Photo of the Day: Festal Services in Haiti

The festal services at the Church of St. Augustine in Jacmel, Haiti, on the eve of St. Augustine's day.

New Bishop of Kinel Consecrated in Russia

During the festal services in honor of All Saints of Rus' Patriarch Cyril (Gundyayev) of Moscow consecrated the new Church of St. Igor in Peredelkino. During the Sunday Liturgy that followed the church's consecration Patriarch Cyril together with twenty-eight other hierarchs also consecrated the new ruling hierarch of the Eparchy of Kinel and Bezenchuk, Bishop Sophronius (Balandin). More in Russian here.

Alexandrian Orthodox Church Celebrates St. Mark

Pope Theodoros II (Horeftakis) of Alexandria has led celebrations of the new style feast of St. Mark the Evangelist, the founder and first hierarch of the Church of Alexandria, on the 24th and 25 of this month. Participating in the festal services at Alexandria's Cathedral of the Annunciation were hierarchs and clergy of the Alexandrian and Cypriot Orthodox Churches as well as representatives of the Greek government and the Greek and Arab Orthodox communities in Egypt. More (in Greek) here.

The Popes of Alexandria of both the Alexandrian and Coptic Orthodox Churches consider themselves successors to St. Mark and incumbents of the Throne of St. Mark, which in recent history held jurisdiction over all Orthodox Christians in Africa until the autocephaly of the Churches of Ethiopia and Eritrea.

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.

Circumcision of the Lord

Christ is born! Христос рождается!

Today we commemorate the feast of the Lord's Circumcision, better and more delicately known historically in the West as the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus (in commemoration of the Lord's naming at His circumcision), on the eighth day after His Nativity in the flesh. A homily on the holy day can be found here. Joyous feast!

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. 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!

Nativity of the Mother of God

Joyous feast! Today we celebrate the Nativity of the Mother of God. Like many of the saints, the Mother of God was born to barren parents, Sts. Joachim and Anna, and was dedicated by them to God and eventually sent to dwell with the virgins living at the Temple in Jerusalem (an event we commemorate on the feast of the Entrance of the Mother of God).

More on today's feast can be found here. May the protection and intercession of the Mother of God 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!

Dormition and Assumption of the Mother of God

Joyous feast! It may seem a little late to be celebrating the Dormition given that the Orthodox following the Armenian, Gregorian/'New Julian,' Coptic, and Ethiopian have all celebrated it already (on 13, 14, 22, and 21/22 August respectively), but greetings with this beautiful feast regardless!

Today is called the Pascha of the Mother of God by some and the services mirror this in several ways, most notably with a funeral procession of the Mother of God's funeral shroud (painted, like the Lord's, with an icon of the sleeping Mother of God) during the festal Vigil. We celebrate the Mother of God, who has been brought over from death to life by her Son, Who allowed her to fall asleep to greater glorify Himself by resurrecting her and bringing her to dwell with Him in the fullness of His Kingdom.

More details on today's feast, as well as the fast which precedes it, can be found here and here. May the Queen of Heaven's protection and intercessions be with us all!

Of the icons pictured the first is a Byzantine-style icon of today's feast, which in the Byzantine Rite combines the celebration of her Dormition and Assumption on a single day, whilst the second is a Coptic-style icon showing the Assumption, which is the primary focus of the Alexandrian Rite's observance and which in the Ethiopian Rite falls a day after the observance of the Dormition.

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!

Polish President Participates in Transfiguration Celebrations on Grabarka

Polish President Bronisław Komorowski has visited Mount Grabarka and its Polish Orthodox monastery to participate in the Transfiguration celebrations there. More here.

Transfiguration of the Lord

Joyous feast! I'm still on holiday and don't have a lot of time right now to follow the news, much less post any of it (less than a week until I finish moving back to the Midwest!), but it's a great feast day of the church year and so I wanted to post a link for more information on today's commemoration.

"You were transfigured on the mount, O Christ our God, revealing Your glory to Your disciples as much as they were able to bear it. Shine forth also Your everlasting light upon us sinners, through the prayers of the Theotokos. O Giver of light, glory to You!"