In the times of the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian, they were seized and brought to trial, where they openly professed Christ as their King and God.
He is remembered for his great modesty and humility, and also for the grace and forgiveness with which he reacted to false accusations of having career ambitions.
The heavenly hosts fall into nine orders - Thrones, Cherubim, Seraphim, Dominions, Powers, Authorities, Principalities, Archangels and Angels. In the narrow sense, only a messenger of God can be called an angel, but in practice, we apply this…
Hieron and 32 other martyrs refused to join the Roman army knowing that they will be made to worship Pagan idols. They declared openly their faith in Christ and died as martyrs.
Banished to the mountainous wilderness of Armenia, he was serving liturgy in the remote town of Cucusus when a band of Arians attacked him and strangled him with his omophorion.
When Galaction grew up, his now-widowed father married him away to a Pagan woman named Episteme. Galaction convinced her to convert to Christ and shared his dream: that they both dedicate their lives to God.
Saint Joannicus the Great acquired fame for his spiritual guidance, miraculous healings and friendship with animals.
For all his powers, the Pagan king of ancient Persia could not silence the holy martyrs during their lives or after their death.
Not only did they endure their torments with bravery and gladness, but they also had their wounds healed by the grace of God. Many converted to Christ at the sight of their bravery
On November 12th, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the feast of All the Holy Unmercenaries. Among whom there are Ss. Cosmas and Damian of Rome.
They are the apostles of the Seventy, mentioned by St Paul in his Epistle to the Romans.
The saints who preferred eternal life with Christ than to a few more years on the earth at the cost of betraying Him.
She endured untold humiliation and inhuman tortures, but that did not stop her from praising and glorifying God.
Since her childhood, Parasceva dedicated herself to the service of God. She took a vow of celibacy and promised to God to spend her whole life educating Pagans about the true faith.
Martyr Nestor was a young man of Thessalonica who stood up in a public arena to the invincible barbarian named Lyaios. Young and fragile, he looked no match to the brute, but he still had as much faith in his victory as he had in God.
He built a brilliant career in the Roman army and civil service, but to him, his faith in Christ was more precious than all his worldly deserts.
In bygone years, when sin multiplied and Orthodoxy was being rooted out, when the open practice of the faith was being punished and monasteries were being closed, the world suddenly received a fresh lease of God’s grace.
St. Paulinus was simple and compassionate. He came out of the peasantry and became an archbishop. His cuff is kept as a great shrine in the Novospassky Monastery where he was once tonsured a monk.
Saint Luke was one of the most modest disciples of Christ. He was not one of the chosen twelve who were constantly beside the Son of God catching His every word and witnessing His blessed deeds.
The life of Saint Athanasius (Sakharov) is the path of a confessor of the twentieth century, who went through different trials and retained devotion to God and the Church of Christ.
