November 24 / November 11

1. The Holy Great-martyr Menas of Egypt (304)

Menas was an Egyptian by birth and a soldier by profession. As a true Christian, he was not able to witness the abominable sacrificial offerings to the idols and left the army, the town, the people and everything else, and went to a deserted mountain, for it was easier for him to live among the wild beasts than with pagans. One day Menas clairvoyantly discerned a pagan celebration in the town of Cotyaeus. He descended into the town and openly declared his faith in Christ the Living God. He denounced idolatry and paganism as falsehood and darkness. Pyrrhus, eparch of that town, asked Menas who he was and where he was from. The saint replied: “My fatherland is Egypt, my name is Menas. I was an officer, but witnessing the worship of idols, I renounced your honors. I now come before you all to pro- claim my Christ as the true God, that He may proclaim me as His servant in the Heavenly Kingdom.” Hearing this, Pyrrhus subjected St. Menas to severe tortures. They flogged him, scraped him with iron claws, burned him with torches, and tortured him by various other means, and finally beheaded him with the sword. They threw his body into a fire so that Chris- tians would not be able to retrieve it, but Christians recovered several parts of his body from the fire nevertheless. They reverently buried those remains, which were later transferred to Alexandria and buried there, where a church was built over them. St. Menas suffered in about the year 304 and went to the Kingdom of Christ. He was and remains a great miracle-worker, both on earth and in heaven. Whoever glorifies St. Menas and invokes his help with faith, receives his help. The saint has often appeared as a warrior on horseback, arriving to help the faithful or punish the unfaithful.

2.  The Holy Martyr Stephen-Urosh III of Dečani, King of Serbia (1331) Stephen was the son of King Milutin and father of Tsar Dušan. By the command of his ill-informed father, Stephen was blinded, and at the command of his capricious son (Dušan), was strangled in his old When he was blinded, St. Nicholas appeared to him in the church at Ovče Polje (Field of the Sheep) and showed him his eyes saying: “Stephen, be not afraid: behold your eyes in my palm. In due time, I will return them to you.” Stephen spent five years in Constantinople as a prisoner in the Monastery of the Pantocrator. By his wisdom and asceticism, his meekness and piety, his patience and benevolence, Stephen not only surpassed all the monks in his monastery but all monks in Constantinople. When five years had passed, St. Nicholas again appeared to him and said: “I came to fulfill my promise.” He then traced the sign of the Cross on the blind king, and Stefan received his sight. In thanksgiving to God, Stefan built the Church of Dečani, one of the most marvelous works of Byzantine artistic beauty, and one of the most famous monuments of Serbian piety. The holy King Stephen, with St. Sava and the holy Prince Lazar, constitute a most glorious trinity of holiness, nobility and self-sacrifice—the gift of the Serbian people. St. Stephen lived his earthly life as a martyr, and died as a martyr in the year 1336, receiving the wreath of immoral glory from the Almighty God Whom he had faithfully served.

3. The Holy Martyrs Victor and Stephanida, at Damascus (160)

Victor was a soldier of Roman birth. He was tortured for Christ during the reign of Emperor Antoninus. At the time of his torture a young woman, Stephanida, declared that she too was a Christian. Victor was beheaded and Stephanida was pull- ed apart by having her legs bound to the tops of two palm trees.

4.  The Holy Martyr Vincent the Deacon, of Spain

Vincent was from the diocese of Saragossa in Spain. He was cruelly tortured for the Lord Jesus Christ, then burned on an iron grid. He gave up his soul to God in the year 304. His body reposes in Rome in the church bearing his name.

5.  The Venerable Theodore the Studite (826) Theodore was the famous abbot of the Studite monastery (the Studium). He suffered greatly for the holy icons and was a wise organizer of the monastic life, a divinely inspired teacher of Orthodoxy and a wonderful He entered into rest in Constantinople, in the year 826 at the age of sixty-eight.

6.  Saint Urošica, Prince of Serbia

Urošica was the son of King Dragutin. He pre- served his purity and chastity in marriage. Myrrh flowed from his grave.

• Martyr Drakonas of Arauraka in Armenia (4th ).
• Martin the Merciful, bishop of Tours (397).
• Bartholomew the Younger, of Rossano, Calabria (ca. 1054).
• Nicodemus the Younger, of Beroea in Macedonia (ca. 1305).
• Euthymius and Nestor, of Dečani (14th c.).
• Synaxis of the Saints of Dečani.
• Neophytus and St. Stephen Urošica, of Serbia (14th c.).
• Milica, princess of Serbia (Eugenia in schema) (1405).
• Blessed Maximus of Moscow, fool-for-Christ (1433).
• Martyrius, founder of Zelenets Monastery (Novgorod) (1603).
• Myrrh-streaming “Montreal” Iveron Icon of the Theotokos (1982).

HYMN OF PRAISE

The Holy Martyr Stefan of Dečani, King of Serbia

Tortured and persecuted,
Holy King Stefan of Dečani Endured pains and persecutions as a true Christian.
And when it seemed he was defeated by all,
He was actually victorious, powerful and unscathed.
He defeated his father by patient endurance,
And Cantacuzene by profound wisdom.
With silence he overcame malicious Simonida,
And with trust in God he overcame King Shishman.
He was even more powerful than his mighty son—
For those who do not sin are always more powerful.
Earthly power always ends without a glimmer,
But there is no end to heavenly power.
King Stefan of Dečani, meek and beloved,
Drew his strength from heavenly power:
His power and glory were from Christ,
And from Christ was his life, throne and sovereignty.
Stefan understood this, and this he confessed;
That is why he defeated all adversaries in the end.
Pray for us, O wondrous king,
That God may grant us salvation and mercy.

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