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The Hieromartyr Zenobius and his sister Zenobia From the town of Aegae in Cilicia, they inherited the true Faith and great material wealth from their parents. Inflamed with zeal for the Faith, they, with great love, gave away their riches to the poor. Because they were so open-handed, God shielded these hands from every evil intent by men or demons. The merciful hands of Zenobius, which gave to the poor, were endowed by God with the gift of wonderworking, so that Zenobius was able to heal the sick of every sort of infirmity simply by the touch of his hand, and he was made Bishop of Aegae. At a time of persecution, the judge Licius seized him and said: "I offer you the two: life and death - life if you bow down to the gods, and death if you do not." Holy Zenobius replied: "Life without Christ is not life, but death; and death for Christ"s sake is not death, but life." When Zenobius was put to harsh torture, his sister presented herself before the judge and said: "I also want to drink this cup of suffering and be crowned with that wreath." After torture by fire and in boiling pitch, they were both beheaded with the sword in about 285, and thus brother and sister entered into the immortal Kingdom of Christ the King.The Holy Apostles Cleopas, Tertius, Mark, Justus and Artemas They were of the Seventy. The risen Lord appeared to Cleopas on the road to Emmaus (Lk. 24:13-33). Tertius wrote down Paul"s Epistle to the Romans for him (Rom. 16:22), and died a martyr as Bishop of Iconium, after the Apostle Sosipater (Nov. 10th). St Mark (or John, see Acts 12:12) was the son of the devout Mary in whose house the apostles and the early Christians found shelter, and the nephew of Barnabas. He was bishop in the Samaritan town of Apollonia. Justus was a son of Joseph the Betrothed. Together with Matthias, he was selected for the lot to be cast to replace Judas the betrayer, but was not chosen (Acts 1:23-26). As bishop in Eleutheropolis, he suffered for the Gospel. St Artemas was bishop in Lystra in Lycaonia, and died peacefully.The Holy King Milutin The son of Uros I and Queen Helena and brother of Dragutin, he fought fiercely to defend his faith and his people. He fought against Michael Palaeologus because the latter had accepted union with Rome and was putting pressure on the whole Balkan people and the monks of Athos to accept the Pope. He fought against Shishman, King of Bulgaria, and Nogai, King of the Tartars, to defend his country from them. All his wars were successful, for he prayed constantly to God and put himself in His hands. He built more than forty churches, both in his own land (Treskavac, Gracanica, St George in Nagorid, the Holy Mother of God in Skoplje, Banjska and so forth) and in Salonica, Sophia, Constantinople, Jerusalem and on the Holy Mountain. He entered into rest in the Lord on October 29th, 1320, and his body was soon seen to be uncorrupt and wonderworking. It is still preserved in that state today in the Church of the Holy King in Sophia.
Author's note: Milutin was married twice, not four times as his detractors would have it; first to Elisabeth, a Hungarian princess, and then to Simonida, a princess of Byzantium.Hieromartyr Marcian, bishop of Syracuse (2nd c) The Holy PriestMartyr Marcian, Bishop of Syracuse, a disciple of the Apostle Peter, was sent to Sicily. Here he settled into a cave near the city of Syracuse and successfully spread the faith in Christ. He died a martyr. His relics are situated in the Italian city of Gaeta. (The PriestMartyr Marcian is the same person as Saint Marcellus, Bishop of Sicily, whose memory is 9 February).Martyr Eutropia of Alexandria (220) The Martyress Eutropia suffered for Christ in Alexandria in about the year 250. Often visiting Christians locked up in prison, she encouraged them to the patient endurance of suffering. For this the saint was arrested. At her trial she firmly confessed her faith in Christ and she died after grievous tortures.Apostles Tertius, Mark, Justus, and Artemas of the Seventy (1st c.) The Holy Disciples from the Seventy: Tertius (Tercias), Mark, Justus and Artemis: Saint Tertius was the second bishop in succession (after the holy Disciple Sosipater) in Iconium, where he converted many pagans to Christ, and here he ended his life as a martyr. The Apostle Paul makes mention of him in the Epistle to the Romans (Rom. 16: 22). Saint Mark, he that was John, (Acts 12: 12), a nephew of the Disciple Barnabas, was bishop of Apolloniada (Col. 4: 10). It was in the house of his mother Maria that the persecuted disciples found shelter after the Ascension of the Lord. Saint Justus, called Barsaba, a son of Saint Joseph the Betrothed, was chosen in place of Judas, together with Matthias. He was a bishop and died a martyr's death at Eleutheropolis. Saint Artemis was bishop of the Lycian city of Lystra, and he died peacefully.Hieromartyr Zenobius and his sister Zenobia of Aegae, Cilicia (285) The PriestMartyr Zenobios, Bishop of Egeia, and his sister Zenobia suffered a martyr's death in the year 285 in Cilicia. From childhood they were raised in the holy Christian faith by their parents, and they led pious and chaste lives. In their mature years, shunning the love of money, they distributed away their wealth, an inheritance, giving it to the poor. For his beneficence and holy life the Lord rewarded Zenobios with the gift of healing various maladies. And he was chosen bishop of a Christian community in Cilicia...Martyrs Alexander, Cronion, Julian, Macarius, and 13 companions at Alexandria (250)Martyr Dometius of PhrygiaSt. Joseph I, Patriarch of Constantinople (1283)Once a married priest, he entered monastic life when his wife died, and became the spiritual father of the Emperor Michael VIII Paleologus, during whose reign he was elevated to the Patriarchate. Despite this patronage, St Joseph's integrity was inviolable: At his first Divine Liturgy as Patriarch, he required the Emperor publicly to confess and repent of several sins before admitting him to Communion. He fiercely opposed the Emperor's expedient policy of union with Rome, and was therefore deposed, retiring once more to monastic life. In old age, he was restored to the Patriarchal throne upon the death of Emperor Michael, but died a few months later. Martyr Jotham Zedgenidze, Paravani (1465) In 1446 George VIII was crowned ruler of a united Georgian kingdom. Filled with every virtue, the valiant warrior and God-fearing king dedicated the twenty years of his reign to a ceaseless struggle for the reunification of his country. He was constantly warding off foreign invaders, surmounting internal strife, and suffering the betrayal of his fellow countrymen... |
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