August

Synaxarion
This month has thirty-one days with thirteen hours of day and eleven
hours of night.

August 1
Procession of the Venerable and Life-giving Cross
Memory of the Seven Machabee Brothers, with their
Mother Salome,
and the Elder Eleazar (Second century B.C.)
Today begins the fast in preparation for the Holy Dormition
of our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin
Mary
To avert the illnesses which were most prevalent during the
month of August from the most distant times, the practice
in Constantinople was to carry the venerable Wood of the
Holy Cross through the city's streets and public places in
order to sanctify these places and to ward off illnesses. On
the pre-festive day the Wood of the Holy Cross was carried
from the Imperial Treasury Chamber and placed on the
Holy Table of the Great Church, Holy Wisdom. From
August 1 until the feast of the Dormition of our Most Holy
Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, it was carried
about throughout the entire city, then it was exposed for the
people's veneration. This is the origin of the Procession of
the Venerable and Life-giving Cross that we commemorate
today.
When the Syrian King Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164)
of the Seleucid dynasty persecuted the Jewish nation,
wishing to reduce it into slavery and to force all Jews to
renounce their ancestral traditions and eat pork, the seven
Machabee brothers, as well as the elder Eleazar, a doctor of
the Law and a scribe, were accused of following their
traditional prescriptions. This holy old man committed his
soul in offering his blood and his death for the deliverance

of his people. Eleazar's hands were tied behind his back and
he was cruelly beaten. Then he was suffocated by foul
vapors which he was constrained to inhale. The seven
Machabee brothers were successively led before the King
in order of age. They were condemned to the wheel, to
catapults, and to fire. They died during these tortures thus
receiving the crown of their steadfastness. Their mother,
who saw them all die under her eyes, was put to death last.
They are called the "Machabee brothers" not because they
were of the Machabee family, but because they suffered in
the epoch of the Machabees. Their martyrdom is reported
to us in the second book of Machabees (II Machabees 6:187:41).
Fourth Class Feast. Typika and Beatitudes.
Ordinary Isodikon. Troparia: of the Venerable and Life-giving Cross, of
the Seven Machabee Brothers, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of
the Venerable and Life-giving Cross (September 14). Instead of the
Trisagion, the verse: "We adore Your Cross, O Master, and we glorify
Your holy Resurrection." Epistle and Gospel from the Menologion.
Kinonikon of the Venerable and Life-giving Cross.
In occurrence with a Sunday: Typika and Beatitudes. Isodikon of the
Sunday. Troparia: of the Resurrection, of the Venerable and Life-giving
Cross, of the Machabee Brothers, and of the Church Patron.
Kondakion of the Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord, God, and Savior
Jesus Christ (August 6). Instead of the Trisagion, the verse: "We adore
Your Cross, O Master, and we glorify Your holy Resurrection." Epistle
and Gospel of the Sunday. Kinonikon of the Sunday.
Today begins the Virgin's Fast at the same time as the recitation of the
Office of the Paraklisis at Compline in honor of the Holy Theotokos.

August 2
Translation of the relics of the holy Protomartyr and
Archdeacon Stephen (415)
After Saint Stephen was stoned to death, the holy martyr's
teacher, Gamaliel, encouraged some Christians to come
during the night to remove the Saint's body and bury it in
his field. This field was twenty miles from Jerusalem and
was called by its owner's name, Kaphargamala, that is, the
village of Gamala, where he himself was buried some years
later. A venerable priest named Lucian, attached to a church
bordering on the field, thanks to a revelation from heaven,
knew the place where the protomartyr was buried. This
occurred in 415 under Emperor Theodosius the Younger.

He immediately told it to John, the Bishop of Jerusalem. He

went to the indicated place in company with Eutonius, the
Bishop of Sebastea, and Eleutherios, the Bishop of Jericho.
They dug away the soil and found a sarcophagus on which
Stephen's name was written in Hebrew letters. They opened
it, took out the precious relic, and solemnly transferred it to
Jerusalem.
Fifth Class Feast.

August 3
Memory of our venerable Fathers Isaac, Dalmatios
(+440),
and Faustos (+after 451)
Saint Isaac is commemorated in a more special manner on
May 30.
Saint Dalmatios was originally a soldier of the Second
Legion of the "Scholarii." For God's love, he separated
from his wife and daughter, took his son Faustos with him
and went to Saint Isaac to embrace the monastic life. He
reached a high degree of perfection in monastic life. With
Dalmatios' resources, Saint Isaac built a monastery.
Dalmatios succeeded him as head of this monastery after
the year 406. In 431, he attended, as a participant, the Third
Ecumenical Council of Ephesus where he displayed his
zeal for the Orthodox faith against Nestorius. He died
around 440, leaving his own son Faustos to succeed him.
Faustos died at an uncertain date, after the Fourth
Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon in 451.
Fifth Class Feast.

August 4
Memory of the Seven Holy Children of Ephesus
The holy Martyr Eudocia
If the tradition is to be believed, the Seven Children of
Ephesus, walled up alive in a grotto under Emperor Decius
in 250 would have fallen asleep for one hundred and
eighty-four years and would have been awakened during
Theodosius the Younger's reign. By a divine order, they fell

asleep again and died in 434. The Church also

commemorates them on October 22.
As for the holy martyr Eudocia, she is also commemorated
on March 1.
Fifth Class Feast.

August 5
Pre-festive Day of the Holy Transfiguration of Our
Lord, God,
and Savior Jesus Christ
Memory of the holy Martyr Eusignios (+362)
A native of Antioch, Saint Eusignios suffered martyrdom in
Antioch under Julian the Apostate around 362. For many
years he had won fame while in the imperial armies. Led
before the Emperor to be submitted to interrogation, he
confounded his judge by recalling to him that he had
betrayed his fathers' faith and given adoration to vain idols
which is due only to God. He extolled Constantine the
Great's virtues before him, saying how he had been led to
Christ's faith following an apparition, and how he had been
wise and expert in the affairs of state for many years.
Emperor Julian mocked the martyr and had him beheaded.
Saint Eusignios concluded his martyrdom in this manner.
Fifth Class Feast.

August 6
The Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord, God, and Savior
Jesus Christ
It is likely that this feast has its beginnings in the dedication
of the churches built on Mount Thabor. It is found at the
beginning of the Sixth century among the Nestorians and in
the Seventh century among the West Syrians. Received by
some western churches, it was introduced into the Roman
calendar by Pope Callistus III in 1457 in thanksgiving for
John Hunyadi's victory over the Turks.
Among the miraculous manifestations of the Lord's
omnipotence, the Transfiguration holds an exceptional

place in the series of progressive preparations by which

Christ introduced His redeeming mission to His disciples.
The Apostles' faith was to remain fragile until after the
Resurrection. Knowing the weakness of the human heart,
the Lord knew in advance at what point His passion and
death would scandalize His disciples. According to a very
human perspective, they unduly saw their Master's future
reign as the realization of the temporal kingdom of the
Jewish people. In such a mind, the complete failure of the
mission on the political plane which they were attributing
to the Savior would naturally end in a complete confusion
of hearts. To fortify them, Jesus takes with Him on the
mountain Peter, James, and John, the first among the
Apostles and the foundation of the nascent community, and
becomes transfigured before them. He shows them the
resplendence of divine glory projecting from the human
nature assumed by the Word: Glory which remains hidden
to us, to we mortals, but which will become the joy of our
eyes after the last resurrection when we will see God face
to face.
For the three Apostles, the representatives of the new
humanity, it is a particular Theophany, a personal
demonstration of Christ's absolute supremacy which
presents itself between Moses and Elia, the two great
witnesses of the Law and the Promise. It affirms Christ's
eternal reign over all time, over the beginning and the end.
Amidst this divine brilliance which today radiates in
evidence of His visible body, the Lord converses with
Moses and Elia. Saint Luke (Luke 9:31) tells us: "They
spoke of His death which He was about to fulfill in
Jerusalem." There is then a particular will of the Lord to
show in His Person the bond between glory and Passion on
the Cross. In the Byzantine Office the preparation for the
feast of the Exaltation of the Venerable and Life-giving
Cross (September 14) begins this very day by the reading
of this feast's Katavasia at Matins. The office very unjustly
then associates glory and the Cross. It is the meaning of
today's feast. If the Word took a human nature and if, by
His Incarnation, He marvelously transfigured this nature in
Himself, it is to bring about our salvation in the Father's
glory. He purchased this salvation for us by the Cross. A
witness of the Transfiguration, Saint John, tells us that the
Lord's glory shone with a particular brilliance on the day of
His Passion on the Cross, because it is there that He

accomplished the mission for which He had divinized

human nature in Himself on the day of the Incarnation.
It is a paradox for human wisdom, but the light of
intelligence for the sons of the Kingdom. It is the very
brilliance of glory "as of the only-begotten of the Father"
(John 1:14). If this glory shone thus through a human body,
it is because this body had been assumed by God in order to
conquer death and sin by His own death.
The Transfiguration announces the Savior's Resurrection
and His return in glory at the end of time. The Apostles did
not understand Him on that very day. "For he (Peter) did
not know what to say, for they were struck with fear"
(Mark 9:5). The icon remained graven in their hearts, with
the Father's words: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased; hear Him" (Matthew 17:5).
This glorious manifestation is "the seal of the divine
catechesis which, little by little, prepared the Apostles for
their mission." The experience of trial and misgiving will
still be necessary for them to see either denial or flight, in
order to understand on Resurrection Day the significance of
today's event. Purified in the Holy Spirit and strong in faith,
it is at this time when they could drink of the same chalice
of suffering as their Master and participate in His victory.
"You shall devour the strength of nations on account of
their riches, O beloved disciples, and you will be an object
of admiration for you shall be filled with glory, when I will
have appeared to you more brilliant than the sun..." (First
Ode). Thus the divinization of human nature is realized in
man redeemed by the Word's Incarnation. "On this day, on
Mount Thabor, Christ transformed Adam's dark nature;
having covered it with His brilliance, He divinized it"
(Small Vespers).
First Class Feast, follow the general order of a First Class Feast.

August 7
Second Day of the Feast of the Holy Transfiguration of
Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ
Memory of the holy Hosiomartyr Dometios (+362)

Of Persian descent, Saint Dometios lived in the times of

Emperor Constantine the Great. Initiated in the Christian
faith by a certain Abarus, he went to Nisibis, a city situated
on the borders of Persia and the Roman Empire. He entered
one of the city's monasteries. Dometios received baptism
and was clothed in the monastic habit. His piety and
austerity aroused the monk's anger against him. Upon the
devil's incitement the monks chased him from their
monastery. Then he went to the monastery of Saints Sergius
and Bacchus in Theodosiopolis (Erzeroum), and became
Archimandrite Ourbel's disciple. Having tested him,
Archimandrite Ourbel had him ordained a deacon, and was
likewise going to elevate him to the dignity of the
priesthood when the Saint, coming to know it, fled to Cyr.
He withdrew to a mountain where he mortified himself in
withstanding the heat, cold, and all the seasons'
inclemencies. He then lived for some time in an artificial
grotto where he welcomed in Christ's name all those who
came to him and converted them from paganism to the
Christian faith. While this was going on, Emperor Julian
the Apostate, happening to pass through these regions,
ordered that the Saint be stoned to death. The imperial
emissaries found him in the company of two disciples busy
singing divine praises at the third hour of day. They crushed
the Saint and his two disciples under a shower of stones, in
362.
Fifth Class Feast.

August 8
Third Day of the Feast of the Holy Transfiguration of
Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ
Memory of the holy Aimilianos the Confessor,
Bishop of Cyzicus (+between 730 and 740)
Having suffered multiple tribulations and exiles from the
ungodly Emperor Leo the Isaurian in defense of the Holy
Icons, Saint Aimilianos obtained the confessor's palm and
died in the Lord around 730-740.
Fifth Class Feast.

August 9

Fourth Day of the Feast of the Holy Transfiguration of

Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ
Memory of the holy Apostle Matthias (First century)
At first one of our Lord's Seventy Disciples, Saint Matthias
was admitted as one of the Apostles to replace Judas
Iscariot. Nothing certain can be affirmed concerning what
he did after that.
Fifth Class Feast.

August 10
Fifth Day of the Feast of the Holy Transfiguration of
Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ
Memory of the holy Martyr and Archdeacon Laurence
(+258)
Saint Laurence was archdeacon of the Roman Church. He
guarded the church's vessels and distributed its goods to the
poor. At the time of Emperor Valerian's terrible persecution,
the Bishop of Rome, Saint Sixtus II, was beheaded in
Callistus' cemetery. According to the witness of Pope Saint
Damasus I (366-384) who extolled and rendered the
martyrs' memory illustrious by his poetical inscriptions,
Saint Laurence was also seized and cruelly beaten. His
fingernails were pulled out. He was delivered over to the
fire and was submitted to many other tortures. Thrown into
prison, he triumphed over all by his faith and ended his
martyrdom in 258.
Fifth Class Feast.

August 11
Sixth Day of the Feast of the Holy Transfiguration of
Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ
Memory of the holy Martyr Euplos (+304)
Saint Eupolos suffered martyrdom in Catana, Sicily under
Emperors Diocletian and Maximian on August 12, 304. He
was a plebian by birth. Euplos possessed a manuscript of
the Holy Gospels. He spontaneously presented himself to

Cabistianus, the "Corrector" or Prefect of Sicily, saying: "I

wish to die. I am a Christian!" After having interrogated
him, the Prefect put him in prison. Four months later, he
interrogated him again concerning the holy books which he
possessed against the Emperor's prohibition. Then he had
him cruelly beaten and condemned him to death.
Fifth Class Feast.

August 12
Seventh Day of the Feast of the Holy Transfiguration of
Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ
Memory of the holy Martyrs Photios and Anicetos
(+305)
It is believed that these holy martyrs suffered for the faith
in Nicomedia of Bithynia under Emperor Diocletian around
305. Saint Photios was Saint Anicetos' nephew.
Fifth Class Feast.
Saint Maximos the Confessor's memory is also anticipated form August
13.

August 13
The Closing Day of the Feast of the Holy
Transfiguration of
Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ
Translation of the relics of our venerable Father
Maximos
the Confessor (after 680)
Saint Maximos the Confessor is commemorated on January
21. Today we commemorate the translation of his holy
relics from Lazia to Constantinople, which took place after
the Sixth Ecumenical Council of 680.
Follow the general order for the Closing Day of a First Class Feast.

August 14
Pre-festive Day of the Dormition of our
Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary

Memory of the holy Prophet Michea (Eighth century

B.C.)
The holy prophet Michea was born in Moreseth, near
Eleutheropolis. He prophecied under Joatham, Achaz, and
Ezechia, Kings of Juda (742-687). A contemporary of Isaia,
he is considered as the sixth of the Minor Prophets.
Fifth Class Feast.

August 15
The Dormition of Our Most Holy Lady,
the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary
Here is what the Church has received from ancient Patristic
tradition concerning the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady,
the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. The time having
come when it pleased Our Lord to take His holy Mother
close to Him, her passage from this transitory life to eternal
and blessed life was announced to her by an angel three
days in advance. Having understood this, the Virgin
hastened to ascend the Mount of Olives to pray there and
thank God. She then returned home and made the necessary
preparations fro her burial. Meanwhile, carried on clouds
from the ends of the earth where they had scattered to
preach the Gospel, the Apostles were gathered together at
the Holy Virgin's home. She explained to them the reason
for their unexpected gathering and consoled them in a
motherly fashion. She raised her hands to heaven, prayed
for world peace, blessed the Apostles, and, rising on her
bed, took the posture that she wished and thusly committed
her most holy soul into the hands of her Son and her God...
The Apostles carried her holy body and buried it in
Gethsemani. Three days later during a gathering for
consolation, where in accord with their custom, they raised
bread in Jesus' name, the Virgin appeared to them in the sky
and said to them: "Rejoice!" They knew by that that she
had ascended into heaven with her body.
Today's feast has its origin in the anniversary of the
dedication of a church of the Virgin located between
Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Built by the Roman woman
Ikelia, this church perhaps commemorates a "station"
where, according to tradition, tired from her trip the Virgin

Mary rested before arriving in Bethlehem to give birth to

the Child. As a matter of fact this place was named
"Kathisma" (station).
It seems that the memory of Mary's Dormition was first
solemnized among the Syrian Jacobites at the beginning of
the Sixth century on January 15 in Antioch, whereas in the
West, "Saint Mary's feast" or, simply, the Assumption,
according to Gregory of Tours, was commemorated in the
middle of the eleventh month (that is, January), either on
the fifteenth or the eighteenth.
The feast of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady, the
Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary was extended to the
whole Byzantine empire by Emperor Maurice between 588
and 602. It was introduced in Rome by Pope Theodore I
(642-649), who came from Jerusalem's clergy.
Second Class Feast, follow the general order of a Second Class Feast.

August 16
Second Day of the Feast of the Dormition of our Most
Holy Lady,
the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary
Translation from Edessa to Constantinople of the Icon
not painted by human hands of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
that is, of the Holy Shroud
Memory of the holy Martyr Diomedes
(beginning of the Fourth century)
It is believed that this Icon "not made by human hands"
was transferred to Constantinople in 944. According to
tradition, this famous icon was sent by Our Lord Himself to
Abgar V, the King of Odessa.
Fifth Class Feast.
Troparia: of the Icon not painted by human hands of Our Lord Jesus
Christ; of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos and
Ever-Virgin Mary; and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the
Dormition of our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin
Mary. Epistle and Gospel from the Menologion. Kinonikon of the
Sunday.

In occurrence with a Sunday: Troparia: of the Resurrection; of the Icon

not painted by human hands of Our Lord Jesus Christ; of the
Dormition of our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin
Mary; and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Dormition of our
Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. Epistle and
Gospel of the Sunday.

August 17
Third Day of the Feast of the Dormition of our Most
Holy Lady,
the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary
Memory of the holy Martyr Myron (+under Decius,
249-251)
Saint Myron suffered for the faith in Cyzicus, Propontis,
under Emperor Decius (249-251). He was a priest with
natural meekness, of a noble and wealthy family, loved by
God and men. On the feast of the Nativity according to the
Flesh of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ,
Antipatras, the Governor of Achaia, entered the Church in
order to seize Christians and submit them to tortures.
Inflamed by a divine zeal, the Saint answered back
bravely...After multiple tortures, he died by the sword in
Cyzicus.
Fifth Class Feast.

August 18
Fourth Day of the Feast of the Dormition of our Most
Holy Lady,
the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary
Memory of the holy Martyrs Floros and Lauros (?)
These holy martyrs suffered for the faith in Illyricum at an
uncertain date. They were twin brothers and sculptors by
profession. They had learned this art from Proclos and
Maximos. When their teachers had suffered martyrdom,
they left Byzantium and went to take up their abode in the
city of Ulpiana in Dardania of Illycricum, where they found
good marble to carry on their art... They died in prison for
having destroyed the idols in a pagan temple.
Fifth Class Feast.

August 19
Fifth Day of the Feast of the Dormition of our Most
Holy Lady,
the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary
Memory of the holy Martyr Andrew the Leader of
Armies
and his companions (end of the Third century)
These holy martyrs suffered for the faith under Emperor
Maximian around the end of the Third century. Saint
Andrew fought on the eastern borders under the orders of
Antiochus, the commanding general of the legion. He was
sent by Antiochus, at the head of an army, to drive back the
Persians who had penetrated far into Roman territory.
Invoking Christ's name and persuading his companions to
do likewise, he put the enemy armies to flight and chased
them. By this unexpected victory, he converted his soldiers
to Christ's faith, thanks to which they had escaped their
enemies. Accused of being a Christian, Saint Andrew as
well as his companions had to appear before Antiochus.
After multiple tortures, they all perished by the sword.
Fifth Class Feast.

August 20
Sixth Day of the Feast of the Dormition of our Most
Holy Lady,
the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary
Memory of the holy Prophet Samuel (+ca. 1010 B.C.)
Samuel was born in Ramathaim-sophim on Mount
Ephraim. He was of the tribe of Levi. His father's name was
Elcana and his mother's name was Anna. Elcana had two
wives, Anna and Phenenna. Phenenna had some children,
but Anna did not have any children. Elcana with his whole
family went to adore God at Silo where there was a priest
of the Lord, Heli, and his two sons, Ophni and Phinees. The
Lord had made Anna sterile, and her rival afflicted her to
embitter her. She prayed to God and God remember her.
She gave birth to a son whom she named Samuel. She
offered him to God in singing the third of the Old
Testament's canticles: "My heart throbbed for joy in God..."

The child grew in age and stature. He served God and

became a great prophet. Having aroused God's anger, Heli
and his two sons were destroyed by the Lord's wrath.
Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life and never
received gifts. He annointed Saul and David Kings of
Israel, and died at a very old age at the end of Saul's reign,
around the year 1010 before Our Lord.
Fifth Class Feast.

August 21
Seventh Day of the Feast of the Dormition of our Most
Holy Lady,
the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary
Memory of the holy apostle Thaddeus
The holy Martyr Bassa (beginning of the Fourth
century)
Saint Thaddeus, also called Lebbaios, does not seem to be
distinct from Saint Jude who is commemorated on June 19.
Saint Bassa suffered martyrdom on the island of Halon in
Hellespont, under Emperor Maximian around the beginning
of the Fourth century.
Fifth Class Feast.

August 22
Eighth Day of the Feast of the Dormition of our Most
Holy Lady,
the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary
Memory of the holy Martyr Agathonicos and his
companions
Zotikos, Zeno, Theoprepes, Akindinos, and Severian (?)
At an uncertain date, perhaps under Emperor Maximian,
Saint Agathonicos suffered martyrdom in Selybria on the
northern bank of the Bosphorus. He was beheaded after
multiple tortures. A prince whom he had converted and
many other Christians were also beheaded.
Fifth Class Feast.

Anticipated from August 23, remembrance is also made of Saint

Luppos. He does not have a special Troparion.

August 23
Closing Day of the Feast of the Dormition of our Most
Holy Lady,
the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary
Memory of the holy Martyr Luppos (?)
At an uncertain date Saint Luppos suffered martyrdom in
Nobes in Lesser Mysia. He seems to have been Saint
Demetrius' disciple.
All is taken as on the day of the Feast, except the Epistle and Gospel
which are of the day.

August 24
Memory of the holy Hieromartyr Eutyches (?)
Filled with divine grace, Saint Eutyches met the Apostle
John and was baptized by him. He traveled through the
country preaching the Gospel. Having overturned some
pagan idols and temples, he was put in chains, beaten, and
then thrown into prison where he received bread descended
from heaven. Taken out of prison, he was thrown into a
fiery furnace and handed over to wild beasts as fodder.
Remaining unscathed in the midst of all these tortures, he
returned to Sebastea, his birthplace, guided and fortified by
an angel. There he committed his soul to God in old age.
Fifth Class Feast.
From this day forward, on Sundays and Major Feasts, the Kondakion
is that of the Nativity of our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos and EverVirgin Mary (September 8).

August 25
Translation of the relics of the holy Apostle
Bartholomew
Memory of the holy Apostle Titus (First century)

A pagan of Greek descent, Saint Titus believed in Christ

through Saint Paul's instrumentality. He became Saint
Paul's disciple. He followed him especially during his third
voyage and was a great help to him in preaching the
Gospel. After his first captivity in Rome, the Apostle
proceeded to Crete, preached the faith there, and, when
departing, left his disciple Titus "in order to complete that
which remained to be done and to appoint priests in each
city" (Titus 1:5). Later Paul directed the epistle to him
which still bears his name. It is not known what
subsequently became of Saint Titus. Honored for some time
at Gortyna in Crete, his holy relics were transferred to
Venice where they were preserved in the magnificent
church of Saint Mark the Apostle. Pope Paul VI returned
Saint Titus' relics to Crete on August 22, 1965.
Fifth Class Feast.

August 26
Memory of the holy Martyrs Adrian and Natalia
(end of the Third century)
Saint Adrian and his wife Saint Natalia were natives of
Nicomedia. Under Emperor Maximian twenty-three
Christians who were hiding in caves were seized and
subjected to all kinds of tortures. Before concluding their
martyrdom Adrian asked them: "For what reason do you
suffer these agonies and all these unbearable tortures?"
They answered: "In order to merit the delights reserved by
God for those who suffer for Him, delights which neither
ear can hear nor speech express." Moved by divine grace,
Adrian immediately told the scribe to enter his name
among those of the Christians. He said: "I am happy to die
with them..." After multiple tortures, he died during a
beating.
Fifth Class Feast.

August 27
Memory of our venerable Father Poemen (Fourth
century)
Saint Poemen was born in Egypt. He withdrew to the desert
and became a monk with his brothers. He reached such a

high degree of perfection that he was like the father,

director, and educator of all the anchorites of Egypt and
Thebais. He died at a very old age sometime during the
Fourth century.
Fifth Class Feast.

August 28
Memory of our venerable Father Moses the Ethiopian
(Fourth century)
(Our holy Father Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (+430))
Saint Moses was a slave of Ethiopian descent. His master
had expelled him from his home for his difficult disposition
and in consequence of murder and theft. For some time he
became the leader of some brigands. Moved by grace in a
weighty circumstance of his life, he gave himself up to a
monastery and did penance there in order to bring his old
companions back to Christ's faith. He lived in a saintly
manner in the desert of Skete and received priestly
ordination. He died sometime during the Fourth century at
the age of seventy-five, leaving seventy disciples after him.
(Saint Augustine was born on November 13, 354 in
Tagaste, Numidia. His father Patricius was a pagan and his
mother Monica was a Christian. After brilliant studies in
Tagaste, Madaura, and Carthage, during which he led a
dissolute life, he became united to the Manichean sect. He
taught for some time in Carthage, then in Rome and Milan.
In Milan he met Saint Ambrose and was converted to the
true faith and finally started in the ways of sanctity (386),
as he later related in his famous "Confessions." As early as
391 he was elevated to the priesthood in Hippo. He became
Bishop of Hippo in 396. During his thirty-four year
episcopate he instructed his people and composed
numerous treatises on various questions, particularly upon
the defense of the Orthodox faith against the Manichean,
Donatist, and Pelagian heretics. He died on August 28, 430,
at the time when the Vandals were besieging his episcopal
city.)
Fifth Class Feast.

August 29

Beheading of the Honored and Glorious Prophet,

Precursor and Baptist John
A fast day whatever its occurrence

Around the Feast of Passover, Herod Antipas had the holy

Precursor's head cut off. Today's date, however, is the
anniversary of the dedication of a church in Sebastea
(Samaria), where the tombs of the Precursor and the
Prophet Elia are venerated. Later on this feast spread to the
whole Church.
At present the head of Saint John the Baptist is venerated in
the Church of Saint Silvester in Rome, on the Field of
Mars. It was taken there from Homs (Syria).
Although this is a great feast, according to the classic
discipline of the Byzantine Church, fast is in rigor today to
indicate our horror at Herod's luxurious banquet and
homicide.
Third Class Feast, follow the general order of a Third Class Feast.

August 30
Second Day of the Feast of the Beheading of the
Honored and Glorious Prophet,
Precursor and Baptist John
Memory of our Fathers among the Saints,
the Archbishop of Constantinople Alexander (238-337),
John II (+518), and Paul the Younger (+784)
Saint Alexander was born around 238. At first he was a
priest of Saint Metrophanes, the Bishop of Byzantium,
whom he succeeded in 314. Deceived by the ungodly
Arius, Emperor Constantine vainly tried to make him
receive this heretical bishop into ecclesiastical communion.
Sustained by imperial power, Arius made his way towards
the church when he suffered a stomach ache. His entrails
poured out and he died in 337. After having wisely
governed God's Church for twenty-three years, Saint
Alexander died in peace around the year 337.
A native of Cappadocia, Saint John was a priest and
synkellos of the Church of Constantinople. Upon Patriarch
Timothy's death he was elected Archbishop of

Constantinople by Emperor Anastasius on Easter Tuesday

of the year 518. That very year Anastasius died and was
replaced by the pious Emperor Justin. Saint John convoked
two synods in Constantinople against the Monophysites. A
man of great virtue, he slept in the Lord in 518, in the
month of February.
Saint Paul the Younger was a native of Cyprus. In the
hierarchy he held the rank of lector and excelled in word
and deed. After a long vacancy caused by the Iconoclast
heresy in the see of Constantinople, he was elected
Patriarch of Constantinople against his will on the second
Sunday of Great Lent in 780. At the time of his ordination
he subscribed to a document for fear of the terrible Leo the
Khazar in which he declared not to render veneration to
Icons. Before long the Emperor died and the Patriarch who
was sick, without Empress Irene's knowledge, left his
throne and went to the monastery of Flauros to don the
monastic habit. Calling together the patricians and eminent
persons of he Senate, Empress Irene sent them to obtain the
Saint's advice. Saint Paul told them: "If an Ecumenical
Council is not gathered and if the error which is among you
is not corrected, there is no salvation for you." The Saint
died in peace in 784, leaving behind him a great sorrow in
the hearts of the Empress and the pious men of the empire.
Saint Paul was a very respectable man, charitable without
measure, and worthy of all veneration. The empire and the
Empress had great confidence in him. In this epoch,
speaking openly of the veneration of Icons had already
begun. His successor was Saint Tarasios, under whom the
Seventh Ecumenical Council in 787 was held, the second of
Nicaea, and the first reestablishment of the Holy Icons took
place.
Fifth Class Feast.
Troparia: of the Beheading of the Honored and Glorious Prophet,
Precursor and Baptist John (as on August 29): and of the holy
Archbishops of Constantinople.

August 31
The Placing of the Precious Girdle of the
Most Holy Theotokos at Chalcoprateia (Sixth or Ninth
century)

According to some the Holy Virgin's girdle was found in

the see of Zela in Cappadocia under Emperor Justinian
(527-565). According to others it was found under the
Emperors Constantine and Roman Prophyrogenitus in 941,
and placed in the holy reliquary at Chalcoprateia.
Fourth Class Feast. Typika and Beatitudes. Troparia: of the Placing of
the Precious Girdle of the Most Holy Theotokos at Chalcoprateia, and
of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Placing of the Precious Girdle
of the Most Holy Theotokos at Chalcoprateia, and of the Church
Patron. Kondakion of the Placing of the Precious Girdle of the Most
Holy Theotokos at Chalcoprateia. Epistle and Gospel from the
Menologian. Kinonikon of the Placing of the Precious Girdle of the
Most Holy Theotokos at Chalcoprateia.
In occurrence with a Sunday: Typika and Beatitudes. Isodikon of the
Sunday. Troparia: of the Resurrection, of the Placing of the Precious
Girdle of the Most Holy Theotokos at Chalcoprateia, and of the Church
Patron. Kondakion of the Placing of the Precious Girdle of the Most
Holy Theotokos at Chalcoprateia. Epistle of the Placing of the
Precious Girdle of the Most Holy Theotokos at Chalcoprateia, Gospel
of the Sunday.