In some places, the Burial Service of the Theotokos is celebrated on August 17 using a special epitaphios with an icon depicting the Mother of God.

The Holy Martyr Myron was a presbyter in Achaia (Greece), and lived during the third century. He suffered in the year 250 under the emperor Decius (249-251). The presbyter was gentle and kind to people, but he was also courageous in the defense of his spiritual children. On the Feast of the…

Venerable Alypios of the Caves was one of the first and best Russian iconographers. He was tonsured by Igoumen Nikon († March 23, 1088). Later, he was ordained as a Hieromonk. From a young age he labored in the Kiev Caves Monastery and studied iconography with the Greek masters who painted the…

The Holy Martyr Paul and his sister Juliana were executed under the emperor Aurelian (270-275) in the Phoenician city of Ptolemais. The emperor happened to visit Ptolemais, and among those who met him was Paul, who made the Sign of the Cross. They arrested him and threw him in prison. On the…

The Martyrs Thyrsus, Leucius, Coronatus, and their Companions suffered in Bythnian Caesarea and Apollonia under the emperor Decius (249-251). [It is possible that Coronatus is the same person as Cornutus, whose commemoration is on September 12].

The Martyr Patroclus lived during the third century under the emperor Aurelian (270-275). He was a native of the city of Tricassinum (now the city of Troyes in France) and led a pious Christian life: he loved to pray, to read the Holy Scriptures, to fast and to be charitable to the poor. For this…

The Martyrs Straton, Philip, Eutychian and Cyprian suffered at Nicomedia. Visiting the circus, they taught people to abandon their idol-worship, and they converted many pagans to Christ. The governor, observing that the people were leaving the circus, summoned to himself the martyrs, who firmly…

Saint Theodoritus left home and went to the Solovki Monastery when he was only thirteen years old. The following year he was tonsured and placed under obedience to the wise Father Zosimas. For the next fifteen years he grew in wisdom and virtue, then was ordained a deacon by the Archbishop of…

The Kiev Caves Icon of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos is one of the most ancient icons in the Russian Orthodox Church. The Mother of God entrusted it to four Byzantine architects, who in 1073 brought the icon to Saints Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves. The architects arrived at the…

Saint Leucius of Volokolamsk was the founder of the Dormition monastery on the Ruza River (the monastery was located 32 versts from the city of Volokolamsk and 2 versts from the village of Seredo-Stratilatsk). Saint Leucius was a disciple of Saint Paphnutius of Borov (May 1) and an associate of…

Saint Philip of Sukhona was a hermit on Mt. Yankov, on the left bank of the Sukhona River, two versts from the city of Ustiug. The Ustiug inhabitants built a monastery at the place of his ascetic deeds, so as to learn monastic life under his guidance. In the year 1654, they built a church in honor…

The Svena Icon of the Mother of God has two commemorations: May 3, the Feast of Saint Theodosios of the Caves, and August 17, the Feast of Saint Alypios of the Caves. The Svena Icon of the Mother of God was painted by Saint Alypios of the Caves († August 17, 1114). It depicts the Mother of God…

The Armatia Icon of the Mother of God was in Constantinople at the Armatian monastery. The place where the monastery was located, was called “Armation” or “of the Armatians” and received its name from the military magister Armatias, nephew of the tyrant Basiliscus, and a…

The holy monk Demetrios was born in the village of Samarina, in the Pindos region of Greece in the late XVIII century. He became a monk in the monastery of his homeland, where he exhausted his body and soul with fasting. After Ali Pasha's 1808 suppression of an insurrection inspired by Father…

The holy Father Tbeli Abuseridze lived and labored in the 13th century. His father John, the archduke of Upper Atchara, perished in a battle with the Turks. After Tbeli’s mother was widowed, she was tonsured a nun and given the name Katherine. Tbeli’s brothers, Abuseri and Bardan, were…