August 11 / July 29

1. The Holy Martyr Callinicus of Gangra, in Asia Minor (ca. 250)

Callinicus was born in Cilicia. He was raised from his early youth in Christian piety. Abandon- ing all, he went forth to preach the Holy Gospel. In Ancyra the pagan Prince Sacerdos arrested him. When the prince threatened him with cruel tortures if he did not worship the idols, St. Callinicus answered him: “To me, suffering for my God is most welcome, as bread is to a hungry man.” After consigning him to cruel tortures and beatings, the prince had iron shoes, with nails protruding inside, placed on Callinicus’s feet. Then he ordered that he be driven to the city of Gangra, for the prince was afraid to torture him anymore, or to kill him in Ancyra—for many, observing the heroic patience of this holy man, had already converted to the Christian Faith. Along the way the soldiers became thirsty, but there was no water. St. Callinicus prayed to God and brought forth water from a rock. When they arrived in Gangra the torturers prepared to throw St. Callinicus into a fiery furnace. The saint prayed to God, saying: “I give thanks to Thee, O Heavenly Father, for making me worthy of this hour, in which I die for Thy holy name.” Then he entered the fire. When the fire died down, they found his dead body whole and unharmed by the fire. He suffered honorably and was crowned with the wreath of eternal glory in about the year 250.

2.  The Holy Virgin-martyr Seraphima (Serapia) of Antioch (2nd ) Seraphima was a maiden from Antioch. She lived in the home of a certain Sabina, the wife of a senator, whom she converted to the Christian Faith. Hearing about her, Virilus, a persecutor of Christians, ordered that Seraphima be brought before him. As Seraphima remained unwavering in her faith, Virilus ordered that she be thrown into prison, and ordered several young men to spend the night with her and defile her. Seraphima was praying to God when the young men arrived at the prison gates. Suddenly an angel of God, with a fiery sword in hand, appeared in a blaze of glory before them, and they fell as if dead, completely unconscious and incapable of movement. The next day the torturer begged Seraphima to restore the young men and, through her prayer, she brought them to consciousness. Ascribing all of this to magic, Virilus ordered that this holy virgin be burned with candles and then beaten with rods. While they were beating her a rod broke, and a piece deflected, striking Virilus in the eyes and blinding him. Finally, they beheaded this handmaiden of Christ with the sword and she gave up her soul to God. The pious Sabina honorably buried her body, from which healing myrrh began to flow. St. Seraphima suffered during the reign of Emperor Hadrian (117–138).

3.  The Holy Martyr Theodota and her three sons, in Bithynia (304) Theodota was a young widow with three With St. Anastasia (December 22), Theodota labored in the work of God in Thessalonica, and was completely dedicated to a pious life. During the time of Diocletian’s persecution, she was sentenced to death and thrown into a fiery furnace together with her children. Their holy souls soared into the Heavenly Kingdom.

4.  The Holy Martyr Eustathius of Mtskheta, Georgia (589)

Eustathius was a Persian, born in the village of Arbuket. At age thirty, he came to the [Georgian] city of Mtskheta. Seeing how the Christians there lived and believed, he received baptism. He was tortured for Christ, and was beheaded in Tbilisi in the year 589. His relics repose in the cathedral church in Mtskheta, and give healing to those who believe.

• Nativity (3rd ) of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, archbishop of Myra in Lycia (ca. 345).
• Theodosius the Younger, emperor (450).
• Lupus the Confessor, bishop of Troyes (Gaul) (479).
• Constantine I, patriarch of Constantinople (676).
• Olaf, king of Norway (1030).
• Constantine (ca. 1240) and Cosmas (13th c.), abbots, of Kosina (Stara Rus).
• Romanus, founder of Kirzhach Monastery (1392), disciple of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
• Hieromartyr Bessarion of Smolyan, Bulgaria (1670).
• Martyr Daniel Kushnir of Mlievich (Ukraine) (1766).
• New Hieromartyrs Seraphim and Theognostus, hieromonks of a skete at Kyzyl- Zharskoe (Kazakhstan) (1921); Anatole, hieromonk and hermit, of the Caucasus Mountains, Abkhazia (after 1930); and Pachomius (Rusin), hieromonk, of Alma Ata (Kazakhstan) (1938).

HYMN OF PRAISE

Saint Seraphima

Seraphima, dear to the angels,
Completely innocent in soul and body,
Kindly in all her thoughts,
Was tormented for many days
For Christ the Immortal Lord.
The godless prince brought her to the temple
To offer sacrifice to the idols:
St. Seraphima replied:
“I am a handmaiden of the One God,
My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit!
I preserve my body in virginity,
That I might offer a sacrifice to God:
The temple of my body as a sacrifice to the Lord.
Torture my body as much as you like,
But you will never kill my soul.
The soul is alive both before and after death;
By fire or sword, you cannot destroy it.
The body was created for the soul,
And by the soul, is the body blessed.
From God, the soul comes into the world,
That it may glorify God while in the body.
Glory to God, the Triune God!
Glory to God, my Creator!”

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