September 28 / September 15

1.   The Holy Great-martyr Nicetas the Goth

Nicetas was a Goth by He was a disciple of Theophilus, Bishop of the Goths, who participated in the First Ecumenical Council [Nicaea 325]. When the Gothic prince Athenarik began to torture Christians, St. Nicetas stood before the prince and denounced him for his paganism and inhumanity. Subsequently harshly tortured, Nicetas confessed his faith in Christ even more strongly and prayed to God with thanksgiving. His mind was unceasingly raised up to God, and on his breast under his robe, he bore an icon of the Most-holy Theotokos with the Pre-eternal Christ Child standing and holding the Cross in His hands. St. Nicetas carried this icon because the Holy Theotokos had appeared to him and comforted him. Finally, the torturer threw the soldier of Christ into the fire, where the holy martyr breathed his last, but his body remained untouched by the fire. His companion Marianus took his body from the land of the Goths (Wallachia and Bessarabia) to the town of Mopsuestia, in Cilicia. There, he built a church dedicated to St. Nicetas, and placed the miracle-working relics of the martyr in it. Nicetas suffered and was glorified in the year 372.

2.  The Venerable Philotheus the Presbyter, of Asia Minor (10th c.)

Philotheus was from the village of Myrmix or Mravin in Asia Minor. His mother had the same name, but reversed—Theophila. Philotheus was a presbyter and a great miracle-worker during his lifetime. On one occasion, he changed water into wine and, on another occasion, he miraculously increased a quantity of bread. He reposed in the Lord in the tenth century, and his relics gushed myrrh.

3. The Holy Martyr Porphyrius the Mime, of Caesarea

Porphyrius was born in Mimosa. At first, he made jests about Chris- tians for the Emperor Julian the Apostate. Thus, on one occasion, while parodying the Christian Mystery of Baptism, he immersed himself in water, pronouncing the words: “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!” When he emerged from the water he cried out: “Now I am a Christian!” Everyone thought that this was just another jest, but he remained steadfast, ceased to mock Christianity, and finally suffered for Christ. Porphyrius was beheaded in the year 361, and took up his habitation in the Kingdom of Christ.

4.  The Holy Martyrs Theodotus, Asclepidote and Maximus, of Adrianople (305-311)

They were all noblemen by birth, from Trachis. They suffered for Christ in the village of Saltis near Philipopolis, between the year 305 and 311, and entered into the Heavenly Kingdom.

5. Saints Bessarion I and Bessarion II, Metropolitans of Larissa (1490-1540)

Bessarion II (1540) founded the Dusika Monastery of the Savior, in the Diocese of Larissa. He was glorified by his miracles, both during his life and after his death. The Synaxarion also commemorates today his predecessor in the See of Larissa, Saint Bessarion I (1490-1499). Both Saints Bessarion I and II appeared together in a fresco in the Chapel in Trikala.

6.  The Holy New Martyr John of Crete

John suffered for the Christian Faith at the hands of the Turks in Ephe- sus, in the year 1811.

7.  Saint Joseph, Bishop of Alaverdi in Georgia

Joseph was one of the Thirteen Syrian Fathers (May 7) who were sent to the Caucasus to preach the Gospel. St. Joseph peacefully reposed in the Lord in the year 570. His miracle-working relics repose in the cathedral church in Alaverdi.

• Uncovering of the relics of Acacius the Confessor, bishop of Melitene in Pisidia (251).
• Uncovering of the relics (415) of Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen (34).
• Symeon, archbishop of Thessalonica (1430).
• Nicetas, disciple of St. Sergius of Radonezh and founder of the Theophany Monastery (Kostroma) (15th c.).
• Joseph the New, of Partos, metropolitan of Timisoara (Romania) (1656).
• Gerasimus, abbot, of Sourvia (ca. 1740).
• New Hiero-confessor Ignatius, archimandrite, of the Aleksievo-Akatov Monastery (Voronezh) (1932).
• New Hieromartyr Dimitry, archpriest, of Melitopol (1935).

HYMN OF PRAISE

The Holy Martyr Nicetas

He is a true patriot who, among his own people,
Erects a true altar to the Living Lord.
Athenarik the Goth ruled by force,
And offered sacrifices to lifeless idols.
But holy Nicetas, the soldier of Christ God,
Was a preacher of eternal salvation.
He cast rays of the Eternal Light throughout the night,
Dispersing the idolatrous darkness that shrouded souls.
Holy Nicetas opposed the prince,
And his brave endurance amazed his people.
By the power of the Honorable Cross,
he confounded the darkness
And filled all the people with the fear of God.
His blood was the rosy hue of the new dawn,
And his spirit was raised up to the heavenly courts.
In the terrible fire, Nicetas burned,
But, not even today, has he been consumed.
With the truth of Christ the Goths were baptized,
And they glorified Nicetas, their wonderful one.
O Saint Nicetas, voice of God’s trumpet,
Courageous martyr, true patriot;
From the tents of the earth you have departed,
And you stand in the royal courts with the angels.
Pray for us, for the King listens to you,
That He grant our souls mercy.

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