Saints and feasts are essential to the practice of our Orthodox faith. Open the church calendar, and you will find that each day – today, tomorrow, and the day after – commemorates a feast or a saint. Еach celebration is our opportunity to learn something new about our faith, ask ourselves essential questions about our lives, and grow spiritually. With every question answered and every lesson learned, we advance a step closer to purity and righteousness. That is true of every major or lesser feast of the Orthodox Church and every saint.
The way we understand the meaning and purpose of our lives revolved around the idea of holiness and sainthood. Saints inherit salvation. They are eternally alive in Christ. As Christians, we share the same goals in this life and the life to come. The saints give us an example and inspiration to live holy and righteous lives of service.
There are many ways of serving God and multiple types of saints. Numerous saints were martyrs who sacrificed their lives and endured great torments confessing their faith. The Apostles were the first to dedicate themselves to preaching Christ and were among the early martyrs. Church fathers gave us guidance on matters of faith and doctrine. Numerous saints were notable ascetics and models of righteous lives.
The Bible teaches us to pray for each other to find healing for our souls. It also reminds us of the great power of a prayer of a righteous person. As our brothers and sisters in Christ, we ask the saints to intercede for us before God. And through them, God sheds His multiple blessings on us. In the lives of the saints, we find numerous examples of enlightenment, healing, delivery from temptation and other gifts of God’s mercy received by their intercessory prayers.
Find out which Russian Orthodox feast or saints celebrate each day in 2022 and beyond. Learn how we do it at Saint Elisabeth Convent and what spiritual insights we draw from it. Learn about our most beloved saints, their great feats and achievements and their progress to purity from all things unholy and not Christ-like. We hope that you will find our pieces both relevant and enlightening. We do not write them as lessons in history, but as an inspiration in our search for holiness.
Some historical figures, including in the history of the church, stand out from all others and are not matched by any other. The Holy Hierarch Tikhon (Vasily Belavin in the world), was remarkable in this regard.
St. Andrew of Crete writes in the “Discourse for the Day of the Annunciation”: “This is the mystery of reconciliation of God with humanity. This is the subject of the present celebration — the union of God with the earthly."
Enraged, the emperor ordered his aides to tear seven strips of skin from his body every day for seven days. On one of the days, Saint Basil tore off his flesh and threw it to the emperor with the words, "take it and eat it, Julian, if such food…
