June 1, 2025. + Orthodox Calendar

Orthodox Calendar 2025

Преподобный Иустин (Попович), Челийский

Иоанн Кронштадтский

Иустин Философ

Old Style

June 1

Saturday

New Style

June 14

First Week after Pentecost (Fast-free period). Tone 7.

No fast.

Apodosis of Pentecost. Martyrs Justin the Philosopher, and those with him at Rome: Chariton, Charita, Euelpistus, Hierax, Paeon, and Valerian (Liberianus) (166). St. Dionysius of Glushitsa (Vologda), monastic founder (1437). Righteous John, Wonderworker of Kronstadt (Glorification 1990)

St. Agapitus, unmercenary physician, of the Kiev Caves (11th c.). St. Justin (Popovic), archimandrite, of Chelije in Serbia (1978). Sts. Shio the New, David, Gabriel, and Paul, of Gareji, Georgia (1696-1700).

New Martyr Vera Samsonova (1940).

Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of Pec. Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of Pec.

Martyr Thespesius of Cappadocia (230). Martyr Firmus of Magus (284-303). St. Mertius the Farmer, of Myra in Lycia (912).

Repose of Metropolitan Tryphon (Turkestanov) of Dmitrov (1934) and Elder Philaret of Kapsala, Mt. Athos (1975).

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

Saturday. [Rom. 1:7–12; Matt. 5:42–48]

Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you (Matt. 5:44). There is nobody on the earth without love. People love their parents and relatives, benefactors and protectors. But the feeling of love toward parents, relatives, protectors and benefactors is natural and forms unaided in the heart; that is why the Lord does not give it value. True Christian love is proved by our relationship to enemies. Not only should light and incidental annoyances not extinguish our love for others, but not even attacks and persecutions, misfortunes and deprivations, intentionally and hostilely inflicted. We must not only bless these people, but also do good to them and pray for them. See whether you have such a disposition toward your enemies, and judge by this whether you have Christian love, without which there is no salvation.

Articles

Martyr Justin the Philosopher and those with him at Rome

The Holy Martyr Justin the Philosopher was born around 114 at Sychem, an ancient city of Samaria. Justin’s parents were pagan Greeks.

Venerable Dionysius the Abbot of Glushitsa, Vologda

Our holy Father Dionysius, a native of Vologda, was one of the greatest ascetics of Russia’s Northern Thebaid, and had links to some of the most important figures of Russian monasticism.

My Life in Christ

St. John of Kronstadt

"In this warfare I have come to know the immensity of God's long-suffering to us; for He alone knows all the infirmity of our fallen nature, which He mercifully took upon Himself, except for sin (I Peter2:22; Isaiah 53:9; I John 3:5; 4:10; Hebrews 4:15), and therefore He commanded us 'seventy times seven' times to forgive the sins (St. Matt. 18:22) of those who have fallen into them; and He has surrounded and continued to surround me everyday with the joys of salvation from sin in peace and expansion of the heart. The Divine mercy which I have experienced and the perpetual nearness to me of the Lord confirm me in the hope of my eternal salvation and in that of those who follow and hear me to salvation, according to the word of the Scriptures, 'Behold I and the children which God hath given me'"

The Life of the Pastor of Kronstadt

Bishop Nikon

I lowered my eyes, while he continued to look at me, looking straight into my soul. He began to talk. I cannot even hope to reproduce all that he said. He spoke about my hut being like paradise, because wherever there are children, all is light and warmth there, and that I should not trade this paradise for the smoky atmosphere of a bar. He did not accuse me, – no, he kept excusing me, only I did not feel like being excused… He left, while I just continued sitting there quietly… I didn’t cry, although my soul was on the brink of tears. My wife kept looking at me… And ever since that time I became a decent man again…”

John of Kronstadt: Saint of Communion, Saint of Confession

Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware)

It is very clear that when St. John in his Epistle and our Savior in the Gospel speak about love they do not just mean something sentimental, something emotional, they mean something far more profound. The kind of love that they envisage, a universal all-embracing love, a love without limits, can only be a result of prayer, of ascetic effort.

God the Father is All-Good. St. John of Kronstadt

Bishop Alexander (Mileant)

"God, Father of the Word, is also our benevolent and loving Father. When saying 'The Lord's Prayer,' we must believe and remember that the Father in heaven never forgets and will never forget us, for what earthly father forgets or does not care for his children? Remember that our Heavenly Father constantly surrounds us with love and care, and not in vain is He called our Father—this is not a name without meaning and force, but a name with great significance and power."

Miraculous Help from St. John of Kronstadt Today

Olga Rozhneva

My heart froze. I asked her myself how my son is. The doctor answered, “Mama, there must have been some mistake with your son. It can’t be explained any other way.

“I still marvel at the power of his prayer.” St. John of Kronstadt

Father John Sergiev breathed fresh life into Russian spirituality, making it predominantly Eucharistic. With eldership on the wane, this age-old Russian form of religious piety prophetically bequeathed by Father John of Kronstadt determined the existence of the Russian Orthodox Church for many years to come.

St. John of Kronstadt

St. John of Kronstadt

St. John of Kronstadt Through the Eyes of New Martyr Alexander Hotovitzky

New Martyr Alexander Hotovitzky

In 1903, Fr. Alexander traveled to Russia and visited Fr. John Sergiev, the future saint, in Kronstadt. When he returned to New York, he gave an interview to a reporter from the Wilkes-Barre Times, and spoke about the famous wonder-worker of Kronstadt. The article was printed in that periodical on April 7, 1904.

St. John of Kronstadt and the Education of Children

Archpriest Alexander Zelenenko

St. John of Kronstadt considered love for children to be the foundation of a teacher’s work—a foundation that is very often denied by modern-day so-called technicians of secular educational sciences and activities.

Let Us Sacredly Follow the Testament of St. John of Rila

St. Seraphim (Sobolev)

Our preservation of the Orthodox faith, or Church teaching, which is alien to all heresies and every kind of modernism, is the fount of all the ineffable mercies of God to us.

Venerable Agapitus the Unmercenary Physician of the Kiev Near Caves

This holy Unmercenary Physician was born at Kiev. He was a novice and disciple of Saint Anthony of the Caves, and lived during the eleventh century.

The Holy Fathers of Davit-Gareji Monastery

Kyrylo Myazha

Over the centuries, a whole host of venerable ascetics and martyrs have shone forth in the Gareji desert.

Holy Monk-martyrs Shio the New, Davit, Gabriel, and Pavle of Gareji (†1696–1700)

Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze

The holy monk-martyrs Shio the New, Davit, Gabriel and Pavle labored in the Davit-Gareji Wilderness at the end of the 17th century. St. Shio was from the village of Vedzisi in the Kartli region.

Venerable David of the Gareji Monastery, Georgia

Saint David of Gareji first settled in the outskirts of Tbilisi, the new capital of Georgia. Through his wondrous preaching, Saint David converted many fire-worshippers and brought people of many creeds to the Christian Faith.

How a Teacher Became a Camp Prisoner and a Martyr

Anastasia Vysotenko

Cheka officers left an interesting description of the confessor: “She is religious to the point of fanaticism. She makes her livelihood by teaching the Law of God... She attends church daily and distributes prosphora among the faithful...”

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