'm firmly planted in orthodoxy now, which is massively challenging in ways that I don't want to get into here because they might not make sense and could be taken out of context by others who might be reading. But you mentioning the "saved" stuff some others had confronted you with....the thought of that being a core to someone's theological understanding is pretty ridiculous to me. It's the antithesis of what is scriptural.

It's really all a journey, and one that no one can really debate another person, or shout at another on the street corner, and cause them to believe. I've learned that. You have to ask, knock, and eventually the door will be opened when the Lord opens it. In my case 20 years of knocking went by and I finally found what I was after. It's deeply affected me, my outlook, my family, and in some ways my ability (and willingness) to assist others so it's been a real blessing but also requires more from me.

Anyways, great to hear things are going well for you there! Hit me up anytime!

I believe you’d be thoroughly impressed with Wes. I’m not even sure which denomination he follows, I was initially impressed by his lack of desire to let anyone know that. The guy is like a human history book of not just the Old and New Testaments but everything written down that may have something to do with Christianity. When posed a question, he doesn’t answer from his own faith, but what is written and can be studied.

This is a brief example -



He initially became known after obliterating one of those New Age Aethiest/“They’re keeping hidden technology from you!” guys, Billy Carson. He wasn’t actually asked to debate or anything, he had a general idea of what Billy was about and agreed to guest on the podcast, Billy went in thinking he was going to destroy him and without breaking a sweat Wes made the guy walk off.

 

[VonBonfire]

I believe you’d be thoroughly impressed with Wes.

I took some time to look into him based on your suggestion.

He uses a bible which excludes the septuagint, which was the standard of the early church, and definitely plays a role in the development of a different theology among western protestants. He believes the nicene creed, which is the creed established in 325, but then proceeds to pick and choose which other ecumenical councils he will hold as valid. That in itself suggests that somewhere along the line satan crept in, deceived every bishop and patriarch within the church, and caused them to produce a completely false theology, and therefore the correct version was only "rediscovered" by protestants 1500 years later in the west, post-Martin Luther, by church leaders who also came to reject some of what Luther taught and so decided to breakaway into other sects....

The net result is 250+ denominations all teaching a variation, sometimes a radical variation, of bible theology. So my only question then, is which one is right?

 

[VonBonfire]

The Monk Kornilli of Komel'sk

Commemorated on May 19

The Monk Kornilli of Komel'sk was descended from the boyar (noble) family Kriukov. His brother Lukian served at the court of the Moscow GreatPrince. When Lukian, getting up in years, decided to set off to the monastery of the Monk Kirill of Beloezersk, there also followed after him Kornilii, who from a young age yearned after the solitary life. Having taken vows, the young Kornilii began his monastic exploits with a difficult obedience – he wore heavy chains in the bakery, and in his spare time of rest he occupied himself with the copying of church books. Because of his love for solitude, the Monk Kornilii later left the Beloezersk monastery, and he visited Rostov. At Novgorod Sainted Gennadii (Comm. 4 December) attempted to hold on to him, but the ascetic settled in a desolate spot not far from Novgorod. When people began to visit here also, yearning for the monastic life, he moved on to the Tver' Savvatiev wilderness monastery, and later in the year 1497, he settled in the Komel'sk forest, not far from Vologda, where he built himself a cell. To this place of the ascetic activity of the Monk Kornilii monks began to gather, and in 1501 he built a wooden church there in honour of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Mother of God. And in that year Metropolitan Simon ordained him priest-monk. In 1512, when the number of brethren had grown, the monk constructed a stone church and he wrote down for the brethren an Ustav (Rule), compiled on the basis of the Ustavs of the Monks Joseph of Volotsk and Nil of Sorsk. This was the third Ustav, written by Russian saints for monastics. The Monk Kornilii of Komel'sk distinguished himself with liberality towards the unfortunate, and during a time of famine he constructed an orphanage for children on the monastery courtyard. For his love towards the poor and orphaned, the Monk Kornilii was many times granted graced vision of the Monk Anthony the Great (Comm. 17 January), for whom he had a especial reverence, and he raised up a church at his monastery in honour of the great ascetic. The strictness of life of the saint provoked some of the brethren to grumbling, and the Monk Kornilii was compelled to leave the monastery and he settled at Lake Sursk, 70 versts from his monastery. At times also he pursued asceticism at the Trinity-Sergiev Lavra. Interceding for the monks of the Korniliev monastery, GreatPrince Vasilii Ivanovich urged the monk to return to his own monastery. The ascetic gave in, and having returned to his own monastery, he transferred its guidance to his disciple Lavrentii and secluded himself in his cell.
During the time of a Tatar incursion against the Vologda region the Monk Kornilii, in protecting the brethren, set out with them to the Beloezersk outskirts. The monk died at age 82 on 19 May 1537. Many disciples of the Monk Kornilii were also glorified by sanctity of life: the Monks Gennadii of Liubimograd (Comm. 23 January), Kirill of Novoezersk (Comm. 4 February), Irodion of Iloezersk (Comm. 28 September), Adrian of Poshekhonsk (Comm. 5 March), Lavrentii and Kassian of Komel'sk (Comm. 16 May).
The all-church celebration to the Monk Kornilii (19 May) was established on 25 January 1600 by Patriarch Job and a council of bishops. The Life of the Monk was compiled by his disciple Nathanael in the year 1589. There exists a service and a praise to the Saint, and the Ustav written by the Monk Kornilii has been preserved.

 

[VonBonfire]

The Martyrs Thalaleas, Alexander and Asterias

Commemorated on May 20

The Martyrs Thalaleas, Alexander and Asterias: During the reign of Numerian (283-284), the governor of the city of Aegea dispatched soldiers to seek out Christians. They brought to him Thalaleas, an 18 year old blond-haired youth. To the governor's interrogation Saint Thalaleas answered: "I am a Christian, a native of Lebanon. My father, by the name of Beruchius, was a military commander, and my mother was named Romilia. My brother has the dignity of sub-deacon. I however am a student of medicine under the physician Makarios. During a former time of persecution against Christians in Lebanon I was brought before the governor Tiberias, and just barely escaped execution. But now I stand before this court, do with me what thou dost wish. I desire to die for Christ the Saviour and my God, hoping from Him help to endure all torments".
The enraged governor ordered the two torturers Alexander and Asterias to pierce the legs of the martyr with rope and suspend him head downwards. But the executioners, by the design of God, bored into a block of wood, which they hung up in place of the martyr. When the governor saw that they had deceived him, he then ordered that Alexander and Asterias be fiercely whipped, and they too confessed themselves Christians and glorified God. The governor gave orders to immediately cut off their heads. Twice he himself attempted to carry out the execution, and to pierce the leg-bones of the saint, but the grace of God prevented him, and he in his impotence then commanded that Saint Thalaleas be drowned.
The returning servants reported to the governor that they had carried out the execution, but suddenly, just as they finished their report, Saint Thalaleas appeared in white raiment. For a long while everyone was numbed with terror, but finally the governor said: "Behold, this sorcerer hath bewitched even the sea". Then one of his advisers, the magician Urvician, advised the governor to have the martyr thrown for devouring by wild beasts, but neither the vicious bear, not the hungry lion and lioness, would touch the saint, all meekly but laying down at his feet. Seeing this happen, the people began loudly to shout: "Great is the God of the Christians, O God of Thalaleas, have mercy on us!". The crowd seized hold of Urvician and threw him to the beasts, which did not hesitate to tear apart the magician. Finally, the governor gave orders to kill the holy martyr with a sword. They led away the martyr of Christ to the place of execution, called Aegea, where he prayed to God and bent his neck beneathe the sword. This occurred in the year 284. The relics of the holy martyr Thalaleas are situated in the church of Saint Agathonikos of Constantinople and have made many miracles. The holy Martyr Thalaleas, as a physician without payment treating the sick, is called by the Church an UnMercenary, and is called on in prayers over the sick in the Sacrament of Anointing-with-Oil and during the Blessing of Waters.

 

[The~Kid]

Hope everyone is doing well.... Just wanted to take the time to post this here to pray for Xavier....







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[VonBonfire]

Just wanted to take the time to post this here to pray for Xavier....

I did Daniel.

The Holy Emperor Constantine (306-337)

Commemorated on May 21

The Holy Emperor Constantine (306-337), has received from the Church the title "Equal-to-the-Apostles", and in world history he received the name "the Great". He was the son of Caesar Constantius Chlorus (305-306), governing the lands of Gaul and Britania. The immense Roman empire was at this time divided into a Western and an Eastern empire, at the head of which were two independent emperors and also co-rulers titled "Caesars", – such in the Western half of the Roman empire was the aforementioned father of Saint Constantine. Saint Contantine's mother was the empress Helen, who was a Christian. The future ruler of all the whole Roman empire – Constantine – was raised to have respect for the Christian religion. His father did not persecute Christians in the lands governed by him, this at a time, when through all the rest of the Roman empire Christians were subjected to fierce persecutions by the emperors Diocletian (284-305) together with his co-ruler Maximian Galerius (305-311) in the East, and the emperor Maximian Hercules (284-305) in the West. After the death of Constantius Chlorus, his son Constantine in 306 was proclaimed by the army as emperor of Gaul and Britania. The first act of the new emperor was to promulgate in the lands subject to him the freedom of confession of the Christian faith. The pagan-fanatic Maximian Galerius in the East and the fierce tyrant Maxentius in the West hated the emperor Constantine and they plotted to overthrow and kill him, but Constantine bested them in a series of battles, and he defeated his opponents with the help of God. He prayed to God to give him a sign, which should inspire his army to fight valiantly, and the Lord manifest to him in the heavens a radiant Sign of the Cross with the inscription "With this Sign thou wilt conquer". Having become sole ruler of the Western half of the Roman empire, Constantine in the year 313 issued the Edict of Milan concerning religious toleration, and in the year 323, when he came to rule as the sole ruler over the whole Roman empire, he extended the conditions of the Milan Edict also over the Eastern half of the Roman empire. After three hundred years of persecution, Christians finally received the possibility to openly confess their faith in Christ.
Renouncing paganism, the emperor did not let his capital remain in ancient Rome, the former centre of the pagan realm. He transferred his capital to the East, to the city of Byzantium, which also was renamed Constantinople ["Constantinopolis" means "the city of Constantine"]. Constantine was deeply convinced, that only the Christian religion could unify the immense Roman empire with its diverse peoples. He supported the Church in every way, he brought back from banishment the Christian confessors, he built churches, and he showed concern for the clergy. The emperor deeply revered the victory-bearing Sign of the Cross of the Lord, and he wanted also to find the actual Life-Creating Cross, upon which was crucified our Lord Jesus Christ. For this purpose he dispatched to Jerusalem his own mother – the holy Empress Helen, granting manifold plenitude of power and material means. Together with the Jerusalem Patriarch Makarios, Saint Helen set about the search, and through the Will of God the Life-Creating Cross was discovered in a miraculous manner in the year 326. (The account about the finding of the Cross of the Lord is located under the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, 14 September). Situated in Palestine, the holy empress did much of benefit for the Church. She gave orders, that all places connected with the earthly life of the Lord and His All-Pure Mother, should be freed of all traces of paganism, and she commanded that churches should be built at these places of memory. Over the Cave of the Sepulchre of the Lord the emperor Constantine himself gave orders to construct a magnificent church to the glory of the Resurrection of Christ. Saint Helen gave the Life-Creating Cross to the Patriarch for safe-keeping, and part of the Cross she took with her for the emperor. Having distributed generous alms at Jerusalem and seeing to the feeding of the needy, during which times she herself attended them, the holy Empress Helen returned to Constantinople, where she soon after died in the year 327.
For her great services to the Church and her efforts in finding the Life-Creating Cross, the empress Helen is titled "Equal-to-the-Apostles".
The peaceful state of the Christian Church was rent by the rise from within the Church by dissensions and quarrels from heresies which had appeared. Already at the beginning of the emperor Constantine's reign there had arisen in the West the heresies of the Donatists and the Novatians, demanding a second baptism over those who lapsed during the times of the persecutions against Christians. These heresies, repudiated by two local Church councils, were finally condemned at the Milan Council of 316. But particularly ruinous for the Church was the rise in the East of the heresy of Arius, daring to repudiate the Divine Essence of the Son of God, and teaching that Jesus Christ was a mere creature. By order of the emperor, in the year 325 there was convened the First OEcumenical Council in the city of Nicea. At this Council were gathered 318 bishops. Among its participants were confessor-bishops from the period of the persecutions and many other luminaries of the Church, among whom – was Sainted-hierarch Nicholas of Myra in Lycia. (The account about the Council is located under 29 May). The emperor was present at the sessions of the Council. The heresy of Arius was condemned and a Symbol-Creed of Faith compiled, in which was included the term "of One-Essence with the Father", always confirming in the consciousness of Orthodox Christians the truth of the Divinity of Jesus Christ, Who took on and assumed upon Himself human nature for the redemption of all the human race.
The deep churchly awareness and feeling of Saint Constantine might possibly surprise one, where the working-out of the definition "of One-Essence"heard by him in the disputes of the Council, was at his insistence included within the Symbol-Creed of Faith.
After the Council of Nicea, Saint Constantine continued with his active role in the welfare of the Church. He accepted holy Baptism at the end of his life, having prepared for it all his whole life. Saint Constantine died on the day of Pentecost in the year 337 and was buried in the church of the Holy Apostles, in a crypt earlier prepared by him.

 

[VonBonfire]

The Holy Martyr John-Vladimir

Commemorated on May 22

The Holy Martyr John-Vladimir, a Serbian prince, was born in the X Century. From his childhood he was raised in piety, and at maturity he wisely governed his holdings Illyria and Dalmatia, preserving in purity the holy faith. The noble prince was married to Kosara, a daughter of the Bulgarian tsar Samuel. Summoned under pretense of talks with the Bulgarian tsar John-Vladislav, he was treacherously murdered by him on 22 May 1015, at the entrance to a church. The pious spouse of the holy prince, Kosara, withdrew into a women's monastery that she built, and where also she died, to the very end of her life not quitting the church. The relics of the holy prince are situated near Elbosan.

 

[VonBonfire]

Upon the "Seven-Arrow" ("Semistrel'na") Icon of the Mother of God Commemorated on the Sunday of All Saints, August 13 Upon the "Seven-Arrow" ("Semistrel'na") Icon of the Mother of God is depicted a piercing by seven arrows. For a long time the icon was situated at the bell-tower stairway entrance of a church in honour of the Apostle John the Theologian (near Vologda). Turned face downwards, they mistook the icon for an ordinary board along which they walked, until a cripple in the city of Kadnikova had a vision; that he would receive healing after a prayer before this icon. They served a molieben before the discovered icon, after which the sick one became well. The icon was especially glorified in 1830 during the time of a cholera epidemic at Vologda.

​

 

[JDs Couch]

On Thursday, the 29th of January 2026, suspended ROCOR (Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia) Fr Matthew Williams made his first court appearance of the year in Abingdon Virginia, for multiple child sex abuse charges.

According to the website of the Sullivan County Online Court Record System, the next court appearance on sexual abuse charges of suspended ROCOR (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia) priest Matthew Williams will be on 10th of March 2026 at 9:00am at the Circuit Court of Sullivan County, 140 Blountville Bypass, Blountville, Tennessee.

 

[VonBonfire]

The Holy Disciple Carpus

Commemorated on May 26

The Holy Disciple Carpus (from the 70) – was a disciple and companion of the holy Apostle Paul. In the 2nd Epistle to Timothy, the apostle mentions the name Carpus, at the house of whom in Troias he left a phelon and books (2 Tim. 4: 13). Knowing Carpus as a man of virtue and possessing a mind of lofty purity, the Apostle Paul made him bishop of Thracian Bereia. The disciple Carpus went preaching the Gospel to the island of Crete. Here he encountered Saint Dionysios the Areopagite (Comm. 3 October). In his reminiscences Dionysios recounts about a miraculous vision to the disciple Carpus.
The holy disciple Carpus died peacefully at Bereia (according to other histories he received a martyr's end during the persecution under the emperor Nero).

 

[JDs Couch]

Russian Orthodox priest who adopted 70 children jailed for abuse

A Russian court has jailed for 21 years an Orthodox priest, said to have adopted 70 children, for a string of child abuse offences.

 

[VonBonfire]

The Monk Pherapont (Therapont) of Mozhaisk (Belozersk), Wonderworker of Luzhetsk

Commemorated on May 27

The Monk Pherapont (Therapont) of Mozhaisk (Belozersk), Wonderworker of Luzhetsk, in the world Theodore (Feodor), was born in the year 1337 at Volokolamsk into a family of the nobility, the Poskochini. From his childhood years he was raised in deep faith and piety, which in graced form was reflected throughout all his subsequent years of life as an holy ascetic. At age forty without preliminaries he was tonsured a monk by the hegumen of the Moscow Simonov monastery, the Monk Theodore (Feodor), a nephew of the Monk Sergei (afterwards Archbishop of Rostov, Comm. 28 November). As a monk in this monastery Pherapont became close with the Monk Kirill (Cyril) of Belozersk (Comm. 9 June). Together they passed through their ascetic deeds of salvation in fasting and prayers, and they hearkened to the spiritual guidances of the Monk Sergei of Radonezh (Comm. 25 September and 5 July), who visited the monastery to instruct the brethren. In fulfilling an obedience, the Monk Pherapont set off to the North, to the Belozersk frontier, on monastery matters. The harsh northern land caught the attention of the ascetic, and he decided to remain there for his ascetic efforts. After his return with the Monk Kirill – to whom the Mother of God had appeared also ordering him to go to the North, the Monk Pherapont received the blessing of the hegumen and set off to Beloozero (WhiteLake). For a certain while the ascetics lived together in a cell that they had built, but later and by mutual consent, the Monk Pherapont transferred over to a new place for his ascetic deeds, 15 versts distant from Kirill, betwixt two lakes: Borodava and Pava. Having cleared a not overly large plot for a garden and building a cell in the deep forest at a water channel, the Monk Pherapont continued his ascetic efforts as an hermit and in silence. At first he endured much deprivation and tribulation in his solitude, and more than once he was set upon by robbers, attempting to chase away or even kill the ascetic. But with time monks began to gather to the saint, and the wilderness place was gradually transformed into a monastery, afterwards called the Pherapontov. In the year 1398 the Monk Pherapont built a wooden church in honour of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God, and the monastery was gradually set in order: the monks toiled together with their saintly guide over the construction of cells, the copying of books, and the adornment of the church.* (* At the end of the XV Century on the place of the former wooden church there was built a stone cathedral, in honour of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God, painted in the years 1500-1501 by the reknown Russian iconographer Dionysii and his sons, Vladimir and Theodosii. The frescoes are devoted to the Praise of the Most Holy Mother of God. The unique frescoes (wall-paintings) of the Pherapontov monastery have been preserved up to the present time and are an outstanding memorial of Russian churchly art and painting, of world significance).
At the monastery was introduced a common-life monastic rule, strictly observed by the monks. The Monk Pherapont out of humility declined to head the monastery, and instead entrusted the position of hegumen to one of his disciples. The holy ascetic, endowed himself with the gift of counsel, resorted for spiritual guidance just as before to his friend, the Monk Kirill of Belozersk. News about the ascetic deeds of the saint of God spread far beyond the bounds of the Belozersk frontier.
At the beginning of the XV Century, the lands, on which were situated the Kirillov and Pherapontov monasteries, were part of the appanage-holdings of the Mozhaisk prince Andrei Dimitrievich (1382-1432), son of GreatPrince Dimitrii Ioannovich Donskoy (1363‑1389). And in the year 1408 prince Andrei Dimitrievich, having learned of the high level of spiritual life of the Belozersk ascetic, turned then to the monastic starets-elder Pherapont with a request to establish a monastery in the city of Mozhaisk. It was difficult for the monk to leave his own monastery, at which he had asceticised for more than ten years. The Monk Pherapont was met at Mozhaisk with great honour. Soon, not far from Mozhaisk, in the locality of Lushko on an hilly part of the right bank of the Moscow River, the Monk Pherapont founded his second monastery. Its chief temple was in honour of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God, in memory of the Belozersk monastery. Prince Andrei Dimitrievich, deeply esteeming the saint for his true humility, provided generous help in the construction and establishing of the monastery. With the blessing of Sainted Photii, Metropolitan of Moscow (+ 1431, Comm. 2 July and 27 May), – the monastery was to be headed by an archimandrite, and the Monk Pherapont was elevated to the dignity of archimandrite.
At this new monastery Saint Pherapont dwelt for 18 years, reposing to God at an advanced age, on 27 May 1426. His body was buried at the north wall of the cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God. At the place of burial was afterwards built a church in honour of the Monk John of the Ladder (Comm. 30 March), and renamed in 1730 for the Monk Pherapont. Veneration of the saint began soon after his death. In 1514 the incorrupt relics of the holy ascetic were uncovered, and glorified by numerous miracles. After the Moscow Sobor-Council of 1547 there occurred the canonisation of the Monk Pherapont of Mozhaisk, Luzhetsk Wonderworker – resulting from the hegumen of the Pherapontov monastery having brought to metropolitan Makarii (1543-1564) a Life and Account of the sanctity of the saint of God. Set amidst the numerous disciples and conversers of the Monk Sergei of Radonezh, the Russian Church venerates the memory of the Monk Pherapont, who in following the counsel of his great teacher and guide, combined the ascetic feats of silence and solitude with that of active service to neighbour and the spiritual enlightening of his Fatherland.
The memory of the Monk Pherapont is celebrated twice: 27 May (Repose 1426), and 27 December (Uncovering of Relics 1514).

 

[JDs Couch]

Orthodox cleric faces sex assault trial
Kenneth William Storheim on trial for alleged abuse involving boys

 

[Picasso]

dErKa DeRkA SeCks AsSALT sHerPa ShErpa

 

[VonBonfire]

The Monastic Martyress Theodosia

Commemorated on May 29

The Monastic Martyress Theodosia lived during the VIII Century. She was born through the fervent prayer of her parents, and after their death, she was raised at the Constantinople women's monastery in honour of the holy Martyress Anastasia. Saint Theodosia accepted monasticism at the women's monastery after she distributed to the poor of what remained of her parental inheritance. Part of the money she used for writing icons of the Saviour, the Mother of God and the Martyress Anastasia. When Leo the Isaurian (717-741) ascended to the imperial throne, and being a fierce persecutor of icon-veneration, he issued an edict to destroy holy icons everywhere. At Constantinople there then existed gates called the "Bronze Gates", and up over them for more than 400 years was a bronzen image of the Saviour. In the year 730 the Iconoclast pseudo-patriarch Anastasias gave orders to remove the image. Orthodox people, at the head of which was the Monastic-Martyr Theodosia together with other nuns, rushed to the defense of the icon and toppled the ladder with the soldier atop, who was carrying out the command. The pseudo-patriarch Anastasias, fearing that the riot would intensify, informed the emperor about the incident, on whose orders soldiers went around beating up all the nuns, and Saint Theodosia being a very ardent defender of icons was locked up in prison. Over the course of a week they each day dealt her an hundred lashes, and on the eighth day they led her about the city, fiercely beating her along the way. One of the soldiers began to strike at the martyress and inflicted upon her a mortal wound, from which the martyress immediately died. The body of the holy monastic martyress, left cast upon the ground, was reverently buried by Christians in the Diokritis monastery in Constantinople. The place of burial of Saint Theodosia was glorified by numerous healings of the sick.

 

[VonBonfire]

The Monk Varlaam of Khutynsk

Commemorated on the 1st Friday of Apostles' Fast and November 6

The Monk Varlaam of Khutynsk lived in the XII Century, the son of an illustrious Novgorodian, and he lived his childhood years at Novgorod. Withdrawing at an early age to the Lisich monastery near the city, the Monk Varlaam accepted tonsure. Later on he settled at a solitary hill below Volkhov, in a locale called Khutyn', 10 versts from Novgorod. In solitude the Monk Varlaam led a strict life, making unceasing prayer and keeping very strict fast. He was a zealous ascetic in his tasks – he himself felled timber in the forest, chopped firewood and tilled the soil, fulfilling the words of Holy Scripture: "If any shalt not work, neither shalt he eat" (2 Thess. 3: 10). Certain of the inhabitants of Novgorod gathered to him, wanting to share in monastic works and deeds. Instructing those that came, the Monk Varlaam said: "My children, be observant against all unrighteousness, and neither envy nor slander. Refrain from anger, and give not money over for usury. Beware to judge unjustly. Do not swear falsely giving an oath, but rather fulfill it. Be not indulgent to the bodily appetites. Always be meek and bear all things with love. This virtue – is the beginning and root of all good".
Soon there was erected a church in honour of the Transfiguration of the Lord, and a monastery founded. The Lord sent down upon the monk, for his service to others, the gifts of wonderworking and perspicacity. When his days approached an end, by Divine Will there came from Constantinople the priestmonk Antonii – of the same age and a friend of the Monk Varlaam. The blessed saint, in turning to him, said: "My beloved brother! God's blessing doth rest upon this monastery. And now into thine hand I transfer this monastery. Watch over and take concern for it. I do expire to the King of Heaven. But be not confused over this: while yet in the body I do leave you, still in spirit I shalt be with you always". Having bestown guidance unto the brethren, with the command to preserve the Orthodox faith and dwell constantly in humility, the Monk Varlaam reposed to the Lord on 6 November 1192.

 

[VonBonfire]

The Kursk-Root Icon....

This icon came to my parish a few years ago and we were able to venerate and touch it directly. Normally it's kept behind glass and protected by armed guards in Orthodox nations. It's one of the most famous icons in Orthodoxy and is associated with many miracles. This is the picture I took as it appeared at our parish. The outer cover you see is decorative and meant to protect the icon.

The Kursk Znamenie (Sign) Icon of the Mother of God

Commemorated on on the 9th Friday of Pascha, September 8, November 27, March 8

The Kursk Znamenie (Sign) Icon of the Mother of God – is one of the most ancient icons of the Russian Church. In the XIII Century during the time of the Tatar invasion, when all the Russian realm was put to the extremest tribulation, the city of Kursk, ravaged by the Horde of Batu, fell into desolation. One day in the environs of the city an hunter noticed the ancient icon, lying on a root face downwards to the ground. The hunter lifted it and saw that the image of the icon was similar to the Novgorod "Znamenie" Icon. With the appearance of this icon immediately there appeared its first miracle. Just as the hunter lifted up the holy icon from the earth, right then, at that place where the icon lay, gushed up strongly a spring of pure water. This occurred on 8 September 1259. The hunter decided not to leave the icon in the forest and settled on as a resting place an ancient small chapel, in which he put the newly-appeared image of the Mother of God. Soon inhabitants of the city of Ryl'a heard about this, and being in location not far away, they began to visit the place of the appearance for venerating the new holy image.
They transferred the icon to Ryl'a and put it in a new church in honour of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God. But the icon did not long remain there. It disappeared and returned to its former place of appearance. The inhabitants of Ryl'a repeatedly took it and carried it to the city, but the icon incomprehensibly returned to its former place. Everyone then realised, that the Mother of God preferred the place of appearance of Her Image. The especial help granted by the Mother of God through this icon is bound up with important events in Russian history: with the war of liberation of the Russian nation during the time of the Polish-Lithuanian incursion in 1612, and the 1812 Fatherland war. From the icon several copies were made, which also were glorified.

 

[VonBonfire]

Sainted Nicephoros the Confessor

Commemorated on June 2

Sainted Nicephoros the Confessor was born in Constantinople in the second half of the VIII Century. Deep faith and preparation for the deed of confessor were instilled in him by his parents, Theodore and Eudocia. They gave their son a genuine Christian upbringing, reinforced by the example of their own life. His father suffered as a confessor of Orthodoxy under the Iconoclast emperor Constantine Copronymos (740-775). His mother, having shared in all the tribulation with her husband, followed him into exile, and after his death she returned to Constantinople and finished her life in a convent. Saint Nicephoros received a fine secular education, but most of all he studied the Holy Scriptures and he read spiritual books.
During the reign of Leo IV (775-780), Saint Nicephoros received the position of imperial counselor. Situated at the imperial court, he continued to lead a strict and virtuous life, he firmly preserved the purity of his Orthodox faith and zealously defended the veneration of holy icons. After the death of Leo IV, during the reign of Constantine VI (780-797) and his mother Saint Irene, – at Nicea in the year 787 was convened the VII OEcumenical Council, which condemned the Iconoclast heresy. Being deeply knowledgeable in the Holy Scriptures, Saint Nicephoros in the emperor's name entered into the Council in the defense of Orthodoxy, by which he rendered great assistance to the holy fathers of the Council.
After the Council, Saint Nicephoros remained for several years at court, but the whole life of vanity all more and more became burdensome to the saint. He retired his position and settled in solitude near the Bosphorus, spending his life in scholarly work, and in quietude, fasting and prayer. Saint Nicephoros built a church, founded a monastery, and led a strict monastic life even before taking monastic vows.
During the reign of emperor Nicephorus I (802-811), and after the death of the holy Patriarch Tarasios (784-806), Saint Nicephoros was chosen to his place: he received monastic vows and the priestly dignity and was elevated to the patriarchal throne on 12 April 806, on the day of holy Pascha.
Under the emperor Leo V the Armenian (813-820), – a passionate adherent of the Iconoclast heresy, there again began for the Church a period of unrest and persecutions. The emperor was not immediately able to begin open persecution against Orthodoxy, since Iconoclasm was condemned at the VII OEcumenical Council. The holy Patriarch continued to serve in the Great church, bolding urging the people to preserve the Orthodox faith, and he led the consequent and unremitting struggle with heresy. The emperor began to recall from exile the bishops and clergy, excommunicated from the Church by the VII OEcumenical Council. Having convened with them an heretical council, the emperor demanded that the Patriarch appear for a dispute about the faith. The Patriarch refused to argue about the faith with heretics, since the teachings of the Iconoclasts were already condemned in the anathema of the VII OEcumenical Council. He endeavoured all the more to bring the emperor and those around him to their senses, he fearlessly explained to the people the teaching about the veneration of holy icons, he wrote admonitions to the empress and to the city-governor Eutykhianos, the closest one to the imperial dignity, attaching at the end the prophetic words about a quick perishing of heretics from "the punishing hands of the Lord". Then the heretical council passed an excommunication of holy Patriarch Nicephoros and his predecessors – the blessedly-reposing Patriarchs Tarasios and Germanos. Saint Nicephoros was sent at first to a monastery at Chrysopolis, and later – to the island Prokonnis in the Sea of Marmara. After 13 years of deprivation and sorrow the holy Patriarch Nicephoros died in exile on 2 June 828.
On 13 March 847 the undecayed relics of the holy Patriarch Nicephoros, having lain in the ground for 19 years, were solemnly transferred to Constantinople into the cathedral church of Saint Sophia.
Saint Nicephoros was outstanding as a church activist of his times, "a credit to his era and his chair (cathedra)" and, having much served the Church, he left behind an extensive spiritual legacy – numerous works of historical, dogmatic and canonical content.

 

[VonBonfire]

The Monk Dimitrii of Prilutsk, Wonderworker

Commemorated on June 3 and February 11

The Monk Dimitrii of Prilutsk, Wonderworker, was born into a rich merchant's family in Pereyaslavl'-Zalessk. From the time of his youth the monk was uncommonly handsome. Having accepted monastic tonsure at one of the Pereyaslavl' monasteries, the saint later founded the Nikol'sk (Saint Nicholas) life-in-common monastery on the Borisoglebsk Hill at the shore of Lake Plescheevo near the city, and became its hegumen.
In 1534 Saint Dimitrii first met with the Monk Sergei Radonezh, who had come to Pereyaslavl' to bishop Athanasii. From that time he repeatedly conversed with the Monk Sergei and became close with him. The fame of the Pereyaslavl' hegumen so spread about, that he became godfather to the children of Greatprince Dimitrii Ioannovich. Under the influence of the Radonezh wonderworker, the Monk Dimitrii decided to withdraw off to a desolate place, and together with his disciple Pakhomii he set off North. In the Vologda forests, at the River Velika, in the Avnezhsk surroundings, they built a church of the Resurrection of Christ and they made ready to lay the foundations for a monastery. But the local inhabitants were fearful of losing out, and the wilderness-dwellers in their wish to be a burden to no one, set off further.
Not far from Vologda, at the bend of a river in an isolated spot, the Monk Dimitrii decided to form the first of the life-in-common monasteries of the Russian North. The people of Vologda and the surrounding gladly consented to help the saint. The owners of the land intended for the monastery, Il'ya and Isidor, even trampled down a grain field, so that a temple might be built immediately. In 1371 the wooden Saviour cathedral was erected, and brethren began to gather. Many a disciple of the monk came thither from Pereyaslavl'. The deep prayer and quite strict asceticism was combined in the Prilutsk hegumen with kindliness: he fed the poor and hungry, he took in strangers, he conversed with those in need of consolation, and he gave counsel. The monk loved to pray in private. His Lenten food was but prosphora with warm water, and even on feastdays he would not partake of the wine and fish permitted by the ustav-rule. Both Winter and Summer he wore only his old sheepskin coat, and into old age he went off with the brethren on common tasks. Contributions to the monastery the saint accepted cautiously, so that the welfare of the monastery be not to the impairment of those living nearby. The Lord vouchsafed His servant the gift of perspicacity. The Monk Dimitrii died at an advanced age on 11 February 1392. The brethren approaching found him as though asleep, and his cell was filled with a wondrous fragrance. Miracles from the relics of Saint Dimitrii began in the year 1409, and during the XV Century his veneration spread throughout all Rus'. And not later than the year 1440, based on the narratives of Saint Dimitrii's disciple the hegumen Pakhomii, the Prilutsk monk Makarii recorded his life (Great Reading-Menaion, 11 February).