Christos Anesti

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Đorđe_Bogić

The Ustashas tied the priest to a tree before they began their atrocities. They cut off the priest's ears, his nose, and then his tongue. With relish and entirely senselessly, they pulled out his beard and the underlying skin. The poor, exhausted priest cried out of sheer pain. He was still a young man of thirty, healthy and well built. The whole time the priest was resolute and stood upright so that the Ustashas could give free rein to their crudeness. After gouging out his eyes the priest still did not stir so they cut open his stomach and chest so that Bogić collapsed. One could see his heart beating. One of the Ustashas yelled: "Cursed be your Serb mother whose heart is still beating." After this sentence the Ustashas set the priest on fire and shortened his pain and suffering.
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According to another witness, the person guilty of these martyr afflictions was a Roman Catholic priest from Našice, Sidonije Šolc: "He (Fra Šolc) had our parish priest Đorđe Bogić killed in the most monstrous manner. They took him out of his apartment in the middle of the night and butchered him
 
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The Transfer of Relics of Blessed Igor, GreatPrince of Kiev:

Commemorated on June 5

The Transfer of Relics of Blessed Igor, GreatPrince of Kiev: The Kievan GreatPrince Igor Ol'govich, in holy Baptism George (also Comm. 19 September), in the year 1146 suffered defeat and was taken captive by prince Izyaslav, who imprisoned him in one of the monasteries of Russian or Southern Pereyaslavl' (now Pereyaslavl'-Khmel'nitsk). Far removed from the vanities of this world, and grievously ill, he began to repent of his sins and asked permission to be tonsured a monk. On 5 January 1147 the Pereyaslavl' bishop Evphymii tonsured him into monasticism with the name Gavriil (Gabriel). Soon he recovered his health and transferred to the Kiev Theodorov monastery, where he became a schemamonk with the name Ignatii, and devoted himself entirely to monastic efforts.
But the spirit of fratricidal hatred stormed over Kiev. The Chernigov princes, cousins of Igor, plotted to entice Izyaslav of Kiev into a joint campaign – with the aim of seizing hold or even killing him. The plot was uncovered, when the prince was already on the way to Chernigov. The Kievans were in an uproar in learning of the ruse of the Chernigovichi, and they stormed into where the quite innocent Saint Igor was. And on 19 September 1147 Saint Igor was brutally murdered.
The Lord glorified the sufferer with miracles. With the blessing of the metropolitan Kliment Smolyatich, the hegumen of the Theodorov monastery Ananii made the burial of the "passion-bearer" in the church of the Kiev Simonov monastery. On 5 June 1150, when the Kiev throne had become occupied by Yuri Dolgoruky, his confederate and a brother by birth of the murdered Igor, – the Chernigov prince Svyatoslav Ol'govich, solemnly transferred the holy relics of Saint Igor to Chernigov his native region, where they were placed into a reliquary "with an attic-garret" in the Saviour cathedral church. And then also was established the feastday in memory of the saint.
 
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The Monk Ilarion (Hilary) the New

Commemorated on June 6

The Monk Ilarion (Hilary) the New was born of pious parents, Peter and Theodosia, who raised him in the virtues and instructed him in Holy Scripture. At twelve years of age Saint Ilarion was tonsured into monasticism at the Isykhia monastery near Byzantium, and from there he transferred to the Dalmatia monastery, where he took on the great schema and became a disciple of the Monk Gregory Dekapolites (Comm. 20 November). The monk deeply venerated his God-bearing patronal-name saint – the Monk Ilarion the Great (Comm. 21 October), and he strove to imitate his life, whereby he came to be called Ilarion the New. At the Dalmatia monastery they ordained him presbyter. After the death of the hegumen the brethren wanted to elect Saint Ilarion to this position, but learning of this, he secretly withdrew away to Byzantium.
Then the monks of Dalmatia monastery sent off a petition to Sainted Patriarch Nikephoros, asking that the Monk Ilarion be assigned as hegumen. The Patriarch summoned the saint and persuaded him to give his assent. The Monk Ilarion submitted out of holy obedience. Over the course of eight years he peacefully guided the monastery. But in the year 813 the iconoclast Leo the Armenian (813-820) occupied the imperial throne. The monk refused to blaspheme holy icons and he boldly accused the emperor of heresy, for which he endured many torments. They locked him up in prison for awhile, and vexed him with hunger and thirst. The impious patriarch Theodotos, having replaced the exiled Patriarch Nikephoros, caused the monk much suffering in demanding a rejection of Orthodoxy. The monks of the Dalmatia monastery went to the emperor and besought him to release the saint, promising to submit to the imperial will. But having returned to the monastery, the Monk Ilarion and all the monks continued to venerate holy icons. The enraged emperor again locked up the monk in prison. With all the powers at his disposal to demand a renunciation, he gave the saint over to torture and confined him in prison.
But the wrath of God overtook the wicked emperor: he was cut down by his own soldiers in church at that very spot, where once before he had thrown down an holy icon. The new emperor Michael II the Stammerer (820-829) set free the Monk Ilarion from his imprisonment, and the saint settled into a solitary cell. Upon the death of the Monk Theodore the Studite (Comm. 11 November) – who likewise had suffered for holy icons, the Monk Ilarion was vouchsafed to behold holy Angels lifting up to Heaven the holy soul of Saint Theodore.
Under the iconoclast emperor Theophilos (829-842), the Monk Ilarion was again put under guard, and beaten terribly, and they confined him on the island of Athysia.
After the death of Theophilos, the holy empress Saint Theodora (842-855) gave orders to restore the confessors from exile. The Monk Ilarion returned to the Dalmatia monastery, again accepting to be hegumen at it, and he peacefully died in the year 845.
 
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St. Theodore, bishop of Rostov and Suzdal (1023)
Commemorated on June 8
By birth a Greek, the first bishop of Rostov, he was enthroned as bishop in the year 991. At that time pagans occupied the Rostov territory and St. Theodore had much work to do to enlighten them in the Christian faith. The rough and wild pagans rendered many insults to the hierarch and once even drove him away. St. Theodore then settled in Suzdal and here enlightened many by the light of the true faith and after much apostolic labor he died in Suzdal. Not much is known about the last years of the life of St. Theodore. He died in the year 1023. His uncovered relics lie in the Suzdal Theotokos-Nativity Cathedral.
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Sainted Cyril, ArchBishop of Alexandria

Commemorated on June 9, January 18

Sainted Cyril, ArchBishop of Alexandria, a distinguished champion of Orthodoxy and a great teacher of the Church, came from an illustrious and pious Christian family. He studied the secular sciences, among which number also was philosophy, but most of all he strove to acquire knowledge of the Holy Scriptures and the truths of the Christian faith. In his youth Saint Cyril entered the skete-monastery of Saint Makarios in the Nitreia hills, where he stayed for six years. The Patriarch of Alexandria Theophilos (385-412) ordained him to the dignity of deacon, numbered him among the clergy and, seeing his giftedness, entrusted him to preach.
Upon the death of Patriarch Theophilos, Saint Cyril was unanimously chosen to the patriarchal throne of the Alexandrian Church. He headed the struggle against the spread in Alexandria of the Novatian heresy, which taught that a Christian, having fallen away from the Church during time of persecution, is not able to be received back by it again.
Saint Cyril, seeing the futility of admonishing the heretics, sought their expulsion from Alexandria. The Jews appeared a greater danger for the Church, repeatedly making riots, accompanied by the brutal killing of Christians. The saint long contended with them. And to end with the remaining paganism, the saint cast out devils from an ancient pagan temple and built on the place a church. Into it were transferred the relics of the holy Unmercenaries Cyrus and John. Still more difficult a struggle awaited the saint with the emergence of the Nestorian heresy.
Nestorius, a presbyter of the Antioch Church, was chosen in 428 to the Constantinople cathedra and therein got the chance to widely spread about his heretical teaching, directed against the dogma about the uncommingled union of two natures in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nestorius called the Mother of God not the Bogoroditsa (Theotokos or "Birth-giver of God"), but rather Khristoroditsa (Christotokos or "Birth‑giver of Christ"), implying that she gave birth not to God, but only to the man Christ. The holy Patriarch Cyril repeatedly wrote to Nestorius and pointed out his error, but Nestorius continued to persevere in it. Then the saint sent out epistles against Nestorianism to the clergy of the Constantinople Church and to the holy nobleborn emperor Theodosius the Younger (408-450) – two treatises with a denunciation of the heresy. Saint Cyril wrote also to other Churches – to Pope Celestine and to the other Patriarchs, and even to monks of several monasteries, warning about the emergence of a dangerous heresy.
Nestorius started an open persecution against the Orthodox. In his presence one of his partisans, bishop Dorotheos, pronounced from the church cathedra an anathema for anyone who would call the Most Holy Virgin Mary the Bogoroditsa (Theotokos).
Nestorius hated Saint Cyril and brought out against him every kind of slander and fabrication, calling him an heretic. The saint with all his powers continued to defend Orthodoxy. The situation became so aggravated, that it became necessary to convene an OEcumenical Council, which opened in the year 431 in the city of Ephesus. At the Council arrived 200 bishops from all the Christian Churches. Nestorius, awaiting the arrival of the bishop of Antioch John and other Syrian bishops, did not agree to the opening of the Council. But the fathers of the Council began the sessions. The Alexandrian Patriarch Saint Cyril presided. Having examined the teaching of Nestorius, the Council condemned him as an heretic. Nestorius did not submit to the Council, and the arriving bishop John opened a "robber council", which decreed Saint Cyril an heretic. The unrest increased. By order of the emperor, Patriarch Cyril of Alexandria and Archbishop Memnon of Ephesus were locked in prison. And in this measure, Nestorius also was deposed.
Soon Saints Cyril and Memnon were freed, and the sessions of the Council continued. Nestorius, not submitting himself to the determinations of the Council, was deprived of priestly rank and by order of the emperor sent to the faraway place Sasim in the Libean wilderness, where he died in grievous torments: his tongue, having blasphemed the Mother of God, was overtaken by punishment – in it there developed worms. Even Bishop John of Antioch and the remaining Syrian bishops signed the decretals of the Ephesus Council.
Saint Cyril guided the Alexandrian Church for 32 years: towards the end of his abundant activity the flock was cleansed of heretics. Gently and cautiously Saint Cyril approached towards anyone, who by their own simpleness and lack of knowledge fell into false wisdom. To a certain elder, an ascetic of profound life, – who incorrectly considered the Old Testament Righteous HighPriest Melchisedek to be the Son of God, – Saint Cyril turned with a request to pray to the Lord so that He should reveal, correctly how to consider that righteous one. After three days the elder came to Saint Cyril and said, that the Lord revealed to him, that Melchisedek was high-priest and a mere man.
Saint Cyril learned to overcome his prejudice against the memory of the great Sainted-hierarch John Chrysostomos (Zlatoust') (+ 407, Comm. 13 November). The Patriarch of Alexandria Theophilos, by birth an uncle of the saint, was an antagonist of Sainted John, and presided in a council in judgement of him. Saint Cyril from his youthful years found himself thus in a circle antagonistic to John Chrysostom and involuntarily acquired prejudice against him. The Monk Isidoros Pelusiotes (+ c. 436-440, Comm. 4 February) repeatedly wrote to Saint Cyril and urged him to include the name of the great father of the Church into the diptych-list of the saints, but Saint Cyril would not agree. But once in a dream he saw a wondrous temple, in which was present the Mother of God surrounded by an host of Angels and saints, in which number stood also Saint John Chrysostom. When Saint Cyril wanted to approach the Most Holy Lady and offer to Her veneration, Saint John Chrysostom would not let him. The Mother of God asked Saint John to forgive Saint Cyril, for having sinned against him through ignorance. Seeing that Saint John hesitated, the Mother of God said: "Forgive him for Me, since he hath laboured much for My honour, and hath glorified Me among the people calling Me the Mother of God, the Theotokos Bogoroditsa". Saint John answered: "By Thy intercession, Lady, I do forgive him", – and then with love he hugged and embraced Saint Cyril.
Saint Cyril repented himself that he had maintained anger against the great saint of God. Having convened all the Egyptian bishops, he made a solemn festal celebration in honour of Sainted John Chrysostom.
Saint Cyril died in the year 444, leaving behind many works. In particular ought to be mentioned: Commentaries – On the Gospel of Luke, On the Gospel of John, On the Epistles of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians and to the Hebrews; also an Apologia in Defence of Christianity against the Emperor Julian the Apostate (361-363). Of vast significance are: Five Books against Nestorius; a work About the Most Holy Trinity; – under the title "Thesaurus", written against Arius and Eunomios; also two dogmatic compositions About the Most Holy Trinity, – distinguished by a precise exposition of the Orthodox teaching about the Procession of the Holy Spirit. Saint Cyril wrote a composition – Against Anthropomorphism, for several Egyptians, who through ignorance depicted God in human form. Amidst a number of works by Saint Cyril are also the "Discussions", among which is the moving and edifying "Discourse on the Exodus of the Soul", inserted in the Slavonic "Following Psalter".
 
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The PriestMartyr Timothy, Bishop of Prussa (Bithynia)

Commemorated on June 10

The PriestMartyr Timothy, Bishop of Prussa (Bithynia), received from the Lord the gift of wonderworking because of his purity and sanctity of life. At Prussa he converted many pagans to the faith in Christ. The emperor Julian the Apostate (361-363), upon hearing about Saint Timothy had him locked up in prison, but even there also the saint continued to preach the Gospel. Julian forbade him to anymore teach about the Name of Jesus Christ, but the saint continued to spread about the Christian faith. Finally, the emperor gave orders to behead the saint. The holy relics of the saint were afterwards transferred to Constantinople.
 
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The Holy Apostle Bartholomew

Commemorated on June 11

The Holy Apostle Bartholomew was born at Cana of Galilee and was one of the Twelve Apostles of Christ. After the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, it fell by lot to the holy Apostles Bartholomew and Philip (Comm. 14 November) to preach the Gospel in Syria and Asia Minor. In their preaching they dispersed through various cities, and then met up together again. Accompanying the holy Apostle Philip was his sister, the holy virgin Saint Mariam.Traversing the cities of Syria and Myzia, they underwent much hardship and tribulations, they were stoned and they were locked up in prison. In one of the villages they met up with the Apostle John the Theologian, and together they set off to Phrygia. In the city of Hieropolis by the power of their prayers they destroyed an enormous viper, which the pagans worshipped as a god. The holy Apostles Bartholomew and Philip with his sister proved their preaching with many a miraculous sign.
At Hieropolis there lived a man by the name of Stakhios, who had been blind for 40 years. When he received healing, he then believed in Christ and was baptised. News of this spread throughout the city, and a multitude of the people thronged to the house where the apostles were staying. The sick and those beset by demons were released from their infirmities, and many were baptised. The city governor gave orders to arrest the preachers and throw them in prison, and to burn down the house of Stakhios. At the trial pagan priests came forth with the complaint, that the strangers were turning people away from the worship of the ancestral gods. Thinking that perhaps some sort of magic power was hidden away in the clothes of the apostles, the governor gave orders to strip them. But Saint Mariam began to seem like a fiery torch before their eyes, and none dared touch her. They sentenced the saints to crucifixion. The Apostle Philip was raised up on the cross upside down. But there then began an earthquake, and a fissure in the earth swallowed up the governor of the city, together with the pagan priests and many of the people. Others took fright and rushed to take down the apostles from the crosses. Since the Apostle Bartholomew had not been put up high, they managed to take him down quickly. The Apostle Philip however had died. Making Stakhios the bishop of Hieropolis, the Apostle Bartholomew and Blessed Mariam left the city and moved on.
Preaching the Word of God, Mariam arrived in Likaoneia, where she peacefully died (Comm. 17 February). The Apostle Bartholomew set off to India, and there he translated from Hebrew the Gospel of Matthew, and he converted many pagans to Christ. He visited likewise Great Armenia (the country between the River Kura and the upper stretches of the Tigrus and Euphrates Rivers), where he worked many a miracle and healed the daughter of the emperor Polimios from the demons afflicting her. The emperor in gratitude sent gifts to the apostle, who however refused to accept them, saying that he sought only for the salvation of the souls of mankind. Then Polimios together with the empress, their healed daughter and many of those close to them accepted Baptism. And people from the ten cities of Great Armenia followed their example. But through the intrigues of the pagan priests, the Apostle Bartholomew was seized by the emperor brother Astiag in the city of Al'ban (now the city of Baku), and crucified upside down. But even from the cross he did not cease to proclaim the good news about Christ the Saviour. Finally, on orders from Astiag, they flayed the skin from the Apostle Bartholomew and cut off his head. Believers placed his remains in a pewter coffin and buried him.
In about the year 508 the holy relics of the Apostle Bartholomew were transferred to Mesopotamia, to the city of Dara. When the Persians seized the city in 574, Christians took the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew with them when they fled to the shores of the Black Sea. But since the enemy overtook them there, they were compelled to leave the coffin at the sea. By the power of God the coffin miraculously arrived on the island of Lipara. In the IX Century, after the taking of the island by the Arabs, the holy relics were transferred to the Neapolitan city of Beneventum in Italy, and in the X Century part of the relics were transferred to Rome.
There is mention about the holy Apostle Bartholomew in the Vita of Joseph the Melodist (+ 883, Comm. 4 April). Having received from a certain man part of the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew, the Monk Joseph conveyed them to his own monastery near Constantinople, and he built a church in the name of the Apostle Bartholomew, placing therein part of the relics. The Monk Joseph ardently desired to compile a laudation in song in honour of the saint, and he fervently besought God to grant him the ability to do so. On the feastday in memory of the Apostle Bartholomew, the Monk Joseph caught sight of him at the altar. He beckoned to Joseph and took the holy Gospel from the altar-table and pressed it to his bosom with the words: "Bless thou the Lord, and let thine song delight the world". And from that time the Monk Joseph began to write hymns and canons and with them adorn not only the feastday of the Apostle Bartholomew, but also the feastdays of many other saints, – compiling altogether about 300 canons. Saints John Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria, Epiphanios of Cyprus and certain other teachers of the Church regard the Apostle Bartholomew as being one and the same person as Nathanael (Jn. 1: 45-51, 21: 2).
 
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The Monk Peter of Athos

Commemorated on June 12

The Monk Peter of Athos, a Greek by birth, served as a soldier in the imperial armies and he lived at Constantinople. In the year 667 during the time of a war with the Syrians, Saint Peter was taken captive and locked up in a fortress in the city of Samara on the River Euphrates.
For a long time he languished in prison and he pondered over what sins of his had incurred the chastisement of God. Saint Peter remembered, that once upon a time he had the intention to leave the world and go off to a monastery, but he had not done so. He began to observe strict fast in the prison and to pray fervently, and he besought of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker to intercede before God for him. Saint Nicholas appeared in a dream to Saint Peter and advised him to call for help on Saint Simeon the God-Receiver. And encouraging the prisoner in patience and hope, Saint Nicholas once more appeared to him in a dream. The third time it was not in a dream that he appeared with Saint Simeon the God-Receiver. Saint Simeon touched his staff to the chains of Saint Peter, and the chains melted away, literally like wax. The doors of the prison opened up, and Saint Peter emerged to freedom. Saint Simeon the God-Receiver became invisible, but Saint Nicholas conveyed Saint Peter to the borders of the Greek lands. And reminding him of his vow, Saint Nicholas likewise became invisible. Saint Peter then journeyed to Rome to assume the monastic form at the tomb of the Apostle Peter. And even here Saint Nicholas did not leave without his help: he appeared in a dream to the Pope of Rome and informed him about the circumstances of Saint Peter's liberation from captivity, and he commanded the Pope to tonsure the former prisoner into monasticism.
On the following day, amidst a numerous throng of the people during Divine-services, the Pope loudly exclaimed: "Peter, thou who art come from the Greek lands, and whom Saint Nicholas hath freed from prison in Samara, come thou forth unto me". Saint Peter stood forth in front of the Pope, who tonsured him into monasticism at the tomb of the Apostle Peter. The Pope taught Saint Peter the rules of monastic life and kept the monk by him. And then with a blessing he sent off Saint Peter thither, whence God had blessed him to journey.
Saint Peter boarded a ship, sailing to the East. The ship-owners, during a time of having come ashore, besought Saint Peter to come and pray at a certain house, wherein the owner and all the household lay sick. Saint Peter healed them through his prayer.
The Most Holy Mother of God then appeared in a dream to Saint Peter and indicated the place, where he should live til the very end of his days – Holy Mount Athos. When the ship sailed alongside Athos, it then halted of its own accord. Saint Peter realised, that this was the place he had to go, and so he went ashore. This was in the year 681. The Monk Peter then dwelt in the desolate places of the Holy Mountain, not seeing another person for 53 years. His clothing had tattered, but his hair and beard had grown out and covered his body in place of clothes.
At first the Monk Peter was repeatedly subjected to demonic assaults. Trying to force the saint to abandon his cave, the devils took on the form at times of armed soldiers, and at other times of fierce beasts and vipers that seemed ready to tear apart the hermit. But through fervent prayer to God and the Mother of God, the Monk Peter conquered the demonic assaults. Then the enemy began to resort to trickery. Appearing under the guise of a lad, sent to him from his native home, he with tears besought the monk to leave the wilderness and return to his own home. The monk was in tears, but without hesitation answered: "Hither have the Lord and the Most Holy Mother of God led me, and without Her leave I go not from hence". Hearing the Name of the Mother of God, the demon vanished.
After seven years the devil came before the monk in the guise of a luminous angel and said, that God was commanding him to go into the world for the enlightening and salvation of people needful of his guidance. The experienced ascetic again replied, that without the permission of the Mother of God he would not forsake the wilderness. The devil disappeared and did not bother more to approach the saint. The Mother of God appeared to the Monk Peter in a dream together with Saint Nicholas and said to the brave hermit, that each 40 days an Angel would bring him Heavenly manna. From that time the Monk Peter fasted for 40 days, and on the fortieth day he fortified himself with the Heavenly manna, receiving the strength for further forty-day abstinence.
One time an hunter, chasing after a stag, caught sight of the naked man, covered about with hair and girded about the loins with leaves. He took fright and was about to flee. The Monk Peter stopped him and told him about his life. The hunter asked leave to remain with him, but the saint sent him off home. The Monk Peter gave the hunter a year for self-examination and forbade him to tell about the meeting with him.
A year later the hunter returned with his brother, afflicted with a demon, and together with several other companions. When they entered the cave of the Monk Peter, they then saw, that he had already reposed to God. The hunter amidst bitter sobs told his companions about the life of the Monk Peter, and his brother, with but a touch to the body of the saint, received healing. The Monk Peter died in the year 734. His holy relics were situated on Athos at the monastery of Saint Clement. During the Iconoclast period the relics were hidden away, and in the year 969 they were transferred to the Thracian village of Photokami. With the name of the Monk Peter of Athos is connected the sacred testimonial of the Mother of God about Her earthly appenage – Holy Mount Athos, which even now presently remains in force: "To Mount Athos let there be its peace, for this is allotted Me by My Son and God, given unto Me, wherein let them be separated from worldly whisperings and gathered together those spiritual in the power of their exploits, with faith and love in soul calling out My Name, thereupon to pass their earthly lifetime without travail, and for their God-pleasing deeds to receive life eternal: for exceedingly do I love this place and I do wish upon it the increase of monks, and they possessing the mercy of My Son and God thereupon as monks shalt never be undone, if they observe the saving commandments: and I shalt spread them forth upon the Mountain to the south and to the north, and they shalt possess it from the world til the end of the world, and their name throughout all under the sun I shalt make praiseworthy and so defend those, which there with patience would asceticise in fasting".
 
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St. Anthimus, Metropolitan of Wallachia

Commemorated on June 13

Saint Anthimus of Iberia was one of the most highly educated people of his time. He was fluent in many languages, including Greek, Romanian, Old Slavonic, Arabic, and Turkish and well-versed in theology, literature, and the natural sciences. He was unusually gifted in the fine arts—in painting, engraving, and sculpture in particular. He was famed for his beautiful calligraphy. Finally, St. Anthimus was a great writer, a renowned orator, and a reformer of the written Romanian language.
Little is known about the youth of St. Anthimus. He was a native of the Samtskhe region in southern Georgia. His parents, John and Mariam, gave him the name Andria at Baptism. He accompanied King Archil to Russia and helped him to found a Georgian print shop there, but after he returned he was captured by Dagestani robbers and sold into slavery. Through the efforts of Patriarch Dositheus of Jerusalem, Anthimus was finally set free, but he remained in the patriarch’s service in order to further his spiritual education.
Already famed for his paintings, engravings, and calligraphy, Anthimus was asked by Prince Constantine Brincoveanu (1688–1714) of Wallachia (present-day Romania) to travel to his kingdom around the year 1691. After he had arrived inWallachia, he began to manage a local print shop. The printing industry in that country advanced tremendously at that time, and the chief inspiration and driving force behind the great advances was the Georgian master Anthimus. He succeeded in making Wallachia a center of Christianity and a major publisher of books for all the East.
In 1694 Anthimus was enthroned as abbot of Snagov Monastery (in present-day Romania), where he soon founded a print shop. In the same year his new print shop published Guidelines for the Divine Services on May 21, All Saints’ Day. The book was signed by Subdeacon Michael Ishtvanovich, future founder of the first Georgian print shop.
In 1705 Anthimus, “the chosen among chosen abbots of Wallachia,” was consecrated bishop of Rimnicu Vilcea, and in 1708 he was appointed metropolitan of Hungro-Wallachia. The whole country celebrated his elevation. As one abbot proclaimed: “The divine Anthimus, a great man and son of the wise Iberian nation, has come to Wallachia and enlightened our land. God has granted him an inexhaustible source of wisdom, entrusted him to accomplish great endeavors, and helped to advance our nation by establishing for us a great printing industry.”
Under the direct leadership of St. Anthimus, more than twenty churches and monasteries were erected in Wallachia. Of particular significance is All Saints’ Monastery, located in the center of Bucharest. The main gates of this monastery were made of oak and carved with traditional Georgian motifs by St. Anthimus himself. The metropolitan also established rules for the monastery and declared its independence from the Church of Constantinople.
From the day of his consecration, Metropolitan Anthimus fought tirelessly for the liberation of Wallachia from foreign oppressors. On the day he was ordained he addressed his flock: “You have defended the Christian Faith in purity and without fault. Nevertheless, you are surrounded and tightly bound by the violence of other nations. You endure countless deprivations and tribulations from those who dominate this world…. Though I am unworthy and am indeed younger than many of you—like David, I am the youngest among my brothers— the Lord God has anointed me to be your shepherd. Thus I will share in your future trials and griefs and partake in the lot that God has appointed for you.”
His words were prophetic: In 1714 the Turks executed the Wallachian prince Constantine Brincoveanu, and in 1716 they executed Stefan Cantacuzino (1714–1716), the last prince of Wallachia.
In his place they appointed the Phanariote (a member of one of the principal Greek families of the Phanar, the Greek quarter of Constantinople, who, as administrators in the civil bureaucracy, exercised great influence in the Ottoman Empire after the Turkish conquest.) Nicholas Mavrokordatos, who concerned himself only with the interests of the Ottoman Empire.
During this difficult time, Anthimus of Iberia gathered around him a group of loyal boyar patriots determined to liberate their country from Turkish and Phanariote domination. But Nicholas Mavrokordatos became suspicious, and he ordered Anthimus to resign as metropolitan. When Anthimus failed to do so, he filed a complaint with Patriarch Jeremiah of Constantinople.
Then a council of bishops, which did not include a single Romanian clergyman, condemned the “conspirator and instigator of revolutionary activity” to anathema and excommunication and declared him unworthy to be called a monk. But Nicholas Mavrokordatos was still unsatisfied and claimed that to deny Anthimus the title of Metropolitan of Hungro-Wallachia was insufficient punishment. He ordered Anthimus to be exiled far from Wallachia, to St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mt. Sinai. Metropolitan Anthimus, beloved of the Romanian people, was escorted out of the city at night since the conspirators feared the reaction of the people.
But Metropolitan Anthimus never reached Mt. Sinai. On September 14, 1716, a band of Turkish soldiers stabbed St. Anthimus to death on the bank of the Tundzha (Tunca) River where it flows through Adrianople, not far from Gallipoli, and cast his butchered remains into the river.
Thus ended the earthly life of one more Georgian saint—a man who had dedicated all of his strength, talent, and knowledge to the revival of Christian culture and the strengthening of the Wallachian people in the Orthodox Faith.
In 1992 the Romanian Church canonized Anthimus of Iberia and proclaimed his commemoration day to be September 14, the day of his repose. The Georgian Church commemorates him on June 13.
 
I wanted to leave this link to some of the writings of St. Theophan the Recluse for those who might be interested in applying orthodox principles to daily living i.e how to return to biblical ancient Christianity in the age of "enlightenment" that seems to have dimmed our vision into the spiritual realm. I stumbled across it while doing some reading last night. St. Theophan is one of the giants of the faith in the past couple hundred years and was, in my opinion, exceedingly insightful and puts a lot of recent "christian living" writings to shame. It's a lot of reading, but well worth our time.

"The Path To Salvation"-A manual of spiritual transformation

http://www.holytrinitymission.org/books/english/salvation_theofan.htm
 
I thought that today Id share something cool i saw near last nights venue. This is the Seaman's memorial tower in Aransas Pass. I would guess it is dedicated to those souls lost at sea, may their memory be eternal.

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Sainted Tykhon, Bishop of Amaphuntum

Commemorated on June 16

Sainted Tykhon, Bishop of Amaphuntum, was born in the city Amaphuntum on the island of Cyprus. His parents raised their son in Christian piety, and taught him the reading of Sacred books. There is an account extant, that the gift of wonderworking appeared in Saint Tykhon at a still quite youthful age.
His father was the owner of a bread bakery and he sent his son to distribute bread. The holy lad gave bread free to the needy. Learning about this, his father became angry, but the son answered, that he had read in the holy books, that "in giving to God one receiveth back an hundredfold". "I too, – said the youth, – gave to God the bread which was taken" and he persuaded his father to go to where the grain was stored. With astonishment the father saw that the granary which formerly was empty, was now filled to overflowing with wheat. From that time the father did not hinder his son from distributing bread to the needy.
A certain gardener brought from the vineyard the dried prunings of vines. Saint Tykhon gathered them, planted them in his garden and besought the Lord, that these branches might take root and yield salubrious fruit for the health of people. The Lord did so through the faith of the holy youth. The branches took root, and their fruit had a particular and very pleasant taste and was used during the lifetime of the saint and after his death for the wine in making the mystery of the Holy Eucharist.
They accepted the pious youth into the church clergy, made him a reader, and afterwards the bishop of Amaphuntum Memnon ordained him to the dignity of deacon. After the death of Bishop Memnon, Saint Tykhon by universal agreement was chosen as bishop of Amaphuntum. The ordination was headed by Sainted Epiphanios, Bishop of Cyprus (+ 403, Comm. 12 May).
Saint Tykhon laboured zealously for the eradication of the remnants of paganism on Cyprus – he destroyed an idolatrous temple and spread the Christian faith. The sainted-bishop was generous, his doors were open to all, and with love he listened to and fulfilled the request of each person who came to him. Fearing neither threats nor tortures, he firmly and fearlessly confessed his faith before pagans.
In the service to Sainted Tykhon it is pointed out, that he foresaw the time of his death, which occurred in the year 425.
The name of Sainted Tykhon of Amaphuntum was accorded great honour in Russia. In honour of the saint, temples were constructed at Moscow, at Nizhni Novgorod, at Kazan and other cities. But the saint was particularly venerated in Voronezh diocese, where there were three archpastors in succession sharing the name with the Sainted-bishop of Amaphuntum: Sainted Tikhon I (Sokolov) (+ 1783, Comm. 13 August), Tikhon II (Yakubovsky, until 1785) and Tikhon III (Malinin, until 1788).
 
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The Holy Martyr Shalva

Commemorated on June 17

The Holy Martyr Shalva was distinguished by his many Christian virtues. For his bravery and valour, the holy nobleborn Empress Tamara the Great (Comm. 1 May) appointed him governor of the Akhaltsikh district (in southern Gruzia-Georgia).
While leading the Gruzian army, he gained a splendid victory over the Turkish sultan Nokardin, in consequence of which peace and prosperity accompanied the duration of the reign of Saint Tamara of Gruzia.
But during the reign of the empress Rusudan (+ 1237), Gruzia suffered invasion by the Persian shah Jelal-ed-din. In the battle against the numerously superior forces of the opponent, Prince Shalva was grievously wounded and captured.
Shah Jelal-ed-din surrounded Prince Shalva with frivolous concerns, but after the course of a year when he had recovered from his wounds, he urged him to accept Mahometanism. The promise of high position and all manner of honours were not able to sway the Gruzian confessor. He refused all these things and did not fear to suffer torture, and to his torturer he calmly answered: "I speak to thee with the words of Saint Ignatios the God-Bearer: "I seek not to gain anything, save the preservation of the Divine image, through which I was created".
The enraged shah gave orders to drag the naked confessor along the ground, and be beaten all over. During the time of torment the holy martyr joyfully cried out: "Rejoice, Shalva! Together with the clothing thou hast stripped off from thyself the old man and freed thyself from eternal perdition". Half dead and with fractured bones, they threw the holy martyr in prison where he died in June 1227.
After this, Jelal-ed-din overran Armenia and with a numerous army headed towards Tbilisi. The Gruzian army gave heroic resistance, but because of the treachery of the Persian citizenry they were unable to hold the city. Tbilisi was taken. "Not only public and private buildings, but also all the churches and sanctuaries were given over to fire and ruin; there was not left to rest in place even the bones of the dead, an inhuman sacrifice was made of altar servers and all the churchly clergy; in a word, Tiflis now presented the view of how Jerusalem looked under its destruction by Titus".
The fierce shah gave orders to take down the cupola from the Sion cathedral church in honour of the Dormition-Uspenie of the Mother of God, and therein to make his quarters, so as to look down upon the burning of the city and the torturing of Christians. He ordered the captured Gruzians to convert to Islam. Ten thousand men were driven to the bridge across the River Kura, near the Sion cathedral. They offered the captives freedom and generous gifts from the shah, if they recanted from Christ and spit at the holy icons put upon the bridge.
The Christians, approaching by turns the holy icons, in place of insult rendered them due honour and veneration. These the executioners beheaded and threw the headless bodies into the Kura. Thus were executed all the ten thousand Gruzian confessors. It was possible to cross the river from one bank to the other on the bodies of the holy martyrs, without wetting one's feet in the water. The water in the river, mixed together with the blood of the martyrs, became red.
This terrible execution continued all day until late evening. At night there shone over the bridge a pillar of light illumining the bodies of the sufferers for Christ. After this there occurred a powerful earthquake, during the time of which the quarters of the wicked shah crashed down from the heights of the Sion cathedral.
The commemoration of the holy Ten Thousand Tbilisi Martyrs is made by the Gruzian Orthodox Church on the same day with the memory of the holy Martyr Shalva.
 
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The Bogoliubsk Icon of the Mother of God

Commemorated on June 18

The Bogoliubsk Icon of the Mother of God, one of the most ancient wonderworking icons of Russia, was written in the XII Century at the request of holy Prince Andrei Bogoliubsky (Comm. 4 July), in memory of an appearance to him by the Mother of God.
In the year 1155 holy Prince Andrei, having resettled from Vyshgorod to the Suzdal' lands, brought with him a wonderworking image of the Mother of God, written by the Evangelist Luke (this afterwards was called the Vladimir Icon). At seven versts distance from Vladimir by horse, the carrying cart with the wonderworking Icon stopped and was not able to be moved from the place. Holy Prince Andrei besought the priest Nikolai, who accompanied him, to make a molieben before the Icon of the Mother of God, and for a long time he prayed with tears in front of the venerable image. Later he went into his travelling quarters, but ceasing not in his fervent prayer. The Most Holy Mother of God during this point appeared to him with a small scroll in Her hand and commanded the pious prince, that Her image brought from Vyshgorod should remain at Vladimir, and that on the location of Her miraculous appearance there should be built a church and holy monastery. She then prayerfully pointed Her hand to Heaven, and having received blessing from Christ the Saviour, Who appeared at this time over the earth, and with His blessing to Her the vision ended.
In fulfilling the command, holy Prince Andrei built upon the indicated place a stone church in honour of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God, and also a monastery formed there. And afterwards the holy prince commissioned talented iconographers and asked that the Mother of God be depicted such as he had seen Her in the vision: in full stature and with the scroll in Her right hand, and Her face turned towards the Saviour. When the construction of the church was completed, the image was installed in it and a yearly celebration in honour of the appearance of the Mother of God was established under 18 June, which then came into useage in the Russian Church. The monastery, and the city which formed around the monastery, was named Bogoliubov by Saint Andrei, because in his own words, "the Mother of God loves this place", and the prince himself came to be called Bogoliubsky or "God-lover". The wonderworking image of the Mother of God, brought from Vyshgorod, was afterwards transferred from the Bogoliubovsk monastery to Vladimir into the Uspenie-Dormition cathedral, but the icon of the Appearance remained at Bogoliubov and was called the Bogoliubsk (at the present time of 1978 the icon is in the Vladimir-Suzdal' Museum collection).
The image of the Bogoliubsk Mother of God was glorified by innumerable miracles, and over the space of many centuries manifest its grace-bearing help to the believing amongst the Russian nation. The fame of the miracles and signs wrought by the icon impelled believers of many places in Russia to avail themselves of copies of the venerable image, widely distributed and graced in power.
 
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The Holy Apostle Jude

Commemorated on June 19

The Holy Apostle Jude, among the rank of the 12 disciples of Christ, is descended from the lineage of King David and Solomon, and was the son of Righteous Joseph the Affianced from his first wife.
The Holy Apostle John the Theologian writes in his Gospel: "For none of his brethren believe on Him" (Jn. 7, 5). Sainted Theophilact, ArchBishop of Bulgaria, explains these words thus: at the beginning of the worldly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ – the sons of Joseph, among whose number was Jude, did not believe in His Divine essence. The tradition relates that when Righteous Joseph the Affianced, having returned from Egypt, began to divide among his sons the worldly things belonging to him, he wanted to alot part also to Christ the Saviour, born miraculously and incorruptibly from the All-Pure Virgin Mary. The brothers were opposed to this and only the eldest of them, James, accepted Christ Jesus in a joint ownership of his allotment, and for this he was termed Brother of the Lord. Later on Jude believed in Christ the Saviour as the awaited Messiah, and with all his heart he turned to Him and was chosen by Him into the number of the closest 12 disciples. But mindful of his sin, the Apostle Jude considered himself unworthy to be termed a brother with God and in his own soborno-catholic Epistle he calls himself merely the brother of James.
The Holy Apostle Jude also had other names: the Evangelist Matthew terms him "Levi, nicknamed Thaddeus" (Mt. 10, 3). The Holy Evangelist Mark also calls him Thaddeus (Mk. 3, 18), and in the Acts of the Holy Apostles he is mentioned under the name Barsaba (Acts 15, 22). This was customary at that time.
After the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Apostle Jude set off preaching the Gospel. He propagated the faith in Christ at first in Judea, Galilee, Samaria and Idumeia, and later – in the lands of Arabia, Syria and Mesopotamia, and finally he went to the city of Edessa. Here he finished that which was not completed by his predecessor, the disciple from the 70 – Thaddeus. There is preserved an account, that the Holy Apostle Jude went preaching to Persia and from there wrote in the Greek language his soborno-catholic Epistle, in the brief wording of which consisted much profound truth. It contained dogmatic teaching about the Holy Trinity, about the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, about the separation of Angels good and bad, and about the Dread Last-Judgement. In its moral content the Apostle urges believers to guard themselves against fleshly impurity, to be diligent in their obligations in prayer, faith and love, to convert the lost to the way of salvation, and to guard themselves from the teachings of heretics. The Apostle Jude taught that faith alone in Christ is not sufficient, good works also are necessary, the evidence to Christian teaching.
The Holy Apostle Jude died a martyr about the year 80 in Armenia in the city of Arata, where he was crucified on a cross and pierced by arrows.
 
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