Saint Theophanes the Myrrhgusher, Bishop of Solea in Cyprus (+ 1550)

St. Theophanes of Solea (Feast Day - May 17)

 Verses

Blessed Theophanes longed for his Bridegroom,
departing from this world empty of glory.
The Monastery of the Forerunner rejoices and is glad,
having you venerable one as a divine protector.
On the seventeenth Theophanes united with God.

Saint Theophanes lived in Cyprus during the Venetian occupation (1489-1571). We do not have information about his parents, his origins and his education. The information we have is little, but important, because it is handed down by a contemporary of the Saint and an eyewitness of the exhumation of his Holy Relic, Stefano Lusignan (1537–1590), a Dominican monk and vicar of the Latin Archdiocese of Cyprus, in his work "The Chorography of the Island of Cyprus". This work, which is considered an important source of information on the medieval history of Cyprus, was published first in Italian (1573) and then in French (1580). The second edition, which is more elaborate, completes the first.

The Fearsome and Beneficial Vision of Kosmas the Monk

 

 

The Fearsome and Beneficial Vision 

of Kosmas the Monk

 

(To Be Read on October 5th) 

 

Verses 

 

I mourn as I see the strange things of hell,

While I rejoice as I see the resting place.

 

In the thirteenth year of the reign of Romanos Lekapenos, in the year 932, there was a man in Constantinople who was the chamberlain among the servants who stood by the royal bed-chamber of Alexander, who ruled shortly prior to Romanos, and was the son of Basil the Macedonian, the brother of Leo the Wise. This man of God abandoned the world and the things of the world, because he loved the monastic conduct. He was renamed Kosmas through the angelic schema, and later made Abbot of the revered monastery which is near the Sagarios River. After some years had passed, this divine Kosmas fell into a terrible and heavy illness, and he remained in this state for a long time. After five months had passed, the Saint recovered somewhat from his illness, and slightly getting up from his bed, he sat, being held up on both sides by his brothers that aided him. He then immediately went out of himself, and remained in this ecstasy from the third hour of the day until the ninth. His eyes remained open, looking up to the ceiling of his house. His mouth whispered certain words, all of which were inarticulate and incomprehensible. Coming back to himself for a short time, he said to those present: "Give me the two pieces of bread which I received a short time ago from the honorable Elder." Saying this, he placed his hands on his bosom, seeking to find what he asked for. Some of those present, considering that the Elder fell into a divine ecstasy, begged him to reveal to them the big mystery, saying, "Speak to us, O Father." He spoke without refusing them, for the great benefit which we would receive from it. "Do tell us where you were for so many hours? To what vision was your mind raised? With whom did you converse, as you moved your lips?" Seeing them in much lamentation and begging, the Saint said: "Stop, my children, stop. When the Lord wills and I come to myself, then I will surely fulfill your request." In the morning therefore, since the whole brotherhood gathered in the cell of the Saint, the honorable Elder began to narrate his vision, and said the following to them.

 

The Vision of Sophiani Which Took Place in Constantinople in 1607

A Beneficial Narration Describing the Vision of Sophiani

(To be read on the 6th of August)

In an area near Constantinople, called Abydos, there lived an orthodox and pious Christian together with his virtuous and God-loving wife Sophiani in the year 1607.

One day Sophiani became ill and was bed-ridden for twenty days without being able to even lift her head. At dawn on the 3rd of August she lifted her hands to heaven and seemed to have expired. All her relatives prepared her for burial and were unable to be consoled by anyone. But they found that beneath her left breast she was still warm, so they stopped the preparations until she was completely dead.

Meanwhile, her sister according to the flesh came, named Anna, and in her pain and despair she took cold water and sprinkled it over Sophiani, which helped her to revive. Sophiani then said to her sister: "It would have been better if you had not come, my sister, because you have caused me more harm and death by coming back to this temporary life, for your voice lifted me out of that bright Paradise and the inexpressible glory of God that I enjoyed. When you saw me dead, O miserable one, you should have rejoiced more and thanked God, rather than seeing me now restored to life."

Holy New Martyr Anthony of Athens (+ 1774)

St. Anthony of Athens (Feast Day - February 5)

Verses

Anthony was slaughtered like a lamb,
He stands before Christ following Him as a lamb.

By St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite

*

Saint Anthony was born in the renowned city of Athens. His parents, Demetrios and Kalomoira, were poor and obscure. The Saint was reared by them to fear God. At the age of twelve, he was taught sacred letters. Because he could not bear to witness the impoverished state of his parents, though being unskilled in labor, he hired himself out to a certain Albanian Muslim who was in Athens at the time. All his earnings went to assist his parents. When he was sixteen years of age, in 1773, the Russian navy came to Peloponnesos to fight the Ottoman Turks. When Anthony's masters went to plunder and capture the Morean Christians, Anthony followed them.

Saint Euthalia as a Model for our Lives

Holy Virgin Martyr Euthalia (Feast Day - March 2)

By Archimandrite Fr. George Papavarnavas

Saint Euthalia lived in Sicily during the early Christian centuries, when persecution raged against the Church. The exact date of her birth and martyrdom are not known. She came from a pagan family. Her mother had an issue of blood and saw in a dream the Holy Martyrs Alpheus, Philadelphus and Cyrinus (May 10), who told her to believe in Christ and be baptized, in order for her to be healed and saved. When she awoke, she told her daughter Euthalia everything she saw and heard in her dream, then they were both catechized and baptized, and indeed after her baptism she was healed. The brother of the Saint, however, was a fanatic idolater, and when he was informed that his mother was baptized a Christian he abused her, and if not for the intervention of her servant he would have killed her. His sister made a harsh comment about his behavior against their mother, then he asked her if she was a Christian also. When she boldly confessed her faith in Christ, her brother struck her mercilessly, then handed her over to a servant that he may rape her. The Saint prayed fervently and that servant was blinded. Then her brother, like another Cain, beheaded her, and so the pious virgin Euthalia received the unfading crown of martyrdom.

When St. Nektarios Saw St. Nicholas in a Dream

The following letter was written by St. Nektarios of Aegina on October 21, 1907 and is addressed to his spiritual daughters in Aegina:

I am writing this letter to you immediately upon rising from bed so as to let you know of an impressionable dream I had. I dreamt that I was standing at the foot of the reliquary of Saint Nicholas. He appeared to be sleeping, however, he also seemed to be moving at the same time. He then opened his eyes, sat up and lifted his arms towards me. I bowed in reverence to kiss him, but he embraced me and kissed me on the mouth three times. I, too, kissed him. After the embrace he looked at me and said, "I will take you up high, very high, but I want you to make a silver throne for me." As soon as he said that, he immediately went back to sleep, and then I woke up. Once I awoke, I remembered that I had seen this dream once before, in fact only a few days ago, but I had forgotten it. I now remember that the Saint had kissed me in the first dream, but I did not say anything. It was in the second dream that he made the announcement and request. 

Saint Euphemia the Great Martyr as a Model for our Lives

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

She was born in Chalcedon during the reign of Emperor Diocletian, the fiercest persecutor of Christians, in the third century. After being arrested she endured cruel tortures, from which she miraculously survived. Finally she surrendered her soul to Christ after the small bite of a bear. Following her repose she performed many miracles, and her sacred relic remains incorrupt and is kept at the Ecumenical Patriarchate.