November 23 / November 10

1. The Holy Apostles of the Seventy Erastus, Olympus, Herodion, Sosipater, Quartus, and Tertius (Terence) (1st c.)

They were all among the Seventy. The latter three are also commemorated elsewhere: Herodion on April 8, Sosipater on April 28, and Tertius on October 30. Saints Olympas and Herodion were followers of the Apostle Peter and when Peter suffered, they also suffered. By the command of Nero, they were beheaded. Erastus had been the steward of the church in Jerusalem, and later became Bishop of Paneas in Palestine. Quartus was Bishop of Beirut. He suffered greatly, but converted many to the Christian Faith. Sosipater was a bishop in Iconium and Tertius was the second bishop in that city. They waged spiritual warfare and, as victors, received heavenly wreaths of glory.

2.  The Holy Martyr Orestes the Physician, of Cappadocia (304)

Orestes was from the town of Tyana in Cappadocia. He was a Christian from birth and a physician by profession. He was harshly tortured by a certain wicked eparch Maximus during the reign of Diocletian. When the eparch at first advised him to deny Christ and worship idols, Orestes replied: “If you knew the power of the Crucified One, you would reject idolatrous falsehoods and worship the true God.” For this, he was savagely beaten, scraped, pulled apart on the rack, burned with a red-hot iron, and cast into prison to die of starvation. The young Orestes spent seven days without bread or water. On the eighth day, he was again brought before the eparch who threatened him with frightening tortures. Orestes answered: “I am prepared to endure every pain, having the sign of my Lord Jesus Christ inscribed on my heart.” The governor condemned him, and the torturers hammered twenty iron nails into his feet and tied him to a horse, dragging him over thorns and rocks until the martyr of God breathed his last. On the place where they discarded Orestes’s body, a man bright as the sun appeared, gathered Orestes’s relics, and carried them to a hill near the town of Tyana, honorably burying them there. This wonderful saint appeared to St. Dimitri of Rostov after his repose, and showed him all the wounds on his body.

3. Saint Nonnus, Bishop of Heliopolis (471)

Nonnus was renowned as a great ascetic in the Tabennisiot monastery in Egypt. Because of this, he was chosen Bishop of the diocese of Edessa in 448. Later, he was translated to the diocese of Heliopolis, and there converted 30,000 Arabs to the Christian Faith. After the death of Bishop Ibo, St. Nonnus returned to Edessa, where he remained until his repose in Through his prayers, the infamous sinner Pelagia (who was later glorified for her holiness of life), was converted to the Christian Faith (see October 8).

• Eucharius, first bishop of Trier (3rd c.).
• Hieromartyr Milos (Miles), bishop in Persia, and his disciples, Martyrs Aborsam and Senoe (ca. 341).
• Justus, archbishop of Canterbury (627-631).
• Ten Martyrs of Gaza, at Jerusalem: Callinius, Imerius, Diasimus, Theodore, Stephen, Peter, Paul, Theodore, John, and John (638).
• Theocteristus, abbot, of Symbola Monastery on Mt. Olympus in Bithynia.
• Great-martyr Constantine-Kakhi, prince of Kartli, Georgia (852).
• Translation of the relics of Gregory, bishop of Assos near Ephesus (1150).
• New Hieromartyrs Augustine, archbishop of Kaluga, and with him Ioannicius, archimandrite, of the George Monastery (Meshchevsk), Niphon, hieromonk, of Berezovy Khutor, and John, archpriest, of Kaluga (1937); and New Martyrs Alexis, Apollonius, and Michael (1937), Nicholas (after 1937), Anna (1939), Olga (1941), and Theoctista (1942).
• New Hieromartyrs Procopius, archbishop of Kherson, and Seraphim, hieromonk of Optina Monastery (1937).
• Glorification (1997) of Matthew, monk, of Yaransk (1927).
• (Georgian : Commemoration of the beginning of the torture of Great-martyr George [303]).

HYMN OF PRAISE

The Holy Martyr Orestes

The young Orestes did not spare his youth,
But boasted of Christ before the judge,
The Living God, One and Holy,
Crucified on the Cross for mankind.
They flogged St. Orestes’s back,
As he mocked the lifeless idols;
And they burned wondrous Orestes in the fire,
Which was cooled by the dew of God’s Spirit.
They drove nails into his feet,
And covered his whole body with wounds.
Strengthened by the Spirit, Orestes prayed,
And gave thanks to God
That he was made worthy of such sufferings,
That God had adopted him as a son.
O Orestes, the God-pleaser,
Courageous martyr for Christ,
Help us unto the last day—
By your prayers, come to our aid—
That we may honorably end our lives,
And be made worthy of Paradise with you.

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