August 10 / July 28

1. The Holy Apostles of the Seventy and Deacons Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon and Parmenas

All four were numbered among the Seven Deacons and the Seventy Apostles. The remaining deacons were Stephen, Philip, and Nicholas. Stephen, the first martyr, is commemorated separately on December 27, and Philip on October 11. Nicholas, because of his heresy, did not enter into the ranks of the saints. The first four do not have separate days of commemoration but are all commemorated on this day. St. Prochorus was consecrated by the Apostle Peter as bishop of Nicomedia. For a time he was in the service of St. John the Evangelist and, on the island of Patmos, wrote down the Book of Revelation, which he heard from the mouth of St. John. After that, he returned to Nicomedia, where he exerted much effort and labor to convert the people to the Faith. He died a martyr’s death in Antioch, where he was slain by unbelievers. St. Nicanor suffered in Jerusalem on the same day as St. Stephen the Archdeacon and, soon after him, two thousand other Christians were slain by the wicked Jews. St. Timon was a bishop in Arabia, and suffered on the cross for Christ. St. Parmenas died before the eyes of the apostles, and was mourned and buried by them.

1.  The Holy Martyr Julian of Dalmatia (2nd c.)

During the reign of Emperor Antoninus, St. Julian crossed over from Dalmatia to Campania in Italy. He was a handsome young man, and his soul was completely devoted to the Lord. En route, he met the emperor’s soldiers, who were on their way to arrest Christians. “Peace be unto you, brethren!” Julian addressed them. By such a greeting, and by the gentleness of the young man’s countenance, the soldiers suspected that he was a Christian. Julian answered their questions: “I am a Christian, born in Dalmatia.” Julian also openly admitted that he was traveling with the goal of converting idolaters to the One Living God. The soldiers beat him mercilessly and finally threw him into a pit, where he remained for seven days without any human sustenance. An angel of God appeared to him and gave him heavenly food. When brought to trial, Julian remained as firm in the Faith as a diamond. Witnessing his courage and steadfastness in the Faith, thirty men converted to Christ the Lord. Sentenced to death, St. Julian knelt and lifted up his prayer to God, giving thanks to Him for his martyrdom and begging Him to have mercy on all those who would honor his memory. He was beheaded with an axe and gave his soul to God.

2. The Venerable Paul of the Monastery of Xeropotamou

Paul was the son of Emperor Michael Kuropalates. Having an excellent education, rare wisdom and meekness, Procopius (as he was first called) was in his youthful years a subject of astonishment to all of Constantinople. In one of his charters, Emperor Romanus the Elder called him “the greatest of all the philosophers.” Being afraid

that his soul would become proud, and desiring that it not perish because of human glory, this brilliant youth dressed in the rags of a beggar and went to Mount Athos, where he received the monastic tonsure from the illustrious St. Cosmas. After a long period of solitary monastic labor he restored the Monastery of Xeropotamou, and shortly after that built the new Monastery of St. Paul, where he died in old age. When this monastery was consecrated, Emperor Romanus sent a large portion of the Holy and Venerable Cross as a gift, which is preserved there even to this day. It is said that he preached the Holy Gospel in Macedonia and in Serbia. He endured much torment from the wicked iconoclastic Emperor Leo the Armenian, and reposed in the year 820. At the time of his death, St. Paul said to the brethren: “Behold, the hour comes that my soul has always desired, and which my body has always feared.”

3.  The Holy Martyr Eustathius the Soldier, of Ancyra (316)

This martyr for Christ was a soldier in Ancyra. Brought to trial, he was not afraid of tortures, but freely praised the name of the Lord Christ. The commander Cornelius ordered that his feet be drilled through and threaded with a rope, by which they dragged this man of God to a river, and threw him in. Being saved by the power of God and healed of his wounds, Eustathius appeared before the commander in full health. When the commander saw him alive, he was so frightened that he drew his sword and stabbed himself. Eustathius lived for some time longer, and reposed in the Lord in the year 316.

• Martyr Acacius of Apamea (321).
• Ursus and Leobatius (Leubais), abbots, of Gaul (ca. 500).
• Samson, bishop of Dol, in Brittany (ca. 565).
• Irene Chrysovolantou of Cappadocia (912).
• George the Builder, of Iveron, Mt. Athos (1029).
• Moses, wonderworker, of the Kiev Caves (13th-14th c.).
• Anthony, bishop of Rostov, Yaroslavl, and Belozersk (1336).
• New Martyr David of Aleppo (1660).
• Pitirim, bishop of Tambov (1698).
• Synaxis of the Saints of Tambov.
• New Hieromartyr Basil, hieromonk of Sarov Monastery (1937).
• New Hieromartyr Ignatius of Jablechna (Chelm and Podlasie, Poland) (1942).
• Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos “Of Smolensk” (1047), “Of the Lavra in Suprasl” (Poland) (16th ), and “Umileniye” (“Of Tender Feeling”) of Diveyevo, before which St. Seraphim reposed.

 

HYMN OF PRAISE

Saint Paul of Xeropotamou

The world highly glorified the young Paul,
And therefore the young prince left royalty,
And imperial prestige,
wealth and power,
The intrigues of the city and decaying opulence,
And fled from the world, fled from everything—
Into the wilderness, where saints conceal themselves,
And save their souls through strict ascesis,
And day and night praise God, and glorify Him.
Paul found his place on Mount Athos
There to make his soul into new dough,
That his soul might become like that of a child,
And that he might find his own center and that of the world.
Whatever Paul desired, he accomplished,
And God helped him on his difficult path,
Delivering his body from destructive passions,
And delivering his soul from the power of the demons.
With Christ’s Cross of Crucifixion, he baptized all,
Both body and soul.
And as a pure candle,
He was beautifully kindled by the love of God,
And was borne to heaven by angels of God.
For young Paul’s abandonment of the earthly kingdom,
God greatly glorified him in the Heavenly Kingdom. 

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