Holy Transfiguration Monastery

Jun. 15 - Today we commemorate The holy prophet Amos, whom the Lord sent to the sons of Israel. He was a herdsman of Tekoa and a dresser of sycamores, and his preaching was to defend the Lord's righteousness and holiness against the transgressions of the children of Israel. The venerable Jerome, priest of Stridon, who, born in Dalmatia, was an exceptional laborer. He pursued the studies of all literature in Rome and was baptized there. Then, seized by the power of the conte...mplative life and having embraced an ascetic life, he proceeded to the East and was ordained a priest. When he returned to Rome, he stayed in a retreat of Pope Damasus, and then left for Bethlehem in Judea. There he founded a monastery. The notable teacher escaped the world by translating and explaining the Holy Scriptures. In a marvelous way he was a worker fulfilling very many of the needs of the Church. Finally, when he had lived to an advanced age, he reposed in peace. (420) See more

Jun. 14 - Today we commemorate The holy prophet Elisha at Samaria or Sebaste in Palestine. He was a disciple of the prophet Elijah, and was himself a prophet in Israel from the time of King Joram to the days of Jehoash. Though his oracles do not remain, he nevertheless (by his working miracles for foreigners) announced the coming salvation for all people. Our holy father Methodius, patriarch of Constantinople. While he was a monk, he betook himself to Rome to Pope St. Paschal the First in defense of the holy icons. Elevated to the episcopate, he solemnly celebrated the triumph of the orthodox faith with the restoration of the holy icons. (847)

Jun. 13 - THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. The holy martyr Aquilina, who suffered death under the emperor Trajan. She was a child of twelve years old when she was brutally martyred for the faith. (293) Our holy father Triphyllus, bishop of Leucosia in Cyprus, who ardently defended the orthodox Nicene faith. He was the most eloquent speaker of his time and a marvelous commentator on the Song of Songs, as St. Jerome relates. (370)

Jun. 12 - Today we commemorate Our venerable father Onuphry the Great, anchorite, who piously spent his life for sixty years in the desolate wilderness. (400) Our venerable father Peter of Mount Athos, a soldier by profession. Captured and imprisoned by the Arabs, he was miraculously freed. He immediately set out for Rome, where he was tonsured a monk by the Pope. He was guided in a vision to Mt. Athos, and spent thirty-five years in the ascetic life. (734)

Jun. 11 - Today we commemorate The holy Apostles Bartholomew and Barnabas. Barnabas was a good man and "full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. He was counted among the first of the faithful at Jerusalem, preached the Gospel at Antioch and introduced Saul of Tarsus, just converted, to a number of the brothers. He accompanied Paul in his first trip to Asia to evangelize. He was present at the Council of Jerusalem. Having returned to the island of Cyprus, his native land, he sp...read the Gospel there. Bartholomew the apostle, who is believed by many to be the same as Nathanael, was born in Cana of Galilee and was taken to Christ Jesus by Philip at the Jordan. Afterwards, the Lord called him to follow him and he joined the Twelve. After the Ascension of the Lord it is said that he preached the Gospel in India and there was crowned with martyrdom.

Jun. 10 - Today we commemorate The holy martyr Timothy, bishop of Prusa in Bithynia, who suffered during the reign of the emperor Julian the Apostate. (362)

Nov. 11 - Today we commemorate The holy martyrs Menas, Victor, and Vincent. Menas was a soldier from Egypt, who could not bear to look upon the food offering made in sacrifice to idols. Because of this, he left the army and went into the desert to live with wild beasts. Menas was arrested by a pagan governor and tortured and martyred with his companions Victor and Vincent. (304) The holy martyr Stephanis volunteered to die with Vincent. (304)... Our venerable father and confessor Theodore the Studite was hegumen of that monastery in Constantinople who suffered greatly for his defense of the cult of the holy icons. He was a wise organizer of monastic life, an inspired teacher of the Orthodox faith, and a great ascetic. He died in Constantinople at the age of 68. (826)

Nov. 10 - Today we commemorate The holy apostles Erastus, Olympas and Rhodion and their companions. Erastus was the treasurer of the city of Corinth and ministered to blessed Paul the Apostle.

Nov. 9 - Today we commemorate Our venerable mother Matrona. From Perga in Pamphylia, she fled a horrible marriage by dressing in men’s clothing and, under the name of Babylas, lived in a monastery in Constantinople. She went from monastery to monastery to evade her husband. She lived the monastic life for seventy-five years and fell asleep in the Lord. (492) The venerable Theoctista of Lesbos became a nun at the age of seventeen. Saracens descended on the island and enslaved all the people they captured. Theoctista escaped and lived in an abandoned church on the island of Paros for thirty-five years. (881))

Nov. 8 - TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST THE SYNAXIS OF THE HOLY ARCHANGEL MICHAEL AND ALL THE ANGELIC POWERS. In the time of Pope Sylvester of Rome and Patriarch Alexander of Alexandria, this feast was established to honor Michael and Gabriel the Archangels, and all the holy bodiless powers of heaven in their nine choirs: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels.

Nov. 7 - Today we commemorate The holy thirty-three martyrs at Melitene. Hieron was a devout Christian who cared diligently for his blind mother, Stratonica. He was forcibly impressed into the army, where he refused to worship idols. He was brought before the local governor with thirty-two other local Christians. They went to their death singing the psalm, Blessed are those undefiled in their way, who walk in the Law of the Lord. (298) Our venerable father Lazarus the Wonderworker, who fasted in the hills of Galilee. He left for the Holy Land on pilgrimage and became a monk of the monastery of St. Sabbas the Sanctified. After ten years, he settled in Galilee and lived as a stylite. (11th century)

Nov. 6 - Today we commemorate Our father Paul the Confessor, archbishop of Constantinople, who was frequently exiled by the Arians because of his adherence to the Nicene faith and as often restored in dignity. Finally he was sent by Constantius the emperor to Cucusum, a small village in Cappadocia. In that place, it is said, he was strangled in a conspiracy of the Arians. (351)

Nov. 5 - Today we commemorate The holy martyrs Galaction and Episteme, husband and wife who joined nearby monasteries immediately after their marriage. They did not see each other for many years, until the persecution which brought them both into court and saw them die on the same day. (253)

Nov. 4 - Today we commemorate Our venerable father Joannicus the Great in the coenobium of Antidium in Bithynia, monk, who, having left the military after more than twenty years in arms, pursued the solitary life in different forests of Mt. Olympus. He was accustomed to end his prayer with these words: "God my hope, Christ my refuge, Holy Spirit my protector." (846) The holy martyr Nicander, bishop of Myra and the priest Hermas, at Myra in Lycia. Both were ordained by the Apostle Titus. They were distinguished by a great zeal for the Faith and for their great labors in winning pagans for Christ. Because of this, they were tortured in various ways and eventually were buried alive. (1st century)

Nov. 3 - Today we commemorate The holy martyrs Acepsimas the bishop, Joseph the priest, and Aeithalas the deacon. Acepsimas was eighty years old when the Persian king Sapor began the persecution of Christians in which Acepsimas was seized. He was interrogated, thrown into prison with Joseph and Aeithalas, and then killed. They suffered in the fourth century. (4th century) Foundation of the church of the holy great martyr George in Lydda, where his relics are kept. This is the anniversary of the translation of the relics of the Great Martyr from Nicomedia to Lydda in Palestine. In the time of the emperor Constantine the Great, a beautiful church was built to house the relics. It remains a place of great pilgrimage.

Nov. 2 - Today we commemorate The holy martyrs Akindynos, Pegasius, Aphthonius, Elpidiphor, and Anempodistus, and very many companions in Persia, martyrs, who, under Licinius the emperor, suffered under the King Shapur II. (335)

Nov. 1 - Today we commemorate The holy unmercenary wonderworkers Cosmas and Damian who, it is said, practiced medicine asking for no money in Cyrrhus in Euphratesia and many were healed by their free cures. In the Ukrainian Church we also commemorate the passing to eternal life of our Righteous (the Latins say "Venerable") Father Andrey Sheptytsky, Metropolitan Archbishop of L'viv and Halychyna (Galicia), and Bishop of Kamyanets in Podillia.

Oct. 31 - Today we commemorate The holy priest-martyr Theodore Romzha. Born in Veliky Bychkiv in Carpatho-Russia in 1911, he came from a poor family and exhibited a vocation to the priesthood. Sent to Rome for studies, he was ordained in 1937 and sent to the country parish of Berzovo. In 1939, he was called to the seminary at Uzhhorod and taught there until 1944. In 1944, despite his youth, he was ordained bishop for the Mukachevo Eparchy. During the Soviet Army’s occupation of Carpatho-Russia, he was tireless in his care for his flock and in his defense of the rights of the Byzantine Catholic Church. On October 27, 1947, he was severely wounded in a staged accident. He was taken to the hospital in Mukachevo, where he was subsequently poisoned, and died. (1947)

Oct. 30 - Today we commemorate The holy martyr Zenobius and his sister Zenobia at Sidon in Phoenicia, priest, who, in the severity of the persecution of Diocletian the emperor, urged others to martyrdom and himself was crowned with martyrdom. His sister voluntarily joined him in his martyrdom. (285)

Oct. 29 - Today we commemorate The holy venerable martyr Anastasia. Born in Rome to wealthy and upper- class parents, she was left an orphan at age three. She was taken to a women’s monastery to live, under the guidance of the Hegumena Sophia. When she was seventeen, the pagan governor summoned her to defend herself, which she did with great eloquence. She was stripped, tortured, and finally mutilated by the guards. This was during the persecution of the emperor Decius (249...-251). Our venerable father Abraham the hermit. Under pressure from his parents, Abraham married, but then fled into the desert to live as a hermit. For fifty years he did so, faithfully keeping to the ascetic life which had called him. He died at the age of seventy at Edessa in Osrhoene in Mesopotamia. St. Ephraem the deacon recorded the deeds of this remarkable man. (360) The passing of our venerable father Abraham of Rostov, archimandrite and wonderworker, in the world Avercius, in his youth left his parents' home and entered upon the path of Christian asceticism. Having assumed the monastic form, Abraham settled at Rostov on the shore of Lake Nero. In the Rostov lands there were not many pagans, and the Venerable worked intensely at spreading the true faith. Many of the pagans were persuaded and baptized by Saint Abraham. Particularly great was his influence with the children whom he taught the ability to read and write, instructing them in the law of God, and tonsured monastics from among them. Everyone who came to the monastery of the saint was accepted with love. His life was a constant work of prayer and toil for the benefit of the brethren: he chopped firewood for the oven, he laundered the monks' clothing and carried water for the kitchen. The Venerable Abraham reposed in old age and was buried in the church of the Theophany (11th century)