The Forefeast of the Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-giving Cross is celebrated for only one day (September 13) and there are seven days of Afterfeast (September 15-21). The Leavetaking of the Feast falls on September 21. The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross is preceded by the…

The Dedication of the Temple of the Resurrection of Christ at Jerusalem celebrates the dedication of the Church of the Resurrection, built by Saint Constantine the Great and his mother, the empress Helen. After the voluntary Passion and Death on the Cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the…

Soon after the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross and His Ascension into Heaven, a centurion by the name of Cornelius settled at Caesarea in Palestine. He had lived previously in Thracian Italy. Although he was a pagan, he distinguished himself by deep piety and good deeds, as the…

The Holy Martyr Chronides suffered for the Christian Faith in the third century with Saints Stratonicus, Serapion, Leontius and Seleucus. Saints Chronides, Leontius, and Serapion were from Egypt. After fierce torments for their confession of faith in Christ, the holy martyrs were savagely killed.…

Saint Macrobius was from Paphlagonia, and suffered martyrdom with Saints Gordian, Elias, Zoticus, Lucian and Valerian. Gordian, a native of Cappadocia, served with Macrobian in the imperial court, and they enjoyed the particular favor of the emperor. When he found out that they were Christians, he…

Saint Julian was born at Ancyra, Galatia (in Asia Minor). He was a priest who boldly confessed Christ during the reign of Emperor Licinius (311-324). For this “crime,” he was arrested by the authorities. Since he refused to offer sacrifice to the idols, he was tortured and put to death,…

Saint Peter from Atroe was dedicated to God from childhood, and spent his whole life in exploits of fasting and unceasing prayer. He pursued asceticism in the city of Atroe, near Asian Olympos. A distinctive feature of the holy ascetic was his extreme temperance. During his lifetime, the saint…

The holy Queen Ketevan was the daughter of Ashotan Mukhran-Batoni, a prominent ruler from the Bagrationi royal family. The clever and pious Ketevan was married to Prince David, heir to the throne of Kakheti. David’s father, King Alexander II (1574-1605), had two other sons, George and…

According to Saint Νikόdēmos of the Holy Mountain, Saint Hierotheos was born in the year 1686 at Kalamata in the Peloponnḗsos, to wealthy and devout parents Dḗmo and Asēmina. Desiring to understand Divine wisdom as it is in the sciences and also as it is in monastic life, the pious young…

Saint John was a monk of the Prislop Monastery in southwestern Romania at the turn of the sixteenth century. After several years in that place, he went into the mountains to lead a solitary ascetical life, struggling against the assaults of the demons. One day, while Saint John was making a window…