The Holy Martyrs Menas, Hermogenes, and Eugraphus suffered for their faith in Christ under the emperor Maximian (305-313). Saint Menas was sent by the emperor from Athens to Alexandria to suppress the riots that had arisen between the Christians and the pagans. Distinguished for his gift of…

Saint Joasaph was born at Proluka, in the former Poltava governance, on September 8, 1705, the Feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. He was descended from the old and venerable Little Russian (Ukrainian) lineage of the Gorlenkovi. At Baptism he was named Joachim. In 1712, his father…

The Holy Martyr Gemellus of Paphlagonia was subjected to cruel tortures for his staunch denunciation of the emperor Juilan the Apostate (361-363) in the city of Ancyra (Galatia). A red-hot iron belt was placed around his waist. Then he was ordered to accompany the impious Julian on his journey.…

Saint Thomas Dephourkinos was born in Bithynia. From his youth he was fond of monastic life and entered one of the area monasteries. Later in his life, when the Byzantine official Galoliktos had founded a monastery at the River Sagarisa, Saint Thomas was already an experienced monk, and the…

The life of the Serbian ruler Stephen Brankovich and his family was filled with instability and misfortune. After Serbia was seized in 1457 by the Turks, the then Serbian ruler’s middle son, Stephen (October 9), distinguished by a meek disposition and fine knowledge of Holy Scripture, went to…

Saint Leontios (Leóntios) was born in Monemvasia in the Pelopónnēsos. His parents were Andrew and Theodora, and he received the name Leon at his Baptism. His father was sufficiently wealthy and a prominent man. Emperor Andronikos II Palaiológos (1283 – 1328) gave him an important position in…