Saint Dionysios, Builder of the Athonite Monastery of the Forerunner, Now Known as Dionysiou (+ 1388)

Sts. Dionysios and Dometios the Athonites (Feast Day - June 25)

Verses

To Dionysios.

As a builder of the Monastery of the great Forerunner,
You show yourself to now dwell in celestial mansions.

To Dometios.

Dometios passed in dwellings here below,
Now he dances in the palaces above.

Our Venerable Father Dionysios was born in 1316, in the village of Koressos, near Kastoria. His pious and virtuous parents were simple farmers. As a child he had a meager education, but he was intelligent by nature, and being wise, he fled from temporal pleasures while contemplating on that which is heavenly and eternal.

Dionysios had an older brother named Theodosios, and they bore a strong resemblance to each other. Their resemblance was not only physical, but they also bore a resemblance when it came to virtue and character. When Theodosios was eighteen, he hoped to go to Constantinople to meet virtuous men and benefit from their words. Therefore, while Dionysios was still a child, Theodosios set off for the Queen City.

Saint Methodios of Nivritos

Verses

You put to shame all the methods of the enemy,
With the perfect methods of asceticism Father.
On the twenty-fifth Methodios departed to the city of God.

Venerable Methodios was born in Rethymno on the island of Crete during the Arab occupation (818-961). Not much else is known about his life, except from the time he lived as an ascetic on the mountains of Nivritos with his elder Euthymios. Here he aimed to acquire all the virtues and live a God-pleasing life. At one point he also met Saint Nicholas Kourtaliotis (Sep. 1), who lived as an ascetic on a neighboring mountain (it should be noted that some identify Saint Methodios and Saint Nicholas as being one and the same person, but this theory needs to be examined further).

Commemoration of God Helping the Queen City Against Godless Saracens

Commemoration of God Delivering Constantinople from the Saracens
(Feast Day - June 25)

Commemoration of the help given beyond reason and all hope, by our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ, through the intercessions of our All-Immaculate Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, who bore Him without seed, against the encircling of the the earth and sea of our Queen City by the godless Saracens, and from giving it up to utter destruction and complete extermination.

Holy Venerable Martyrs Leonida, Liby and Eutropia

Sts. Leonida, Liby and Eutropia (Feast Day - June 25)

Verses

To Leonida.

Leap Leoni into the fire of the furnace,
As a hungry lioness leaping towards her food.

To Liby.

As with hair dye the bride of the Lord,
Liby is dyed by the sword with her neck fettered.

To Eutropia.

Eutropia mocks those who dwell in the world,
Submitting her bent neck for decapitation.

Homily on the Birth of John the Baptist (Leontios of Constantinople)

The following homily was delivered by Leontios the Presbyter of Constantinople around Christmas of 557, when on the 16th of December the Annunciation to Zechariah is commemorated. It has come down to us in only two manuscripts, and therefore only partially, as can be seen in the last paragraph. This sermon probably influenced the later sermon on the subject by Ps.-Chrysostom.