July 29, 2023. + Orthodox Calendar

Orthodox Calendar 2023

Мученик Каллиник Киликийский

Рождество св. Николая

Мч. Евстафий Мцхетский, Тифлисский

Old Style

July 29

Friday

New Style

August 11

10th Week after Pentecost. Tone 8.
Fast Day.

Wine and oil allowed.

Martyr Callinicus of Gangra, in Asia Minor (ca. 250).

Virgin-martyr Seraphima (Serapia) of Antioch (117-138). Nativity of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, archbishop of Myra in Lycia (3rd. c.). Martyr Theodota and her three sons, in Bithynia (ca. 304). St. Lupus the Confessor, bishop of Troyes (Gaul) (479). Martyr Eustathius of Mtskheta, Georgia (589). Sts. Constantine and Cosmas, abbots, of Kosina (Stara Rus) (13th c.). St. Romanus, founder of Kirzhach Monastery, disciple of St. Sergius of Radonezh (1392). Martyr Daniel Kushnir of Mlievich (Ukraine) (1766).

New Hieromartyrs Seraphim (Bogoslovsky) and Theognostus (Pivovarov), hieromonks of a skete at Kyzyl-Zharskoe (Kazakhstan) (1921). New Hieromartyr Anatole (Smirnov), hieromonk and hermit of the Caucasus Mountains, Abkhazia (1930-1935). New Hieromartyr Pachomius (Rusin), hieromonk, of Alma Ata (Kazakhstan) (1938).

St. Theodosius the Younger, emperor (450). St. Constantine I, patriarch of Constantinople (676). St. Olaf, king of Norway (1030). Hieromartyr Bessarion of Smolyan, Bulgaria (1670).

Repose of Archpriest Georges Florovsky (1979).

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

Friday. [II Cor. 1:12-20; Matt. 22:23-33]

The Lord said of the future life that people there do not marry and are not given in marriage—that is, our everyday earthly relationships will have no place there. It would follow that none of the norms of earthly life will either. Neither science, nor art, nor governments, nor anything else will exist. What will there be? God will be all in all. And since God is spirit, He unites with the spirit and acts on what is spiritual, all life there will be a continuous flow of spiritual movements. There can be only one conclusion drawn from this: since our goal is the future life, and what is here is only a preparation for it, then to spend all the time of one’s life only on what is appropriate in this life alone and has no relevance to the future life means to go against our purpose, and to prepare ourselves for a bitter, most bitter lot. We are not absolutely required to drop everything; but while working as much as is necessary for this life, we must direct our main concern toward preparation for the future life, trying wherever possible to turn even earthly menial labour into a means for achieving this goal.

Articles

Martyr Callinicus of Gangra in Asia Minor

The Holy Martyr Callinicus, a native of Cilicia, was raised from childhood in the Christian Faith.

Virginmartyr Seraphima (Serapia) of Antioch

The Holy martyr Seraphima the Virgin, a native of Antioch, lived at Rome during the reign of the emperor Hadrian (117-138) with the illustrious Roman Sabina, whom the saint converted to Christianity.

The Suffering of the Holy Virgin-Martyr Seraphima

St. Dimitry of Rostov

The governor ordered to organize a tribunal on that spot where trials usually took place, and ordered the city officials to bring Seraphima. The impious authorities seized the holy maiden and led her to the trial.

There is a St. Nicholas!

“I took the sack. It was heavy. I took it inside the hut and opened it… My dear children!...” the elder began to sob. “There were fresh loaves of bread in the sack. And they were still warm, absolutely hot! As if they had just taken them out of the oven. But what oven could be there?! There wasn’t a single home within fifty versts, only exiles and prisoners.

A Strange Miracle of St. Nicholas in 1956

A true incident which shocked and brought repentance to hundreds of people in the Russian Soviet city of Kuibyshev (modern day Samara), in the year 1956.

Life of St Nicholas the Wonderworker

Alexei Cominos ascended the throne of the Byzantine Empire in 1081, in which year Asia Minor suffered various attacks and threats of barbarian invasion. St Nicholas' relics at this time remained in his city of Myra. However, a priest in the Italian city of Bari soon beheld a vision in which Nicholas appeared and informed him that he did not wish to remain in a city as barren as the defeated Myra. He instructed the priest to remove his body from the city. After informing the residents of Bari of his vision, three ships were sent to Myra to retrieve the saint's relics.

St. Nicholas

Nicholas was taught by his parents to love the Lord with his whole mind, heart, soul, and with ail his strength. When they died he inherited their money. He used this to help the poor, the hungry, and the sick. Whenever he helped anyone he did it secretly, so that only God would know, He did not want praise from people; he wanted his reward to be only in Heaven.

St. Nicholas the Merciful and Recent Miracles in China

Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky)

The Russians like to call Saint Nicholas “Nikola the Merciful” because his miracles are as numerous as the stars of heaven. I would like to remind you of one touching miracle that shows his mercy. This did not happen once upon a time, long ago; it happened in our time, in the city of Harbin [China], where I lived for over 40 years.

St. Nicholas, Protector of Children

Nun Cornelia (Rees)

On this day, the 19th of December (December 6 according to the Julian calendar), the Church celebrates the memory of one of her most beloved saints—St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra and Lycia. We are half way through Advent, the fast preceding the feast of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, born as a babe to the Virgin Mary. This is a time when we especially delight in the beauty and sanctity of children—defenseless, dependent, yet meaning everything to us. We would do anything to protect a child, even die ourselves, because we see in him God’s gift of our own eternal existence.

“Every Miracle Happens for a Reason.” A sermon on the feast of the Translation of the Relics of St. Nicholas the Wonder-worker

Archpriest Nicholai Agofonov

God has granted me in my life to experience many miracles of St. Nicholas, some of which I have written about in my short stories. But there is one incident that shook all of Russia over fifty years ago in the city of Kuibishev, now Samara. This was an event that occurred with the girl, Zoya. Many of you already know about this—another miracle of St. Nicholas.

St. Nicholas

Saint Nicholas: icons and frescoes

Prayerful intercessor for those in need, St. Nicholas is fervently and sincerely loved by people on all continents. You will hardly find a single Orthodox church anywhere that does not have a fresco or icon with his image.

The Real Saint Nicholas

Gabe Martini

While most today only consider a fictional, elf-like inhabitant of the North Pole—and his band of flying reindeer—the prototype of this myth is a very real and very important person in the life of the Church.

Sermon by metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Kiev and Galich on the feast day of St. Nicholas the wonderworker

Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky)

Tell me, Orthodox Christians: If there were ever such a man who for a grave crime were sentenced by royal decree to eternal prison, and his kind master would ask of the king that he would be forgiven, and instead this master accepted his punishment upon himself, while the criminal remained free; and that this good master sent him this good news, in a letter saying “I freed you, and took upon myself your just punishment from the king”? Tell me, brothers, what would the emancipated criminal do with this treasured letter?

A Miracle of St. Nicholas

Deacon Vladimir Vasilik

The weather forecasts were good, and nothing indicated any trouble. Just the same, on the horizon there appeared at first a large dark cloud, which started growing rapidly. A sharp wind blew, which grew into a strong squall. A storm began. Huge waves started beating against the small ship.The ship was tossed from side to side. Water flowed into the machinery area. The ship was on the verge of stopping, and that would fatal for all.

Homily on the Feast of St. Nicholas

Metropolitan Nicholai (Yarushevich)

This virtue of love and mercy in all its beauty and power is personified, my dear ones, by the one whom our faithful, pious hearts glorify today: the “feeder of orphans,” consoler of the sorrowing, intercessor in prayer for all who seek God’s help and mercy—St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

Holy Martyr Evstati of Mtskheta (†589)

Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze

Saint Evstati, a Persian by descent, was a fire-worshipper named Gvirobandak prior to his baptism into the Christian Faith. When he arrived in Georgia and settled in Mtskheta, he was deeply drawn to the morals and traditions of the Georgian people, and he resolved to convert to Christianity.

Holy Passion-Bearer King Olav II of Norway

There were many royal Olavs in Scandinavia, but none so glorious and holy as Olav Haraldson, successor to Olav Tryggvason (King Olav I of Norway).

© ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY