Akathistos

Check out Suzanne’s post on St. Thekla at Icon New Media Network.
This photo was found here on flickr.

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Taken in a place with no name [...]

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I have recently begun reading Holy Women of Russia, and would like to share highlights from each section.  This book reveals the lives of five Orthodox women who served the Orthodox church in Russia.
After reading the section titled “A Historical Note”, which precedes the sections on the lives of these holy women, I [...]

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Today we had the joy of celebrating our parish’s patronal feast of Saint Athanasius of Alexandria!  Follow the link to read more about him- there is too much to post on my blog.
I love the troparian to St. Athanasius (can you guess why?):
O holy father Athanasius, like a pillar of orthodoxy you refuted the [...]

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This December 31st was a joyful day for my family!  Not only was it my hubby’s birthday (I love you, honey!), it was my namesday.
If you’ve been reading my blog, you’ve heard this all before, but here is is again:
St. Melania’s feast day is December 31. Melania was born to wealthy Christians, Publicola, a Roman [...]

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My Nonna climbed out of her hospital bed and broke her hip again.  The break is very bad and she will be having major surgery today (probably later in the day).
Please pray for her.
My Nonna, whose name is Filomena, grew up in Italy and was Roman Catholic the majority of her life.  More than likely [...]

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Saint Lucy was born in Syracuse, Sicily during the reign of Diocletian. She distributed her wealth to the poor, and made a vow of virginity. Since she refused to marry him, a rejected suitor denounced her to the prefect Paschasius as a Christian, and she was arrested. She was sentenced to be defiled in a [...]

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Sorry for the great lapse of time since my last post. We have been busy, very busy. I have had a lot of ideas for posts, but have not had a chance to write them down. I will try to do so relatively soon. For now, I will leave you with [...]

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“Do not neglect to uproot from the hearts of children the tares of sins, impure, evil and blasphemous thoughts, sinful habits, inclinations and passions; the enemy and the sinful flesh do not spare even children; the seeds of all sins are to be found in children too; show them the danger [...]

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The Holy Princess Anna Vsevolodna was daughter of the Kievan Great Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich (1078-1093) whose wife was daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Monomachos. She did not wish to marry, and as a virgin she took monastic tonsure in 1082 at the Andreiev Yanchinov monastery built for her at Kiev, but later destroyed under [...]

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Saint Theodota was the mother of Holy Wonderworkers and Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian of Mesopotamia. They were all natives of Asia Minor. Her pagan husband died while her children were still quite small, but she raised them in Christian piety. Through her own example, and by reading holy books to them, St Theodota preserved her [...]

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