The Greek Orthodox Saints Days Calendar is a great way to learn about these great saints. Each day of the month is dedicated to a particular saint. In this article, you will learn about the Saints Makarios, Basil, Gregory, Seraphim, Xenia, and Severinus. You will also learn what they represent and what they are known for.
Table of Contents
St Basil
St Basil is a famous Saint in the Orthodox Christian faith. He is also known as the “Holy Father,” “Saint of Truth,” and the “Great Basil.” He was born in Cappadocia. He was a Bishop and a teacher. His life and works are considered an example of spiritual perfection and the Orthodox faith.
Basil was born into a wealthy Greek family in Caesarea, Cappadocia. His father was a famous rhetorician and lawyer. As a child, Basil studied under Libanius, a well-known rhetorician and writer, and later moved to Athens, where he attended school.
St Gregory
The Feast Day of Saint Gregory is celebrated by the Greek Orthodox Church on the second Sunday of Lent. He was one of the Three Holy Hierarchs. Other holy figures whose names are celebrated with him include Basil the Great, Symeon the New Theologian and John the Theologian.
The earliest recorded record of the life of Saint Gregory is dated to 329, when he was born in Arianzos, Cappadocia. His parents came from Asia Minor, but relocated to Constantinople as the Turkish Empire was invading. Andronicus II Palaeologus, the pious Emperor, attached his family to the court.
St Seraphim
St Seraphim is one of the great saints of the Greek Orthodox Church. He was born in 1759, in the city of Kursk. At nine years of age, the Mother of God appeared to him in a vision. It was an experience that he had every day, for the rest of his life. In his later years, he would dress in white clothing and chant the Pascha service everyday.
The Mother of God protected him from childhood. As a young man, she sent him to the monastery of Sarov. This was not only a place of study but also a place of worship. For a period of three years, he lived on the brink of death. However, he was miraculously healed through an icon of Kursk.
St Makarios
Saint Makarios on the Greek Orthodox saints days calendar is considered to be a saint who lived a life of great asceticism. He served as a spiritual father to the Greek people, rather than as a worldly professor. In fact, his homilies and his work The Trumpet of the Gospel are still read today.
Makarios was born on Patmos, a Greek island, where he received his education in the Patriarchal School. His school grew steadily, thanks to contributions from wealthy Greek families.
St Theodosius
Saint Theodosius was born in Mogarissos, Cappadocia, then part of Turkey. He was a monk, monastic leader and defender of Orthodoxy. His grave is in Constantinople. In addition, his relics are in the Roman Catholic church in Bari, Italy.
After becoming a monk, St Theodosius founded a small group of monks near the town of Trnovo. His followers included monks from different languages and cultures. It was here that they built the St Theodosius Monastery.
The monastery was later taken over by a Turkish Muslim. This led to the relics being moved from Myra, Lycia, to Bari in Italy.
St Severinus
St Severinus came from the east and was a great teacher of the Orthodox faith. He was also a great defender of the Church against the Arianism of the time. This was a dangerous view that threatened the Orthodox Faith.
The Arians believed that the Son of God was not united with the Father in a unified essence. They divided Christians. However, the Orthodox, who held that the Son of God is a manifestation of the Trinity, were able to win the enmity of the Arians.
St Maximos
St Maximos on the Greek Orthodox saints days calendar was born in Constantinople in 580. He was the son of a wealthy family from Patmos. In his early years, he showed a great deal of theological understanding.
During his youth, he studied in Constantinople and at the Patriarchal School. His studies uncovered the problems of Arianism and Monothelitism, and he was able to combat them in his writings. These works are available in good English translations.
Eventually, he became the abbot of the Lavra of St. Athanasius on Mount Athos. His works are known for their plain and straightforward language, and they present an undiluted hesychastic spirituality of the Orthodox Church.
Saint Xenia
St Xenia is one of the namesdays of Greek Orthodox saints. Her day is the 8th of May. This is a celebration of the life and intercessions of St Xenia, and her tomb becomes a place of pilgrimage.
St Xenia was born to a noble Christian family in Rome. She married Andrei, who was a worldly man. They had two sons. After a year, they lost their sons in a shipwreck. Then he disappeared for eight years.