September 5, 2016. + Orthodox Calendar

Orthodox Calendar 2016

Previous day

Next day

Old Style

September 5

Sunday

New Style

September 18

13th Sunday after Pentecost. Tone 4.

Fast-free period.

Holy Prophet Zachariah and Righteous Elizabeth, parents of St. John the Forerunner (1st c.). Martyrdom of St. Athanasius, abbot, of Brest-Litovsk, by the Latins (1648).

Virgin-martyr Rhais of Alexandria (ca. 308). Martyrs Juventinus and Maximinus, soldiers, at Antioch (361-363). Martyrs Urban, Theodore, Medimnus, and 77 companions, at Nicomedia (370). Hieromartyr Abdas, bishop of Hormidz-Ardashir, and Martyrs Hormizd and Sunin, of Persia (ca. 420). Martyrdom of the Holy Passionbearer Gleb of Russia, in holy baptism David (1015). Martyrs Sarbelus (Thathuil) and his sister Bebaia, of Edessa (98- 138).

New Hieromartyr Alexis (Belkovsky), archbishop of Great Ustiug (1937).

Appearance of Apostle Peter to Emperor Justinian at Athira, near Constantinople (6th c.).

Repose of Priest Hilarion Felea of Romania (1961).

Articles

Sts. Zacharias the Prophet and Elizabeth the Righteous, the Parents of the Precious Forerunner

The Holy Prophet Zachariah and the Righteous Elizabeth were the parents of the holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord, John. They were descended from the lineage of Aaron: St Zachariah, son of Barach, was a priest in the Jerusalem Temple, and St Elizabeth was the sister of St Anna, the mother of the Most Holy Theotokos. The righteous spouses, "walking in all the commandments of the Lord" (Luke 1:6), suffered barrenness, which in those times was considered a punishment from God.

Holy Hieromartyr Athanasius of Brest-Litovsk, Confessor and Defender of Orthodoxy in Poland and Lithuania

Athanasius was charged with profaning the Latin Church and the Unia. When he again denounced the Unia before his interrogators, he was thrown into prison, where the Jesuits alternately threatened him with torture and cajoled him with freedom, if he would join the Uniates. The holy monk refused to renounce his faith, crying aloud, "Anathema to the Union!"

Passion-Bearer Gleb, in Holy Baptism David

The Holy Prince Gleb, in Holy Baptism David, was one of the first Russian martyrs called “Passion-Bearers.” He suffered together with his brother Prince Boris (Roman in Holy Baptism).