January Synaxarion
Days: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17
18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31
This month has thirty-one days with ten hours of day fourteen hours of night.
The Circumcision according to the Flesh of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ
Memory of our Father among the Saints, Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea of Cappadocia (ca. 330-379)
The Mosaic Law prescribed that when a woman brought a male child into the world, he had to be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. Our Lord submitted to the circumcision prescribed by the Law on this day, which is the eighth day after His birth, and received, according to the announcement of the angel, the name which is above all names, "Jesus" or Savior. In celebrating the name day of the Lord today, we begin the new year at the same time under the sign of the Incarnation.
Saint Basil the Great belonged, through his father also named Basil, to the province of Pontus, and through his Emmelia, to the province of Pontus, and through his mother Emmelia, to Cappadocia. He was born in Caesarea in Cappadocia around 329-330. He studied in Caesarea, then in Constantinople under the famous rhetor Libanius, and finally in Athens, where he became a close friend of Saint Gregory of Nazianzus. Shortly after his return to Caesarea which occurred about 356, he retired in solitude to the outskirts of Neocaesarea, where his mother and his sister Macrina already led the monastic life. It is at that time he composed his ascetical writings. He was ordained a priest by Eusebius, Archbishop of Caesarea, and at the death of the latter was elected in 370 to succeed him and rule the Church of Christ. He governed it for eight years, during which time he proved himself a witness of the truth in the face of heresy and full of courage before the threats of the Arian Emperor Valens. He died on January 1, in the year 379. The wisdom and the learning which fill his works, his Philokalia (extracts from the works of Origen), his Treatise on the Holy Spirit, his theological work against the Arian Eunomius, his ascetical writings, his monastic rules, his commentaries on Sacred Scripture, the panegyrics which he made of many saints, his correspondence, and finally the splendor and the force of his words, have won for him rightly the epitaphs of "Revealer of Heaven," and of the "Great."
Third Class Feast. Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great, whatever be the day. Antiphons. Isodikon of the Circumcision. Troparia: of the Circumcision, of Saint Basil the Great, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Circumcision. Epistle of Saint Basil and Gospel of the Circumcision. Kinonikon of the Sunday. After Communion, Troparion of the Circumcision. Dismissal proper to the feast: "...who on the eighth day, has deigned to be circumcised for our salvation..."
In occurrence with a Saturday, the same order is followed. The Epistle and Gospel of Saturday before Theophany should be read on Monday, January 3.
In occurrence with a Sunday: Antiphons. In the Isodikon: ordinary verse, response of the feast. Troparia: of the Resurrection, of the Circumcision, of Saint Basil the Great, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Circumcision. Epistle of Saint Basil the Great, Gospel of the Circumcision (Epistle and Gospel of the Sunday before Theophany can be read the next day, on Monday). Kinonikon of the Sunday. After Communion, Troparion of the Circumcision.
Pre-festive Period of the Feast of the Holy Theophany of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ
Memory of our Father among the Saints, Silvester, Pope of Rome (+335)
Upon the death of his predecessor Melchiades in 314, Saint Silvester was consecrated Bishop of ancient Rome. Saint Silvester sent legates to the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325. He died on December 31, 335, and was buried in the cemetery of Priscillus, on the Salarian Way.
Fifth Class Feast.
Typika and Beatitudes. Troparia: of the Pre-festive Period of Theophany, of Saint Silvester, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Pre-festive Period of Theophany. Epistle and Gospel of the period.
In occurrence with a Saturday, the Epistle and Gospel of the Saturday before Theophany are read. It is likewise the same on Saturday, January 4 or 5.
In occurrence with a Sunday (January 2, 3, or 4):
Typika and Beatitudes. Isodikon of the Sunday. Troparia: of the Resurrection, of the Pre-festive Period of Theophany, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Pre-festive Period of Theophany. Epistle and Gospel of the Sunday before Theophany.
Second Pre-festive Day of the Feast of the Holy Theophany of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ.
Memory of the holy Prophet Malachia (Fifth century B.C.)
The holy martyr Gordios (+under Licinius, 313-323).
The holy prophet Malachia prophesied in the times of Nehemia and Artaxerxes the Long-handed, the King of Persia, without doubt prior to the year 444 B.C.
Saint Gordios, concerning whom Saint Basil the Great made a panegyric, was a native of Caesarea of Cappadocia and a centurion under Emperor Licinius (313-323). Not being able to endure the insolence of the pagans and the blasphemies which they unceasingly uttered against Christ, he fled from the world and lived in the mountains in the company of wild beasts. Before long reviving his love for Christ and his courage against error, he entered the town, rushed into the theater overflowing with people, and publicly confessed his faith. Having attracted the attention of the whole crowd on himself, the Saint amazed the governor, who presided at the assembly, by his presence and urged him on to the extreme limit of his rage. After many tortures, he died by the sword.
Fifth Class Feast.
Troparia: of the Pre-festive Period of Theophany, of Saint Gordios, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Pre-festive Period of Theophany.
Third Pre-festive Day of the Feast of the Holy Theophany of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ.
Synaxis of the Seventy Disciples of Our Lord.
Memory of our venerable Father Theoktistos, Hegumen of Cucume in Sicily (?)
Saint Theoktistos was hegumen of the monastery of Saint Nicholas in Cucume, in the vicinity of Thermae, Sicily, at an uncertain date.
Fifth Class Feast.
Troparia: of the Pre-festive Period of Theophany, of the Seventy Disciples of Our Lord, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Pre-festive Period of Theophany.
Fourth Pre-festive Day of the Feast of the Holy Theophany of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ.
Memory of the holy martyrs Theopemptos and Theonas (end of the Third century).
Our venerable Mother Syncletica (?)
Paramony of the Feast of the Holy Theophany of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ.
Fast, regardless of the day.
It is believed that the holy martyrs Theopemptos and Theonas suffered for the faith in Nicomedia in Bithynia, under Emperor Diocletian.
If tradition is to be believed, Saint Syncletica was born in Macedonia and led the religious life in Egypt at an uncertain date. It is related that she lived in virginity and asceticism for eighty-three years. She was the directress of a large number of virgins in monastic life. She was for women what Saint Anthony was for men, a model of mortification of the flesh and of resignation in trials. It is believed that she died around the middle of the Fourth century.
Fifth Class Feast.
Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great joined to Vespers, as on the Paramony of the Feast of the Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. After the reading of the prophesies, the Trisagion. Epistle and Gospel of the Paramony and the continuation of the Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great. Kinonikon of the Sunday.
In occurrence with a Saturday: Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom. Typika and Beatitudes. Ordinary Isodikon. Troparia: of the Paramony, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Pre-festive Period of Theophany. Epistle and Gospel of the Saturday before Theophany. Kinonikon of the Paramony.
In occurrence with a Sunday: Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom. Typika and Beatitudes. Isodikon of the Sunday. Troparia: of the Resurrection, of the Paramony, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Pre-festive Period of Theophany. Trisagion. Epistle and Gospel of the Sunday before Theophany. Kinonikon of the Sunday.
The Holy Theophany of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ.
On this day the Word of God, after having put on the old Adam and having accomplished the prescriptions of the Law, came to the great prophet John to be baptized. John refrained from doing it, saying: "It is I who should be baptized by You, and You come to me!" But when Jesus said to him: "Let it be so now," John obeyed and performed it, understanding that the baptism was the fulfillment of all justice. By His baptism, Christ sanctified the nature of water. Having buried all of men's sin in the waves of the Jordan, He came out of the water, having renewed and reconstructed man made old by sins, and having given him the kingdom of heaven.
The feast of the Theophanies of the Lord was at first intended to solemnize the idea of the different manifestations of God to men in the Person of the Word made flesh. It was not primarily a commemoration of historical events (as Easter or Pentecost), but a notion of a feast: the announcement of the Incarnation and divine mission of the Lord, and of His mysterious union with humanity in the Church-a Union of Understanding (Faith) and of Love (Charity), engendering men to a new spiritual life in baptism. Nevertheless, the feast referred to certain events in the Savior's life in which He had manifested this union in a special manner. Events which appeared first of all as manifestations of divinity (theophanies): firstly, the birth of the Savior, then the announcement made to the shepherds, the mysterious invitation made to the Magi, then the official consecration of the Savior by His baptism in the Jordan at the beginning of Jesus' public ministry.
Another characteristic of the great feast is that on it catechumens were baptized in a very solemn fashion, as at Easter. The very object of the feast admirably sums up all the essentials of the faith in which the new Christians were consecrated. All in it is impregnated in the two essential mysteries of our Christian faith: the Incarnation of the Word for the salvation of humanity (Nativity); and, the union of God in the Trinity (baptism).
As we saw on December 25, the feast of the Nativity of the Savior was transferred and made a separate feast from this date in the beginning of the Fourth century. However, allusions to the Nativity (besides its nearness on the calendar) retain their place today, because in this manifestation the union of the divine nature and human nature is brought to the understanding of men. "Those who were in darkness have seen a dazzling light shine in Bethlehem; or rather the Lord born of Mary, the Sun of Justice begins to radiate His rays on the whole universe" (Reference to the pagan feast of the winter solstice, when the sun begins to go back to the horizon).
Then the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan is recalled to us. It is then that the Father and the Holy Spirit bear witness to the Incarnation of the Son for the salvation of mankind.
The remembrance of Jesus' baptism is in direct relation to the sacrament which the catechumens are going to receive. By it, they are going to become Christians, that is to say, to wash themselves of their sins, to pass from darkness to light, to live united to God in His Church which is the spouse of Christ. "The true light has appeared and it gives illumination to all. Christ is baptized with us, He who is the purest of all, supernatural; He sanctifies the water, and this becomes a purification for our souls..." (Lauds). For this reason there is an allusion made to the feast of Easter, when the catechumens were also baptized: "As formerly the Hebrews were saved from death thanks to their blood-tinted doors, so now this divine bath of rebirth will be for us a feast of exodus after which we will see the true light of the Trinity" (Ode IX). For baptism, like the other sacraments, contains its efficacy in the blood of the divine, immolated Lamb, the Christian Passover (Easter).
The union of the human and divine natures is realized to perfection in the Person of Christ, but the Church insists a lot today for us to understand that it is ourselves who are reunited today to God. Even though Moses could only turn aside from the face of God, John the Baptist is invited to approach the Lord: "As soon as Moses perceived that You spoke in the bush, he immediately diverted his gaze. And I (says John the Baptist), how can I look You in the face, how can I place my hand upon You, for You are Christ, the Wisdom and Power of God" (Ode IV). "Put aside all fear, says the Liberator to the Precursor; obey Me; approach Me as Christ, for this is who I am by nature; ...I who have come down with you..." (Ode VIII). "The Lord drew to Himself the nature created by God but fallen by the laws of a tyrannical appetite. He regenerated it by a new creation of human beings, accomplishing an all-excellent work for He approached it wishing to protect it" (Ode III).
This union of Christ with humanity has suggested the image of a wedding feast. The liturgical texts in the different Churches call Christ the "Spouse of the Church." It is a sacred wedding by which the Church acquired the power of becoming the spiritual Mother of those who are born again by water and the Spirit. The Latin texts for this day make memory of the wedding of Cana, which offers the symbol of the mystical wedding of the Church with Christ. As for the Byzantine Office, it presents to us a very beautiful text of praise to the Church becoming an infinitely fruitful mother: "You who formerly were barren, and alas! Without children, rejoice on this day, O Church of Christ, for by water and the Spirit, sons are born to you who cry out with faith: 'There is none as holy as our God...'" (Ode III).
Let us on this day be impregnated with the spirit of the Church, in the joy and love for the Lord who descended to us sinners in order to clothe us in His power and splendor: "All of you who have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. Alleluia."
First Class Feast. Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom. Antiphons and Isodikon of the Feast. Troparion (three times), Hypakoi and Kondakion of the Feast. Instead of the Trisagion, the verse is said: "All of you who have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. Alleluia." Epistle and Gospel of the Feast. Hirmos from the First Canon of the Feast. Kinonikon of the Feast. After Communion, Troparion of the Feast. Particular dismissal: "...who has deigned to be baptized by John in the Jordan, for our salvation..."
In certain Churches, there is a custom to have the blessing of water after the Liturgy of the day.
In occurrence with a Sunday: Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great. Hirmos of this Liturgy. Kinonikon and, after Communion, Troparion of the Feast.
In occurrence with a Monday, the Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great is likewise celebrated.
Second Day of the Feast of the Holy Theophany of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ
Synaxis of the Honored and Glorious Prophet, Precursor and Baptist John
We celebrate today a solemn synaxis in honor of the holy Precursor, who took an active part in the mystery of the baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Synaxis of today recalls to us the great crowd of people hastening to the desert in order to hear the Precursor's preaching and to thereby do penance.
Fourth Class Feast.
Antiphons and Isodikon of Theophany. Troparia: of Theophany and of Saint John. Kondakion of Theophany. Instead of the Trisagion: "All of you who have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. Alleluia." Epistle and Gospel from the Menologion. Hirmos from the Ninth Ode of the Second Canon of Theophany. Kinonikon of Saint John. After Communion, Troparion of Theophany.
In occurrence with a Saturday, the Epistle and Gospel are likewise from the Menologion.
In occurrence with a Sunday: Typika and Beatitudes or Antiphons of the Feast. Isodikon of the Sunday. Troparia: of the Resurrection, of Theophany, and of the Precursor. Kondakion of Theophany. Trisagion or the verse: "All of you who have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. Alleluia." Epistle and Gospel of the Precursor (the Epistle and Gospel of the Sunday after Theophany are read, in this case, on Sunday, January 14, on the Closing Day of Theophany, and if on this occurrence the Triodion should be begun, read the Epistle of the Precursor read on January 7 and on this same day the Gospel of the Sunday after Theophany). Hirmos from the Ninth Ode of the Second Canon of Theophany. Kinonikon of the Precursor. After Communion, Troparion of Theophany.
Saturday After the Holy Theophany of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ
The Prokimenon, Epistle (Ephesians 6:10-17), and Alleluia of the Twenty-Seventh Sunday after Pentecost are read. Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11.
Sunday After the Holy Theophany of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ
Epistle: Ephesians 4:7-13.
Gospel: Matthew 4:12-17.
Third Day of the Feast of the Holy Theophany of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ
Memory of our venerable Father George the Chozebite (+before 614)
Our venerable Mother Dominica (+ca. 475)
A native of Cyprus, Saint George left his country upon his parents' death and retired to a monastery in Palestine under his uncle's direction. Then he went to the laura of Calamon near the Jordan, the home of his brother Heraclious, who guided him, no doubt because he was still too young, to the coenubium of the Most Holy Theotokos, called Chozeba, on the left of the route which leads from Jerusalem to Jericho. The Saint died there shortly after the Persian invasion in 614.
A native of a small village in the vicinity of Carthage, called Carthagenus, Saint Dominica lived in the times of Emperor Theodosius the Great (379-395). Piously raised by her parents and instructed from her childhood in the fear of the Lord, she secretly left her paternal home and set out for Alexandria. She lived there with four pagan virgins whom she converted to Christ and with them she set out for Constantinople. Nectarius, the Archbishop of Constantinople, received them and conferred the sacrament of baptism on them. Having embraced the solitary life, given to many harsh austerities and arriving at a high degree of perfection, Saint Dominica committed her soul to God during Emperor Zeno's reign (474-491).
Fifth Class Feast. Antiphons of the Feast. In the Isodikon, the weekday verse, response of the Feast. Troparia: of Theophany, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of Theophany. Trisagion. Epistle and Gospel of the period. (If the series of Epistles and Gospels is completed, those from the Menologion are read). Ordinary Hirmos. Kinonikon of the weekday.
In occurrence with a Saturday, the Epistle and Gospel are those of the Sunday after Theophany.
On Sunday, January 8 or 14, the Epistle and Gospel are from the Sunday after Theophany.
Fourth Day of the Feast of the Holy Theophany of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. Memory of the holy Martyr Polyeuktos (+ca. 250)
Saint Polyeuktos, a soldier in Melitene, Armenia, died for the faith under Emperor Decius around 250. A blasphemous decree having been promulgated, prescribing renunciation of Christ under pain of death, Saint Polyeuktos, without becoming excited, publicly confessed Christ and, in the zeal of his faith, went as far as to break pagan idols. Neither his father-in-law's exhortations and prayers, nor his wife's tears and wailing could shake his resolution. Keeping his promise to his friend Nearchos whom he had converted to Christ's faith, he proved rigid in his belief and his life was ended by the sword.
Fifth Class Feast. Troparia: of Theophany, of Saint Polyeuktos, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of Theophany.
Fifth Day of the Feast of the Holy Theophany of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ
Memory of our Father among the Saints, Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa (ca. 335-394)
The venerable Dometian, Bishop of Melitene (+ca. 600)
The venerable Marcian, Priest and Econome of the Great Church (+ca. 472)
Saint Gregory was the younger brother of Saint Basil the Great. He was born around 335, and received his primary education in his paternal home. Ordained a lector, in the beginning he neglected the service of God in order to teach rhetoric, but changing his conduct before long, he embraced monastic life and, toward the end of 371, was named Bishop of Nyssa in Cappadocia by his brother Basil. An ardent defender of the Orthodox faith, he was deposed, in his absence, by a synod of Arian bishops gathered in 376; but, after the death of the Arian Emperor Valens, he was recalled to his see by Theodosius the Great in 378. He attended the local Council of Antioch in 379, where he received the mission to overseer the Churches of Arabia and Palestine, devastated and torn by Arianism. He was also present at the Second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople in 381, and at the local council held in that came city in 394, under Archbishop Nectarius. He probably died shortly after it.
Saint Marcian lived during the reign of Emperor Marcian and Empress Pulcheria (450-457). At first affiliated with the heresy of the Carthares or Novatians, he returned to the true Church and was named Econome by Patriarch Gennadius (458-471). He established that the offerings to be made in each church must be provided by the clergy of the place, for until then the Great Church assumed the whole burden of it. He constructed the Church of Saint Irene near the sea and the Church of the Resurrection which he preserved from a fire. The flames having spread to the whole neighborhood of the Church of the Resurrection, Marcian, on the church's roof, raised his arms toward heaven and prayed.
Saint Dometian lived during the reign of Justin II the Younger (565-578). He was instructed in secular learning and in the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. He was married for a time. After his wife's death, he was named Bishop of Melitene, at the age of thirty. Evagrius said that he was a prudent man with a remarkable readiness of mind, as powerful in word as in action, and a far-seeing expert in the most grave affairs. He saved his subjects and even the entire nation. More than once he was summoned by Emperor Maurice (582-602), who was his relative. In consequence of the Emperor and Empress' generosity, he was put in possession of great riches which he spent to construct churches and homes for the poor. Having come one last time to the capital of the empire, he fell asleep in the Lord.
Fifth Class Feast.
Antiphons of the Feast. In the Isodikon, the weekday verse, response of the Feast. Troparia: of Theophany, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of Theophany. Trisagion. Epistle and Gospel of the period. (If series of Epistles and Gospels is completed, those from the Menologion are read). Ordinary Hirmos. Kinonikon of the weekday.
In occurrence with a Saturday, the Epistle and Gospel are those of the Sunday after Theophany.
On Sunday, January 8 or 14, the Epistle and Gospel are from the Sunday after Theophany.
Sixth Day of the Feast of the Holy Theophany of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ
Memory of our venerable Father Theodosius the Cenobiarch (ca. 424-529)
Saint Theodosius was born in 424 in the town of Mogarice, in Cappadocia. Early in life he embraced the monastic life. He went to Antioch to receive the blessing of Saint Simeon the Stylite. He proceeded to Jerusalem during the reign of Marcian (450-457), and, from there to the desert, where he lived for thirty years, feeding upon dried figs and herbs without ever eating bread. Around 465, between Bethlehem and the laura of Saint Sabbas, he built a large coenobium with three chapels; one for the Greek speaking monks, another for the Armenians, and a third for the Slavs. From the anaphora until the end of the Divine Liturgy, all joined together in the catholicon and the Liturgy was celebrated in Greek. Owing to his numerous miracles, his fame even reached kings, and the odor of his sanctity spread throughout the entire world. Attaining a great old age, he fell asleep in the Lord on January 11, 529. The famous coenobium which in its founder's lifetime counted four hundred monks, an inn, a home for the poor, a home for old men, and workshops of all kinds, was sacked by the Agarenians in 809 and 813, then completely destroyed in the Fifteenth century.
Third Class Feast. Typika and Beatitudes. Troparia: of Theophany, of Saint Theodosius, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of Theophany. Epistle and Gospel from the Menologion. Ordinary Hirmos. Kinonikon of Saint Theodosius.
In occurrence with a Saturday: Epistle of Saint Theodosius and Gospel of the Saturday after Theophany.
In occurrence with a Sunday: Typika and Beatitudes. Isodikon of the Sunday. Troparia: of the Resurrection, of Theophany, of Saint Theodosius, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of Theophany. Epistle of Saint Theodosius, Gospel of the Sunday after Theophany. Ordinary Hirmos.
In occurrence with a Sunday of the Triodion (Easter on March 22): the Epistle and Gospel are from the Triodion.
Seventh Day of the Feast of the Holy Theophany of Our Lord, and Savior Jesus Christ.
Memory of the holy Martyr Tatiana (?)
Saint Tatiana was martyred in Rome at an uncertain date. Her synaxis was formerly celebrated in a small church named after her in the Sixth "region" of Rome on the Quirinal. The Menaia relate that she was born in Rome under Emperor Alexander Severus (222-235). Her father was a consul three times. She herself was a deaconess of the Roman Church. Brought before the Emperor for Christ's faith, she entered a pagan temple with him and by her prayers overturned all the idols which were found there. She was cruelly struck on the forehead, her eyes were torn out with hooks, she was tied to a stake and the skin of her head was flayed. Finally, after having been exposed in vain to fire and beasts, she was beheaded.
Fifth Class Feast.
Antiphons of the Feast. In the Isodikon, the weekday verse, response of the Feast. Troparia: of Theophany, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of Theophany. Trisagion. Epistle and Gospel of the period. (If the series of Epistles and Gospels is completed, those from the Menologion are read). Ordinary Hirmos. Kinonikon of the weekday.
In occurrence with a Sunday, the Epistle and Gospel are those of the Sunday after Theophany.
On Sunday, January 8 or 14, the Epistle and Gospel are from the Sunday after Theophany.
Eighth Day of the Feast of the Holy Theophany of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ
Memory of the holy Martyrs Hermylos and Stratonikos (+between 307 and 311)
These holy martyrs suffered for the faith in Singidunum, in Upper Moesia, on the Danube under Emperor Licinius. Saint Hermylos was a deacon. After many tortures, he was comforted by his friend Stratonikos who was grieved by the sight of his sufferings. Both were drowned in the Danube around 307-311.
Fifth Class Feast.
Today, memory is also made of the Fathers Massacred at Sinai and at Raitho, anticipated from January 14 (Closing Day of Theophany). Antiphons of Theophany. Troparia: of Theophany, of Saints Hermylos and Stratonikos, of the Fathers Massacred at Sinai and at Raithos, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of Theophany.
On Sunday (January 12 or 13) in occurrence with the period of the Triodion (Easter on March 23 or 24): Typika and Beatitudes. Isodikon of the Sunday. Troparia: of the Resurrection, of Theophany, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of Theophany. Epistle and Gospel from the Triodion.
Closing Day of the Feast of the Holy Theophany of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ
Memory of our Venerable Fathers Massacred at Sinai and at Raitho (305, 370, and 400)
During the reign of Decius (249-251) a bloody persecution was directed against all Christians in the empire, but particularly in Egypt under the Prefect Sabinus. A large number of Christians abandoned the world and went to lead the monastic life on Mount Sinai. Subject to God alone, they lived on wild herbs. The devil's hatred excited against them the savage tribe of the Blemmyes, nomads along the banks of the Red Sea from Arabia to Egypt, who, impelled by the lure of booty, came on several occasions to plunder the monks; the first time under Diocletian in 305, a second time under Valerian, on December 28, 370, and finally in 400 under Arcadius. Finding only straw mats and monks dressed in hair-shirts, these exasperated nomads prayed there to the monks whom they had massacred at Sinai and at Raitho. The Fathers have handed down to us a collective feast for all these monks on January 14. In order to protect the monks against the Blemmyes and other barbarians, the pious Emperor Justinian built there in 527 the famous monastery of the holy mountain of Sinai, called since the Ninth century: the Monastery of Saint Catherine.
All is said as on the day of the Feast, except that the Hypacoi is omitted. Epistle and Gospel of the period. Hirmos from the Ninth Ode of the Second Canon of the feast (see January 7).
In occurrence with a Saturday, the Epistle and Gospel of the Saturday after Theophany are read.
In occurrence with a Sunday, follow the order of general occurrences. Epistle and Gospel of the Sunday after Theophany. Hirmos as on January 7.
In occurrence with the period of the Triodion, the Closing Day of Theophany is anticipated on the preceeding Saturday, and then the Epistle and Gospel of the Saturday after Theophany are read.
Memory of our venerable Fathers Paul of Thebes (Fourth century) and John the Hut-Dweller (Fifth century)
Sozomenos (I:13) says that Saint Paul was a simple peasant. He lived in the desert near Saint Anthony who put this newcomer to the test more than once. Paul was an old man almost without education, in no way initiated into the monastic austerities, but never did Anthony see him weaken. He proceeded to answer for his complete ascetic formation and left him to his own powers, as no longer having need of a guide. God ratified this evidence. He glorified the Saint by the miracles which He gave him to perform, and he yielded the same powers as His Master to torment and expel demons.
Saint John the Hut-Dweller lived in the Fifth century. History relates that in his youth, around 440, he entered the monastery of Saint Irene on the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus, subsequently called the "Monastery of the Acemetes." The hymnographers also relate that he returned to his paternal home disguised as a poor man, and lived there unknown in a hut which he set up near the door, as the Troparion of the day says (in Greek: Calybe is hut, from whence his name of Calybite or Hut-Dweller).
Fifth Class Feast.
From today forward, on Sundays and Third Class Feasts, the Kondakion is that of the Feast of the Encounter of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ (February 2).
In occurrence with a Sunday in the period of the Triodion, the Fifth Class Feasts are disregarded. On Third Class Feasts, the Typika and Beatitudes are said. Isodikon of the Sunday. Troparia: of the Resurrection, of the Saint, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Feast of the Encounter of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. Epistle of the Saint, Gospel of the Triodion. Ordinary Hirmos. Kinonikon of the Sunday.
Veneration of the Precious Chain of the Holy and Renowned Apostle Peter.
According to the tradition of the Eastern Church, today we celebrate the veneration of the chain by which the leader of the Apostles was bound when he was thrown into prison by the Tetrarch Herod for Jesus Christ's name, as related in Acts 12:6. This chain was transferred to Constantinople in 437 by Empress Eudocia, the wife of Theodosius the Younger, and placed in the chapel of the Holy Apostle Peter, which is found within the Great Church.
In Rome, a small church of the Holy Apostles was built and ornamented by Pope Saint Sixtus III (432-440) on Esquiline Hill, at the expense of Eudoxia the Younger, the wife of Valentinian III, around the beginning of the Fifth century. For a long time the chains which bound the Apostle Saint Peter in the times of Nero were in this church. About the sixth century this church was called as now, the Church of the Chains of the Holy and Renowned Apostle Peter (Saint Peter in Chains).
Fourth Class Feast. Typika and Beatitudes, or the Antiphons. Troparia: of Saint Peter, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Feast of the Encounter of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. Epistle and Gospel from the Menologion. Kinonikon of the Apostles.
Memory of our venerable and God-bearing Father Anthony the Great (ca. 251-356)
Saint Anthony was born around the year 251 in a noble Egyptian family of Coma, a market town in Lower Egypt near the Small Heracleopolis. Sozomenos (I:13) relates that: "Orphaned in childhood, he gave the inhabitants of his village his paternal properties and sold the rest of his possessions to distribute their value to the poor... His food was bread and salt, his drink was pure water, and his mealtime was always fixed at sunset. Rather often he remained two or more days without eating. It is related that he sat up every night and welcomed the day in prayer. When it occurred to him to sleep, he laid down on a small mat. More often still, he simply slept on the bare ground, which he made his only bed... He had many disciples, and was very renowned in Egypt and Libya, as well as in Palestine, Syria, and Arabia." So famous in the deserts of Egypt, the renown of the man's virtue reached Emperor Constatine who became his friend. Constantine by several letters, praying him to write to ask him for all which he needed. Anthony lived nearly one hundred and five years and probably died on January 17, 356.
Third Class Feast. Follow the general order.
In occurrence with a Sunday in the period of Triodion: the Typika and Beatitudes are said. Isodikon of the Sunday. Troparia: of the Resurrection, of Saint Anthony, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Feast of the Encounter of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. Epistle of the Saint. Gospel of the Triodion. Ordinary Hirmos. Kinonikon of the Sunday.
Memory of our Fathers among the Saints Athanasius (return from his exile, 346) and Cyril (+444), Archbishops of Alexandria
According to the ancient custom of the Church of Constantinople, today we celebrate Saint Athanasius' return from exile, when, upon the death of the intruder Gregory of Cappadocia in 345, he managed to return to his see on October 21, 346. His principal feast is celebrated on May 2. Today the Office of Saint Cyril is also sung, for, as the Great Athanasius was the defender of the Orthodox dogma of the consubstantial Trinity, so also the Great Cyril was the champion of the dogma of the Incarnation of the Word in Mary's womb.
Third Class Feast, follow the general order of a Third Class Feast.
Memory of our venerable Father Makarios the Egyptian (ca. 300-390)
Our Father among the Saints Arsenios of Corcyra (end of the Tenth century)
Saint Makarios was born in Upper Egypt about the year 300. Palladius says: "He lived ninety years, of which he spent sixty in the desert of Skete, where he retired when thirty years old. He commanded the attention of all to such an extent that he was called 'the young old man.' He progressed so rapidly in perfection that at the age of forty he received the grace of expelling demons and of predicting the future. He was also judged worthy of the priesthood." He died around the year 390.
Saint Arsenios was born in Bethania, Palestine, under Emperor Basil I (867-886). Consecrated to God in his infancy, he took the monastic habit when he was twelve years old and, without doubt, went to study in Seleucia, on the Orontes River, where he received priestly ordination. From there he went to Constantinople under hegumen Tryphon, who subsequently became Patriarch in 928, and he was consecrated Archbishop of Corcyra by Patriarch Theophylaktos to quiet the unjust resentment of Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (912-956) against the eminent persons of Corcya. On the way home, he fell ill at Corinth and died at an unknown date.
Fifth Class Feast.
Memory of our venerable Father Euthymius the Great (377-473)
Saint Euthymius was born in 377, in Melitene, Armenia, under Emperor Gratian (367-383). Baptized when three years old, he was ordained a lector by Eutroius, Bishop of Melitene. He was ordained to the priesthood when he was nineteen years old, in 395, and was named Exarch of the monasteries. He went to Jerusalem in 405-406. In 411, he withdrew to the grotto of Saint Theoktistos. By his virtue, he contended so nobly with the Saracens that, day by day, he disposed them to adhere to Christ and to be baptized with their families, in 420-421. He fought the Nestorians, the Eutychians, and the Manicheans. In 455-456, he brought back to the true faith, Eudocia, the wife of Theodosius the Younger, who had fallen into the Monophysite heresy. He performed numerous miracles. One day while celebrating the Divine Liturgy he appeared as a column of fire. He died at the grand old age of ninety-seven, during the reign of Emperor Leo the Great, on January 20, 473.
Third Class Feast, follow the general order of a Third Class Feast.
Memory of our venerable Father Maximos the Confessor (580-662)
The holy Martyr Neophytos (beginning the fourth century)
The sublime Maximos was born in Constantinople in 580 into a noble family during the reign of Tiberius I Constantine (578-582). Under Heraclius he held the position of First Secretary and Imperial Counsellor. Around 613-614, he abandoned the honors of his age and entered a monastery in Chrysopolis (Scutari). The Persians having invaded Chrysopolis in 626, he took refuge in Africa in company with Saint Sophronios, the future Patriarch of Jerusalem. Inflamed by divine zeal as by a fire, he went to Rome in 646 and urged Pope Saint Martin I to gather a local council to condemn the leaders of the ungodly Monothelite heresy (649). In order to refute these heretics, he composed some treaties and letters exposing the arguments and scriptural texts which supported the truth of the Orthodox faith. He circulated his writings throughout the world. He was seized in Rome in 653 and was obliged to appear before Paul II, the Patriarch of Constantinople, and Pyrrhus, the ex-patriarch--both partisans of the heresy of Emperor Constans II (641-668). He was condemned and sent to the fortress of Byzya in Thrace in 655, then to Perberes, and from there into exile in the Caucasus in the country of the Lazians where he died in old age on August 13, 662.
It is believed that Saint Neophytos suffered for the faith in Nicaea in Bithynia, during the reign of Emperor Diocletian, at the beginning of the Fourth century.
Fifth Class Feast.
Memory of the holy Apostle Timothy (end of the First century)
The holy Hosiomartyr Anastasius the Persian (+628)
A native of Lystra in Lycaonia, Saint Timothy was the son of a pagan father and a Jewish mother. On Saint Paul's first visit to Lycaonia, he attracted Timothy, and Timothy followed him in all his missions. When the Apostle went to Macedonia, he left Timothy in charge at Ephesus. Tradition relates that he died a martyr around the end of the First century.
As for Saint Anastasius, he was of Persian origin. Struck by the implacable hatred of Chosroes II for the Christians and not seeing his reason for it, he decided to become thoroughly acquainted with their doctrine. Instructed in the Christian faith, he was baptized in Palestine by Modestus, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and received the name Anastasius instead of Magoundat, his first name. He spent some time in the monasteries of this region. When the terrible invasion of Chosroes occurred in Palestine, Anastasius courageously confessed his faith. After many tortures, he was beheaded on January 22, 628. His head was subsequently transferred to Rome where it is still venerated in the Church of the Holy Martyrs Vincent and Anastasius in the place called the "Fountain of Salvius."
Fifth Class Feast.
Memory of the holy Hieromartyr Clement of Ancyra
The holy martyr Agathangel (beginning of the Fourth century)
Saint Agathangel was of Roman origin. As for Saint Clement, he was born in Ancyra in Galatia of a pagan father and a Christian mother, named Sophia. After having spent time in solitude, he was elected Bishop of Ancyra. He courageously fought and suffered for the Christian faith for twenty-eight years, and was finally beheaded, at the same time as Saint Agathangel, under Emperor Maximian, about 296.
Fifth Class Feast.
Memory of our venerable Mother Xenia (Fifth century)
Saint Xenia, formerly named Eusebius, was born in Rome during the Fifth century into a noble and fervent Christian family. Destined for marriage by her parents, at the time when all were ready to celebrate her marriage, she took to flight with two other young girls. All three embarked and after many changes in fortune, settled down at Mylasa in the province of Caria in Asia, with a monk named Paul. Xenia-this was her new name-built a small oratory in honor of the protomartyr Saint Stephen and, with her two companions and some other virgins who had joined them, consecrated themselves to the practice of virtues. She died in peace after a holy life.
Fifth Class Feast.
In occurrence with the Saturday of the Dead, a Saint of the Fifth Class is disregarded, and a Saint of the Third Class is anticipated on the preceeding Friday.
Memory of our Father among the Saints Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople (329-389?)
This Father and Teacher of the Church was born around 329 in Arianzus, a market town in Second Cappadocia, in the vicinity of Nazianzus. His father, a convert from paganism who became the Bishop of Nazianzus, was also named Gregory, and his mother Nonna. He studied first in Caesarea of Cappadocia, then in Alexandria, and finally in Athens, where he became a close friend of Saint Basil. Returning to his country in 357, he received Holy Baptism and gave himself to asceticism with his friend in the wilderness of Pontus. He was ordained a priest of the Church of Nazianzus, by his own father. Saint Basil consecrated him Bishop of Sasima, a suffering see of Caesarea. In 375, he withdrew to the monastery of Saint Thecla in Seleucia of Isauria. It is from there that he left in 379 to help the Church of Constantinople, troubled for forty years by the Arians. Supported by the pious Emperor Theodosius the Great, he managed by his wise discourses, sufferings, and many punishments, to free his Church from the plague of heresy. He fell asleep in the Lord in 389 or 390. The grandeur of his theological writings have merited him the surname of "Theologian." That which comes down to us of his works, discourses and poems of all types, witness to his radiant eloquence and remarkable knowledge.
Third Class Feast, follow the general order of a Third Class Feast.
In occurrence with the Saturday of the Dead, the feast of Saint Gregory is anticipated on January 24.
Memory of our venerable Father Xenophon and of his wife (Sixth century?)
Saint Xenophon held the office of senator in Constantinople. He sent his two sons, Arcadius and John, to Beirut, Phoenicia, to study law. During their passage the two brothers were shipwrecked and had a difficult time escaping. Xenophon and his wife set out to find them. Finding them in Jerusalem, already clothed in the monastic habit, the parents also embraced religious life. Arcadius and John died in the desert where they had withdrawn. Xenophon and his wife separated. He withdrew to the desert, and she lived in the company of pious virgins. Thus they finished their lives very pleasing to God, around the beginning of the Sixth century.
Fifth Class Feast.
The Translation of the relics of our Father among the Saints John Chrysostom (438)
Thirty-three years after his death, the relics of Saint John Chrysostom were brought back from Comana, Armenia, in 438, under Theodosius the Younger and Patriarch Proclos. Again the Christian people went to encounter him in boats, so numerous that the sea appeared as a vast continent, and countless torches covered the Bosphorus Strait.
Third Class Feast. All is said as on the Saint's principal feast on November 13.
Memory of our venerable Father Ephrem the Syrian (+373)
Saint Ephrem was born in Nisibis, Mesopotamia, at the beginning of the Fourth century. His father, named Abnil, was a pagan priest. Ephrem was a disciple of James, the Bishop of Nisibis. He practiced monastic life to perfection. He was ordained a deacon and became master of the great Christian school of Nisibis, commenting on the Holy Scriptures and explaining, the dogmas of the Orthodox faith. After Julian the Apostate's death and the treaty concluded in 363 between Jovian, the Roman Emperor, and Sapor, the Persian King, Nisibis fell under Persian rule. Many Christians therefore left their country and with them the blessed Ephrem, who henceforth taught in Edessa, in what was then called the Persian School. He died in peace in the month of June in the year 373. He composed a great many wonderful hymns in Syriac, nearly all of which have been translated into Greek for the instruction of the faithful. He was surnamed the Prophet of the Syrians, the Syrians' Elia, the Column of the Church, and the Harp of the Holy Spirit.
Fifth Class Feast.
The translation of the relics of the holy Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-bearer of Antioch (under Theodosius the Younger, 408-450)
Thrown into Rome's amphitheater, Saint Ignatius was torn apart by beasts who left only his hardest bones. An incomparable treasure, his relics were transferred to Antioch, deposited in a place called the "Cemetery," and preserved for the holy Church by the martyr's intercession. Consequently, his relics were transferred to an ancient pagan temple, called Tychaion. (Temple of Fortune), which God suggested to Emperor Theodosius the Younger (408-450) to consecrate to the glorious martyr for his greater veneration. These holy relics were then carried into the city on a chariot and placed inside the ancient pagan temple with great religious solemnities.
Fifth Class Feast.
Memory of the holy Hieromartyr Hippolytus, Priest of the Church of Rome (Third century)
Our Fathers among the Saints the Ecumenical Teachers Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom
A priest of Rome under Pope Saint Zephyrinus' episcopate (199-217), Hippolytus composed numerous treatises in Greek against all the heresies concerning the unity of God in the Holy Trinity and the divine Monarchy. He clearly commented upon a good number of Holy Books, fixed the date of Easter, composed a universal history, and fixed the Apostolic Tradition by means of canonical laws. During his doctrinal controversies, he went to blameworthy excess and unjustly accused Archdeacon Callistus of heresy. Upon Pope Zephyrinus' death when Callistus became Bishop of Rome in 217, Hippolytus unfortunately separated himself from the Catholic Church and set himself up as an anti-pope, fighting Callistus and his successors: Urban (222-230) and Pontian (230-235). Exiled from Pontian to Sardinia under Emperor Maximin of Thrace (235), he retracted and suffered martyrdom at the same time as Pope Saint Pontian. Upon Maximin's death in 238, under Pope Saint Fabian (236-250), the second successor of Pontian after Pope Saint Anterus (235-236), his remains were brought back to Rome and honorably laid in a grotto on the Tiburtina Way in the cemetery which bears his name.
The common feast of the Three Holy Hierarchs was instituted around 1100, during the reign of Alexius I Comnenus, as a result of heated discussions which were raised concerning them by pious and distinguished men of the epoch; some preferring Saint Basil the Great, others Saint Gregory the Theologian, and still others Saint John Chrysostom.
The legend says that in the time of Emperor Alexius I Comnenus, a discussion was raised among the pious scholars of Constantinople. Which of the three hierarchs commemorated in the month of January was the greatest: Basil the Great (January 1), John Chrysostom (January 27), or Gregory of Nazianzus (January 25)? Some decided in favor of Saint Basil the Great because of his great intelligence and austere morality; others for Saint John Chrysostom, unsurpassable for the convincing gentleness of his discourses; and others were attracted to Saint Gregory of Nazianzus for his elegant rhetoric, dialectical cleverness, and magical style.
In this confusion recourse was made to the holy and learned bishop, John, the Metropolitan of Euchaita. He began to pray and had the delight to have an apparition the following night by the three great teachers, who told him: "Tell these Christians to cease these useless discussions. Before God, none of us three is greater than the others. We make only one, among us there is neither disagreement nor division. What one believes and has taught, the others believe and have taught. Arise then and warn them to remain in peace and concord. Finally, to practically affirm this unity of our faith choose a day and on it celebrate the Liturgy in our honor to thank God for the graces which He has bestowed to all three of us and by us to the Church, and especially this that in the Orthodox faith and in its teaching, God has always kept us in one accord with the Holy Catholic Church."
It was done thusly. John chose January 30, to celebrate this new solemnity and he himself composed its admirable Office. Ever since then, as the Office says: "a 'triple sun' enlightens this day."
Third Class Feast. In occurrence with the Saturday of the Dead, the feast of the Holy Hierarchs is celebrated on January 29.
In occurrence with the Wednesday or Friday of the Week of Cheese-fare or Abstinence, the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom is celebrated, with the Epistle and Gospel of the Holy Hierarchs.
Memory of the holy Wonderworkers and Unmercenaries Cyrus and John (+312)
According to tradition, Saint Cyrus was a native of Alexandria. John was a soldier and a native of Edessa in Mesopotamia. They were martyred in Canopus, Egypt, under Maximin Daia, the Caesar of the Orient, in 312. Many miracles having been worked at their tomb, they were surnamed anargyres, without doubting because they freely healed all maladies and infirmities by the grace of Christ.
Fifth Class Feast.