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  1. The Departure of St. Eumenius, the Seventh Pope of the See of St. Mark. On this day of the year 146 A.D., Saint Eumenius the seventh Pope of the See of St. Mark, departed. Pope Abremius, the fifth Pope, ordained him a deacon and he served 10 years in this position. When St. Yustus, the sixth Pope, was appointed, he saw how Eumenius excelled in knowledge and faith, so he ordained him a priest. He entrusted to him the teaching of the believers of the church of Alexandria, and asked him to look after them and to instruct them in the principles of the Orthodox faith. When Pope Yustus departed, this father was chosen Patriarch. He handed down the care of the churches and the teaching of the believers to Father Marcianus who later became his successor. He continually restored the strayed sinners, explaining to the pagans plainly the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ and His being one in His divine essence. He stayed on the chair for 13 years and departed in peace. His p...

  1. The Martyrdom of St. Matra. On this day, St. Matra the elder, was martyred. He was a native of Alexandria, a believing Christian. When Decius reigned, he established the worship of idols. He afflicted the Christian people in every place. When his edict reached Alexandria, its people began also to be persecuted. Some brought accusations against this saint. The Governor brought St. Matra to question him about his faith. St. Matra confessed that the Lord Christ is a true God of true God. The Governor commanded him to worship the idols and promised him much money. When he refused, he threatened to punish him, but he did not give up his faith. He shouted at the governor, "I do not worship but the Lord Christ, the creator of heaven and earth." The Governor became angry with him, and ordered him beaten. He was severely beaten and then hanged up by his arms. They then imprisoned him and slit his face and his temples with a red hot rod. Finally, because he insist...

  The Martyrdom of Saint Anastasia On this day, St. Anastasia was martyred. This fighter was a native of Rome, and the daughter of Christian parents. They raised her well and taught her the Christian manners. When she grew up, her parents wanted her to get married, but she did not agree with them for she had forsaken the vanities of the world and its lusts. She instead chose to lead a spiritual life and longed for the heavenly glories since her young age. She entered one of the convents of the virgins in Rome and put on the monastic garb. She subdued her body with devoutness and asceticism. She did not eat except once every two days. During the holy Lent she ate only on Saturdays and Sundays after the prayer of the sixth hour of the day. Her food during all the days of her monastic life was dry bread and salt. It came to pass that some of the convents of virgins, nearby the convent where this saint was staying, were celebrating a feast. The abbess took St. Anastasia, ...

  The Commemoration of the Miracle that God Performed for St. Athanasius the Apostolic On this day the Lord Christ performed a great miracle for the honorable Saint Abba Athanasius, 20th Pope of Alexandria. When Emperor Constantius, the son of the righteous Emperor Constantine, adopted the teachings of Arius who said that the Son was, after not being, and therefore not equal to the Father, he sent a man, whose name was Gawargios, to Alexandria. He also sent along with him 500 horsemen and letters appointing Gawargios patriarch of Alexandria instead of Abba Athanasius the Apostolic. He ordered Gawargios to support the faith of Arius and slay all who would not be obedient to him. When this man arrived to the city, he preached the teachings of Arius but only a few people of the city accepted his teachings. Therefore, he killed a large number of people, and St. Athanasius hid himself for a period of six years. After which he went to the city of Constantinople, and asked E...

  The Martyrdom of Saint Basilides (Wasilides) On this day, St. Basilides (Wasilides) who was a minister and counsellor for the Roman Empire, was martyred. He had many slaves and servants. Emperor Numerianus was the ruler, who was married to Basilides' sister, Patricia, and had a son called Yustus. Patricia was also the mother of Theodore El-Mishreke. Basilides had two sons: Awsabyos (Eusebyus) and Macarius. When the Persians waged war against Rome, Emperor Numerianus sent to them his son Yustus and Awsabyos, Basilides' son. Then he went to fight another enemy and was killed in that war. His kingdom was thus left vacant without a ruler. The people chose from among the soldiers a man called Agrippita, who was a shepherd, and they set him over the royal horses, stable. He was a mighty man in action, bold in his dealings. One of the emperor's daughters looked at him and took him as her husband. She made him emperor and called him, "Diocletian." Shortly aft...

  1. The Martyrdom of Saint Matruna. On this day St. Matruna, who was a maid-servant to a Jewish lady, was martyred. She was of Christian parents, and her mistress used to entice her to adopt the Hebrew religion, but she refused. Therefore her mistress used to humiliate her, ill treat her, and over-burden her with servitude. One day she accompanied her mistress to the Jewish temple, then she went to the Christians church. And when her mistress asked her where she had been and why she did not enter their assembly, the Saint replied, "God had departed far from the synagogue that is yours, how shall I enter it? Whereas the place that should be entered is the church which the Lord Christ has bought with His blood." Her mistress became angry at this and beat her harshly, then imprisoned her in a dark place where she spent four days without food or drink. She then took her out and beat her painfully, then she returned her to her imprisonment where she died. After her...

  The Martyrdom of St. Pisora the Bishop On this day, the holy father, the Bishop Abba Pisora, was martyred. He was the bishop of the God-loving city of Masil. When Diocletian returned to worshipping the idols and started persecuting the Christians, this holy man longed to shed his blood for the name of Christ. He gathered the people before the altar and commanded them with the commandments of the Lord, and then informed them that he wished to receive the crown of martyrdom for the sake of the name of Christ. They all wept, the young and the old, saying, "To whom will you leave us, Our Father, as orphans?" They wanted to prevent him from doing so, but when they could not, they let him go after he committed them to the Lord Christ. He left them bidding him farewell with much tears. Three bishops agreed to go with him; they were Pisikhos, Fanalikhos, and Theodore, and they all went together to the city of the governor and confessed the Lord Christ. He tortured the...