CHRISTIAN FIGURES & SAINTS

Commemorated on the 27 November Prologue The great and ancient land of Persia has contributed much to the culture and civilisation of humankind, excelling in many fields and enriching us particularly with its exquisite arts, its gardens and its rich but sublime literature. It is a land of many contrasts and diverse peoples, but regretfully, this beautiful nation under God’s …

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-urZ8ICy8Mk] Prologue Throughout Christian history, many places have arisen to spiritual prominence due to either their legacy of martyrdom or monasticism. Naturally within peaceful times where there were few people being martyred for the Faith, monasticism assumed a greater role within Christian witness, and within the era of the undivided Christian ecumene, numerous monastic centres became centres of prayer, …

By Anthony Papantoniou (Source: Greek Australian Vema, English Section, June and July 2009 Issues) St Nicholas Cabasilas and his background On 20th June, the Orthodox Church commemorates the feast of our Father among the Saints, St Nicholas Cabasilas. St Nicholas was born in the city of Thessalonica around 1320-23 into a prestigious family. It has been thought in the past …

St Niketas the Goth: Historical Background The difficulty in acquiring knowledge or an understanding about the life or times of St. Niketas, stems in part from the turbulent era into which he was born in. A period which historians sometimes term the Dark Ages due to the lack of extensive or surviving written documentation which could help us better understand …

Introduction Born in Arta[1] ca. 1470, Michael Trivolis[2] came from a well-to-do family from the Peloponnese who also gave birth to the Patriarch Saint Calistus I. In his early youth he left for Italy where he completed his studies at Florence after which he took a keen interest in religion and spiritual renewal. In 1507 he became a monk at …

SAINT  KOSMAS AITOLOS Seventeen centuries after St. Paul journeyed across Greece, a solitary man of God travelled the same country from border to border, sea to sea, and island to island in a magnificent religious spirit, which strengthened the fires of Christianity and the flickering hopes of a nation, that was straining under the yoke of Turkish occupation after nearly …

(Commemorated on 3rd May and the 24th December) Saint Ahmed (or Ahmet) Kalphas came from a Muslim family in Constantinople, and was raised as a devout Muslim. He worked as a secretary (deftedar) in the office of the Chief Secretary of the Ottoman Empire, that is in Ottoman terms, within the Sultan’s Chancellery as Scribe of the Second Rank. Thus …

St Anastasios the Persian Historical Context According to historical evidence, as well as the collective memory of the Church, Christianity has been present within Persia (Iran) from as early as the time of the Apostles. The reason for this, was that Persia was outside the control of the Roman Empire, and even posed a threat to it. Thus it was …

St. Artemios the Great Martyr What history is capable of recalling about the early life of St Artemios is somewhat scant.  All that has survived to our own times is that Artemios came from a noble family, and that he had served as one of Emperor Constantine’s generals. The account of his own conversion simply cites that when he saw …

  The Other Great Apostle of the English and Enlightener of Northumbria “Verily, Saint Aidan, the first Bishop of Lindisfarne, kindled the lamp of Christianity in the North of England. It was a lamp whose rays would illumine the civilisation of Western Europe and give Lindisfarne a Golden Age whose afterglow confers upon the little island still an aura, an …