The New Martyr of Russia Alexander Hotovitzky was born on February 11, 1872 in the city of Kremenetz, into the pious family of Archpriest Alexander, who was Rector of the Volhynia Theological Seminary and would later be long remembered in the hearts of the Orthodox inhabitants of Volhynia as a good…

The Holy Great Martyr Barbara lived and suffered during the reign of the emperor Maximian (305-311). Her father, the pagan Dioscorus, was a rich and illustrious man in the Syrian city of Heliopolis. After the death of his wife, he devoted himself to his only daughter. Seeing Barbara’s…

Saint John of Damascus was born about the year 680 at Damascus, Syria into a Christian family. His father, Sergius Mansur, was a treasurer at the court of the Caliph. John had also a foster brother, the orphaned child Cosmas (October 14), whom Sergius had taken into his own home. When the children…

Saint John, Bishop of Polybotum (in Phrygia), was known as a denouncer of the heresy and impiety of Emperor Leo the Isaurian. Saint John opposed Leo for his iconoclasm, and taught his flock the Orthodox doctrine of the veneration of icons. The saint died at the beginning of the eighth century. The…

Saint Gennadius, Archbishop of Novgorod, was descended from the Gonzov family and was, in the testimony of contemporaries, “dignified, intelligent, virtuous and learned in the Holy Scripture.” He was made a monk at the Valaam monastery, under the spiritual guidance of Saint Sabbatius of…

Saint Seraphim (Σεραφεὶμ) was born in the village of Bezoulia in the province of Agrapha, and was raised by his devout parents, Sophronios and Maria, who raised him to be pious as well. He loved the monastic life and entered the Monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos, the so-called Crown or…

The Damascene Icon of the Mother of God, by ancient tradition, was painted by Saint John of Damascus in gratitude to the Theotokos for the miraculous healing of his right hand, cut off through the perfidy of Emperor Leo the Isaurian. This icon is also known as “Of the Three Hands” Icon…