Saints of North America

I originally posted this on my personal blog. I'm reposting it here with some minor editing. Hope this is of interest!

I used to think that I had a pretty good idea of who the Saints of North America were. Yes, of course I realized that the Saints we glorify are only a fraction of those saved by God, but that aside I was pretty sure I knew all the guys in the icons - Sts. Herman of Alaska, Tikhon of New York, Peter the Aleut New Martyr, et cetera. I never knew about those righteous who are already being venerated (and in several cases, being considered for glorification or already glorified by certain Orthodox jurisdictions) as Saints without the glorification and recognition of the Catholic Church.

It took me a while to find information on many of these Saints of God, both the unrecognized and even the recognized, so I want to put links for the basics of their lives here on my blog. I hope whoever reads their lives will be touched and strengthened by both the reading and the Saints' prayers. If there are any others I have not listed here, please let me know! This is a small work, but I do it in memory of the servant of God Joshua, who fell asleep in the Lord on 21 August 2007. As I come across new-to-me saints I will be sure to include them here!

Alright, here are the links:

Glorified:
St. Alexander (Hotovitsky) of New York
St. Alexis (Toth) of Minneapolis and Wilkes-Barre
St. Anatolius (Kamenskiy) of Sitka and Minneapolis
St. Barnabas (Nastich) of Gary
St. Basil (Martysz) of Afognak and Vostok
St. Brendan the Navigator
St. Elijah (Zotikov) of New York
St. Herman of Alaska
St. Innocent (Veniaminov) of Alaska
St. Jacob (Netsvetov) of Alaska
St. John (Kochurov) of Chicago
St. John (Maximovich) the Wonderworker of San Francisco
St. Juvenaly (Hovorukhin) the New Martyr of Alaska
St. Mardarius (Uskokovich) of Libertyville
St. Nicholas (Velimirovich) of Libertyville and South Canaan
St. Peter the Aleut New Martyr
St. Raphael (Hawaweeny) of Brooklyn
St. Sebastian (Dabovich) of Jackson
St. Seraphim (Samoilovich) of Sitka
St. Tikhon (Belavin) of San Francisco and New York

Not Glorified:
St. Jacob (Korchinskiy) of Honolulu
St. Leontius (Turkevich) of Chicago and New York (Under consideration for glorification by the American Orthodox Church.)
St. Olga (Michael) of Alaska (Under consideration for glorification by the American Orthodox Church.)
St. Philaret (Voznesensky) the Confessor of New York (St. Philaret's relics have been found to be incorrupt, but so far he has only been glorified by several schisms from the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.)
St. Seraphim (Rose) of Platina (Under consideration for glorification by the Serbian Orthodox Church.)

Of Interest:
Archbishop Avercius (Taushev) of Jordanville (It's been a while since I did much reading on Vladyka Averky, but I believe he's been glorified by a schism from the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.)
Protopresbyter Alexander (Schmemann) of New York
Abbess Alexandra (Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen) of Ellwood City
Archbishop Andrew (Rymarenko) of Novo Diveyevo and Rockland
Abbess Ariadna of San Francisco
Archbishop Arsenius (Chahovtsev) of Winnipeg (Under consideration for glorification by the American Orthodox Church.)
Archimandrite Basil (Philippov) of Chicago and South Canaan (More later here. There's nothing online and I only just heard of him through a personal story told me by an Evangelical Protestant acquaintance from South Canaan.)(I'm still looking for more information on Fr. Basil to post here. Anything you know would be welcome!)(An article was recently posted on Pravoslavie, which I've linked to as I believe Archimandrite Basil (Philippov) and Monk Basil are likely the same man. May his memory be eternal!)
Abbess Benedicta (Braga) of Rives Junction
Bishop Cyrus (al-Anba Bishoy) of the Mojave
Archimandrite Gerasim (Schmaltz) of Spruce Island and Alaska
Priest John (Karastamatis) of Santa Cruz (Venerated by some Greek Orthodox Christians.)
Priest Joseph Xanthopoulos
Brother Joseph Muñoz-Cortes
Mother Michaella Altschul of Kansas City
Priest Nicholas (Yanney) of Kearney
Archimandrite Roman (Braga) of Rives Junction
Archimandrite Theoclitus (Triantafilides) of San Francisco and Galveston

St. Nicholas of Japan

Joyous feast! С праздником! Today we celebrate the memory of our Holy Father Nicholas the Equal-to-the-Apostles and Enlightener of Japan. Born to a deacon in what today is western Russia in 1836, the future missionary pursued theological studies that eventually took him to the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, where he was tonsured a monk and ordained to the priesthood at the age of twenty-four.

Not long after his ordination in 1860 Hieromonk Nicholas was assigned, per his request, to serve at the Russian consulate in the Japanese city of Khakodate. He went to Japan with the desire to convert its people to Orthodoxy, but made little headway his first eight years in the country as he learned the Japanese language and studied Japanese culture. In those eight years only twelve Japanese were converted to Orthodoxy. Nevertheless, due in part to a report to the Holy Synod submitted by Fr. Nicholas in 1869 a Russian Orthodox ecclesiastical mission to Japan was organized under his leadership.

Not long after the organization of the mission and his elevation to the rank of archimandrite Fr. Nicholas moved from Khakodate to Tokyo, where in 1873 he established a church and ecclesiastical school that was upgraded five years later to become a seminary. Both the Tokyo and Khakodate parishes established multiple schools, whilst the ordination of native Japanese Orthodox to the priesthood in 1874 gave added impetus to the growth of the Orthodox Church in Japan, which by 1878 had over 4,000 members.

The results of Fr. Nicholas' missionary labors led to his consecration to the episcopacy in 1880 at St. Alexander of the Neva's Lavra in St. Petersburg, after which he returned to Japan to continue his ministry there as head of the ecclesiastical mission to the country. Under his guidance the Cathedral of the Resurrection (commonly known as the Nikolai-do or 'House of Nicholas') was built in Tokyo while the work of translating the services and Orthodox theological works into Japanese continued. Although significantly effected by the Russo-Japanese War the Church's mission in Japan continued, and after the war Bishop Nicholas was elevated to the rank of archbishop.

Archbishop Nicholas fell asleep on this day in 1912 after 51 years of service in Japan. By the time of his death the Japanese Orthodox Church included some 266 parishes and missions with approximately 35,000 members. Fifty-eight years later the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church glorified Archbishop Nicholas as a saint, recognizing him as an equal to the apostles because of his labors in Japan. More on St. Nicholas' life can be found here and here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

St. Juliana of Lazarevo

Joyous feast! С праздником!

Today we commemorate our Holy Mother Juliana of Lazarevo. St. Juliana is a saint of the world, a relatively ordinary woman - a wife and mother in 16th century Rus' - who went about her day-to-day tasks of raising a family and managing a household with such holiness and love and with such care for the poor of her community that she continues to shine to this day as an example of a life of love lived in Christ.

A full account of St. Juliana's life can be found here. May her blessing and prayers be with us all!

St. Seraphim of Sarov

Joyous feast! С праздником!

Today we celebrate the memory of our Holy Father Seraphim of Sarov, a light to many both during his life and after his death. Books could (and have) been written about his life and the many wonders St. Seraphim has worked, so I won't attempt a summary here.

For those interested an account of St. Seraphim's life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

St. Fulgentius of Ruspe

Joyous feast!

Today we celebrate the memory of our Holy Father Fulgentius of Ruspe. St. Fulgentius was a monastic father of the Church in North Africa. Born and raised in the formerly Roman province of Byzacena (now eastern Tunisia), after embracing the monastic life as an adult the Saint struggled as an ascetic in Byzacena, Mauretania (now Algeria), and Sicily, co-founding monasteries in Byzacena and Mauretania before founding his own monastery in Byzacena, from which he retreated to live as a hermit.

In the early 500s the Orthodox in North Africa decided to secretly rebel against their Arian rulers by electing new bishops for the many vacant sees in the region. St. Fulgentius was nominated for several sees and fled into hiding. The Saint, thinking that all of the vacant sees had been filled, eventually came out of hiding in the town of Ruspe, where he was promptly made bishop of the city, which had been unable to choose a bishop due to the lack of a suitable candidate.

Enduring exile in Sardinia for his witness to the Orthodox Faith, St. Fulgentius was later summoned to Carthage by the Arian ruler of North Africa to give an explanation of the Apostolic Faith on behalf of the North African episcopate, much of which had also been exiled to Sardinia. While in Carthage the Saint reconciled many of the city's inhabitants to Orthodoxy and consequently was sent back into exile, only returning to Africa in 523 after the death of the Arian ruler then enthroned in Carthage.

Returning to Ruspe, St. Fulgentius took up his shepherding of the Orthodox there, ensuring that his clergy did not adorn themselves and that they celebrated the services with attention while also encouraging the monastic life and exhorting his flock to greater fasting and holiness of life. After a brief retirement to the island of Circe the Saint fell asleep on this day in 533 at the age of sixty-five.

May St. Fulgentius' blessing and prayers be with us all! More on his life may be found here.

St. Laura of Cordoba

Joyous feast! Today we celebrate the memory of our Holy Mother Laura of Cordoba. Like most women in her time St. Laura, who lived in the 9th century, was married. Following her husband's repose, however, the Saint embraced the angelic life, becoming a nun at a convent in Cuteclara. St. Laura was later martyred in 864 by the Arab and Berber Muslims who had conquered most of the Iberian Peninsula. More on her life can be found here. May St. Laura's blessing and prayers be with us all!

St. Longinus the Centurion

Joyous feast! Today we celebrate the memory of the Roman centurion who witnessed the Crucifixion of our Lord and recognized that "truly this was the Son of God!" St. Longinus (often shortened to Longin) is remembered by the Tradition to be the Roman soldier who pierced the Lord's side with a spear, bringing forth water and the divine blood and being healed by the flow from a disease afflicting his eyes.

After the Lord's burial St. Longinus and his company were assigned to stand watch by the Tomb and thus became some of the first witnesses of the glorious Resurrection. Although most of the company were bribed by the Jews to deny what they had seen, the Saint and two of his fellow soldiers refused to take the money and received baptism from the Apostles.

After being baptized St. Longinus left the military and Palestine to preach the Gospel of the Son of God in his homeland, Cappadocia. Christianity spread quickly wherever the centurion and his two companions preached in Cappadocia. In time the three were martyred for their faith, being beheaded by their former comrades.

More on the life of St. Longinus can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

St. Parasceva

Joyous feast! Today we celebrate the memory of St. Parasceva, better known in much of the Balkans as Petka, who lived in the 11th century. The Saint was born to a Bulgarian family in Epibata, a Thracian town near Constantinople, and at an early age was inspired by her parents' righteous way of life to serve her Lord with her entire being.

After her parents' death St. Parasceva took up the monastic life, first in nearby Constantinople and then in the region of the Jordan, growing strong in the virtues and in prayer. Years after her arrival in the Holy Land an angel appeared to St. Parasceva and commanded her to return to her hometown, where she lived another two years before falling asleep and being buried in an unmarked grave.

Many years after St. Parasceva's repose the decaying body of a sailor washed up on the nearby shores of the Marmara and was buried on top of her grave, which had been forgotten by the inhabitants of her town. That night the Saint appeared to one of the grave-diggers and a pious townswoman in dreams, commanding them to remove her incorrupt relics from beneath the sailor's tomb.

Thereafter St. Paraceva's fragrant relics were enshrined and venerated by the faithful, first in Epibata and later in Trnovo, Belgrade, and Constantinople before coming to rest in Iasi, where they remain to this day and where the Saint is venerated as the protectress of Moldavia. More on St. Paraceva's life can be found here and here. May her blessing and prayers be with us all!

St. Chryse the Great-Martyr

Joyous feast! St. Chryse the Virgin-Martyr (more commonly known as Zlata) was born in the region between what today are Bulgaria and Serbia during the Turkish Yoke. The Saint possessed a strong character and deep faith, but drew the attention of a Turk because of her great beauty. Having kidnapped her, the Turk attempted to seduce the virgin and convert her to Islam, turning from seduction to threats when St. Chryse remained firm in her faith.

St. Chryse endured six months of threats in the Turk's household. Seeing that his threats had no effect on the Saint, the Turk turned on her family and threatened to murder her and torture them if they did not persuade her to accept Islam. Despite their appeals to convert for appearance's sake, however, St. Chryse remained steadfast in the Orthodox Faith and endured three months of tortures, being beaten and having her skin peeled off her body by her tormenters.

At the last St. Chryse was tied to a tree by the Turks and cut into pieces, her precious relics later being recovered by the area's Christians and buried with reverence. She witnessed to the Orthodox Faith in 1795. May her blessing and prayers be with us all! More on St. Chryse's life can be found here.

St. Thecla

Joyous feast! Today we commemorate one of the great saints of the early Church, the Equal-to-the-Apostles Thecla. St. Thecla was born to wealthy parents in Iconium (modern day Konya, Turkey). Although betrothed, the Saint heard the preaching of St. Paul and was inspired to preach the Gospel to the nations, rejecting her fiance and becoming St. Paul's disciple.

St. Thecla went on to preach the Gospel in Syria and Isauria, eventually settling near Seleucia-in-Isauria, where she continued to proclaim the Gospel and heal the sick by her prayers. After having suffered much for her Lord and the Christian Faith St. Thecla surrendered her soul to God at the age of ninety.

More on St. Thecla's life can be found here. May her blessing and prayers be with us all!

St. Igor of Kiev

Joyous feast! С праздником! Today we commemorate the Holy Great Prince Igor of Kiev. St. Igor came to lead Rus' during a time of great internal division within its royal family, and only served briefly as great prince before his overthrow and banishment to a monastery. The Saint embraced the monastic life and was eventually tonsured to the great schema.

After a short time in the monastery a mob of his family's opponents sought St. Igor out, dragging him out of the monastery church during the Divine Liturgy and murdered him. When the Saint's body was later recovered and taken to St. Michael's Monastery the candles near it lit of their own accord. The Saint was buried at another monastery on the outskirts of Kiev.

In 1150 St. Igor's relics were translated to the city cathedral of Chernigov, whilst the wonderworking Igorov Icon before which he had been praying prior to his martyrdom was enshrined in the catholicon of the Kiev Caves Lavra. More on his life can be found here. May St. Igor's blessing and prayers be with us all!

St. John of Rila

Joyous feast! Today we commemorate one of the great lights of Bulgarian Orthodoxy, our Holy Father John of Rila. St. John was born in the late 800s in the vicinity of the current Bulgarian capital, Sofia, and at a young age was orphaned and became a cowherd. Even as a youth he worked miracles, once rescuing a calf from the Struma River by causing its waters to part by his prayers.

As a boy the Saint left his village, becoming a monk in an unknown monastery and pursuing a life of extreme asceticism on a hill and then in a cave alongside his nephew St. Luke. After twelve years of laboring in the cave St. John withdrew to the Rila wilderness, where he settled in the hollow of a tree to fast and pray, eating only grass when he needed food until God caused beans to grow nearby for the ascetic to eat.

The Saint was eventually discovered by nearby shepherds when their sheep led them to the monk's tree and soon they began to bring him the sick and possessed, who were healed through St. John's prayers. Fleeing the celebrity he attained through the healings St. John took refuge on a rock crag that was difficult to access, dwelling there for seven years under the open sky.

Despite his flight from the world the reports of St. John's holiness continued to spread, reaching even the Bulgarian imperial court and bringing a number of monks and novices to Rila, where the Saint eventually accepted them as his disciples and allowed them to build a monastery with a church in the cave where he had previously lived.

St. John shepherded the Rila Monastery until his repose on this day in 946 at the age of seventy. Before his death he wrote one of the most celebrated pieces of literature in the old Bulgarian language. Through both his holy life and his prayers St. John did much to strengthen the Orthodox Faith amongst the newly baptized Bulgarians.

St. John's relics remained at the Rila Monastery until their transfer to Sofia in the face of an invasion of Bulgaria by the East Roman Empire. At some point one of the Saint's hands was translated to Russia, to the city of Ryl'sk, which was named after the place of St. John's ascetic struggles, and he soon became as beloved amongst the Russians as he was amongst his native Bulgarians. The main part of the Saint's relics were later translated back to Rila from the new Bulgarian imperial capita, Turnovo, in 1469, where they remain to this day.

More on St. John's life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

St. Lawrence the Archdeacon

Joyous feast! Today we celebrate the Holy Martyr Lawrence the Archdeacon of Rome and his companions, Pope Sixtus, the Deacons Felicissimus and Agapetus, and Romanus the Soldier. Pope Sixtus was enthroned on the Roman cathedra at a time of persecution and was arrested not long after his election, being imprisoned with two of his deacons. In jail St. Lawrence visited the confessors and begged to be allowed to join them St. Sixtus told him to wait, for in three days God would given him a greater trial and martyrdom than he and his deacons would endure.

At Pope St. Sixtus' trial it was revealed that St. Lawrence had distributed the Papacy's monies to the poor, per St. Sixtus' instructions, and the Saint was arrested and imprisoned. In prison St. Lawrence healed the sick through his prayers and baptized many of those around him, including his jailer Hyppolitus. When he was brought before the Roman Emperor Valerian St. Lawrence asked for three days to gather the Church's treasure for him, after which he presented to the emperor a crowd of the poor and the sick who had been helped out of the Church's charity.

The emperor handed St. Lawrence over to brutal tortures, having him scourged with an iron flail, burned, and struck with metal switches. One of his torturers, the soldier Romanus, was converted by a vision of an angel healing some of the Saint's wounds and later baptized when St. Lawrence was returned to jail. At the last St. Lawrence was placed in an iron cage and burned alive in it, praying to his God, saying, "I thank You, O Lord Jesus Christ, that You have counted me worthy to enter into Your gates!"

After the Saint had given up his spirit his former jailer, Hyppolitus, took his relics in the night, anointed them with ointments, and gave them into the care of a priest of the city, who served the Holy Mass over them and then buried them in a cave. Three days later St. Hyppolitus the Jailer and his companions were also martyred for the Orthodox Faith. The Holy Archdeacon Lawrence and the other Holy Roman Martyrs before and after him suffered in 258.

More on St. Lawrence's life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

St. Horus of the Thebaid

Joyous feast! Today we commemorate our Holy Abba Horus (or Hor) of the Thebaid, one of the Desert Fathers who adorned Egypt in the 300s. St. Horus withdrew as a youth into the Thebaid wilderness to live as a hermit, struggling there for many years before moving to Alexandria to struggle against the temptations of urban life.

In Alexandria Abba Horus continued to deepen his ascetic and spiritual life, busying himself with bringing water to the city's prisoners and visiting its sick. While he was still living in the city he once happened to be near the site of an accident when a passing chariot struck a child and killed him instantly. The crowd that gathered began to accuse the Saint of killing the child, so he picked him up and signed him with the Cross, after which the child returned to life.

Fearing the praise of men after his resurrection of the dead child, St. Horus fled Alexandria and returned to the desert, remaining in one of the many monasteries then filling the desert until his falling asleep at the age of ninety, which he foretold to his brothers in the monastery. During his last years in the desert Abba Horus gathered many disciples and spiritual children, none of whom dared to lie to him as he could see their thoughts.

More on St. Horus' life can be found here and here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

Quote of the Day: St. John Chrysostom

Let us afford our children from the first an incentive to goodness from the name that we give them. Let none of us hasten to call his children after his forebearers, his father and mother and grandfather and grandmother, but rather after the righteous - martyrs, bishops, apostles. Let one be called Peter, another John, another bear the name of one of the saints. Let the names of the saints enter our homes through the naming of our children.”

Metropolitan Anthony of Kiev

Joyous feast! Today marks the 75th anniversary of the repose of the ever-memorable Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Kiev, a onetime contender for the patriarchal cathedra of the Russian Orthodox Church and the founding first hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) after the triumph of the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War.

The future Metropolitan Anthony was born in March 1863 to members of the eastern Ukrainian nobility from the area of Kharkov as Aleksey, so named after St. Alexis of Rome. As a child Aleksey desired to live the monastic life and became closely involved in the divine services, even meeting, while serving in the sanctuary, the future missionary St. Nicholas (Kasatkin) of Tokyo in St. Petersburg. While still a child the future metropolitan even composed a Slavonic-language service to Sts. Cyril and Methodius that was later approved for use by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.

After finishing his primary education Aleksey entered the St. Petersburg Theological Academy and at the age of twenty-two, having finished his theological studies, was tonsured a monk with the name Anthony and ordained first to the deaconate and then to the priesthood. Fr. Anthony served as an inspector at his alma mater, but was exiled to the Kholm Theological Seminary in the western reaches of the Russian Empire when he refused to denounce the seminarians under his care to the authorities.

Fr. Anthony remained in Kholm for a year before being recalled to St. Petersburg to teach at the Academy. During his time as a professor Fr. Anthony strongly defended the movement calling for the restoration of the Russian Orthodox Church's patriarchate and attracted many of the seminarians, among them the future Patriarch St. Tikhon (Bellavin), to the monastic life through his example. At the age of twenty-seven Fr. Anthony was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and appointed rector of the Academy, becoming its youngest rector ever and a year later being transferred to serve as rector of the Moscow Theological Academy.

Due to the dislike of the newly enthroned Metropolitan of Moscow Fr. Anthony was transferred from the former imperial capital to Kazan, where he taught at the Kazan Theological Academy before being elected to the episcopate at the age of thirty-four as Bishop of Christopol' and auxiliary of the Eparchy of Kazan. Within three years Bishop Anthony was elected ruling Bishop of Ufa, where he soon doubled the number of parishes in his diocese and ordained many non-Russians to the priesthood to minister to the area's native pagans and Muslims.

In 1902 Bishop Anthony was transferred to the Eparchy of Zhytomyr in Volhynia in the western reaches of the Russian Empire. During his twelve years in Volhynia Bishop Anthony did much to uproot the corruption that had been prevalent in the diocesan administration and amongst the Eparchy's clergy while also renewing the spiritual life of his flock and strengthening its witness to the area's many Ukrainian Catholics, Roman Catholics, and Jews. Despite the political tensions of the times Bishop Anthony, who was elevated to the rank of archbishop in 1906, protected Volhynia's Jews from pogroms by ultranationalists while also defending the institution of the monarchy during the revolutionary fervor of 1905. Archbishop Anthony also oversaw the renewal of the Pochaev Lavra, which built its great Cathedral of the Trinity during Archbishop Anthony's episcopate.

Archbishop Anthony remained unpopular in government circles for his support of the patriarchate and prevention of pogroms in Volhynia, but remained in Zhytomyr until Austria-Hungary discovered his involvement in missionary work amongst the Ruthenians living in northeastern Hungary as exarch of Ecumenical Patriarch Joachim III, at which point Vienna had pressure applied to have the archbishop transferred to the Eparchy of Kharkov in 1914.

When World War I began Archbishop Anthony became involved in caring for the wounded in local hospitals, visiting soldiers regardless of their nationality thanks to his command of the German language. He also took refugees from Serbia, among them the future Patriarch Barnabas, into his diocese, forging ties that would later be of vital importance to the survival of the ROCOR. Following the March Revolution in 1917 Archbishop Anthony was expelled from his diocese by the revolutionaries and retired to the Valaam Monastery for several months before being called back to Kharkov by his flock.

In late 1917 Archbishop Anthony arrived in Moscow to take part in the All-Russian Council then being held. When the patriarchate was restored and elections held Archbishop Anthony was the leading candidate of those proposed, receiving over a third of the votes in the first round of voting. When a lot of the top three was used to chose the next patriarch the archbishop's former pupil, St. Tikhon (Bellavin), was chosen by God to be the first restored Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.

Following the election Archbishop Anthony was elevated to the rank of metropolitan and, in 1918, transferred to the Eparchy of Kiev to replace the martyred Metropolitan St. Vladimir of Kiev. In Kiev he was imprisoned first by Ukrainian nationalists and then by the invading Poles before being liberated by the Whites in 1919. When the Soviets began occupying central Ukraine Metropolitan Anthony wanted to remain in his diocese, but was persuaded to board an evacuation ship to serve a thanksgiving for the capture of the Hagia Sophia by the Greeks (which had not taken place), with the ship weighing anchor as soon as the metropolitan was aboard.

In the huge Diaspora that formed following the end of the Russian Civil War Metropolitan Anthony initially thought that the refugees should submit to the Local Orthodox Churches on whose canonical territories they found themselves. Taking the precedent of the exiled Cypriot Orthodox Church, however, Metropolitan Anthony was persuaded in late 1920 to participate in Constantinople in the organization of a 'higher church authority,' with both the Church of Constantinople and Patriarch St. Tikhon approving the move that December.

In 1921 the headquarters of the 'higher church authority' were established in the former seat of the Orthodox Church of Austria-Hungary in Smreski Karlovci, Yugoslavia, and at the end of that year the first All-Diaspora Council took place there. In 1922 the authority was reorganized on the instruction of Patriarch St. Tikhon as the ROCOR with its own permanent local synod to direct its internal life until the Russian Orthodox Church in the USSR would be free again.

Metropolitan Anthony was recognized as the First Hierarch of the ROCOR and courageously led it throughout its early years, seeking to prevent the schisms of Metropolitans Eulogius of Paris and Platon of New York and also highlighting the war crimes committed by the Soviets both within the USSR and in northern China. In 1934 the aging Metropolitan Anthony together with St. Nicholas (Velimirovich) of Zhicha consecrated his spiritual son in monasticism, Archimandrite St. John (Maximovich), to the episcopacy as Bishop of Shanghai.

Two years after the consecration of St. John Metropolitan Anthony, then wheelchair-bound, reposed peacefully on this day in 1936 in Serbia. Three days later Patriarch Barnabas of the Serbian Orthodox Church together with six other hierarchs served Metropolitan Anthony's funeral in Belgrade's Cathedral of St. Michael, after which the metropolitan was buried in the city's new cemetery beneath the Chapel of the Icon of the Mother of God 'the Gatekeeper.'

More on Metropolitan Anthony's life and labors can be found here. May his memory be eternal!

St. Irene Chrysovolantou

Joyous feast! St. Irene, who was a native of Cappadocia in what today is central Turkey, was brought as a youth to Constantinople because of her great beauty and virtuous life to be a prospective bride for Emperor Michael of the East Romans. She was not chosen as the young emperor's bride, however, and instead entered the monastic life, becoming renowned for her ascetic feats and as a novice spending the entire night in prayer.

Because of the many signs and wonders worked through St. Irene as well as her clairvoyance she was chosen to serve as the Abbess of the Chrysovolantou Monastery. After a long life St. Irene reposed at the age of one hundred and three and continues to be glorified by miracles worked through her prayers.

More on St. Irene's life can be found here. May her blessing and prayers be with us all!

St. Panteleimon the Healer

Joyous feast! St. Panteleimon is one of the more beloved saints in the East, well known in Eastern Europe and the Middle East for the many healings he has worked both in his life and since his death. The Saint was born in the 3rd century in the city of Nicomedia to a pagan father and a Christian mother and received a good education, being trained as a physician and eventually becoming attached to the court of the Roman Emperor Maximian.

While at the court of Maximian St. Panteleimon came to know several secret Christians who had survived the persecutions in 303 and began to discuss the Christian Faith with them. Passing by a child newly bitten by a viper, the Saint prayed to the Lord Jesus Christ to heal the child, saying that he would accept baptism if He did so. The child was healed on the spot and St. Panteleimon was baptized, also converting his father to the Faith and healing many who were sick through his prayers.

St. Panteleimon treated all to came to him free of charge, healing the sick, visiting those in prison, and helping the needy. When Emperor Maximian discovered that the Saint had been visiting imprisoned Christians he demanded that the doctor sacrifice to the idols and then had him handed over for torture when he refused the emperor's command. When after many tortures St. Panteleimon was thrown into the circus to be devoured by the wild animals kept there they instead lay down at his feet, causing the crowds to shout, "Great is the God of the Christians!"

After the incident in the stadium St. Panteleimon was bound to an olive tree and beheaded. At the moment of his death the tree to which he was tied burst into fruit, converting many more to the Christian Faith. The Saint's relics were cast into the fire, but did not burn and were eventually handed over to Nicomedia's Christians. His relics are today scattered throughout the world, with his head being kept as one of the treasures of Mount Athos' Panteleimonou Monastery.

More on St. Panteleimon's life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

Sts. Clement and Naum of Ohrid

Joyous feast! Today we celebrate Saints Clement and Naum of Ohrid, disciples of the Holy Equals-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius who labored in western Macedonia in what today is the southwestern corner of independent Macedonia. The Saints initially labored in Moravia together with their fellow disciples of the Enlighteners of the Slavs, Sts. Gorazd, Sabbas, and Angelyar. When the competing German missionaries present in Moravia began banning the use of Slavonic in the Mass and other divine services and persecuting the Saints, however, they were scattered.

Several took refuge in the newly enlightened Bulgarian Empire, where they began the work of translating the divine services of the Byzantine Rite into Slavonic. St. Clement eventually settled in the western Macedonian city of Ohrid, where he organized his disciples and students into a renowned school. After his election as Bishop of Velitsa, possibly making him the first ethnic Slav to serve as a hierarch in the Church of Christ, St. Clement was succeeded at the school in Ohrid by St. Naum, who had until then taught in the school he had founded in Preslav.

After several years teaching in Ohrid St. Naum founded the Monastery of Sts. Michael and Gabriel near the city and retired there following its consecration by St. Clement in 905. St. Naum reposed in 910 and was buried in his monastery, which was later rededicated to his holy memory. In the early 900s St. Clement also established a monastery near Ohrid, that of St. Panteleimon, and continued his translation work, also becoming the first author of original works in the Slavonic language. After his falling asleep in 916 St. Clement's relics were likewise buried in the monastery he had founded.

More on Sts. Clement and Naum's lives can be found here and here. May their blessings and prayers be with us all!

St. Jacob of Atka

Joyous feast! St. Jacob (Netsvetov) of Atka, better known as St. Jacob of Alaska and also known as St. Yakov of Alaska, was born in the early 1800s on Russian Alaska's Atka Island to a Russian father, Yegor, and a local Aleut woman, Maria. St. Jacob loved the Church from his youth and when his family moved to Siberia he entered the Irkutsk Theological Seminary at the age of twenty-one.

In 1826 St. Jacob graduated from the Seminary, married, and was ordained to the deaconate and assigned to a parish in Irkutsk. Two years later Archbishop Michael of Tobolsk ordained the Saint to the priesthood and gave him two antimensia, one to be placed in a church he charged St. Jacob to build on Atka in memory of St. Nicholas and the other to be used during missionary travels.

That same year, 1828, St. Jacob left with his family for Atka, there serving a parish encompassing a number of islands covering some 2,000 miles of territory. Despite the vast size of his parish St. Jacob traveled frequently to preach the Gospel and visit his scattered faithful, doing a great deal through his teaching and way of life to strengthen the area in the Orthodox Faith, while also overseeing the construction of the Church of St. Nicholas on Atka and instructing the island's children in both the Aleut and Russian languages.

While living on Atka St. Jacob maintained an active correspondence with St. Innocent (Veniaminov) of Sitka, labored to translate the Bible and divine services into Aleut, and collected specimens for museums in Moscow and St. Petersburg in addition to providing for his family and serving his parish. In 1836 St. Jacob lost both his wife and his father, who had served St. Nicholas' as a reader, and petitioned the Church to be transferred to Irkutsk to enter a monastery there.

Although permission was granted for the transfer in 1837 St. Innocent persuaded St. Jacob to remain in Alaska. In Alaska St. Jacob continued to serve on Atka for another seven years before moving to the mainland to evangelize the nations of the Yukon. His subsequent years in southwestern Alaska were spent preaching and baptizing, building new churches, and bringing an end to the conflicts that had divided the local peoples.

In 1863 St. Jacob traveled to Sitka to appear in a case falsely brought against him by a former worker in his mission, after which he was assigned to serve a local Tlingit-speaking parish as his health had deteriorated too much to allow him to return to the Yukon. On 26 July 1864 St. Jacob fell asleep in Sitka and was buried at the entrance to the church he had served there, being glorified one hundred thirty years later by the American Orthodox Church that had grown out of his and others' missionary labors in Alaska.

More on St. Jacob's life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!