Sophronius was born in Damascus around 550 AD. He was interested in philosophy, and proved to be gifted in all his studies, earning the title Sophronius the Wise. However, he was unsatisfied with these gifts as they were not yet accompanied by spiritual perfection. His pursuit for the true philosophy began in then-Palestine, where he venerated the Holy Places before arriving at the monastery founded by St Theodosius. Here he developed a kinship with John Moschus, a monk with whom Sophronius discovered wonderful spiritual wisdom. John Moschus became Sophronius’ spiritual father, and together they travelled to Alexandria to learn from [...]

Isaiah the Prophet May 9 There are well over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament that relate to details about the coming of the Messiah. A great proportion of these are found in the writings of the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah was born 700 years before the time of Jesus. He was married to a pious prophetess and they had two sons. Following a vision from God, he set out to call the Jewish people to repentance from their idol-worshipping ways. In the book of Isaiah are collected all his prophecies, of which a third concern the coming of Christ. From [...]

The Ten Holy Martyrs of Crete Celebrated 23rd December In the third century under the oppressive reign of Roman emperor Decius, ten men fought the good fight. Decius ruled from 249 to 251, and fiercely persecuted followers of Christ. Saints Theodulus, Saturninus, Europus, Gelasius, Eunician, Zoticus, Pompeius, Agathopous, Basilides and Evaristus came from all over Crete, including Gortyna, Knossos and Heraklion. They were united before the emperor because of their belief in Christ. For thirty days they were dragged to pagan sanctuaries all over Crete, forced to make idolatrous sacrifices. Passers-by mocked them, hit them, threw stones at them and [...]

The feast of Epiphany is celebrated on the 6th of January and in Greek is known as Theophany, or God’s appearance among men. The feast commemorates the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan by John the Baptist. At this momentous event, where the Master was baptised by the servant, the Heavens were opened, the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove and the voice of God the Father was heard from Heaven declaring that Jesus was the beloved Son of God. These events demonstrate two important theological truths. The first is that Jesus is the Son of [...]

Saint Melania December 31 Saint Melania was born to extremely wealthy, yet very devout Christian parents in Rome. At fourteen years of age, Melania was betrothed to an illustrious eighteen-year-old, Apinianus. Although this was against her will, she consented to the will of her parents. Melania asked her husband if they could live in chastity, however her husband wished to have two children in order to inherit their property and then he would consent to renouncing the world. Melania gave birth to a daughter whom they dedicated to God, and also a son, who was born premature and [...]