ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY Orthodox Calendar
Orthodox Calendar 2019
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Святитель Порфирий, архиепископ Газский
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Old Style
February 26 		Monday
New Style
March 11
1st Week of Great Lent. Tone 8.
Great Lent.
Monastic rule: total abstinence from food.

Cовершается служба, не отмеченная в Типиконе никаким знакомSt. Porphyrius, bishop of Gaza (420).

Sts. Photina, the Samaritan woman, and her sisters Phota, Photis, Parasceva, and Cyriaca; her sons Victor [or Photinus] and Joses; Sebastian the Duke, the officer Anatolius, and Theoclitus, the former sorcerer—all martyred under Nero (ca. 66) St. Sebastian, founder of Sokhotsk Monastery (Yaroslavl) (ca. 1500).

New Hieromartyr John (Pashin), bishop of Rylsk (1938).

Mezhetsk Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos.

New Martyr John the Cabinetmaker, at Constantinople (1575).

Thoughts for Each Day of the Year
According to the Daily Church Readings from the Word of God
By St. Theophan the Recluse

St. Theophan the Recluse

Monday (1st Week of Lent).

“Lent has come, O mother of chastity.” What was the time before this day? A time of fornication.[1] The soul fornicated with all that struck its eye as pleasant—both with people and with things: more fully, with sinful passions. Everyone has his passion which he pleases in all he does. It is time to put an end to this. May each of you comprehend your Delilah, who binds you and hands you over to evil enemies, and abandon her. Then you will be given more than Samson: not only shall your hair grow, but so also shall good thoughts; and not only shall your strength return, but so also your strength of will. Your eyes shall also open, your mind shall have sight and it shall see the Lord, yourself, and everything around you in the proper light. This is the favourable time! This is the day of salvation!

[1] “A time of fornication.” Fornication here has a double meaning in Russian, both of fornication and roaming.

Articles

St. Porphyrius the Bishop of Gaza

Having the inclination for monastic life, he left his native region at twenty-five years of age and set off for Egypt, where he lived in the Nitrian desert under the guidance of Saint Macarius the Great (January 19).

St Photini, The Samaritan Woman

A significant figure in the Johannine community, the Samaritan Woman, like many other women, contributed to the spread of Christianity. She therefore occupies a place of honour among the apostles. In Greek sermons from the fourth to the fourteenth centuries she is called "apostle" and "evangelist."

Martyr Photina (Svetlana), the Samaritan Woman, and Her Sons

During the time of the emperor Nero (54-68), who displayed excessive cruelty against Christians, Saint Photina lived in Carthage with her younger son Joses and fearlessly preached the Gospel there.

The Holy Martyrs Sebastian and Christodoulus

The Holy Martyrs Sebastian and Christodoulus died by the sword under Nero (54-68).

Venerable Sebastian of Poshekhonye

Saint Sebastian of Sokhota, Poshekhonye, founded a monastery in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord, located at the River Sokhota, 90 versts from the city of Romanov (now Tutaev) in the Yaroslav district.

New Martyr John Kalphes, the Apprentice

Once, encountering his former teacher and benefactor, he asked Saint John what it says in the Christian books about their “prophet” Mohammed. Saint John did not want to answer his question, but because of the persistent demands of the youth, he declared that Mohammed was a mere mortal, an uneducated man who did not perform a single miracle during his lifetime.
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