On the Illustrious Holy Martyr Lucian (St. Jerome)

 By St. Jerome

(On Illustrious Men, ch. 77)

Lucian, a man of great talent, presbyter of the Church at Antioch, was so diligent in the study of the Scriptures, that even now certain copies of the Scriptures bear the name of Lucian. Works of his, On Faith, and short Epistles to various people are extant. He was put to death at Nicomedia for his confession of Christ in the persecution of Maximinus,* and was buried at Helenopolis in Bithynia.**

Saint George the God-Bearer and Recluse of Antioch (+ 1068)

St. George the God-bearer (Feast Day - July 3)

Saint George the God-bearer left his native Georgia and went to labor in asceticism in the Black Mountains near Antioch during a time when the churches and monasteries there flourished. Orthodox Christians from many parts of the world came to settle there, and as a result, tensions often arose between monks of different nationalities. In order to remain detached from the conflicts, George found refuge in an impregnable cleft of a very high mountain. For this reason he is also called Saint George the Recluse.

Nevertheless, the monks of the Black Mountains were well aware of the pious life led by George the Recluse. Venerable George of the Holy Mountain journeyed to the Black Mountains in search of a spiritual guide and, after praying in each and every monastery, finally asked Saint George the Recluse, “a man innocent as a dove,” to fill this role. George the Recluse received the young ascetic and found a home for him in the monastery. His disciple remained with him for three years, leading the strictest ascetic life, until finally George the Recluse clothed him with the schema and “perfected him in the monastic life.” Then, after sending him on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, he blessed George to resettle at the Iveron Monastery on Mount Athos and to continue the holy work of Saint Ekvtime of Mount Athos.

Saint Barsos, Bishop of Damascus

St. Barsos of Damascus (Feast Day - February 28)

Verses

Departing life with a festive flow,
Barsos keeps festival together with angels.

Venerable Barsos (or Bar-Jesus), Bishop of Damascus, met his end in peace.

The Life of our Venerable Father Ephraim the Syrian (St. Theophan the Recluse)

By St. Theophan the Recluse

The holy Ephraim was a native of the city of Nisibis in Mesopotamia. He was born at the very beginning of the reign of Saint Constantine the Great (reigned 306-337), of Christian parents, for in later life he said: "Those who gave me birth instilled within me the fear of the Lord. My ancestors confessed Christ before the judges' tribunals; I am kinsman to martyrs. My grandfathers, who lived to a ripe old age, were tillers of the soil, and my parents followed the same way of life." The holy one reposed while Saint Theodosius the Great was emperor (reigned 379-395).

The venerable Ephraim received from God the gift of wisdom: from his lips grace flowed like a river of sweetness, watering with compunction the souls of all who listened to his instructions. This was evident very early in his life. When he was still a child, his parents had the following dream concerning him: a grapevine arose from the tongue of their son and, increasing in stature, filled the whole world with its branches and fruit. The birds of the heavens flocked together and ate the grapes, yet however many they consumed, the quantity of grapes increased accordingly.

Synaxarion of our Venerable Father Andronikos and his Venerable Wife Athanasia

Sts. Andronikos and Athanasia (Feast Day - October 9)

Verses

Andronikos and Athanasia are co-dwellers,
In the world in asceticism as well as in the heavens.

Venerable Andronikos was from the great Antioch, in the year 540, and was a money-dealer by trade, very pious, full of good works, and wealthy as to physical goods. He took in marriage a woman named Athanasia, who was also modest and one who loved God. She agreed with him, as something that is good and God-pleasing, to distribute their wealth in three parts. One part was to be abundantly given to the poor. The other part was given as a loan without difference or pay to those who were in debt. The third part was invested in their money-dealing workshop, to provide for the needs of life. They also had two children, one male and one female. When they were born, the couple no longer approached each other, but the two spent their lives in chastity and prayer, occupying themselves with showing mercy to the poor and visiting the sick.

Holy Hieromartyr Pierius, Presbyter of Antioch

Verses

Pierius as a priest O Word,
Was burnt alive for you by the impious with coal.

The Holy Hieromartyr Pierius, Presbyter of Antioch, met his end by fire. Some sources also mention his brother Isidore.

Saint Thomas the Fool for Christ of Syria (+ 6th cent.)

St. Thomas the Fool for Christ (Feast Day - April 24)

Saint Thomas the Fool for Christ was a monk in one of the monasteries in Caesarea of Cappadocia. He lived an exceptionally virtuous life but was afraid that he might fall into pride due to the praise of others. In order to hide his virtue, he began to imitate the lives of the fools for Christ. Although others believed that Thomas was careless and foolish, the abbot of the monastery knew of his hidden virtue and sometimes gave him great responsibilities. His obedience was to collect alms for the monastery. Thus Thomas was sent to the city of Antioch in Syria to collect alms, since the monastery owned property in a village there.

The steward of one of the churches, a certain Anastasios became annoyed with Saint Thomas who would beg on the streets on behalf of his monastery, and struck him on the cheek. Those present reproached Anastasios for his inappropriate manner of dealing with the fool, but Saint Thomas quieted them, saying, “From this moment I shall accept nothing further from Anastasios, nor will Anastasios be able to give me anything further.” These words proved prophetic. Anastasios died the very next day, and the Saint also died at the Church of Saint Euthymios in the Antiochian suburb of Daphne, where he had gone to pray. They buried him at a place set aside for the burial of strangers.

Synaxarion of Saint Ephraim, Patriarch of Antioch (+ 545)

St. Ephraim of Antioch (Feast Day - March 7)

Verses

Ephraim the shepherd is joined with the shepherd,
Lesser with the greater, O great dignity!

Saint Ephraim came from Amida and was a count by office, when Justinus the Thracian was reigning in 518. He came to Antioch to rebuild it because it had been destroyed by earthquakes for a second time. By royal command he was consecrated Bishop by the people of Antioch in 527, as Meletios (vol. 2) writes, and as it had happened in times of old with Ambrose of Milan and Nektarios of Constantinople.

Saint Ephraim the Syrian in the "Ecclesiastical History" of Sozomen

By Sozomen

(Ecclesiastical History, Bk. 3, Ch. 16)

Ephraim the Syrian was entitled to the highest honors, and was the greatest ornament of the Catholic Church. He was a native of Nisibis, or his family was of the neighboring territory. He devoted his life to monastic philosophy; and although he received no instruction, he became, contrary to all expectation, so proficient in the learning and language of the Syrians, that he comprehended with ease the most abstruse theorems of philosophy.

His style of writing was so replete with splendid oratory and with richness and temperateness of thought that he surpassed the most approved writers of Greece. If the works of these writers were to be translated into Syriac, or any other language, and divested, as it were, of the beauties of the Greek language, they would retain little of their original elegance and value. The productions of Ephraim have not this disadvantage: they were translated into Greek during his life, and translations are even now being made, and yet they preserve much of their original force, so that his works are not less admired when read in Greek than when read in Syriac.

Holy Martyrs Juventinus and Maximinus (+ 363)

Verses

Juventinus and Maximinus together were decapitated,
Together with Maximinus he joined the chorus of Martyrs.

Saints Juventius and Maximinus were imperial shield-bearers in the army of Julian the Apostate (361-363), from Antioch in Syria, who were martyred because they were overheard during a military drinking party decrying the emperor's edicts in restoring pagan sacrifices during a campaign against the Persians. Called before Julian, they were stripped of their estates, scourged, and beheaded when they refused to recant and sacrifice to the gods. At risk to their own lives, other Christians stole away the bodies of the martyrs and, after Julian's death in Persia the following June, erected a magnificent tomb for the relics.

Holy Martyrs Paul and Tatta and their children Sabinian, Maximos, Rufus, and Eugene

Sts. Paul, Tatta, Sabinian, Maximos, Rufus and Eugene (Feast Day - September 25)

Verses

Paul the father was martyred with his children,
Together with Tatta who was arrayed with the same mind.

Saints Paul and Tatta, who were yoked together, with their four children Sabinian, Maximos, Rufus, and Eugene, were from Damascus. Having been accused of being Christians, their feet were fastened in stocks and bound with chains. Having been sentenced, they were harshly beaten. The unbelievers then dislocated the members of their bodies, and by this they delivered their souls into the hands of God, from Whom they received crowns of martyrdom.

Holy Martyr Febronia of Nisibis

St. Febronia (Feast Day - June 25)

Introduction

Saint Febronia is reputed to have been a martyr in Nisibis under Diocletian (284-305), and is said to have been the work of a fellow nun of her from her monastery named Thomais. The psychological insight into the friendship between the widowed Hieria and the young nun Febronia would seem point to a woman as the author.

There can be little doubt that the work was composed in Nisibis, which is in the Mardin Province of Turkey, bordering Syria. Her veneration appears to have become popular only in the late sixth century and later. In the verse Life of the East Syrian monk Rabban bar 'idta, we are told that in 563 his sister "built a nunnery in the name of the martyred woman Febronia who had been martyred in the days of Diocletian;" this convent was not in Nisibis itself but across the Tigris in Marga. In the seventh century the veneration reached Constantinople, where it be­came associated with that of Saint Artemios, and it is probably of significance that the emperor Heraclius (610-41) had a daughter (by his second wife Martina) named Febronia. Saint Febronia also had an oratory in the sanctuary of the famous Church of Saint John the Baptist in the Oxeia Quarter of Constantinople. It would seem plausible to suggest that the veneration and the Greek translation of her Life reached Constantinople at much the same time. Once in Greek, her Life served as a source for several later passions. From the capital her veneration spread to Italy (by way of Naples) and France.

Saint Christopher I, Patriarch of Antioch (+ 967)

St. Christopher I, Patriarch of Antioch (Feast Day - May 21)

The future Patriarch Christopher was born in Baghdad to Orthodox parents who gave him the name Issa. As a young man, his penmanship and eloquence in Arabic made him a good candidate for the type of secretarial career that has often through history been the best path for advancement open to Christians in the Islamic world. So he went to Aleppo to seek his fortune at the court of the ruler Sayf al-Dawla. Sayf al-Dawla was himself most famous as the patron of the poet Al-Mutanabbi, who wrote many poems celebrating Sayf al-Dawla’s campaigns against the Romans. It seems that Sayf al-Dawla was sufficiently impressed with Issa’s abilities, and he made him secretary to one of his emirs, Caliph ibn Jundi, in the town of Shaizar, northwest of Hama.

Synaxarion of Saint George the Confessor, Bishop of Pisidia

St. George the Confessor (Feast Day - April 19)

Verses

George as a great farmer,
Had virtue in all its forms at his departure.

This Saint lived during the years of iconoclasm, and was dedicated to God from childhood. Because of his extraordinary virtue, he was ordained Bishop of Pisidia.*

Venerable Abraham of Carrhae as a Model for our Lives

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

The Venerable Abraham lived in the fifth century, specifically during the reign of the Roman Emperor Theodosius the Great. He was born in Carrhae of Syria, where he was also raised and lived in asceticism as a monk. After many years of asceticism he went to a village where pagans lived in order to teach them the true faith. However, when he began to speak to them about Christ and His Church, the pagans arrested him and buried him in dirt up to his head. They then removed him and ordered him to go far away. As he was about to go away tax-collectors came and demanded of the inhabitants the royal tax, and those unable to pay were beaten mercilessly. Venerable Abraham felt sorry for them, and after he had consulted with the tax collectors, he gathered money and made a payment in the name of those who were unable to pay. When the tax collectors left, the villagers, who were amazed by his forbearance and philanthropy, fell at his feet and begged him for forgiveness and to stay with them. He forgave them, catechized them and baptized them, and he remained with them for three years making them firm in the faith. Then, after he had built them a sacred church and provided for them a priest, he withdrew to his ascetic cell.

Holy Great Martyr Elias the New of Heliopolis (+ 799)

St. Elias of Heliopolis (Feast Day - February 1);
Image from the Monastery of Saint John the Forerunner in Douma-Lebanon

Life of the Holy Great Martyr Elias the New of Heliopolis

1. We have already refuted the arguments or disbelief of the many regarding the holy great martyrs, having cleansed the faithful from impiety in our two previous accounts. Now, in this one as well, the third one after the others, we start by announcing to all those who have even a small hope of salvation as comfort and encouragement the forgiveness that is always bestowed upon sinners.

2. For it is written in the gospel of Luke that “A Pharisee invited” our Lord Jesus Christ “to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. Now, there was a sinful woman in the city who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee. Bringing an alabaster container of ointment, she stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner’. Jesus said to him in reply, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ ‘Tell me, teacher,’ he said. ‘Two people were in debt to a certain creditor; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other owed fifty. Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both. Which of them will love him more?’ Simon said in reply, ‘The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.’ He said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment. So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.’ He said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ The others at table said to themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ But he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’” For even though the woman was a sinner, as you heard, if the benevolent Jesus forgave her her many sins because of those tears and the anointing with ointment do you not believe that the sins great or small of these neomartyrs would be forgiven because of their many afflictions and the sacrifice of their own blood? You judge, those of you who calculate like Pharisees, if neomartyrs will be forgiven their sins. We know according to the other evangelists, and most clearly in [the gospel] by Matthew, it is not fitting to create troubles for our soul that is now like that woman, for they know that she performed a good deed.

Saint Timothy of Kakhushta the Stylite (+ 872)

St. Timothy the Stylite (Feast Day - January 4)

Saint Timothy was the youngest of four children, and born in the village of Kakhushta in the province of Antioch. While still a baby, both of his parents died and his sister took charge of his upbringing. At the age of seven he was beaten by his elder brother for failing in the task of guarding some sheep, and he ran away. He was taken in by some villagers, who looked after him until he became an adult. This is when he renounced the world and decided to became a monk.

Synaxarion of the Venerable Abba the Ishmaelite

Venerable Abba (Feast Day - November 22)

Verses

Abba was the image of all abbas,
Rightly I honor you as a child does a father.

Our Holy Father Abba (which is translated as Father) was from the race of the Ishmaelites. Forsaking parents and country and wealth, he became the follower of a certain monk. Receiving from him the monastic schema, they lived together for a few years. Both then went to the great and venerable Eusebius the struggler (Feb. 15) to become his disciples. After his fellow monk died, the blessed Abba remained with the great Eusebius.

Saint Nonnus, Bishop of Heliopolis (+ 471)

St. Nonnus the Catechist of Saint Pelagia (Feast Day - November 10)

Verses

Nonnus was entirely filled with the knowledge of God,
Turning even towards the worst as being of beautiful appearance.

Nonnus was renowned as a great ascetic in the Tabennisi Monastery in Egypt, because of which he was chosen bishop in 448 for the diocese of Edessa. Later, he was transferred to the diocese of Heliopolis (modern Baalbek) and there converted 30,000 Arabs to the faith of Christ. After the death of Bishop Ibas, Saint Nonnus again returned to Edessa where he remained until his death in 471.

The Life and Passion of the Holy Martyrs Sergius and Bacchus

Sts. Sergius and Bacchus (Feast Day - October 7)

Verses

Brazen as ox-hides Bacchus was forced to the ox-hides,
And with fire in his heart Sergius went to the sword.
On the seventh Sergius was killed by the sword, Bacchus by ox-hides.

1. When the tyrant Maximianus was emperor great error had seized the race of men; for they worshipped wood and stone, the creations of man, and feasted on impure sacrificial offerings. Moreover those who were unwilling to offer sacrifice were forced by the infliction of violent punishments and penalties to serve the demons. Thus an edict containing the severest threat was publicly posted in every city. Thereupon the clean air was polluted by the diabolic stench from the altars, and the darkness of diabolic error was thought an opportunity to meet friends. Then, like earth-bound stars, Sergius and Bacchus exercised great influence in support of Christianity in the palace, and were honoured by the emperor Maximianus. Indeed blessed Sergius was the primicerius and commander of the schola gentilium, a friend of the emperor and trusted by him so much that he acceded swiftly to his requests.