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   1. The Martyrdom of St. Timothy, the Apostle. On this day, of the year 97 A.D., St. Timothy, the Apostle, was martyred. He was born in the city of Lystra of the district of Lycaonia in Asia Minor, to a Greek father who worshipped the stars and a Jewish mother whose name was Eunice. (Acts 16:1-2, Timothy 1:5) When St. Paul preached in Lystra, this saint heard his teachings and saw the signs that God wrought by his hands. He believed and was baptized. Timothy rejected the gods of his father and forsook the faith of his mother. He became a disciple of St. Paul the Apostle, followed him in his travels, and shared his labors. In the year 53 A.D., St. Paul ordained St. Timothy bishop over the city of Ephesus and the neighboring cities. St. Timothy preached there and converted many to the Christian faith and baptized them. St. Paul wrote two epistles to St. Timothy: the first of which was in 65 A.D., and the second was shortly before 67 A.D., urging him, "Take heed to you

   1. The Departure of St. Prochorus, One of the Seventy Disciples. On this day, St. Prochorus departed. He was one of the seventy disciples who were called by the Lord and sent to preach His Name, and granted the gift of healing and casting out of evil spirits. St. Prochorus was with the disciples in the Upper Room on the day of Pentecost, and he was filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. He was chosen by the Apostles to be one of the seven deacons, who were filled with the Holy Spirit and with wisdom. (Acts 6:5) He accompanied St. John the Theologian, and travelled with him to many cities. St. John laid his hand on him and ordained him bishop for Nicomidia in Bithinia. He preached the Name of the Lord Christ, and restored many Greeks to the faith, baptizing them and teaching them to keep the Commandments. After he built a church for them and ordained priests and deacons, he went to the surrounding cities. He preached to them and baptized many of their

  The Discovery of the Relics of St. Abahor (Pihour) St. Bisoura (Pisoura) and their Mother Ampira (Asra). On this day, the church commemorates the discovery of the relics of St. Abahor, St. Bisoura, and their mother Ampira. They were from the town of Shabas, near Desouk in Egypt. They were martyred during the era of idol worshipping, and their bodies were buried in the church of their town. When the Europeans invaded Egypt, during the Crusades in 1248 A.D., they gained control of Damietta (Domiat) and all the surrounding towns. King El-Kamil, King of Egypt at that time, went out with his army to fight the invaders. On their way, they destroyed many churches, among which was the church of Shabas, where the relics of the saints were placed. One soldier opened the coffin of these saints, hoping to find something of value, rather he found these invaluable treasures that were of no value to him. He threw their relics beside the wall of the church and took the coffin and sold it

  The Departure of St. James, Bishop of Nisibis. On this day of the year 338 A.D., St. James, Bishop of Nisibis, departed. He was born in the city of Nisibis, and was brought up there. He was Syrian by race. Early in his youth, he chose the monastic life. He wore sackcloth made of hair to protect him from the heat of summer and the cold of winter. His food was composed of the vegetation of the earth, and his drink was only water. For this reason, he was very thin, but his soul was illumined and full of grace. He was worthy to receive the gift of prophecy and the performing of miracles. He also was able to foretell the future and he advised the people of what would happen to them in advance. His miracles are numerous. One day he saw some promiscuous women jesting without shame by a spring of water, and they had let their hair down to take a bath. He prayed to God, and the water of the spring dried up, and the women's hair became white. When the women apologized to him

   1. The Departure of St. Maximus and St. Domatius (Domadius). On this day is the commemoration of the two honored saints Maximus and his brother Domatius (Domadius). Their father's name was Walendianus, he was one of the Roman emperors who feared God and was Orthodox in faith. God gave him these two sons who were angelic in their purity and holiness since their young age, always praying and reading the holy books. When they realized the vanity of this world and all its glory, they decided to leave it and live a monastic life. They asked their father to allow them to go to the City of Nicea, to pray in the place where the first Universal Council was held in 325 A.D. Their father rejoiced, and he sent an entourage of soldiers and servants with them, as was the custom for the children of kings. When they arrived, they asked the soldiers to go back to their father and tell him that they wanted to stay there for some time. Then they revealed their thoughts to a saintly m

   1. The Martyrdom of St. Philotheus. On this day, the honorable St. Philotheus, whose name means "lover of God", was martyred. He was born in the City of Antioch, of pagan parents, who worshipped a bull, which they fed cakes made of fine flour and sesame seed oil mixed with honey. They also anointed the bull with spices and fine perfumed oils three times every day, and they gave it wine and oil to drink. They established two places for the bull, one for the summer, and another for the winter. They put around its neck a collar of gold, and golden rings in its legs. When Philotheus was ten years old, his father asked him to worship the bull, but he refused, his father left him without punishment, for he loved him as he was his only son. As for St. Philotheus, because of his young age, he did not know the Living God, and he thought that the sun was the god. He stood once looking at the sun and said, "I beseech you, O sun, if you are God, tell me." He he

The Holy Theophany of Our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Baptism of the Lord Christ). On this day of the year 31 A.D., our Master, Lord and God, Jesus Christ, was baptized at the hands of St. John the Baptizer (the dyer). The feast is called in Greek the Feast of Theophany or the Feast of the Revelation of the Divine Nature of the Lord, for the Holy Trinity was revealed: our heavenly Father was heard from heaven saying, "This is My beloved Son," and the Son standing in the Jordan river, and the Holy Spirit was descending in the form of a dove, and alighting upon Him. St. John the Baptist bore witness that the Lord Christ, when He had been baptized, came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven saying, "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased."( Matthew 3:16-17) St. John the evangeli

Paramouni of Holy Theophany (Epiphany). On this day it has been the tradition of the Orthodox Church, following the teachings of the holy fathers of the church, to fast until dusk, eating only what is permitted to be eaten during the holy forty days (Lent). If Christmas day or Epiphany falls on Wednesday or Friday, the saintly apostles ordained that the believers eat all the food that one is permitted to eat during the Pentecostal days (the post-resurrection fifty days). They are feasts to the Lord. The Paramouni days are fasted to compensate for the feast days, so that we may have the blessings of both the fast and the feast. In the custom of our Coptic Orthodox church, if the Paramouni day falls on Saturday or Sunday, it is the tradition to fast on the Friday that precedes them also. Then they pray on water before midnight and they wash and bless everyone who wants to be blessed. The reason to complete this before midnight is because of the fear that the little childr

  1. The Commemoration of the Circumcision of the Lord Christ. On this day, the church celebrates the commemoration of the circumcision of the Lord Christ, to Whom is the glory. God had ordained the law of circumcision as a sign that His people would become a particular people over all others. This was that every male of the seed of Abraham be circumcised on the eighth day of his birth. God put every soul that did not obey this law under judgment. As our Lord Jesus was born from the posterity of Abraham, according to the flesh, He willed to be circumcised on the eighth day, to fulfill the law of and to relieve us from the heavy burden of this commandment, as St. Paul says, "Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers." (Romans 15:8) He also gave us the sign of the new covenant through baptism, as St. Paul says, "In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcis

Martyrdom of St.Eusegnius (Eugenius) the Soldier On this day, St. Eusegnius (Eugenius) was martyred. He was a soldier during the reign of Emperor Constantine the Great. He was merciful and had many charitable deeds. When Emperor Constantine saw the sign of the Cross, he could not understand its significance, for he was not a believer yet. He asked the soldier Eugenius, who told him that it was the sign of the Lord Christ. The Emperor started to think deeply about it and particularly in the sentence that was written on the sign of the cross, By this you conquer. At night the Emperor saw the Lord Christ in a dream and He showed him the sign of the Cross. He commanded him to make the flags of his army similar to it. The following morning, the Emperor did as he was commanded, and he won the war against his enemies. He entered Rome victoriously and became a Christian since then, and he lifted up the horn of the Christians and their faith all over the Roman Empire. St. Eusegnius lived until

  The Departure of St. John the Evangelist and Theologian. On this day, in the year 100 A.D., St. John, the virgin, the evangelist, and apostle who was the son of Zebedee, departed. St. John Chrysostom (of the Golden Mouth) said that St. John the Evangelist was originally a disciple of St. John the Baptist. He was the brother of St. James the Elder, who was killed by Herod by the sword. The Lord called him with his brother "Boanerges" (Mark 3:17), that is "sons of thunder," for their strong zeal and great faith. He was also the disciple whom Jesus loved. The lot fell on him to go to Asia. The people of this area were stiff-necked, so he prayed to Christ to be with him. He went to Ephesus, accompanied by his disciple Prochorus. They embarked on a ship, but the ship was wrecked on the way and every one of the passengers clung to a plank of the ship's wood. The waves washed out Prochorus to an island, but St. John remained among the waves of the sea f

  The Commemoration of the Slain Children of Bethlehem by the Order of King Herod On this day, in the second year of the Advent of Christ, the children of Bethlehem were martyred. King Herod secretly called the wise men and determined from them what time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also." When they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary, His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him. When they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense and myrrh. When they were about to return to Herod, the Angel of the Lord warned them in a dream that they should not return to Herod, and that they should depart for their own country another way. When they had departed, the Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His

   1. The Departure of St. Theonas, 16th Pope of Alexandria. On this day in the year 300 A.D., St. Theonas, 16th Pope of Alexandria, departed. This saint was a righteous, meek scholar, gentle and loving to everyone. By the spirit of friendship and gentleness with everyone, he was able to build a church in Alexandria, dedicated to the name of the Virgin St. Mary, the Theotokos. Until his time, the faithful were praying and performing their services in homes and in caves for fear of the unbelievers. Pope Theonas dealt with them wisely and gently to achieve what he wanted to do. He converted many of them to believe in the Lord Christ and baptized them. He baptized, in the first year of his papacy, St. Peter, who succeeded him on the apostolic throne of St. Mark and was the 17th Pope. It was said that he ordained St. Peter as a reader at the age of five, then he promoted him to be a deacon at the age of twelve, then as a priest at sixteen. At the time of this saint, a man by

  The Martyrdom of 150 Men and 24 Women from Ansena. On this day, 150 men and 24 women were martyred. They were from the city of Ansena (Antione) and they worshipped idols. They came once to the Governor's place and they watched the torture of St. Paul the Syrian. The Governor ordered the soldiers to gouge out the saint's eyes with red-hot nails then they cast him in prison. The following morning when they brought him, these men and women were present and they saw that his eyes were whole as they were before. They marvelled saying, "No one can do this sign except God alone Who is the Creator of nature from nonexistent." They cried with one accord, "We believe in the God of St. Paul." They came and bowed down at the saint's feet asking him to pray for them. He lifted them up and blessed them. Then they went before the Governor and confessed the Name of the Lord Christ. He ordered them beheaded and they received the crown of martyrdom. Their

  The Martyrdom of St. Anba "Bisadi" (Psote), the Bishop. On this day, the great saint Bisadi, the Bishop of "Ebsay", was martyred. When Emperor Diocletian heard that Anba Bisadi and Anba "Ghellanicus" were confirming the Christians in the faith and hampering the worship of idols, he sent to bring them before him. Anba Bisadi asked the messenger to give him a chance for one night. He went to the church and called his people and celebrated the divine liturgy and administered to them the Holy Communion. He commanded them to be firm in their Orthodox Faith, then he bade them farewell and submitted himself to the Lord. He went with the messenger to Arianus, the Governor of Ansena, and when the latter saw his illumined face and his reverence, he had compassion upon him and said, "You are a man of great dignity and you should have pity upon yourself and obey the command of the Emperor." Anba Bisadi answered and said, "It is impossibl

   1. The Martyrdom of St. Anastasia. On this day, of the year 34 A.D., St. Anastasia, was martyred. She was born in the city of Rome in the year 275 A.D., to a pagan father whose name was "Britastanos" and a Christian mother whose name was "Flavia". Her mother baptized her secretly without her father's knowledge and she brought her up in the teachings of the Christian faith. She was steadfast in her faith and no one was able to dissuade her. When she was of marriage age, her father gave her in marriage to a pagan youth, against her wishes. St. Anastasia prayed to the Lord Christ with fervent supplications, asking Him to separate her from this pagan youth who was away from the faith. When her husband left to go to his work, she also left to visit those who were imprisoned for their faith and she ministered to them, comforted them, and offered them whatever they needed. When her husband learned about this, he shut her up in the house and placed guard

  The Departure of St. John Kama (Khame). On this day, the great Saint John Kama departed. He was from "Shubramento" of the region of "Sa". His parents were God-fearing Christians and he was their only child. They forced him to marry against his will. When he entered his wife's room, he stood, prayed for a long time, then came near the young girl and said to her, "My sister, you know that the world and all of its lusts will go away. Do you agree with me to keep our bodies pure and clean?" She answered and said, "My brother, the Lord's Name lives. This also is my desire and now the Lord has given me what my heart desires." They mutually agreed to live together as brother and sister and to keep their virginity. When they slept, the angel of the Lord came and covered them with his wings. For their many virtues, God planted a vine for them which grew up and covered their place of sleep. That was a sign of their purity a