Orthodox church holidays
May 22 marks 5 Orthodox church holidays. The list of events informs about church
holidays, fasting, days of honoring the memory of saints. The list will help to find out
the date of a significant religious event for Orthodox Christians.
Orthodox holidays on May 22
Prophet Isaiah
St. Isaiah’s Day. Prophesied the coming of Christ the Savior. He had the gift of miracles.
He experienced martyrdom – on the orders of the Jewish king, Manasseh, was sawn
through a wooden saw.
Holy Prophet Isaiah lived 700 years before Christ and came from the royal family.
Isaiah’s father, Amos, raised his son in the fear of God and in the law of the Lord.
Having reached a mature age, the prophet Isaiah married a pious prophetess maiden
(Is. 8.3) and had a son Jasuwa (Is. 8, 18).
To the prophetic ministry, St. Isaiah was called by God into the kingdom of Uzziah, king
of Judah, and prophesied for about 60 years under the kings Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah,
and Manasseh. The beginning of his ministry was marked by the following vision: he
saw the Lord God sitting in a magnificent heavenly temple on a high throne. He was surrounded by six-winged Seraphims. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their legs and with two they flew, calling out to each other: “Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord of Hosts, are filled with heaven and earth His glory!” incense The Prophet exclaimed in horror: “Oh, I’m a cursed man, I was honored to see the Lord of Hosts, having unclean lips and living in the midst of unclean people!” . He touched the lips of the prophet Isaiah and said: “Behold, I touched your lips and the Lord will wipe out your iniquities and cleanse your sins.” After this, Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord addressed to him: “Who will I send and who will go to the Jews, who will go for us?” Isaiah answered: “Here I am, send me, Lord, I will go.” And the Lord sent him to the Jews to persuade them to turn from the ways of ungodliness and idolatry and to repent. To those who repent and turn to the True God, the Lord promised mercy and forgiveness, and God’s punishment and punishment were intended for the persistent. Then Isaiah asked the Lord if the Jewish people’s retreat from God would continue. The Lord answered: “Until the cities start to run out, there will be no people in the houses and this land will become a desert. However, when a tree is cut down, new shoots will come from its stump, and after the destruction of the people, a holy remnant will remain, from which a new tribe will arise. ”
Isaiah left behind him a book of prophecies in which he denounced the Jews for their unfaithfulness to the God of the fathers, predicts the captivity of the Jews and their return from captivity by King Cyrus, the devastation and restoration of Jerusalem and the temple. At the same time, he predicts the historical fate of other neighboring Jews. But, what is most important for us, the prophet Isaiah with special clarity and detail prophesies about the coming of the Messiah – Christ the Savior. The Prophet calls the Messiah God and Man, the Teacher of all nations, the Founder of the Kingdom of Peace and Love.
The prophet predicts the birth of the Messiah from the Virgin, with particular clarity, describes the suffering of the Messiah for the sins of the world, foresees His Resurrection and the spread of His Church throughout the universe. According to the clarity of the predictions of Christ the Savior, the prophet Isaiah earned the name of the Old Testament evangelist. The words belong to him: “This sin carries our sins and it hurts for us … He was wounded for our sins and tortured for our iniquities. The punishment of our world is upon Him, and by His wounds,, we are healed … ”(ch. 53, 4, 5. See the book of the Prophet Isaiah, ch. 7, 14, ch. II, 1, ch. 9, 6, ch. 53, 4, Ch. 60, 13, etc.).
The Holy Prophet Isaiah also had the gift of miracles. Thus, when during the siege of Jerusalem, the besieged enemies exhausted themselves from thirst, he with his prayer wiped out a spring of water from under the mountain of Zion, which was called Siloam, that is, “sent from God.” Later on, the Savior sent the wash to the blind born, to whom He returned sight. Through the prayer of the prophet Isaiah, the Lord extended King Hezekiah’s life by 15 years.
The Prophet Isaiah died a martyr’s death. By order of the Jewish king Manasseh, he was sawn over with a wooden saw. The Prophet was buried not far from the source of Siloam. Subsequently, the relics of the holy prophet Isaiah were transferred by the king Theodosius the Younger to Constantinople and laid in the church of St. Lawrence in Vlahernah. Currently, part of the head of the Holy Prophet Isaiah is kept on Mount Athos in the Khilendar monastery.
The time and events that occurred during the life of the Prophet Isaiah are discussed in the 4th book of Kings (chapters 16, 17, 19, 20, 23, and others), as well as in the 2nd book of Chronicles (chapters 26 – 32).
Martyr Christopher of Lykia
It is considered the day of memory of St. Christopher (real name – Reprev). He lived in the III century. He spread Christianity among the pagans. He suffered for the faith by decree of the emperor Decius in Lykia (his head was cut off with a sword).
The life of the saint tells us that St. Christopher before baptism had the name Reprev (Ρεπρεβος – rejected, condemned).
During the reign of Emperor Decius Trajan, a man named Reprev was captured by the Romans during the battle of Marmarik. He later served in the Roman Cohorts cohort – a division of Marmaris – immigrants from the Marmarika area or representatives of the Berber tribe.
This glorious martyr, whose memory is highly honored both in the east and — even more — in the west, especially in Spain, is told by something strange and unusual: he was a man of enormous growth and terrifying behavior. Among other Orthodox saints, the martyr Christopher is distinguished by the tradition attributed to him by an unusual feature. It was believed that being a body like a man, he had a dog’s head – a dog’s head and came from a country of cannibals. Some claim that Saint Christopher was of descent from the land of the Canaanites, while others produce it from canines (Canis – dog) or kinokhfalov (κύνος – dog and κεφαλή – head) – members of the “Psoglavets” tribe – dog-headed people, whose description is sufficient often occurs from ancient times, or anthropophagus (άνθρωπος – man and φαγείν – is). The holy look of a saint in the Slavic Prologue is rejected, and the venerable one. Nicodemus in the Sinaxarist gives him only an ugly look.
In another, rather late, tale, which became widespread in Cyprus, the saint from birth had a beautiful appearance, which was seduced by women. Wishing to avoid the temptations and women who were constantly disturbing him, he prayed that the Lord would give him an ugly face, after which he would become like a dog.
When he was taken prisoner by the war in one commit (the so-called royal bodyguards), he did not have the gift of human speech. He prayed to God, and the Lord sent an angel to him, who said to him: “Take heart, Reprev!” – that was his first name, – and then he touched his mouth and informed him through this ability to speak. When, after this, he arrived in one city, he began to denounce those who persecuted Christians. For this, a certain Bacchus beat him, but in response to this, he told Bacchus that he accepted with humility a beating from him only for the commandment of Christ, and if he had succumbed to anger, Bacchus himself, even the power of the emperor, would turn into nothing.
Soon after him, two hundred warriors were sent to bring him to the emperor (according to the Greek prologues, it was probably the emperor Decius, who reigned in the Roman Empire from 249 to 251 g.), And when they walked, then on the way a completely dry staff , who was in the hands of the saint, flourished miraculously, and then when the soldiers did not have enough bread during the journey, he multiplied it in abundance. This great miracle led to the surprise of the warriors, and they believed in Christ and, together with the saint, were baptized by the Bishop of Antioch, the holy martyr Babel, and the holy instead of Reprev was given the name of Christopher (Χριστόφορο).
When the saint was brought to the emperor, the latter at the sight of him felt horror and suddenly fell backward, and then, coming to himself again, he decided to force him to renounce Christ, but not with obvious measures of violence, and with cunning to change his mood first, and then affection persuade him to do his will. With this goal, he ordered to call two women whores, beautiful faces and ready to give themselves to the prodigal compound, who, in seductive conversations, aroused in young people an irresistible, insane desire for fornication. The name of one of these women was Callinicius, and the other was Akilina.
The emperor ordered them to enter the saint and inspire him with various seductive thoughts, as was their custom, so that, prompted by a criminal love for them, he would agree to give up the faith in Christ and sacrifice to the pagan gods, but the holy Christopher began to teach them faith in Christ and his word turned them from idolatry. Having returned to the emperor, they declared themselves Christians, for which they were subjected to cruel tortures and, having suffered in this way suffering for the faith in Christ, received martyrdom crowns. Severely angry with these women, the emperor ordered St. Christopher to be brought to him and began to mock him about the unusual appearance of his face, but the saint in response called him a repository of the devil’s actions because the name of the emperor Decius had such meaning.
After that, the emperor sentenced to death those two hundred men of warriors who were sent to bring Saint Christopher to him and who received holy baptism with him, as they came to the saint and worshiped him before the eyes of the emperor. He ordered all of them to cut off their heads, and burn their bodies, but the holy Christopher ordered to enclose them in a copper vessel, nail him in it, and then heat the vessel, but when it was done, the saint remained intact. Not experiencing any suffering from fire, or from pinching, he stood in a red-hot vessel, as if in some pleasant coolness.
To many of those present, this seemed to be a hoax, and the saint believers quite truthfully and joyfully said that during the torture he saw some very tall and beautiful people, dressed in white clothes of her husband, who by his outgoing light exceeded the sun and had on his head with its brilliant crown, which was surrounded by many warriors, with whom some black and foul areas fought, trying to grab and entice him, but this terrible leader with anger glanced at them and with his eyes led into confusion and struck all this eskoe host, and gave him strength to move without injury torment.
Hearing such a story and seeing the saint completely unscathed, many of the people believed him and turned to Christ, and then took the saint out of a red-hot vessel, for which they were hacked away by the royal executioners. After this, St Christopher tied a stone around his neck and threw him into a well, but the angel removed him from there, then put hot copper clothes on him and finally cut off his head with a sword. The holy martyr died in Lykia under the emperor Decius ca. 250 g
The memory of St. Christopher and other holy martyrs who suffered with him is celebrated in Kyparissia – a place in Constantinople – on the day of his death, which is close to the day of the death of the holy martyr George. According to the acts of the martyr, the day of his death, all the ancient calendars, Eastern and Western, refer to April 23.
The relics and the head of the saint, kept for some time in Constantinople, were then transported to Rab Island in Croatia. When the Normans invaded the island and besieged the city of Rab, the townspeople placed the relics of Christopher on the walls. Miraculously, the wind changed and the ships drifted away from the island. One of the major medieval fortresses of the city of Rab is named in honor of St. Christopher.
Nikola Veshny
The transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas and the Wonderworker
The church honors St. Nicholas, the transfer of his relics from Lykia to the city of Bar. This event occurred in 1087. In honor of St. Nicholas, many monasteries and temples have been built, many miraculous icons have survived to this day.
In the XI century, the Greek empire was going through a difficult time. The Turks devastated its possessions in Asia Minor, ravaged cities and villages, killing their inhabitants, and accompanied their cruelties by insulting holy churches, relics, icons and books. Muslims attempted to destroy the relics of St. Nicholas, deeply honored by the entire Christian world.
In 792, the caliph Aaron Al-Rashid sent the commander of the fleet, Humaid, to plunder the island of Rhodes. Having devastated this island, Khumeid went to the Lycian Worlds with the intention of breaking into the tomb of Saint Nicholas. But instead of her, he hacked into another, standing next to the tomb of the Prelate. As soon as the blasphemers managed to do this, a terrible storm arose at the sea and almost all the ships were defeated.
The desecration of shrines angered not only Eastern but also Western Christians. Christians in Italy, among whom there were many Greeks, were especially feared for the relics of St. Nicholas. Residents of Bar, located on the Adriatic coast, decided to save the relics of St. Nicholas.
In 1087, the lordly and Venetian merchants went to Antioch for trade. Both those and others assumed on the way back to take the relics of Saint Nicholas and transport them to Italy. In this intention, Bar residents ahead of the Venetians and first landed in the Worlds.
Two people were sent ahead, who, upon returning, reported that everything was quiet in the city, and in the church where the greatest shrine rests, they met only four monks. Immediately 47 people, armed, went to the church of St. Nicholas, the monks-watchman, unaware, indicated to them a platform under which the tomb of the saint was hidden, where, as is customary, strangers were anointed with peace from the relics of the saint.
The monk told about the appearance on the eve of St. Nicholas to an old man. In this vision, the Prelate ordered that his relics be kept more carefully. This story inspired Baryan; they saw for themselves in this phenomenon the permission and, as it were, an indication of the Holy One. To facilitate their actions, they opened their intentions to the monks and offered them a ransom – 300 gold coins. The watchmen refused the money and wanted to inform the residents about the misfortune that threatened them. But the aliens tied them up and put them at the door of their guards.
They broke the church platform under which there was a tomb with relics. In this case, the young man Matthew, who wanted to discover the relics of the Prelate as quickly as possible, was notable for his special diligence. Impatiently, he broke the lid and the barians saw that the sarcophagus was filled with a fragrant holy world. The compatriots of the Buryans, the presbyters Lupp and Drogo, made a litium, after which the same Matthew began to extract the power of the Hierarch from the world-crowded sarcophagus. This happened on April 20, 1087.
Due to the absence of the ark, Presbyter Drogo wrapped the relics in outerwear and, accompanied by the buryans, transferred them to the ship. The liberated monks informed the city of the sad news of the abduction by foreigners of the relics of the Wonderworker. Crowds of people gathered on the shore, but it was too late …
On May 8, the ships arrived at the Bar, and soon the joyful news spread throughout the city. The next day, May 9, the relics of St. Nicholas were solemnly transferred to the church of St. Stephen, located near the sea. The celebration of the transfer of the shrine was accompanied by numerous miraculous healings of the sick, which aroused even greater reverence for the great saint of God. A year later, a church was built in the name of St. Nicholas and consecrated by Pope Urban II.
The event associated with the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas, caused a special veneration of the Miracle Worker and was marked by the establishment of a special holiday on May 9. At the beginning, the feast of transferring the relics of St. Nicholas was celebrated only by the inhabitants of the Italian city of Bar. In other countries of the Christian East and the West, it was not accepted, despite the fact that the transfer of relics was widely known. This circumstance is explained by the custom of honoring mainly local shrines characteristic of the Middle Ages. In addition, the Greek Church did not establish the celebration of this memory, because the loss of the relics of the Prelate was a sad event for her.
The Russian Orthodox Church commemorates the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas from Mir to Lycians to Bar on May 9, established shortly after 1087 on the basis of the deep, already entrenched veneration by the Russian people of the great saint of God, who passed from Greece simultaneously with the adoption of Christianity. The glory of the miracles, revealed by the Prelate on earth and at sea, was widely known to the Russian people. Their inexhaustible strength and abundance testify to the special grace-giving help of the great saint to suffering humanity. The image of the Prelate, the all-powerful Wonderworking benefactor, became especially dear to the heart of the Russian man because he instilled a deep faith in him and hope for his help. Countless miracles marked the faith of the Russian people in the inexhaustible help of the God-Oaker.
In domestic writing very significant about him was composed of significant literature. The legends about the miracles of the Holy Hierarch, performed on Russian soil, began to be recorded in ancient times. Shortly after the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas from the World of Lycian to Bargrad, a Russian version of his life appeared and a story about the transfer of his holy relics, written by a contemporary of this event. Earlier, the word was written commendable to the Wonderworker. Every week, every Thursday, the Russian Orthodox Church especially honors his memory.
Numerous churches and monasteries were erected in honor of St. Nicholas, the Russian people called him after their children at Baptism. In Russia, numerous miraculous icons of the great Saint. The most famous among them is the image of Mozhaysky, Zaraysky, Volokolamsky, Ugreshsky, Ratny.
There is not a single house and not a single church in the Russian Church, in which there would be no image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The meaning of the grace-filled intercession of the great saint of God is expressed by the ancient compiler of the life, according to which Saint Nicholas “many great and most glorious wonders create on the earth and on mori, in real trouble helping and saving from drowning, and from the depths of the sea wearily dry, admiring and bringing into the house, delivering from bonds and dungeons, escaping from a sword, and freeing from death, many under the rule of healing: blind sight, lame walking, deaf hearing, dumb verb.
Many in the poverty and poverty of the last sufferers of enrichment, smooth food are served and everybody in every need is a ready helper, a warm advocate and speedy spokesman and protector seemed, and he also helps those who call upon him and delivers him from misfortune. The message of the great Wonderworker of this East and West and all the ends of the earth lead his miracles. ”
Rev. Shio (Simeon) Mgvimsky
Memorial Day of one of the 12 selected disciples of St. John. The founder of Mgvime monastery. The author of 160 teachings for the monastic community.
On Thursday of the cheese week, the memory of Rev. Shio Mgvimsky is celebrated. His life was composed by Arseny Sapareli, and it represents for us an amazing edification about the action of the grace of God in the monastic feat.
Rev. Shio Mgvimsky was born at the end of the 5th century in Antioch in Syria, in a family of pious and wealthy parents, whose names are unknown. The parents themselves were engaged in the education of their son, raised him in the fear of God, in the love of God and people, in their zeal for church services and in the study of the word of God.
Together with him, they read the Scripture. By the age of 16, Shio had studied the Holy Scriptures, the prayers and the works of the Fathers of the Church. Many texts he knew by heart. Parents, fearing that severe mental stress can cause bad consequences for the health of their child, often asked their son to give himself a rest.
Once they even decided to take books away from him, which greatly saddened Shio. However, they heeded his words: “He who does not study the Scriptures, moves away from the Kingdom of Heaven and becomes a slave to the devil.” The parents returned the books to the son, and since then have not constrained the freedom of their son.
When Shio was 20 years old, the enlightener of Antioch came to Antioch, St. John, later known as St. John of Zedazen. Theological education of St. John of Zedazen received in Antioch. Even in early youth, he took the veil and retired to the wilderness, avoiding worldly disturbances and heretical temptations, since at that time the heretical patriarch Peter Valyalschik (Knaevs) ruled the Antioch Church.
In the wilderness, the Monk John became famous for his feats and miracles. When fame spread about him, then a multitude rushed to him, who wanted to receive healing, spiritual guidance and just see the saint. Then St. John considered it a blessing to move away from worldly glory and embarrassment. Together with especially devoted and spiritually experienced students, he retired to a deserted place and, having built cells, began to lead a hermit life with them. But then he came out of solitude for the benefit of the believers and came to Antioch.
The meeting with him struck Shio, since the Monk John immediately called him by name even before their acquaintance. The monk predicted to him that he would become “a father to many fathers,” and called him to monastic life. Shio gladly responded to the call of St. John, but he was afraid of the grief of the parents and their opposition. However, Reverend John prophesied to him that they, before Shio, would accept monasticism.
During the liturgy, which was attended by Shio and his parents, words from the Gospel of Luke (14: 26) were read about rejecting the world and hating the very life itself. Relying on them, Rev. Shio started a conversation with his parents about monasticism. They, believing that after their tonsure, the son was getting married, decided to retire from the world, not wanting to interfere with his family happiness. But as soon as Shio’s parents took the veil, the young man distributed all the property left from his parents – some gave to the poor, some donated to the monasteries and freed the slaves, and he hurried to St. John, who gladly accepted him and dressed in monastic clothing.
Rev. Shio succeeded in the monastic exploits of more than all the disciples of St. John, so that he marveled at the grace of God that was so strong in him. Twenty years after being called to St. John, there was a revelation from above to select 12 people from among his disciples and go with them to the country of Iversk (Georgian) to affirm Georgians who converted to Equal to the Apostles Nina to Christianity, to defend fire worshipers from the onslaught and protect them from heretical temptations, since the Monophysite heresy was spreading in the Caucasus at that time.
After long prayers, the Holy Father Shio Mgvimskogo. When the Monk John and his disciples reached Mtskheta, they were hospitably received by the Catholicos of Mtskheta Evlavius (533–544). John and his disciples spent three years in Mtskheta, being in prayer and preaching the word of God, and then went up the mountain of Zedazeni. After their two-year stay on Mount John the Blessed Mother appeared with Nina, and ordered him to send his disciples to different places in the country to preach.
Upon awakening, St. John gathered the disciples, declaring to them the command of the Virgin and St. Nina, and then urged them to prepare to go where the Holy Spirit Himself indicated to each of them. A well-known analogy can be drawn between this phenomenon and Pentecost, after which the holy apostles went to different countries to preach. St. John brought his disciples to the Catholicos and asked him for blessings for their upcoming sermon.
The Catholicos, blessing them and having read a prayer about them, ordered each one to take one monk to help him. Only one saint Shio, who loved the desert and solitary life, asked his teacher to bless him for seclusion. St. John let him do this, saying: “My child! Go where the Lord Himself leads you. Vladyka Our Lord Jesus Christ has revealed to me that you must lead a solitary life, and in the meantime, you will be Abba of the great monastery.
But first, appear to the Catholicos, receive his blessing, and may the Lord be with you always. He never left me, humble, in the struggle with the evil spirit, He will be your Patron and Comforter and will destroy for you all cunning and devilish tricks ”.
Holy Shio, having also received the blessing from Catholicos Evlavii on the desert-breeding, went west from the city of Mtskheta to places impassable due to dense forests. He entered a deep, desolate, deaf, waterless gorge, full of wild animals and venomous snakes. But Saint Shio liked this place, since it was, as it were, deliberately protected by the sheer and unusually steep walls of a sandy mountain from human eyes and from worldly rebellion.
On the northern side, over the sheer cliff of the steep bank of the Kura River, Saint Shio found a cramped cave, sufficient to hide. There he settled, without worrying about food, or drinking, or about any human consolation. According to legend, he spent 40 days there in fasting and prayer, not eating a piece of bread, ate only some herbs and drank some water.
In his forty-day fast, he imitated our Lord Jesus Christ, because he also suffered temptation from demons, who repeatedly took on the image of wild animals and serpents in order to intimidate him. But Saint Shio, like Saint Anthony of Egypt, the head of the wilderness area, was not afraid of them at all and once left the cave and turned to the evil spirit with the words: “Damned, don’t you know that where the grace of the Lord dwells, you are completely powerless? I do not fear you, and I say to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: go and remove all who work iniquity from me. ” After that, he spent the whole night in prayer, and in the morning he was comforted by the appearance of the Most Holy Mother of God and St. Nina with the angels.
The Most Holy Theotokos commanded him to feed on what would be sent from heaven, and promised that the demons would no longer bother him, and the desert would be filled with god-bearing men who would please his name forever. After that, Rev. Shio, like the holy prophet Elijah, ate bread, which the dove brought to him.
After a while the first student joined him. It was the nobleman and the head of the fortress Nasdaki named Evagrius, a Christian raised in piety, who went hunting with his children and slaves. Crossing Kuru, he headed to the side where Saint Shio lived. Approaching the place of residence of the saint, he stopped and sent his companions to expel the game. Watching what the hunters were doing, he noticed a pigeon carrying food in its beak and flying into a cave.
Evagrius remembered this place. And the next time he hunted, the same thing happened again. Then Evagrius approached the cave. He saw a man praying on his knees with arms raised to the sky. To his question, Rev. Shio answered: “I am a stranger, praise God in this close cave and wish to end my days here to be pleasing to God.” Evagrius kindled with love for God and wished to become a disciple of Rev. Shio and to be with him.
Then the monk commanded him with his rod to hit the river and go over it, and then distribute all his property and return to it. With faith and love, Evagrius fulfilled the obedience of the old man, passed over the dry land across the river, distributed his property to the poor, and departed from the world and relatives.
Saint Shio dressed him in schema, instructed him in monastic life, indicated to Evagrius a special cave near his own and ordered him to settle there and begin his feat of fighting the devil. Since that time, the name of St. Shio became known throughout the neighborhood. Many came to him and entered his abode and took on an angelic image, taking monastic vows. Each disciple of the monk carved out for himself a special, separate from the others, cave near the cave of the Monk Evagrius. Saint Shio left his cave to the brethren only on Sundays, and then to instruct them, all the same time he spent in seclusion in a cave. Thus, their life combined elements of a hermit and a dormitory: living separately, the monastics did not lose the old man’s instruction.
