14 Jan 2017
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01 Jan 2017
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+++ The Circumcision of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ

+++ The Circumcision of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus ChristOn the eighth day after His birth, the divine Child was taken to the Temple and duly circumcised according to the Jewish Law that had been observed from the time of Abraham. At this time He was given the name Jesus, the name announced to the most holy Virgin by the Archangel Gabriel (Luke 1:31). The Baptism of the New Covenant was prefigured in the Circumcision of the Old Covenant. The Lord's Circumcision shows that He took true human flesh upon Himself, not its semblance as heretics later taught of Him. The Lord was truly circumcised, desiring thus to fulfill all the Law, which He Himself had given through our forefathers and the prophets. Fulfilling all the ordinances of the Law, He superseded them by Baptism in His Church, for, as the Apostle declares: "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature" (Gal. 6:15). (In the Church Calendar, this Feast of the Lord has neither Forefeast nor After-feast.)

St Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea

St Basil the Great, Archbishop of CaesareaSt Basil was born in the reign of the Emperor Constantine, in about 330. While still unbaptised, he spent fifteen years in Athens studying philosophy, rhetoric, astronomy and other contemporary secular disciplines. Among his fellow-students were Gregory the Theologian and Julian, later the apostate emperor. When already of mature years, he was in the Jordan together with his former tutor Evulios. He was Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia for nearly ten years, and died at the age of fifty. A great champion of Orthodoxy, a great torch of moral purity and zeal for the Faith, a great theological mind, a great builder and pillar of the Church of God, Basil fully deserved his title "the Great". In the Office for his Feast, he is referred to as a bee of the Church of Christ, bringing honey to the faithful but stinging those in heresy. Many of the writings of this Father of the Church have survived - theological, apologetic, on asceticism and on the Canons. There is also the Liturgy that bears his name. This Liturgy is celebrated ten times in the year: on January lst, on the Eves of Christmas and the Theophany, on every Sunday in the Great Fast with the exception of Palm Sunday, and on the Thursday and Saturday in Great Week. St Basil departed this life peacefully on January lst, 379, and entered into the Kingdom of Christ.

Martyr Basil of Ancyra

Martyr Basil of AncyraSaint Basil lived in the time of Julian the Apostate (331-363), and confessed his faith in Christ before the governor Saturninus. He was tortured in Ancyra, then sent to Constantinople, where he was suspended from a tree, stretched on a rack, beaten, then stabbed with red-hot needles. He was also thrown into a fiery furnace, but was not harmed. He was sent to Caesarea and was torn to pieces by lions in the arena. This saint, a layman, should not be confused with the other St Basil of Ancyra, who was a priest (March 22). Troparion — Tone 4 Your holy martyr Basil, O Lord, / Through his sufferings has received an incorruptible crown from You, our God. / For having Your strength, he laid low his adversaries, / And shattered the powerless boldness of demons. / Through his intercessions, save our souls!

Martyr Theodotos



St. Gregory, bishop of Nazianzus (374) and father of St. Gregory the Theologian

The father of St. Gregory the Theologian died in peace in 374, a one hundred year old man.

Venerable Theodosius of Tryglia, abbot



New Martyr Peter of the Peloponnesos



January 2017
SunMonTueWedThuFriSut
Our Holy Father Elias of Murom
1
oil
St Danilo, Archbishop of Serbia
2
oil
The Holy Martyr Themistocies
3
oil
The Holy Martyr Theodota with her three Children
4
oil
Our Holy Father Nahum, the Wonderworker of Ochrid
5
oil
Our Holy Father Nicolas the Soldier
6
oil
+++ The Nativity of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ
7
fast-free
Our Holy Father Constantine of Synnada
8
fast-free
Our Holy Fathers, the Martyrs Theodore and Theophanes the Branded
9
fast-free
The Holy Martyr Domna
10
fast-free
Our Holy Fathers Mark the Gravedigger and Theophilus the Weeper
11
fast-free
Our Holy Father, the Martyr Gideon
12
fast-free
Saint Dositej of Zagreb
13
fast-free
New Martyr Peter  of the Peloponnesos
14
fast-free
Venerable Sylvester of the Kiev Caves
15
fast-free
St Genevieve of Paris
16
fast-free
Venerable Euthymius the New of Thessalonica, monk
17
fast-free
Martyr Theoidus
18
strict fast
+++ The Theophany
19
fast-free
The Holy Martyr Athanasius
20
fish
St. Theodore of Constantinople
21
fast-free
St. Peter, bishop of Sebaste in Armenia
22
fast-free
Blessed Theosebia the Deaconess
23
fast-free
Saint Maire martyr
24
fast-free
Virgin Martyr Euthasia
25
oil
Venerable Eleazar of Anzersk Island at Solovki (1656)
26
fast-free
Martyr Agnes
27
fish
The Holy Martyr Pansophius
28
fast-free
Martyrs Neon, Turbo, and the woman Jonilla (Jovilla), in Cappadocia
29
fast-free
St Anthony of Krasny Kholm
30
fast-free
Venerable Marcian of Cyrrhus in Syria
31
fast-free
    
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Moon phases for January , 2017 (Serbia)
05 Jan 2017 First Quarter
12 Jan 2017 Full Moon
20 Jan 2017 Third Quarter
28 Jan 2017 New Moon