Orthodox Lives of The Saints and Feasts by month (Links)

[Jude1:3Contendforthefaith]

September 8

Lives of the Saints


† The Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos

The Theotokos was born to aged and barren parents, Joachim and Anna. (For their story, see tomorrow's listing). She was born about the year 16 or 17 before the birth of her Son, the Christ.

• New Martyr Athanasius of Thessalonika (1774)

He was born to a distinguished and pious Christian family in Thessalonika. After acquiring an unusually good education he spent a few years in Constantinople, then returned to his native city. He spoke both Turkish and Arabic well, and often conversed with Muslims. Once, while speaking with an emir, Athanasius pronounced the Muslim confession of faith to illustrate a point. The emir, seeing an opportunity, immediately reported Athanasius to the Islamic judge, claiming that he had converted to Islam. The judge found no merit in the case and would have dismissed Athanasius; but the emir and other officials were insistent, and the judge pressured Athanasius to convert. When Athanasius answered that he knew no truth but that of Christ, he was thrown in prison. When he appeared before the judge several days later, he was still firm in his confession, and was sentenced to death. He was hanged outside the city in 1774, at the age of twenty-five.



• Our Venerable Father Serapion of Pskov (1481)

He wss born in (what is now) Lithuania, but entered monastic life in the Pskov district. His spiritual father was St Euphrosynus (May 15), under whose care he lived for more than fifty-five years. He became known for his exceptional humility and asceticism. He tried never to be idle, giving any free moment to prayer and reading of Scripture. He emphasized the importance of the common prayer of the Church, saying that reciting the entire Twelve Psalm rule in one's cell was not worth one Kyrie Eleison chanted by the brethren assembled together in church. His knowledge of Lithuanian and Finnish allowed him to strengthen the faith among the peoples of those lands. When he died, at the age of ninety, his clothing was so threadbare that no one wanted it. Soon after his repose, a blind man recovered his sight at St Serapion's tomb, which has been the site of many miracles ever since.

• Icon of the Mother of God “of the Sign”, the “Kursk-Root”

Icon of the Mother of God “of the Sign”, the “Kursk-Root”

• Icon of the Mother of God of Pochaev

Icon of the Mother of God of Pochaev

• Icon of Sophia, the Wisdom of God

Icon of Sophia, the Wisdom of God

.

 

[Jude1:3Contendforthefaith]

September 9

Lives of the Saints

• Afterfeast of the Nativity of the Mother of God

† Holy Ancestors of God Joachim and Anna

St Joachim was of the tribe of Judah and a descendant of King David. St Anna was of the tribe of Levi, the daughter of a priest named Matthan. Matthan's three daughters were Mary, Zoia and Anna. Mary became the mother of Salome the Myrrhbearer; Zoia bore Elizabeth, mother of St John the Baptist; and Anna married Joachim in Nazareth. Joachim and Anna, to their great sorrow, were barren for fifty years. They lived prayerfully and kept only a third of their income for themselves, giving a third to the poor and a third to the Temple. Once when they had come to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice at the Temple, Joachim was publicly scorned by the High Priest Issachar for his childlessness. Joachim and Anna, greatly grieved, prayed fervently that God would grant them the miracle that he had wrought for Abraham and Sarah, and give them a child in their old age. Once, as each was praying separately in a secluded place, angels appeared to each of them and revealed to them that they would be given a blessed daughter, `by whom all nations will be blessed, and through whom will come the salvation of the world.' They both rushed home to tell one another the joyous news, and embraced when they met. (This is the moment depicted in their icon.) Anna conceived and gave birth to the Most Holy Theotokos. Both reposed in peace, not long after they had sent her to live in the Temple.

• Commemoration of the Third Ecumenical Council (431 A.D.)

The Council, called by the Emperor Theodosius the Younger, met in Ephesus. The two hundred fathers gathered there condemned the teaching of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, who would not call the holy Virgin Mary Theotokos (God-bearer) but only Christotokos (Christ-bearer). The holy fathers of the Council clearly affirmed that the Virgin Mary is, and is to be called, Mother of God. They also confirmed the teaching of the first two Councils and decreed that the Nicene Creed may not be altered (as it later was
by the Western church).

† Holy Martyr Severian of Sebaste (320 A.D.)

He was a prominent citizen of Sebaste during the reign of Licinius. When the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (March 9) were in prison, he encouraged and comforted them. For this, and for his Christian example which had converted many pagans in the region, the Provincial Governor Lysias ordered his arrest. But before the soldiers could find him, he presented himself before the Governor and openly proclaimed his faith. For this he was subjected to many days of horrible tortures, during which he constantly exhorted the believers who followed him to stand firm in their confession of Christ. After astonishing endurance of his torments, he gave up his spirit to God.
  At the Saint's burial, the husband of one of his servants was miraculously raised from the dead, living for another fifteen years. The Christians could not decide where to bury Severian, so they wove a crown of flowers and laid it on his body to await a sign from heaven. An eagle took up the crown and dropped it in a nearby forest. The Christians buried the Martyr where the crown fell; his tomb became a fount of miracles, and the man who had been raised from the dead tended it for the rest of his life.

• Our Holy Father Ciaran of Clonmacnoise (549 A.D.)

Born to the family of a cartwright in Ireland, he entered monastic life when he was very young at the Monastery of Clonard, where he became a disciple of St Finnian (December 12). He became one of the 'Twelve Apostles of Ireland', all of them disciples of St Finnian. Ciaran founded the great monastery of Clonmacnoise (pronounced clon-mac-neesh) on the Shannon River, which became one of Ireland's great monasteries. Once, during a great famine, He distributed all of the monastery's food to the people, entrusting his monks' survival, and his own, to providence. Saint Ciaran reposed in peace, aged only thirty-three, in 549.

.

 

[Jude1:3Contendforthefaith]

This will be my last update for the thread.


.

 

[Jude1:3Contendforthefaith]

Here's a great place to listen to The Lives of Saints (Patristic Nectar). It's free, all you have to do is create a user id and password :

Synaxarion

.

 

[Jude1:3Contendforthefaith]

The Saints and Why They Matter - Fr. Panayioti and Strati (Podcast)

.

 

[Jude1:3Contendforthefaith]

It's good to study and venerate pre 1,054 A.D. Schism Western Saints :

Category:Pre-Schism Western Saints - OrthodoxWiki


Like Saint Gregory II of Rome who stood against the iconoclastic edicts of emperor Leo III :

Leo II of Rome - OrthodoxWiki

.