- September 18 - Martyr, Virgin Raisa () of Alexandria (Antinopolis).
- 06.10 - martyr, virgin Raisa (Iraida) of Alexandria (Antinopolis).
Interpretation of the name and character of Raisa
The name Raisa is interpreted from the ancient Greek language from the word "radios" as "submissive", "light", "compliant". There is also an opinion that the roots of the name go back to Arabic culture. According to this version, the name is listed as "boss", "mistress". In Orthodoxy - the original form of the name Iraid.
At the mention of this female name, a brave and cold woman appears. However, not all Rais are so belligerent and masculine. They have not hefty strength, but still active, joyful and cheerful. They have a bright personality and are endowed with creative imagination. They are described as witty and charming people.
Little Raisa is a girl full of activity and kindness, she loves to play pranks. In any situation, she enjoys life. She has good powers of observation and a wild imagination. Raisa has an accommodating disposition. With her, it will always be possible to find a solution that will suit everyone. Raisa appreciates neatness and order and demands it from everyone around her. Raechka has a good sense of humor, she is funny and loves to have fun. Often she herself is the initiator of jokes, practical jokes. He can always stand up for himself and answer.
Raisa is an erudite person. She takes learning and development seriously, performing all tasks diligently and conscientiously. Raya has an innate sense of tact. She will never fawn and impose. Raya is a very versatile person. She likes a variety of things that it is difficult for her to decide which is better. She has a creative streak and artistry, has dexterity and flexibility, loves to play sports.
Raisa has a strong character, great ambitions and an analytical mindset. She looks after her own interests above all else. Her demands on herself and others are very high. She relentlessly moves towards her goals, easily bypassing all obstacles. Raya does not believe in intuition, guided only by her own intellect, experience and common sense. Her diligence and responsibility can only be envied. She will become an excellent lawyer, teacher, engineer, economist, writer or actress. She will be successful in the trading or banking sector. Her leadership qualities will help her become an excellent leader. She is ready to listen to anyone, but she will always do it her own way. With colleagues, she is tactful and friendly, but in business she shows her authority. Raya is often vengeful and does not forgive insults. In anger, she can be vicious and sarcastic. She will not tolerate pressure and influence on herself, she takes criticism and advice hard.
Raisa has many friends and girlfriends. She is a loyal and reliable friend to whom you can tell all the secrets and who will always give the right advice. As a wife, she chooses a practical, intelligent and strong representative of the opposite sex. She will become a caring mother, a wonderful housewife and will be able to lead the family. In her house there is always order and comfort, which she carefully creates. He likes to receive guests at home, surprising them with his culinary masterpieces. Don't call her a spendthrift. The family budget spends sparingly, keeps it under control. He takes care of his children, teaches, gives important and valuable instructions. Her main character traits can be called intelligence, love of life, confidence and authority.
name patrons
There is little information about Saint Raisa. It is known that she is the daughter of a presbyter, who suffered for the Christian faith during the reign of Emperor Maxentius at the beginning of the 4th century. She lived in Alexandria and was a nun in the local convent.
One fine day, she was walking for water and saw a ship with prisoners on the pier. They were men and women, clergymen and monks, and they did not know at all where they were being sent. All of them were arrested for being adherents of the Christian faith. At the time when Raisa was visiting the prisoners, she was also bound with chains. When the ship landed in the port of the Egyptian city of Antinopolis, the prisoners were tormented and executed. Raisa was the first to be tortured and beheaded.
A girl with the name Raisa in modern society can rarely be found, although in the old days, in comparison with various female names, the name Raya always attracts attention. Although the meaning of the name contains a certain potential that not every girl can show.
Name origin
The name Raisa is of Arabic origin from the basis "Rais", which in translation into Russian means "leader or boss."
There is a second form of this name - Iraida (ancient Greek), which has a meaning similar in meaning to the Arabic form "heroine or daughter of a hero." Being a boss without the makings of a heroine is perhaps difficult.
In everyday life, both names are found, although some believe that Raisa and Iraida are different names, but only in documentary form, but not in essence.
Main characteristics
The girl, named Raisa, does not show the qualities inherent in the meaning of the name in childhood. She is moderately active, does not accept pranks, does not show leadership abilities. But peers are drawn to this girl, considering her an interesting conversationalist, friend and companion.
A woman named Raisa is for the most part the head of the family. Easy to communicate with men, yet she takes the choice of a partner seriously and chooses for a long time.
She is sociable, never harms others, but she can put her offenders in their place either with a sharp word or an act.
The nature and fate of the owner
Raisa's women are stubborn and always achieve their goal, no matter how much effort it will cost. In a profession, they can be realized in any, if there is a personal interest in it or the opportunity to make good money. Raisa is able to be both a leader and a middle manager, even a laborer. Any job is up to her.
He often has equal relations with men or takes the organization of family life into his own hands, supporting his spouse in any business and remaining his support.
I am ready to neglect my interests for the sake of the well-being and health of loved ones. Raisa is ready to do everything for the children, because they are women with a big heart, albeit with a restrained expression of emotions. Raisa is not characterized by manifestations of tenderness. Surrounding seems rude, cold. Such a character can be formed by upbringing in the family when Raisa was a child.
If Raisa finds a man similar to her in character, temperament, then the union is strong and long. It is impossible to destroy it, because Raisa does not believe in rumors, but only trusts her heart and mind.
In most cases, women with the name Raisa remain faithful to their partner until the last days and do not remarry if the husband passes away early. In other men, she only looks for someone who is similar to her spouse, but she does not consider others worthy and regards her relationship as a betrayal of a loved one. Although there are passionate natures among Rais, capable of crazy deeds, but this is a rarity.
They always remain practitioners, thinking through each step in advance.
The meaning of the name in Orthodoxy
The name Raisa from the biblical language is translated as "beloved", and from Greek "light".
In Orthodoxy, the name Raisa is consonant with the name of Saint Raisa (Iraida) of Alexandria, who, according to Orthodox traditions, decided to devote herself to serving the faith of Christ.
One day she saw a ship on which people were boarding in large numbers. With a single impulse, Paradise joined the men, women, clergy, who were chained because of their conviction and faith in Christ. She, without hesitation, accepted the torment and execution, not giving up her beliefs, despite her young age.
Raisa was the first to experience all the tortures. After her execution, other believers were also tortured.
Dates of Raisa's name day
The patroness is Saint Raisa of Alexandria (martyr, virgin). Raisa's name day is celebrated twice according to the church calendar. The days of September, October are name days for Rais, born in any season. In other months, the name day of a woman named Raisa is not celebrated.
Happy Angel Day
I congratulate you Raisa on the day of the angel. Health, perseverance, goal achievement and remain kind, fair, cheerful, happy and may the angel keep you.
[Raisa; Greek ῾Ηραΐς, ῾Ιεραΐς, Ραΐς] († beginning of the 4th century), mts. (commemorated 5 and 23 September, 5 March). The source of information about I. are brief legends in the Synaxar of the K-Polish church. (archetype of the end of the 10th century) and in the Minology imp. Basil II (1st quarter of the 11th century). According to a note placed in the Synaxar of the K-Polish church. on September 5, I. was the daughter of a priest and from the age of 12 she chose monastic life for herself. One day, she saw women who had been arrested and were bound, and going up to them, she asked why they had been arrested. Knowing that they suffered for Christ. faith, the saint openly declared that she, too, was a Christian, and was arrested. Together with others, she was taken to the eparch of Alexandria Kulkian. He, having subjected the arrested to a thorough interrogation, ordered them to be beheaded with swords, which was done. Culcian is mentioned in Eusebius of Caesarea's Ecclesiastical History (Euseb. Hist. eccl. IX 11) in connection with the persecution of imp. Maximinus (305-313), this allows us to date the death of the saint at the beginning. 4th century
In the Synaxar of the K-Polish c. I.'s memory is also given under 23 September. indicating that the saint came from the area of Tama in Egypt.
Tales under 23 Sept. from Minology imp. Basil II and the Synaxarion of the C family differ slightly from the legends from the Synaxarion of the K-Polish c. These sources report that I. was a native of Alexandria. Once leaving the monastery, in which she labored to draw water, I. saw a ship approaching the shore. The ruler of the city was on the ship, and with him were many associated Christians: presbyters, deacons, holy women and virgins. I. openly announced that she believes in Christ and asked the guards to take her along with the others. The martyrs were taken to Antinopolis (Antinous), where they were subjected to various tortures. However, none of them bowed to the idols, and then they were beheaded. I. was the first to be executed. In these legends, the name of the ruler of the city is not indicated.
In the Greek printed Menaion, and then in the "Synaxarist" of St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountaineer entered the legend in several. in a modified form and a couplet dedicated to I. It mentions the name of I.'s father - Peter, the eparch is named Lucian, the area - Tamma (Vata), the emperor, under which these events took place, - Maximian. Rev. Nicodemus also believed that the correct spelling of the name is the variant Ραΐς (Raisa), which is found in some manuscripts of the Synaxarion under 5 Sept. and in a couplet.
In addition, the memory of a certain Iraida (without a legend) is found in the Synaxar of the K-Polish church. still a few times: 5 Oct., 5 (in some manuscripts 4) March and 30 May. Oct 5 the memory of the martyr Iraida “from the city of Memphis” is celebrated, on May 30 - “mts. Iraida in her martyria. On March 4 or 5, along with I., Archelaus and 152 Antinous martyrs are mentioned, of which Photius and Cyril are known by name. Archbishop Sergius (Spassky) believed that 5 and 23 Sept. the memory of the same saint is celebrated, and in March - the memory of another martyr. According to I. Delee, in all cases, I. is meant. In addition, he suggested that honoring I. 5 Sept. appeared as a result of mixing the veneration of I. with the veneration of one of the daughters of ap. Philip, who bore this name, which, apparently, was originally mentioned in the Life of her sister mts. Hermione on September 4, and then her memory was transferred to the next day (Delehaye. 1922. P. 82). In the modern calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church, the memory of I. is celebrated on March 5, the saint appears as a separate person.
In addition, in the "Church History" of Eusebius of Caesarea (Euseb. Hist. eccl. VI 4), it is told about a certain Iraida, who suffered during the reign of imp. Septimius Severus (193-211), however, due to the fact that the dating of the life of the two martyrs differs by about a century, and also because of the different nature of the execution, it can be assumed that Eusebius is talking about another saint of the same name (see Art. Iraida, mts (without memorial day)).
In the Martyrology of Bl. Jerome on June 28, among 23 other martyrs who suffered in Africa (and specifically in Alexandria), a certain Irenaeus is mentioned. Archbishop Sergius (Spassky) did not consider it possible to identify her with any of the aforementioned martyrs. However, Delea suggested that in this case, I. is meant, the spelling of the name of which was distorted.
In Coptic Arabic. Alexandria Synaxar under 14 Tobe (Jan. 9) commemorates mts. Maharati, whose biography coincides with the biography of I. from the Synaxar of the K-Polish church. (she was also 12 years old, her father was a priest, she came from the city of Tamau and suffered under the ruler Calican in Antinous) (SynAlex. Vol. 3. P. 597-598), which allows us to presumably identify this martyr with I.
In the same Synaxar, on the 28th of the month of Tout (September 25), the memory of martyr. Apater (Abadira) and his sister Irina (which is called Iraida in some manuscripts) (Ibid. Vol. 1. P. 304-305). In this legend, there is also a similarity with the facts of the biography of I.: the martyrs suffered in Antinous during the time of imp. Diocletian (284-305), that is, the place and time of their martyrdom coincide, and the days of their memory are also close. However, in the synaxarium note and in 2 versions of the Martyrdom of these saints, Apater is primarily spoken of, and little is known about his sister, so it is impossible to say with certainty that she is the same person as I.
In addition, there is a cop. Martyrdom of a certain Iraida, published from a single papyrus with large lacunae (BHO, N 376). Her memorial day is 14 tobe (Jan 9). The facts of the biography of the saint, given in the Martyrdom, also largely coincide with the events from the life of I., which makes it possible to identify these martyrs.
Source: ActaSS. mart. T. 1. P. 311; Mart Hieron. P. 39, 41; P.G. 117 Col. 68-69; SynAlex. Vol. 1. P. 304-305; Vol. 3. P. 597-598; SynCP. Col. 18-19, 71-76, 112, 506, 512, 717; Νικόδημος. Συναξαριστής. Τ. 1. Σ. 191-192; ZhSv. Sept. S. 461; March. S. 132.
T. A. Artyukhova
The Holy Martyr Iraida lived in Alexandria. Once, going to the source to draw water, she saw a ship near the shore, on which there were many men, women, clergymen and monks, imprisoned in chains for confessing the faith of Christ. Throwing away the water-carrier, the saint voluntarily joined the prisoners of Christ, and shackles were placed on her. When the ship arrived in the Egyptian city of Antipolis, Saint Iraida was the first to suffer cruel tortures and was beheaded with a sword. Following her, the rest of the martyrs sealed their confession of faith in Christ with their blood.
See also: "" in the exposition of St. Dimitri Rostovsky.
Troparion of Martyr Raisa (Iraida)
Your Lamb Jesus Raisa calls with a great voice: I love you, my wife, and I seek you, I suffer, and I crucify myself, and I am buried by Your baptism, and I suffer for Your sake, as if I reign in You, and I die for You, and I live with You, but like accept me as an immaculate sacrifice, which I have sacrificed to Thee with love. Toya, with prayers, as if merciful, save our souls. Amen.
Holy Prophet Zechariah and Holy Righteous Elizabeth
The holy prophet Zacharias and the holy righteous Elizabeth were the parents of the holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John. They came from the family of Aaron: Saint Zacharias, the son of Barahia, was a priest in the Jerusalem temple, and Saint Elizabeth was the sister of Saint Anna, mother of the Most Holy Theotokos. Righteous spouses, "acting according to all the commandments of the Lord blamelessly" (Luke 1:5-25), suffered from barrenness, which was considered in the Old Testament times a great punishment from God. Once, while serving in the temple, Saint Zacharias received a message from an angel that his aged wife would bear him a son who "will be great before the Lord" (Luke 1:15) and "will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1 , 17). Zechariah doubted the possibility of fulfilling this prediction and was punished with dumbness for lack of faith. When a son was born to the righteous Elizabeth, she, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, announced that she would name the baby John, although no one in their family had been given such a name before. They asked the righteous Zechariah, and he also wrote the name John on the tablet. Immediately the gift of speech returned to him, and he, filled with the Holy Spirit, began to prophesy about his son as the Forerunner of the Lord.
When the wicked King Herod heard from the Magi about the born Messiah, he decided to beat all babies under the age of 2 in Bethlehem and its environs, hoping that the born Messiah would be among them. Herod was well aware of the unusual birth of the prophet John and wanted to kill him, fearing that he was the King of the Jews. But the righteous Elizabeth took refuge with the baby in the mountains. The assassins were looking for John everywhere. Righteous Elizabeth, seeing the persecutors, with tears began to pray to God for salvation, and the mountain that parted at once hid her, along with the baby, from the chase. During these troubled days, Saint Zacharias fulfilled his line of service in the Temple in Jerusalem. Soldiers sent by Herod tried in vain to find out from him where his son was. Then, at the command of Herod, they killed the holy prophet, stabbing him between the altar and the altar (Matthew 23:35). Righteous Elizabeth died 40 days after her husband, and Saint John, protected by the Lord, remained in the wilderness until the day of his appearance to the people of Israel.
Martyr Athanasius, hegumen of Brest
“Oh, that my cries were truly weighed, and together with them they put my suffering on the scales! It would surely drag the sand of the seas!” (Job 6, 2-3) - the reverend martyr Athanasius, hegumen of Brest, who fought with the spiritual sword for the Orthodox faith, persecuted and killed by apostates, the sons of lies, could recall the words of the long-suffering Job.
The Monk Martyr Athanasius was born around 1595-1600 into a poor Orthodox family, probably an impoverished gentry (judging by the fact that the future hegumen served as a teacher at the court of a magnate). Perhaps he was from the family of an urban artisan - as he himself points out in his memoirs, calling himself "a non-nendzy Man, a simple, garbarchik, a miserable Kaluger." As is often the case, we have no information either about the place of birth or about the secular name of the saint; it is also unknown what the name "Filippovich" is - a surname or patronymic.
Probably, Athanasius received his initial knowledge in one of the fraternal schools, where, having been taught the Greek and Church Slavonic languages, the word of God and patristic creations, highly educated people were trained who could resist Uniate violence and Catholic proselytism. But the education received at the fraternal school did not fully satisfy the inquisitive young man, and he was trained at the Vilna Jesuit College, where young people of all Christian denominations were admitted.
The young scientist began his service as a home tutor in the homes of the Orthodox and Catholic gentry, but in 1620 his life fell into a different direction: Filippovich, who positively proved himself with rich knowledge, good manners and undeniable pedagogical talent, was invited by Hetman Lev Sapega, Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . The hetman entrusted him with the upbringing of a certain "Dmitrovich" introduced to Athanasius by the Russian Tsarevich John - supposedly the nephew of Theodore Ioannovich, who died in 1598, the grandson of John IV the Terrible from his younger son Demetrius, under whose name several impostors acted in 1604-1612. One of these “applicants” was the father of the disciple Athanasius, whom the Poles were preparing for the Russian throne: Dimitry-Mikhail Luba, who was killed in Moscow during a rebellion against the militia of False Dmitry I. Mikhail Luba’s wife Maria died in prison, and a certain Wojciech took his young son Belinsky, who brought the child to Poland and passed off as the son of Dimitri and Marina Mnishek, who was actually hanged. All this was announced at the Sejm before the king, who entrusted the upbringing of Ivan Dimitrievich to Lev Sapega. He appointed the maintenance of the “prince” at six thousand zlotys a year from the income of Brest and the Brest district.
For seven years Athanasius served as the “inspector” of the false prince, gradually coming to the conclusion that this “certain prince of Moscow”, “certain Luba”, “and did not know about himself. what is he”, is another impostor. This confidence intensified over time, especially when Luba's allowance was reduced to hundreds of zlotys a year, and Hetman Sapieha himself somehow escaped: "Who knows who he is!"
Having become an unwitting accomplice in political intrigue against the Moscow sovereign, the famous defender of Orthodoxy Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, the son of the Russian Patriarch Filaret, Filippovich left the court of the chancellor in 1627 and retired to the cell of the Vilna Holy Spirit Monastery, where he soon received tonsure from the vicar Joseph Bobrikovich. Soon, with his blessing, Athanasius passed his obedience at the Kuteinsky Monastery near Orsha, recently founded in 1623 by Bogdan Stetkevich and his wife Elena Solomeretskaya (V. Zverinsky. Materials for historical and topographical research. St. Petersburg. 1892 P. 172), and then - in the Mezhyhirya monastery near Kiev, at the hegumen of the Commentary (mentioned under 1627) and the brother of the Kiev Metropolitan Job Boretsky - Samuel. However, already in 1632 the Mezhyhirya abbot released Athanasius to Vilna, where he was ordained a hieromonk.
The following year, Athanasius again left the monastery of the Holy Spirit and went as a viceroy of hegumen Leonty Shitik to the Duboinsky monastery near Pinsk, also subordinate to the Vilna monastic monastery, where he spent three years caring for the brethren, fasting and praying.
In 1636, Albrecht Radziwill, an ardent supporter of Catholic proselytism, violating the “Articles of Calm” published by King Vladislav IV, forcibly expelled Orthodox inhabitants from the Duboina Monastery in order to transfer the monastery to the Jesuits, who shortly before that, through the efforts of the same Albrecht, settled in Pinsk. Athanasius, unable to resist the magnate and keep the monastery, made a complaint with a story about the lawlessness committed, but this written protest, signed by many Orthodox, did not bring positive results.
Expelled from the holy monastery, Afanasy Filippovich came to the Kupyatitsky monastery to the hegumen Illarion Denisovich. This monastery was founded in 1628 by the widow of the Brest castellan Gregory Voina Apollonia and her son Vasily Koptem with a miraculous icon of the Mother of God, written inside the cross, once burned by the Tatars, and then miraculously appeared in the middle of the flame. Here, under the holy cover of the “small in size, but great in miracles” icon, blessed Athanasius lived in cordial friendship with monk Makariy Tokarevsky.
In 1637, this Macarius brought a station wagon from Metropolitan Peter Mohyla, allowing the collection of "yalmuzhna" - alms for the restoration of the Kupyatitsky monastery church. And so, on the advice of the brethren of the monastery and the blessing of the abbot, in November 1637 Afanasy Filippovich went to collect donations. To do this, he decided on rather bold actions: he sent Moscow to collect donations to seek the protection of Orthodoxy from the Moscow Tsar. Shortly before the road, he had a vision, which the abbot of the monastery was also honored with: King Sigismund, papal nuncio and hetman Sapieha were burning in a flaming furnace. Athanasius considered this vision a good omen of the imminent triumph of Orthodoxy. Immediately before leaving for Muscovy, Athanasius, praying in the church vestibule, saw through the window the icon of the Mother of God and heard some noise and a voice from the icon “I am going with you too! ”, and then noticed Deacon Nehemiah, who had died a few years before, who said: “I also go with my Lady!” Thus, having secured the promise of the miraculous patronage of the Most Holy Theotokos, saying goodbye to the brethren and receiving the blessing of the hegumen, Athanasius set off on his journey.
Arriving in Slutsk, he met with unexpected difficulties: Archimandrite Samuil Shitik took away the metropolitan universal from him for the reason that Filippovich did not have the right to collect fees in a territory that did not belong to the Lutsk diocese. When the conflict was resolved at the end of January 1638, Athanasius and his companion Volkovitsky went to Kuteino to ask hegumen Ioil Trutsevich, who was connected with the most famous representatives of the Russian clergy, to assist in crossing the border to Muscovy (supervision was strengthened over the border due to the fact that the Cossacks, fearing reprisals after a recent riot, fled from the Commonwealth to Russia).
Having taken letters of recommendation from Abbot Joel, "cards, information about himself," Filippovich went to Kopys, Mogilev, Shklov and again returned to the Kuteinsky Monastery, where the governor Joseph Surta recommended making his way to the Moscow kingdom through Trubchevsk. Having lost their way and almost drowned in the Dnieper, robbed and beaten in one of the inns, the travelers finally reached Trubchevsk. But here, too, failure awaited them; Prince Trubetskoy categorically refused to give them a pass, suspecting them to be scouts.
Forced to return, Athanasius visited the Chovsky Monastery on the way, where one of the elders advised him to make an attempt to cross the border in the region of Novgorod-Seversky with the assistance of the local voivode Peter Pesechinsky. The pilgrim gratefully accepted the good advice and crossed the border near the village of Shepelevo.
However, Athanasius's difficulties did not end there: on the way to Moscow, he had a quarrel with the novice Onesimus, who had lost hope of achieving his goal.
Finally, the walkers came to the gates of the capital. In Moscow, they stopped in Zamoskvorechye, on Ordynka, where in March 1638 Athanasius wrote a note to the tsar, outlining his mission and travel history in the form of a diary. In this note, Athanasius showed the plight of the Orthodox Church in the Commonwealth, expanding the picture of violence and abuse of Orthodoxy, begged the Russian sovereign to intercede for the Russian faith. He also advised the tsar to make an image of the Kupyatitskaya Mother of God on military banners, with the help of which it was possible to make such a difficult and unsafe journey. This note, together with the image of the miraculous image, was handed over to the king. As a result, Athanasius was received in the Embassy hut, where, apparently, he spoke about the upcoming impostor. The very next year, a commission headed by the boyar Ivan Plakidin was sent to Poland to identify impostors; the report of the head of the commission confirmed the information of Athanasius (Monuments of Russian antiquity. St. Petersburg. 1885. Vol. 8).
On the flower-bearing, Palm Sunday, Athanasius left Moscow with generous donations for the Kupyatitskaya church, arrived in Vilna on June 16, and in July reached the limits of his native monastery.
In 1640, the brethren of the Brest Simeonov Monastery, having lost their abbot, sent a petition to Kupyatitsy to bless Afanasy Filippovich or Makariy Tokarevsky as abbot. The choice fell on Athanasius, who went to Brest. Here he found himself in the very center of the struggle of Orthodoxy with the union, for Brest was the city in which "Greek Catholicism" was born and spread like nowhere else. Even earlier, all 10 Orthodox churches in the city were turned into Uniate ones, and only in 1632 did the Orthodox brotherhood manage to return the temple in the name of Simeon the Stylite with the monastery attached to it, and in 1633 - the church in honor of the Nativity of the Virgin.
The Uniates, however, did not stop their encroachments, and soon Abbot Athanasius had to look for "foundations" on Orthodox churches: six documents of the 15th century were found and entered in the city books of Magdeburg, relating to the Brest Nikolsky brotherhood, which united the monasteries of the Nativity of the Virgin and Simeon the Stylite . The documents found by the abbot gave grounds for the legal registration of the rights of the Nativity of the Mother of God brotherhood, and the Brest ascetic went to Warsaw in September 1641 to the Sejm, where he received royal privileges on October 13, confirming the rights of the brothers and allowing them to purchase a place in Brest to build a brotherly house.
But this privilege had to be ratified by the chancellor Albrecht Radziwill and the sub-chancellor Trizna, who refused, even for 30 thalers that the abbot could offer them, to certify the privileges with their seals, referring to the fact that “under an oath it is forbidden to them from the holy father of papezh, so that more the Greek faith did not multiply here.” Nor could the Orthodox bishops gathered at the Seimas help the hegumen of Brest, fearing that more could be lost in the struggle for less, causing a wave of new persecution from the authorities. Hegumen Athanasius, however, strengthened in the rightness of his cause by the blessing of the miraculous icon, again made an attempt to assure this privilege, and again unsuccessfully. Then he appeared at the Sejm and addressed directly to the king with an official complaint - "suplika" - demanding "that the true Greek faith be thoroughly calmed, and the accursed union destroyed and turned into nothing", threatening the monarch with God's punishment if he did not curb the dictates Church.
This denunciation, uttered on March 10, 1643, brought the king and the diet into the strongest annoyance. Abbot Athanasius was arrested and imprisoned together with his colleague Deacon Leonty in the house of the royal gatekeeper Jan Zhelezovsky for several weeks - until the Diet departure. Deprived of the opportunity to explain the reasons for his speech, the hegumen of Brest took upon himself the feat of voluntary foolishness, and on March 25, on the celebration of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, he escaped from custody and, standing on the street in captura and paramanta, beating himself with a staff in the chest, publicly pronounced a curse union.
Soon he was captured and again taken into custody, and after the end of the Diet, he was brought to the church court. The court, to appease the authorities, temporarily deprived him of his priestly and abbot ranks and sent him to Kyiv for the final trial of the consistory. In anticipation of the final decision of the court, the Monk Athanasius prepared an explanatory note in Latin, for the arrival of a government prosecutor was expected. Far from the irritated Warsaw and the supreme authorities, the court, chaired by the rector of the Kiev-Mohyla collegium Innokenty Gizel, ruled that Athanasius had already atoned for his "sin" by imprisonment, and therefore he was granted freedom and the priesthood returned. Metropolitan Peter Mohyla confirmed this decision and on June 20 sent the monk to the monastery of Simeon the Stylite with a message in which he was ordered to be more careful and restrained in church affairs.
So the Monk Athanasius returned to Brest, where he lived "for a considerable time in peace." This peace was very relative, for the constant attacks on the monastery by Jesuit students and Uniate priests did not stop, insulting and even beating Orthodox monks.
Expecting to receive support from the Novogorodsk voivode Nikolai Sapieha, who was considered the patron of the Simeonov Monastery, and in the hope that he would help secure a safe-conduct for the Orthodox Beresteyans, the Monk Athanasius went to Krakow, simultaneously collecting donations for his monastery. Unfortunately, the support of the noble governor could not be found, and the monk went to the Moscow ambassador, Prince Lvov, who at that time lived in Krakow and was investigating impostors. Having met with him, Athanasius told about his trip to Moscow, and also told a lot of facts about Jan-Favstin Luba, presenting one of his last messages, certain fragments of which gave reason to initiate a judicial investigation against the impostor.
Summoned from Krakow to Warsaw by a letter from the Warsaw jurist Zychevsky, who reported on May 3, 1644, that through his efforts the charter entrusted by Athanasius to be certified by the chancellor had already been provided with the necessary seals, and demanded the redemption of privileges for six thousand zlotys, the Monk Athanasius immediately set off for the capital. But when, during the verification, it turned out that the privileges were not included in the royal metric and, therefore, had no legal force, the abbot refused to redeem the fictitious document.
Returning to Brest from Warsaw, the Monk Athanasius ordered a copy of the Kupyatitsky icon from the Bernardine monastery and placed it in his cell; inspired by this image, he proceeded to compose a new public complaint, with which he expected to speak at the diet of 1645. For this, he also prepared several dozen copies of the handwritten "History of a Journey to Moscow" depicting the Kupyatitskaya Icon of the Mother of God.
Athanasius' plans were not destined to come true: a few weeks before the opening of the Sejm, in the summer of 1645, he was arrested and sent under escort to Warsaw as a hostage for Luba, who had been taken to Moscow. Despite daily interrogations and torture, encouraged by his followers, as evidenced, for example, by a letter from a certain Michael dated June 1, the hegumen of Brest did not stop his public polemical activity and wrote "News", in which he placed his own spiritual verse.
For half a year, the tireless warrior of Christ created a whole series of articles, the titles of which speak for themselves: “The foundation of the mess of the Roman Church”, “The Pious Council”, “On the Foundation of the Church”, “Preparation for Judgment”. He also drew up a petition to King Vladislav, filed on June 29, 1645. Not knowing the fate of this epistle, the abbot wrote another, third “suplika,” which was served by one of the saint’s supporters to the royal carriage during the departure of the monarch.
This suplica attracted the attention of the king, but the request for release had no consequences, despite the fact that on July 23, Ambassador Gabriel Stempkovsky persuaded the new Russian sovereign Alexy to release Luba under the guarantee of the king and the pans. However, when they tried to convey to the king the article of the hegumen of Brest “Preparation for the court”, he exclaimed “no need, no need anymore; told him to let him out!”, did not want to accept the abbot.
At the same time, King Vladislav suggested that Metropolitan Peter Mogila call the Monk Athanasius to him and do with him as he sees fit. But at the same time, the prison authorities incited the prisoner to escape in order to obtain a formal basis for his murder. The abbot did not succumb to this provocation, patiently waiting for a “decent release from prison”, especially when a rumor arose that the king himself agreed to listen to him. Apparently, later the senators still convinced the monarch not to meet with the imprisoned Brest abbot.
On November 3, 1645, the Monk Athanasius, accompanied by an escort, was sent to Kyiv, where he stayed in the cell of the Caves Monastery. Here he "for the record of the Orthodox people" worked on combining all his works into a single work - "Diariush". On September 14, 1646, in an effort to once again declare his innocence and rightness, the monk again decided on this in the form of a holy fool in the Pechersk monastery church. Explaining this action later, he wrote “The reasons for my act are those in the church of St.
Three and a half months after the events mentioned, on January 1, 1647, Metropolitan Peter Mogila died. All the Orthodox bishops of the Commonwealth came to the burial of the metropolitan, among whom was the Lutsk hierarch Athanasius Puzyna. When leaving, he took with him the Monk Abbot of Brest as a clergyman belonging to his diocese, and after persistent petitions from the Brest brothers, he sent the hegumen to his monastery.
But the times of peace were short-lived. In March 1648, an uprising began, headed by Bohdan Khmelnitsky; a month later King Vladislav died. At this time in the Commonwealth began to operate extraordinary - Kaptur - courts, and on July 1, 1648, the captain of the royal guard Shumsky made a denunciation of the Monk Athanasius, who was arrested immediately after the Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos.
The accuser reported to the court that the abbot sent certain messages and gunpowder to the Cossacks of Bogdan. The reverend protested this statement, demanding evidence from the prosecution. A search conducted in the monastery yielded no results. When this was reported to the inspector-prosecutor, he blurted out in his hearts: “Oh, so that it kills you that they didn’t plant some gunpowder and didn’t say that they found it here at the Chernets!” However, unable to prove their own slander, the accusers brought forward another, their main accusation, and on this basis they finally decided to deal with the righteous man, who "offended and cursed the holy union."
Realizing that they were only looking for a pretext for his murder, the Monk Athanasius declared to the judges: “Then, merciful Panovs, did you order me to come to my senses, that I offended and cursed your union? - So I'm at the Sejm in Warsaw before the king. and he spoke to his most luminous senate and always spoke everywhere according to the will of God. And now I affirm before you: cursed is your union. »
After a brief deliberation, the judges declared the hegumen deserving of the death penalty. Until the final sanction was received from Warsaw, the Monk Athanasius, shackled in stocks, was placed in a storehouse. When the Catholic Bishop of Lutsk Gembitsky and Chancellor of the Principality of Lithuania Albrecht Radziwill arrived in Brest, the unbroken abbot declared in their presence that the union was cursed by God. To this, the Bishop replied: “Tomorrow you will see your tongue in front of you in the hands of the executioner!”
On the night of September 5, a Jesuit student was sent to Afanasy's cell to make a final attempt to persuade the unshakable abbot to betray Orthodoxy. This attempt was not successful, and then the stocks were removed from the martyr and taken to the Brest governor Masalsky, who in annoyance threw out: “You already have him in your hands, do with him what you want!”
From the convoy of the governor, the haiduks brought the martyr to a nearby forest near the village of Gershanovichi, began torturing him with fire, forcing him to renounce Orthodoxy, and then ordered one of them to shoot the monk. This haiduk, who later told people about the death of the martyr, and among them the author of the story about the murder of the venerable martyr, “seeing that this was a confessor and a good friend of his, first asked him for forgiveness and blessings, and then shot him in the forehead and killed him. the deceased, already shot through the forehead with two bullets, still leaning on a pine tree, stood for some time in his strength, so they ordered to push him into that pit. But even there he himself turned face up, folded his arms across his chest and stretched out his legs. »
Only on May 1, eight months after this villainy, did some boy of seven or eight years old show the Simeon brethren the place where the hegumen's body lay. The land in that place was not consecrated and belonged to the Jesuits. The monks dug up the body and, asking permission from Colonel Felician Tyszkiewicz, transferred the remains of the venerable martyr to the monastery, where they buried Simeon the Stylite in the church “on the right kliros in the crypt.”
The imperishable relics of Abbot Athanasius, laid in a copper reliquary, attracted many pilgrims, so that the very existence of the monastery, which had been very poor from the day it was founded, was supported mainly by income from prayer chants at the relics, glorified by miracles.
Already ten years after the martyrdom of the Brest hegumen on January 5, 1658, Archimandrite Innokenty Gizel of Kiev-Pechersk and Abbot Iosif Nelyubovich-Tukalsky of Leshchinsky reported to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich that miraculous light repeatedly shone over the relics of the venerable martyr Athanasius.
The memory of the holy martyr has been preserved in the people's memory ever since. Soon after his death, a legend was written about his death and a church hymn was composed in his honor; there is also a troparion and kontakion written by Archimandrite Markian on August 30, 1819. It is not known when the official celebration was established, but Athanasius of Brest is referred to as a reverend martyr, numbered among the saints of Kiev, even in the "History of the Union" of St. George of Konissky.
On November 8, 1815, a copper shrine with the relics of St. Athanasius melted during a fire in the Simeonovskaya Church, and the very next day, priest Samuil Lisovsky found particles of the relics of the martyr and placed them on a tin platter under the altar of the monastery refectory church. In 1823, when the church property was accepted by the new rector Autonom, their authenticity was attested by the sworn testimony of seven Brest residents who were present at the collection of relics after the fire. Soon, Archbishop Anthony of Minsk, at the request of Autonomus, ordered "to put the relics in the ark and keep them in the church with decency."
On September 20, 1893, a temple was erected in the name of the Holy Martyr Athanasius of Brest in the Grodno Borisoglebsky Monastery, and in the autumn of the following year, a particle of his holy relics was transferred to the Lesninsky Convent.
The Lord glorified the remains of His saint with numerous miracles. In November 1856, the landowner Polivanov, returning from abroad, was forced to stop in Brest due to the unexpected illness of his ten-year-old son. When the boy was already dying, the father asked the priest to bring the reliquary with the relics of St. Athanasius. When a dying child touched the holy relics, he was completely healed. At the same time, the shrine was placed in a gilded shrine, and in 1894 a canopy with the image of St. Athanasius was made over it. Another miracle - the healing of the terminally ill Archpriest Vasily Solovyevich - occurred on May 14, 1860. Days of remembrance: June 4 (Belarusian), July 20 (Finding of relics), September 5
Hieromartyr Alexy (Belkovsky), Archbishop of Veliky Ustyug
Hieromartyr Alexy (in the world Pyotr Filippovich Belkovsky) was born in 1842 in the village of Rozhdestveno, Kashirsky district, Tula province, into the family of priest Philip Evfimovich Belkovsky. Priest Philip Belkovsky (1813-1878) was the son of a sexton from the village of Belkovo, Moscow province; he served for more than forty years in one place, in the church of the village of Rozhdestveno. The memories of him are interesting, from which it becomes clear in what environment Archbishop Alexy spent his childhood. The family of the priest Philip was poor, and, as those who knew him recall, “in his life, Philip Evfimovich did not experience and did not know what luxury, or wealth, or fame is - he did not like this and did not look for it in life. Need from childhood taught him to be moderate, and moderation, on the other hand, did not allow him to experience and bear that heavy yoke, which is called poverty.
From the first days of entering the priesthood, the scarcity of funds, which was the common cause of many priests, fell to his lot. But he soon came to terms with meager means. Already abstinent in upbringing, he accustomed himself to thrift and an extremely moderate lifestyle. With amazing skill, he used even the smallest in such a way that he did not lack anything, did not experience, did not meet, as he himself conveyed, what is called need. Consistent with his small means, he did not start either gay circles or exquisite feasts. He had no time to chase after the most ordinary pleasures in life, he completely indulged in the fulfillment of what served both him and society for the benefit. No entertainment was able to shake or divert him from the fulfillment of his Christian, family and pastoral duty. With a difficult and complex way of rural life, he managed to combine the duties of a Christian, and a family man, and a shepherd, and a rural owner, who, with all their diversity, easily harmonized in him, not hindering one another, but, on the contrary, reasonably supporting one another. With all the complexity, diversity of agricultural occupations, family needs and pastoral duties, he possessed an amazing ability not to omit anything and to fulfill everything on time.
In his district, he held the position of dean for ten years, for about twenty years he was the spiritual father of his brothers, and this position, according to their election, he fulfilled until the last minute of his life. The temple was for him both a comfort and a consolation from worldly cares, and was, in turn, the subject of many of his cares and labors. It can be said that through his labors the temple in the village of Rozhdestve was rebuilt and brought to the splendor corresponding to the shrine.
As much as he cared about the splendor of the outer temple, he cared just as much and even more about the splendor of the inner temple of his flock, entrusted to him by God. In this regard, he spared neither labor nor time, sometimes so dear to him as a family man, as a master, if only to benefit his flock, to eliminate one or another shortcoming noticed in the whole society or in individuals. He did not omit a single case, so as not to enlighten or expose the ignorant or advise him to return from the path of error. Everything that he himself knew only good, he always tried to pass on to his spiritual children, in unenlightened hearts he tried to kindle the light that is necessary for every Christian, to kindle that warmth of faith, which he himself burned for the Providence; by all means he strove to arouse in his flock that love for God and His law, which he himself was inherent in.
In 1864, Peter Filippovich graduated from the Tula Theological Seminary. In 1867 he was ordained a priest and served in the St. Michael's Church at the St. Michael's orphanage in the city of Tula, and since 1886 - in the Tula Alexander Nevsky Church. In 1874, Father Peter was appointed as a teacher of the law in the school of the petty-bourgeois society. During the bishop's service in the cathedral, it was he who, more often than others, was instructed to preach sermons. He arranged and actively participated in non-liturgical religious discussions and readings. In 1890, Priest Peter was awarded a pectoral cross.
The priest used a lot of effort to organize the parish school, in which eighty children were studying at that time. In addition to the usual subjects, the students were also taught church reading and singing. During some holidays, the children performed all the hymns of the liturgy in their entirety. The disciples took turns reading the Six Psalms and the Hours, were well trained in the liturgical rules, and found the necessary texts in the books themselves.
In 1891, the Tula province was struck by famine due to crop failure. Some of the peasant families whose children studied at school were left without means of subsistence. Parents could not give their children even a piece of bread to school. There was a case when a mother left the house, just not to see her hungry son returning from school, whom she had nothing to feed. Seeing this situation, priest Peter, with the support of the parish council, organized help for starving children. In the almshouse arranged at the temple, a hot breakfast was prepared daily for students - children of the poorest parents.
In 1892, Father Peter was awarded a pectoral cross with decorations for his selfless school activities. The letter of the parishioners, accompanying the presentation of the cross, said: “Our dear and kind pastor. Your service in our parish church is short, but its fruits are great and plentiful. The best evidence of this can be these children, today for the first time being released into the life of our school, founded by your cares and supported by your vigilant labors. These children, of whom many, in extreme poverty, would hardly ever have seen the light of doctrine, are now, thanks to you, entering into life with firm foundations of Christian knowledge and morality. We see all this and experience the effect of your kindness on ourselves daily, but it is not in our power to evaluate it, may the One who richly poured His grace on you reward you for this.
The temple, where the priest Peter served, was built in 1881 with funds donated by the Tula merchant Evfimy Kuchin; the philanthropist bequeathed to build a temple in memory of the liberation of the peasants from serfdom in the name of the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky, whose name was borne by the liberator Tsar Alexander II. By the time the priest Peter began serving here, the temple had not yet been decorated, it had not been painted, there were not enough icons for the iconostasis, but the zealous priest made up for all this. The temple was built on the outskirts of the city, where the poorest population lived. But it was here that a strong parish was formed, which, despite the scarcity of funds, created such charitable institutions that were not even in the wealthy parishes of the city - an almshouse and a school. When conducting audits of parish schools, the school at the Alexander Nevsky Church received consistently high marks from the inspectors for the teaching of the Law of God and for the success of students in mastering the subjects studied.
Over time, the circle of Father Peter's activities expanded more and more, and in 1896, a free folk library-reading room was opened at the Alexander Nevsky Church in the premises of the local parochial school.
On February 3, 1897, Father Peter was awarded the Order of St. Anne of the III degree for his especially diligent performance of duties in public schools. On April 9 of the same year, he was elevated to the rank of archpriest. In the same year he became a widow and was tonsured a monk with the name Alexy.
On March 14, 1898, Hieromonk Alexy was appointed rector of the Old Russian Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery and elevated to the rank of archimandrite.
On September 5, 1904, Archimandrite Alexy was consecrated Bishop of Veliky Ustyug, Vicar of the Vologda Diocese. On September 28, he arrived in Veliky Ustyug. This city has always been famous for the abundance of temples that adorn it to this day, testifying to the zeal in the faith and piety of our ancestors. The rector of the city cathedral, Archpriest Vasily Polyakov, addressed the bishop with a speech, where he quite accurately described some features of the life of the city. “Blessed Master! - the abbot began his speech. - The meeting of a new archpastor, which is not uncommon for provincial cities, and for us, Ustyug residents, residents of a county town, is not news, because in the sixteen years of its existence, the Great Ustyug Vicariate, in the person of Your Eminence, has already met its sixth archpastor. Such a fairly frequent succession of our lords, which is not very beneficial for their archpastoral activity, could, I think, arouse in you, most reverend Vladyka, some perplexed questions about our country, our city and the flock entrusted to you. As a native of the northern region and for sixteen years a servant of the altar of the Lord in this city, I can testify, Vladyka, that our country is really cold, but our hearts are warm and able to respond to everything good and holy and imbued with love for our archpastors. Our country, remote from the centers of high education and large spaces, and the inconvenience of means of communication, is not, however, without its own seedbeds of enlightenment; in terms of the number of inhabitants, it has many educational institutions, both secondary and lower, both male and female; and most importantly, our city is replete with well-appointed churches, these hotbeds "for all useful godliness" (1 Tim. 4:8) in such quantity that would be quite fitting for a provincial city. This abundance and well-being of the holy temples is itself evidence of the religious mood and good moral direction of the inhabitants of this city.
At that time, the education of the people became an urgent need, and in this regard, in almost all dioceses, pedagogical courses for students in parochial schools began to be arranged. In the summer of 1908, such courses were arranged in Veliky Ustyug for students of parochial schools of the Ustyug Vicariate. Opening the courses, Bishop Alexy “indicated the purpose of teachers coming here - to expand their knowledge, improve their teaching practice, and continue their education. This is a useful and commendable deed, - this is how the bishop said approximately, - even the God-inspired sage of the Old Testament said: "Blessed is the man who finds wisdom." But true wisdom consists in developing not only the mind, but also the heart, not only in the accumulation of knowledge, but in the acquisition of virtues; a smart, but vicious, knowledgeable, but proud person, as everyone knows, does not enjoy the love of others and cannot be of great benefit, especially in the educational business. Concerned about acquiring this true wisdom, let us pray to the Lord God to help you in this good cause for which you have gathered here.”
Just as at the time when Vladyka was in Tula, so now, having become a bishop, he showed special concern for public education. Under Bishop Alexy, a diocesan women's school was built, in the activities of which Vladyka took a constant part. During the service of Bishop Alexy in Veliky Ustyug, several churches were built and consecrated, one of the last in 1916 was the church in the name of St. Mitrofan, the Wonderworker of Voronezh, built at the Veliky Ustyug prison castle, in which Vladyka was destined to die in twenty-one years.
On October 12, 1916, by decree of the Holy Synod, the Vicar of Veliky Ustyug became known as the Bishop of Veliky Ustyug and Ust-Vym. In the early twenties, Bishop Alexy was elevated to the rank of archbishop. On July 30, 1923, Archbishop Alexy took over the administration of the Veliky Ustyug diocese, which by that time had become independent.
In 1924, at the age of eighty-two, Archbishop Alexy was retired. Living in Veliky Ustyug at the church of St. Simeon the Stylite, he celebrated the Liturgy every day. After the closing of this church, the archbishop began to serve in the churches of St. Sergius of Radonezh and the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica in Dymkovo Sloboda. Settling in the church gatehouse, Vladyka served daily, starting at four in the morning with a few worshipers. This continued until the beginning of 1937, when, due to weakness, it became difficult for him to move around, and he could only walk with the help of the nuns who lived with him.
Archbishop Alexy (Belkovsky) was arrested in the autumn of 1937, when he was ninety-five years old. He could not leave the house on the orders of the NKVD officers, and they carried him out on a sheet themselves. After a short stay in prison, Archbishop Alexy died in November 1937 and was buried in the city cemetery.
Ranked among the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia at the Jubilee Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in August 2000 for general church veneration.
Days of Remembrance: January 29 (novomuch.), September 5
Martyrs Fifael and his sister Thebea
The martyrs Fifael and his sister Thebea (or Vivea) (+ c. 98 - 138) suffered for the bold and successful preaching of Christianity among the pagans. After long and sophisticated tortures, the pagans hung up the holy martyr Fifael on a tree and sawed it to pieces with a saw, and killed his sister Thebea with a blow to the neck with a spear.
Memorial Day: September 5
Martyr Raisa of Alexandria
The Holy Martyr Raisa (Iraida) lived in Alexandria. Once, going to the source to draw water, she saw a ship near the shore, on which there were many men, women, clergymen and monks, imprisoned in chains for confessing the faith of Christ. Throwing away the water-carrier, the saint voluntarily joined the prisoners of Christ, and shackles were placed on her. When the ship arrived in the Egyptian city of Antipolis, Saint Iraida was the first to suffer cruel tortures and was beheaded with a sword. Following her, the rest of the martyrs sealed their confession of faith in Christ with their blood.
Martyrs Juventine and Maximus soldiers
Martyrs Juventine and Maximus the soldiers suffered during the reign of Emperor Julian the Apostate, during which they served as bodyguards. One day, while in Antioch, Julian decided to defile the Christians by sprinkling all the food sold in the markets with idolized blood. Saints Juventine and Maxim openly condemned the act of the king and boldly denounced him for apostasy from the Christian faith. Both of them, after merciless beatings, were put to death in prison by order of the impious emperor (+ c. 361 - 363). Days of memory: September 5, October 9
Martyrs Urvan, Theodore, Medimnus and with them 77 men from the church rank
Martyrs Urvan, Theodore, Medimnos and with them 77 men from the church rank suffered in Nicomedia under the Arianized emperor Valens (364-378 or 379). Under him, the Arians expelled the Orthodox Bishop Evagrius from the Church of Constantinople, and those Christians who did not want to join their heresy were imprisoned and abused. Then, driven to despair, the Orthodox Christians decided to ask for protection from the emperor and sent an embassy to him, consisting of 80 chosen men of the clergy, headed by Saints Urvan, Theodore and Medimnos. After listening to their just complaints, the emperor was furious. However, he managed to hide his anger, secretly called on the eparch Modest and ordered him to kill the envoys. Modest put them on the ship, having previously spread a false rumor that they were all going to prison, and ordered the shipbuilders to set fire to the ship on the high seas. The ship was set on fire and, engulfed in flames, rushed across the sea for some time. Finally, reaching a place called Dakisis, the ship burned to the ground together with the holy martyrs who were on board (+ 370). Memorial Day: September 5
Martyr Obadiah
The martyr Obadiah (or Avid) suffered in Persia under King Izdigerd I for refusing to renounce Christ and worship the sun and fire. He died after painful tortures and until his last breath thanked God, who blessed His chosen one to die for His Holy Name. Memorial Day: September 5
Blessed Prince Gleb
Blessed Prince Gleb, in holy Baptism David, is one of the first Russian martyrs - passion-bearers; he suffered along with his brother Prince Boris Life. Blessed Prince BorisIcon. Boris and GlebPrayersTemples (in Holy Baptism by Roman). After the assassination of Saint Boris, Svyatopolk the Accursed sent a messenger to his younger brother Gleb with false news about the illness of their father, Grand Duke Vladimir, who had already died by that time. Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir. Icon. Prince Vladimir, Equal to the ApostlesPrayerTemples, in order to treacherously kill a possible pretender to the throne of Kyiv. The deceived Prince Gleb hurried to Kyiv with a small retinue. Brother Yaroslav's warning, which overtook him at Smolensk, did not stop the saint, who did not expect such villainy on the part of his brother Svyatopolk. Not far from Smolensk, the killers overtook the boat of Gleb, who did not resist, but only meekly begged to spare his still very young life. By order of the killers, the cook Gleba cut his throat. The prince's body was buried in a deserted place not far from Smolensk, "between two decks", that is, in a simple wooden coffin (+ 1015). In 1019 - 1020 the grave of St. Gleb was found by his brother Yaroslav, and the body, which turned out to be incorrupt, was transferred to Vyshgorod Kyiv and buried next to the holy Prince Boris. Then the relics of the brothers were transferred (Comm. 2 May) to the church in the name of St. Basil the Great Life. Saint Basil the Great. Icon. St. Basil the Great Metropolitan John of Kyiv compiled a service for the princes-passion-bearers and established a joint celebration for them on July 24, which has been happening since the first half of the 11th century. Since ancient times, the Russian Church has venerated the brother martyrs who constantly provide prayerful assistance to their native land, especially in times of difficult trials. So, before the Battle of the Neva in 1240, the holy passion-bearers Boris and Gleb appeared in a vision to one of the soldiers of the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky. Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky. Icon. Holy noble prince Alexander NevskyPrayersTemples and helped the Russians during the battle. The chronicles are full of tales of various beneficial manifestations witnessed near their tomb, and of the victories won with their help. Many temples and monasteries were erected in honor of the martyr princes in different parts of Russia.
