Nun Christina

Saint Christopher is venerated by several Christian denominations as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman emperor Decius.

Greek and English on opposite pages. Saint Eleutherius, the son of an illustrious Roman citizen, was raised in Christian piety by his mother. His virtue was such that at the age twenty, he had been elevated to bishop of Illyria. In the reign of the emperor Hadrian, Saint Eleutherius was tortured for his bold preaching about Christ, then was beheaded at Rome with his mother Evanthia. The Eparch Caribus, who had tortured Saint Eleutherius, also came to believe in Christ and was executed.

Decl n of Ardmore (died 5th century), was an early Irish saint of the D isi Muman, who was remembered for having converted the D isi in the late 5th century and for having founded the monastery of Ardmore. Like Ailbe of Emly, Ciar n of Saigir and Abb n of Moyarney, Decl n is presented as a Munster saint who preceded Saint Patrick in bringing Christianity to Ireland. He was regarded as a patron saint of the D isi of East Munster.

Saint Savva the Sanctified was born in the fifth century at Cappadocia of pious Christian parents, John and Sophia, and his father was a military commander. Journeying to Alexandria on military matters, John and Sophia left their five-year-old son Savva in the care of an uncle. When the boy was eight years old, he entered the nearby Monastery of Saint Flavian. The gifted child quickly learned to read and became an expert on the Holy Scriptures. His parents urged Saint Savva to return to the world and enter into marriage, but all in vain. When he was seventeen years old he was tonsured as a monk, and attained such perfection in fasting and prayer that God found him worthy of the gift of working miracles. After spending ten years at the Monastery of Saint Flavian, he went to Jerusalem, and from there to the Monastery of Saint Euthymios the Great (January 20). Saint Euthymios, however, sent the young man to Abba Theoktistos, the head of a nearby monastery with a strict cenobitic Rule. Saint Savva lived in obedience at this monastery until the age of thirty.

St. Gerasimos is a wonder-working saint whose relics have remained incorrupt for nearly 500 years after his falling asleep His relics are on the island of Kefalonia, on the western shore of Greece, where he founded a women's monastery. The holy hierarch, Saint Dionysius, who was born and reared on Zakynthos, was the son of pious and wealthy parents, Mocius and Paulina by name. In his youth he entered the ancient monastery of the Strophada Islands, which lie south of Zakynthos, and there he donned the monastic habit. Later, he was appointed Archbishop of Aegina, and adorned its throne for a considerable time. Thereafter he returned to his homeland. One incident in his life especially reveals to what virtue he attained. A man came to him in desperation, witnessing that he had committed a murder, and was being pursued by the slain man's family. He asked Saint Dionysius to give him refuge. The Saint agreed to this, upon learning that it was his own brother whom the man had slain, he said nothing, but concealing the agony of his grief, hid him. When the Saint's kinsmen arrived at the monastery, he told them that the Murderer had gone by such and such a way. When they had departed, he admonished the man concerning the gravity of his sin, instructed him in repentance, and sent him off in peace having forgiven him his brother's murder. According to local tradition, this man later returned and became a monk at this same monastery. Saint Dionysius reposed in peace in 1621, leaving behind his sacred and incorrupt relics as a treasure for his fellow citizens.

Matrona Dmitrievna Nikonova is a canonized saint of the Russian Orthodox Church who is said to have had the gifts of prophecy, spiritual vision, and healing from early childhood.

During the Maximilian persecutions (295 AD) he was arrested and exiled. In 325 AD, he was present at the First Ecumenical Council of Nicea where he astonished many with his simple explanations of the Orthodox Faith. Though not well-educated, he surprised everyone at the Council of Nicea by converting a famous philosopher to Orthodoxy from Arianism. He explained the unity and diversity of the Trinity by holding up a brick, then commonly thought to be a combination of the elements fire, earth and water; as he spoke, fire blazed from the top of the brick while water gushed out underneath. There too, at Nicea, he met St. Nicholas of Myra, with whom he formed a lasting friendship.

Athanasius was a Christian theologian, a Church Father, the chief defender of Trinitarianism against Arianism, and a noted Egyptian Christian leader of the fourth century. Conflict with Arius and Arianism, as well as with successive Roman emperors, shaped Athanasius' career. In 325, at age 27, Athanasius began his leading role against the Arians as a deacon and assistant to Bishop Alexander of Alexandria during the First Council of Nicaea. Roman Emperor Constantine the Great had convened the council in May-August 325 to address the Arian position that the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, is of a distinct substance from the Father.

The holy and glorious Virgin-Martyr Saint Paraskevi (also Paraskeva) was arrested during the reign of the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius (r. A. D. 138-161) under the penalty of refusing to worship idols and adhering to the state pagan religion. After enduring many tortures, she was eventually released by the emperor, continuing to profess Christ. She was eventually tortured and beheaded by the Roman governor Tarasius in the year 180. The Church commemorates her on July 26.

Little is known of her early life. Neither the dates of her birth nor of her death are known. Her birth is believed to have been about 1731 and her death about 1803. The wife of Colonel Andrei Feodorovich Petrov, who served as a court chorister, Xenia fell into great grief upon the death of her husband when she was 26 years old. Appearing to have lost her mind from her grief, Xenia distributed her possessions to the poor, and keeping and dressing only in the clothes of her husband she wandered the streets of St Petersburg among the paupers. She called herself by her husband's name: Andrei Feodorovich. Her life was centered on God, seeking protection and comfort only in Him. During the nights, she refused refuge and went into the fields where she prayed through the nights. When relatives of Xenia tried to help her with necessities she replied, "I do not need anything." The people of St. Petersburg came to love her as she placed the Kingdom of Heaven before earthly possessions. The people considered her presence in their homes as good signs. Her acceptance of services and bread from merchants, however small, brought them great sales as their customers, who loved the saintly Xenia, frequented those who helped her. Xenia possessed the gift of clairvoyance. She foretold the deaths of the Empress Elizabeth, in 1761, and of the imprisoned John IV Antonovich, the great-great-grandson of Tsar Alexis, in 1764. After her death her grave became a place of pilgrimage. Portions of the dirt from her grave brought healing for many of the pilgrims.

Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great, was a bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Asia Minor. He was an influential theologian who supported the Nicene Creed and opposed the heresies of the early Christian church, fighting against both Arianism and the followers of Apollinaris of Laodicea.

Great Compline especially used during Lent. In Greek on the left page and the right facing page in English lined up.

Having been taught by our holy, catholic, and apostolic Church that it is meet and right to magnify the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, I composed these odes and hymns to praise and celebrate the Most-Holy Mother of the Lord in song, with special consideration for the icon of Our Lady Gorgoepikoos, as well as for the succour and protection of those who call upon it, and to express my eternal gratitude towards the Theotokos for her many benefactions towards me, which are abundant. I published these hymns in order to offer those who love and honour the Mother of the Lord a guide wherein they could find an articulation of their affections towards her, and express them by praising and singing hymns to our Most-Holy Theotokos, the Mother of God. While its publication and distribution was being carried out, the desire to praise Our Lady the Theotokos inspired us to compose new odes and new hymns, and so their number increased, and both odes and hymns multiplied. So then, one-hundred-and-five new odes, fifty-three hymns, nine canons, seven enneaodia, and two triodia were written. In order to fulfil the desire of the faithful, I decided to publish these odes, hymns, and canons in one book together with what had already been published. We have removed four unusual odes from the first edition of the Theotokarion, and this is reflected in this present edition.