April Synaxarion


Days: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17
        18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31


This month has thirty days with thirteen hours of day and eleven hours of night.

April 1

Memory of our venerable Mother Mary the Egyptian
(Fifth-Sixth century)

Saint Mary the Egyptian fulfilled the duties of a singer in the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem. The devil took this occasion to scandalize a great number of the faithful. Fearing to be held responsible before God for all these scandals and for thus adding to her own sins those of others, she implored God to deliver her from these temptations. One day, with her heart entirely penitent in the fear of the Lord, she went down to the Pool of Siloe, drew some water in a vessel, and carried with it a basket of vegetables cooked in water. She thus left the Holy City by night, putting her trust in God who led her to the desert where she lived for eighteen years. She fell asleep in the Lord and was buried by the monks of the laura of Souca in her own grotto whose entrance they blocked up. She lived around the end of the Fifth century or at the beginning of the Sixth century. Her memory is also commemorated on the fifth Sunday of Great Lent.

Fifth Class Feast.

In occurrence with the week of Saint Thomas, the Troparion of the Saint is added.

April 2

Memory of our Venerable Father Titus, the Wonderworker (?)

Inflamed by Christ's love from his childhood, this holy father embraced monastic life in a coenobium. He gave himself so completely to humility and obedience that he surpassed all the monks in his community in these virtues. Becoming pastor of Christ's sheep, he showed gentleness, charity, and compassion as never a man had done before him. He kept himself as chaste in body and spirit as an angel of God from his youth. Consequently, the gift of miracles was bestowed upon him. He did leave his disciples and ascetic companions a perfect model in their struggles for perfection upon his death in the Lord.

Fifth Class Feast.

April 3

Memory of our venerable Father and Confessor Nikita,
Hegumen of the Monastery of Medicius (+824)

Saint Nikita was born in Caesarea, Bithynia. He was raised by his paternal grandmother. While still young he became the ascetic companion of an old man named Stephen, who had withdrawn close to a stream to the south of Caesarea. He then entered the monastery of Saint Sergius Medicius built by Saint Nicephoros in Brusa. He received priestly ordination from the hands of Saint Taraisios, the Patriarch of Constantinople (758-806). By imposition of the hands of Saint Nicephoros, the successor of Saint Tarasios in the see of Constantinople (806-815), he was consecrated hegumen. Under the Iconoclast Emperor Leo the Armenian, he was detained in a foul prison for a long time, then exiled to Anatolia and locked in the fortress of Masalaion. Recalled to Constantinople by the Emperor who tried in vain to shake his faith, he was again exiled to the island of Marmara, called Saint Glyceria's island. Weighed down with sufferings, the Saint lived there for six long years until 820, the date of Emperor Leo's death. His successor, Michael the Stammerer repealed all exiles. Saint Nikita died on April 3, 824.

Fifth Class Feast.

April 4

Memory of the holy Martyrs Theodulos and Agathopodos
(beginning of the Fourth century)

Our venerable Fathers George of Maleum (?) and
Joseph the Hymnographer (813-883)

Both natives of Thessalonica, Theodulos, a lector, and Agathopodos, a deacon, suffered martyrdom in the beginning of the Fourth century.

Saint George lived in Maleum in Laconia, at an uncertain date.

As for Joseph the Hymnographer, he was born in the province of Sicily around 813. An Arab invasion in 827 having obliged him to leave his country, he went and settled in the Peloponnese with his mother and his brothers, then later in Thessalonica. At the age of fifteen he entered the monastery in Thessalonica where he received priestly ordination. Around 840, at the time when the ungodly Emperor Theophilus resumed the Iconoclast struggle, he went to Constantinople with Saint Gregory the Decapolite. The Orthodox asked Saint Gregory to send Joseph to Rome to inform the Roman Pontiff of what was happening. Joseph set out but was taken prisoner by some pirates and led in chains to Crete. Set free after Theophilus' death in 842, Saint Joseph returned to Constantinople. Accompanied by Saint Joseph, another disciple of Saint Gregory the Decapolite, he withdrew to the desert for several years. Then he went to the church of Saint Chrysostom where he lived for five years. At the death of John, he built a monastery in his honor there. He suffered generously for the Orthodox faith and fought ungodly Bardas so valiantly that he exiled him to Cherson. Returning from exile some years later, he was named Skevophylax of the Great Church by Ignatius, Patriarch for the second time (867-877). After Ignatius' death, he enjoyed great esteem with Photius and died in the Lord on April 3, 833. Endowed with the charism for sacred hymns, he illumined the Church by his numerous compositions. Many of the canons of the Menaia are by him. He is also called the pre-eminent Hymnographer.

Fifth Class Feast.

April 5

Memory of the holy Martyrs Claudius, Diodorus,
Victor, Pappias, Nicephoros, and Serapion (+under Decius, 249-251)

It is believed that these holy martyrs suffered for the faith in Corinth under Emperor Decius (249-251).

Fifth Class Feast.

April 6

Memory of our Father among the Saints Eutychios,
Archbishop of Constantinople (+582)

A native of Phrygia, Saint Eutychios lived in the time of Emperor Justinian. Skevophylax of the Church of Augustopolis, he was ordained a lector, subdeacon, and priest by the Bishop of Amasia. At Patriarch Saint Menas' death, he was named to succeed him on the patriarchal throne of Constantinople in 552. In this rank he presided over the Fifth Ecumenical Council in 553. At this time the Aphthartodecetae heresy was spreading and the Emperor himself succumbed to it. Saint Eutychios fought the new heresy and was deposed for it and exiled to a monastery in Amasia in 565. At Justinian's death, the Saint was able to remount his throne in 577, under Justin II. He occupied himself with destroying the last traces of this heresy. He died on April 6, 582.

Fifth Class Feast.

April 7

Memory of the holy Martyr Kalliopios (+304)

(Memory of our holy Father George, Bishop of Melitene)

(Saint George was elected Bishop of Melitene and governed his flock wisely. With his amazing knowledge he fought the Iconoclasts and made them recognize their errors. An emulator of the Angels by his charity, he left this life having worked innumerable miracles. Thanks to a divine revelation, he knew the hour of his death in advance by means of a star which appeared to him and his subjects).

Saint Kalliopios was a native of Perge in Pamphylia, the son of a Christian mother named Theokleia. He lived in the times of Emperor Maximian. Piously raised by his mother in the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, he presented himself to the persecutors courageously confessing Christ's name. His hands were tied behind his back and he was cruelly beaten with whips fitted out with lead. Preserved by an angel, he was thrown into prison by order of President Maximos. Taken out of prison on Great Thursday, he was condemned to be crucified. He was crucified head downward in order to avoid being crucified as Our Lord for his mother had obtained this favor for him by giving the executioner five gold pierces. He expired on Great Friday at the third hour. When he was taken down from the cross, his mother, upon seeing him, fainted and died of sorrow. Pious Christians buried her beside her martyr son.

Fifth Class Feast.

April 8

Memory of the holy Apostles Herodios, Agabos, Rufus,
Asyncritos, Phlegon, and Hermes (First century)

Saint Herodion was a relative of Saint Paul the Apostle who greeted him near the end of his epistle to the Romans (Romans 16:11). A native of Jerusalem, Agabos was a prophet. When Paul and Barnabus were in Antioch, Agabos predicted under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that a great famine would come upon the whole land of Judea. This great famine took place under Claudius about 45-48. In Caesarea, Agabos predicted to the Apostle Paul that captivity and prisoner's chains awaited him in Jerusalem. Rufus was the son of Simon the Cyrenian, whom the Apostle greets, as well as Asyncritos, Phlegon, and Hermes, toward the end of his epistle to the Romans (Romans 16:13-14).

Fifth Class Feast.

April 9

Memory of the holy Martyr Eupsychios of Caesarea (+362)

A native of Cappadocia, Saint Eupsychios was hardly married when inflamed by divine zeal he gathered a crowd of Christians and utterly destroyed the Temple of Fortune. Julian the Apostate, who believed in this divinity, condemned Eupsychios to be beheaded as responsible for this action on September 7, 362.

Fifth Class Feast.

April 10

Memory of the holy Martyrs Terentios, Pompeius,
Maximos, Makarios, Afrikanos,
and their companions (+under Decius, 249-251)

All natives of Africa, these holy martyrs suffered for the faith under Emperor Decius (249-251). By order of Emperor Theodosius (379-395), their holy relics were placed in the martyrium of Saint Euphemia in Petra, near Constantinople.

Fifth Class Feast.

April 11

Memory of the holy Martyr Antipas, of Pergamum in Asia
(+under Domitian, 81-96)

A native of Pergamum in Asia, the holy martyr Antipas under Emperor Domitian (81-96). The Book of Apocalypse, which describes him as "faithful" and as a "martyr" (Apocalypse 2:13), testifies that he was contemporaneous with the holy Apostles at the time when Saint John the Evangelist was in exile at Patmos.

Fifth Class Feast.

April 12

Memory of our venerable Father and Confessor Basil,
Bishop of Parios (Iconoclastic epoch)

Following the example of Saint Paul the Apostle, Saint Basil spent his whole life in persecutions, grief, and tribulations, unceasingly fleeing from one place to another in order not to encounter the Iconoclasts and subscribe to the destruction of the Holy Icons. He fell asleep in the Lord while defending the faith and traditions of the forefathers and while combatting heretics.

Fifth Class Feast.

April 13

Memory of our Father among the Saints and
Confessor Martin, Pope of Rome (+655)

Saint Martin was born in Tyrrhenia, presently Tuscania, toward the end of the Sixth century or at the beginning of the Seventh century. The representative of the Roman Patriarchate in Constantinople, he was elected Bishop of Rome in 649. In October of the same year, he convoked a local synod in the Laternal against the Monothelites: Theodore, Bishop of Pharan; Cyrus, Patriarch of Alexandria; and three Archbishops of Constantinople, Sergius (610-638), Pyrrhus (638-641), and his successor Paul II. There he proclaimed the Orthodox faith in his public letters, defined Christian doctrine, and rejected heresy in concert with the synod gathered by him. Saint Sophronios of Jerusalem having died in 638 and the patriarchal see of Jerusalem remaining vacant for a long time, Saint Martin set up John, the Bishop of Philadelphia as temporary substitute in the sees of Antioch and Jerusalem which were troubled with heretics. Martin called upon John "in virtue of the apostolic power conferred on him by the Lord, through the instrumentality of Saint Peter, to rectify that which was defective and to establish in each city, bishops, priests, and deacons." He deposed Paul, Archbishop of Thessalonica, who had assented to the heresy. Then Emperor Constans II summoned him in the praetorium, and sent him into exile to Cherson in 655. There he courageously finished the course of his life and fell asleep in the Lord on September 16, 656.

Fifth Class Feast.

April 14

Memory of the holy Apostles Aristarchos, Pudens,
and Trophimos of the Seventy Disciples (First century)

A native of Thessalonica, Saint Aristarchos accompanied Saint Paul on his voyages to Ephesus, Macedonia, Greece, and Judea, until his first captivity in Rome. Saint Pudens was a simple layman of the Roman Church. Toward the end of his second epistle to Timothy (II Timothy 4:21) the Apostle greets Timothy in behalf of Pudens. Tradition relates regarding him that he lodged Saint Peter and was baptized by him. As for Trophimos, we know that he was a Greek and a native of Ephesus. He accompanied Saint Paul to Jerusalem. After his first captivity in Rome, the Apostle Paul traveled through Asia with him, and left him sick at Miletus.

Fifth Class Feast.

April 15

Memory of the holy Martyr Crescens (?)

A native of Myra in Lycia, Saint Crescens was of a noble family and was advanced in age. Seeing that ungodliness and the adoration of demons triumphed and that many enslaved by error rendered worship to inanimate objects, he went into the midst of them, exhorting them to repent of their vain beliefs and to return to the God which the Christians adored, the Creator of all things and the Master of life. Because he spontaneously went before atrocious sufferings, the governor called him an "evil spirit." The Saint answered that to suffer was the supreme happiness. To all the questions that the governor asked him concerning his country and name, he invariably answered that he was a Christian. He absolutely refused to sacrifice to idols and even rejected the advice that the governor gave him to simulate such a gesture. He constantly confessed God, saying that the body could not of itself do what had not been approved by the soul since the soul leads and moves the body. He was then stretched out on the ground and cruelly beaten. Then he was thrown into a white-hot funeral pyre. He was respected so well by the fire that not a single hair was touched. Then he committed his soul to God.

Fifth Class Feast.

April 16

Memory of the holy women Martyrs Agape, Irene,
and Chionia (beginning of the Fourth century)

These holy martyrs were sisters. Natives of Thessalonica, they lived in the time of Emperors Diocletian and Maximian. Forced by persecution to leave their paternal home, they went on a mountain to hide, consecrating their time to prayer. Seized the following year upon their return from the mountain, they were brought before President Dulcetius. He tried in vain to make them sacrifice to idols. Saints Agape and Chionia perished by fire. As for Saint Irene, President Dulcetius having noticed the Holy Scriptures with her that the Emperors had ordered burned, burned them and gave the order to lead the martyr into a place of debauchery. The grace of God preserved her from every attack. Since she always refused to renounce Christ, he delivered her over to the fire (at the beginning of the Fourth century).

Fifth Class Feast.

April 17

Memory of the holy Hieromartyr Simeon the Persian
and his companions (+341)

(The Venerable Akakios, Bishop of Melitene)

Saint Simeon was Archbishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, Persia, in the time of King Sapor. He suffered martyrdom on Great Friday in the year 341, accompanied by two priests, Abdaiklas and Ananius, by the grand marshal of the imperial palace named Puscius, and by his daughter who led the monastic life.

(Saint Akakios was a preacher of the Christian faith in the time of Emperor Decius. Seized and brought before the Consul Marcian, he was interrogated on the doctrine he was preaching. He then exposed the economy of salvation and refuted the pagan myths. He was then made to suffer the usual tortures and was detained in prison. The consul wrote concerning him to Emperor Decius, sending him the proceedings of his interrogation. On the Emperor's order the Saint was released. He lived the rest of his days carrying the wounds of Christ in his body. He died in peace after having instructed a great number of people in the Christian faith. He was renowned for his doctrine and his miracles.)

Fifth Class Feast.

April 18

Memory of our venerable Father John,
Disciple of Saint Gregory the Decapolite (+ca. 850)

From his childhood Saint John detested the world and attached himself to Christ. He applied to Saint Gregory the Decapolite, became a monk under his direction, and never left him, sharing his struggles and serving the Lord. He excelled so well in obedience, becoming so docile and fervent, that Saint Gregory rejoiced on his account and glorified God. Upon his master's death, he emigrated to a strange and unknown country in order to imitate Christ more perfectly who, for us, made Himself a stranger and was born in a strange land. He then proceeded to the Holy Land and withdrew to the laura of Saint Chariton to fully give himself to the practice of virtues. This is where he committed his soul to God in a holy manner.

Fifth Class Feast.

April 19

Memory of the holy Hieromartyr Paphnutios
(beginning of the Fourth century)

Our holy Father John of the Old Laura
(+beginning of the Ninth century)

According to the testimony of tradition, Saint Paphnutios was martyred in Egypt under Emperor Diocletian around the beginning of the Fourth century.

Saint John of the Old Laura was born in a distant country, perhaps in the West, around the middle of the Eighth century. In his childhood he consecrated himself to God. Abandoning the luxuries and vanities of life, he went to a strange and unknown land for the love of Christ, who was a stranger and was born in a strange land. He went to the laura of Saint Chariton in the Holy Land, surnamed the Old Laura. He was ordained to the priesthood. He defended the Orthodox faith against heretics and composed sacred hymns. After a life passed in the practice of virtue, he died at the beginning of the Ninth century.

Fifth Class Feast.

April 20

Memory of our holy Father Theodore the Hairy
(Fifth century)

This holy father lived in the Fifth century. Day and night he prayed in the open air. He wore rough horsehair vestments which merited for him the surname of "the Hairy." He never wore shoes and always had his head uncovered. After having lived so saintly, he fell asleep in the Lord.

Fifth Class Feast.

April 21

Memory of the holy Hieromartyr Januarios
and his companions (beginning of the Fourth century)

(The holy martyr Theodore of Pergia, in Pamphilia (?))

It is believed that Saint Januarios was the Bishop of Beneventum in Campania. At the beginning of the Fourth century he suffered martyrdom under Diocletian. His holy body was buried in Naples, Italy, where it is still the object of great veneration.

(Saint Theodore was seized for having fought idolatry and broken several idols. He was stretched out on a white-hot grill and shoes were nailed to his feet. He was attached to a chariot and then dragged by horses. Delivered from all these torments by God's grace, he was thrown into the fire at the same time as two other martyrs, Socrates and Dionysius. Since he experienced no injury from it, he was put back in prison. The following day at dawn he was put on a cross and pierced with many darts. He died three days later.)

Fifth Class Feast.

April 22

Memory of our venerable Father Theodore Sykeotes,
Bishop of Anastasiopolis (+613).

Saint Theodore was born in Galatia in a village called Sykeos, under Emperor Justin I (518-527). For his great virtue he was raised to the supreme dignity of the episcopate and was named Bishop of Lagania or Anastasiopolis. He fell asleep in the Lord on April 22, 613.

Fifth Class Feast.

April 23

Memory of the holy and Renowned Great martyr George

Saint George was martyred in an unknown time and place. Certain ones say that he ended his martyrdom in the village of Lydda, Palestine. His fame spread throughout the whole world, and it is said that under Constantine the Great a famous church, whose Dedication is commemorated on November 3, was built in his honor in Lydda.

This Third Class Feast has its occurrence from Great Friday (Easter on April 25) to the Thursday of the week of the Samaritan Woman (Easter on March 22).

In occurrence with Great Friday, Great Saturday, and Easter Sunday, the feast of Saint George is transferred to Easter Monday.

From Easter Monday to the following Saturday, and Easter Sunday, the feast of Saint George is added after the Hypakoi of Easter. Epistle of Saint George, Gospel of the day. Kinonikon of Easter and of Saint George.

In occurrence with the Sunday of Saint Thomas: Antiphons and Isodikon of Easter. Troparia: of Saint Thomas (twice), and of Saint George. Kondakion of Easter. Epistle of Saint George, Gospel of Saint Thomas. Hirmos of Saint Thomas. Kinonikon of Saint Thomas and of Saint George. After Communion, "Christ is risen from the dead. By His death He has trampled death, and He has given life to those who are in the tomb."

From Monday through Friday of the week of Saint Thomas: as above, except for the Troparia: of Saint Thomas, of Saint George, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of Saint Thomas. Epistle and Gospel of Saint George. Ordinary Hirmos. Kinonikon of Saint George.

In occurrence with the Saturday of the Closing Day of Saint Thomas: as above, except for the Troparia: of Saint Thomas (twice), of Saint George, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of Saint Thomas. Epistle and Gospel of Saint George. Hirmos of Saint Thomas. Kinonikon of Saint Thomas and of Saint George.

In occurrence with the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women: Antiphons of Easter, or Typika and Beatitudes. Isodikon of Easter. Troparia: of the Resurrection, of Saint Joseph of Arimathea, of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, of Saint George, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of Easter. Epistle of Saint George, Gospel of the Myrrh-Bearing Women. Easter Hirmos. Kinonikon of the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women and of Saint George.

During the week of the Myrrh-Bearing Women: Antiphons of Easter, or Typika and Beatitudes. Troparia: of the Resurrection, of Saint Joseph of Arimathea, of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, of Saint George, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Myrrh-Bearing Women. Epistle, Gospel, and Kinonikon of Saint George.

In occurrence with the Sunday of the Paralytic: Antiphons of Easter, or Typika and Beatitudes. Isodikon of Easter. Troparia: of the Resurrection, of Saint George, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of Easter.

On Monday and Tuesday of the week of the Paralytic: Antiphons of Easter, or Typika and Beatitudes. Isodikon of Easter. Troparia: of the Resurrection, of Saint George, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Paralytic. Epistle, Gospel, and Kinonikon of Saint George.

On Wednesday of Mid-Pentecost: Antiphons of Easter, or Typika and Beatitudes. Isodikon of Easter. Troparia: of Mid-Pentecost, and of Saint George. Kondakion of Mid-Pentecost. Epistle of Saint George, Gospel of Mid-Pentecost. Hirmos of Mid-Pentecost. Kinonikon of Mid-Pentecost and of Saint George.

On the Post-festive Days of Mid-Pentecost: Antiphons of Easter, or Typika and Beatitudes. Isodikon of Easter. Troparia: of Mid-Pentecost, of Saint George, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of Saint George.

In occurrence with the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman: Antiphons of Easter, or Typika and Beatitudes. Isodikon of Easter. Troparia: of the Resurrection, of Saint George, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of Easter. Epistle of Saint George, Gospel of the Samaritan Woman. Easter Hirmos. Kinonikon of the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman and of Saint George.

On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of the week of the Samaritan Woman, the order for the Post-festive Days of Mid-Pentecost is followed, as above.

In occurrence with the Thursday of the week of the Samaritan Women: Antiphons of Easter, or the Typika and Beatitudes. Isodikon of Easter. Troparia: of the Resurrection, of Saint George, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Samaritan Woman. Epistle, Gospel, and Kinonikon of Saint George.

April 24

Memory of our venerable Mother Elizabeth the Wonderworker (?)

The holy Martyr Sabbas the Goth (+372)

Saint Elizabeth lived in one of the monasteries of Constantinople at an uncertain date.

Saint Sabbas lived during the reign of Valens, Emperor of the East. He was a native of the Goth's country. A Christian from his childhood, he refused to eat the sacrifices offered to idols. He even impeded those who wished him to do it. He explained the Christian faith to them, converted a great number of them, and baptized them. The idolaters revolted and violently expelled him from the city. Some time later, Athanaric, the leader of the Goths, persecuted the Christians and abused all those who confessed the faith of Christ-God. Sabbas was seized, bound to a chariot axle, and suspended from the beams of his house. Having refused to eat the sacrifices offered to idols, he was led to the Mousaion River. A heavy piece of wood was attached to his neck and he was thrown into the water. He perished there on April 13, 372, at the age of thirty-eight.

Fifth Class Feast.

April 25

Memory of the holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark (First century)

Saint Mark, also named John, was the cousin of Barnabas. It seems that he belonged to the tribe of Levi. In the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 12:12), it is said that the Christians gathered in his mother Mary's home to pray. Converted to the Christian faith by Saint Peter, he went to Antioch with Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas around the year 44 and afterwards went to Cyprus and Pamphylia, then returned to Jerusalem. He was with Saint Paul at the time of his first captivity, having followed Saint Peter to Rome to serve him as an interpreter. During Saint Paul's second captivity, Mark was in Asia around 66 or 67. At the request of the Roman Christians, he wrote his Gospel in Greek-the second Gospel after that of Saint Matthew. According to the historian Eusebius and ancient tradition, he afterwards went to Egypt where he had preached the Gospel and founded the Church of Alexandria. He was martyred at an unknown date. His holy body was transferred to Venice by some travelers in 828. The symbol of the lion is reserved to him, the second of Exechiel's symbolic animals (Ezechiel 1:10). Perhaps for this reason alone his Gospel is second in the series of the Four Gospels.

This Fourth Class Feast occurs from Easter Tuesday (Easter on March 22) to the Saturday of the Samaritan Woman (Easter on April 25).

During Easter Week and on the Sunday of Saint Thomas, this feast is generally neglected.

During the week of Saint Thomas: Antiphons of Easter, or Typika and Beatitudes. Troparia: of Saint Thomas, of Saint Mark, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of Saint Thomas. Epistle, Gospel, and Kinonikon of Saint Mark.

On the Saturday of the Closing Day of the week of Saint Thomas: Troparia: of Saint Thomas (twice), of Saint Mark, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of Saint Thomas. Epistle and Gospel of Saint Mark.

On the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women: Troparia: of the Resurrection, of Saint Joseph, of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, of Saint Mark, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of Easter. Epistle of Saint Mark, Gospel of the Myrrh-Bearing Women.

During the week of the Myrrh-Bearing Women:

Troparia: of the Resurrection, of Saint Joseph, of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, of Saint Mark, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Myrrh-Bearing Women. Epistle, Gospel, and Kinonikon of Saint Mark.

On the Sunday of the Paralytic: Antiphons of Easter, or Typika and Beatitudes. Isodikon of Easter. Troparia: of the Resurrection, of Saint Mark, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of Easter. Epistle of Saint Mark, Gospel of the Paralytic. Easter Hirmos. Kinonikon of the Sunday of the Paralytic and of Saint Mark.

On Monday and Tuesday of the week of the Paralytic: Troparia: of the Resurrection, of Saint Mark, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Paralytic. Epistle and Gospel of Saint Mark.

Wednesday of Mid-Pentecost: Troparia: of Mid-Pentecost (twice), and of Saint Mark. Kondakion of Mid-Pentecost. Epistle of Saint Mark, Gospel of Mid-Pentecost. Hirmos and Kinonikon of Mid-Pentecost.

Post-festive of Mid-Pentecost: Troparia: of Mid-Pentecost, of Saint Mark, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of Mid-Pentecost. Epistle, Gospel, and Kinonikon of Saint Mark.

On the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman: Troparia: of the Resurrection, of Saint Mark, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of Easter. Epistle of Saint Mark, Gospel of the Samaritan Woman.

On the Wednesday of the Closing Day of Mid-Pentecost: as on the feast day. The Gospel also of Saint Mark.

On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of the week of the Samaritan Woman: Troparia: of the Resurrection, of Saint Mark, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Samaritan Woman. Epistle, Gospel, and Kinonikon of Saint Mark.

April 26

Memory of the holy Hieromartyr Basil, Metropolitan of Amasia (+322)

This holy martyr was Bishop of Amasia in the Hellespont. He was present at the local synods held in Ancyra and Neocaesarea in 314. He energetically resisted the Arians. He suffered martyrdom in Nicomedia under the tyrant Licinius, probably in 322.

Fifth Class Feast.

April 27

Memory of the holy Hieromartyr Simeon,
a relative of the Lord (+107)

This holy martyr was a cousin of Our Lord, the son of Clopas or Cleopas (the brother of Saint Joseph), also named Alpheus. He was second Bishop of Jerusalem, succeeding James, the Lord's brother, in 62. He died crucified because he was a descendant of David and a Christian under Emperor Trajan in the year 107, at the age of one hundred and twenty.

Fifth Class Feast.

April 28

Memory of the holy Apostles Jason and
Sosipater of the Seventy Disciples (First century)

(The holy Martyrs Dadas, Maximos, and Quintillian (+beginning of the Fourth century))

The holy Apostles Jason and Sosipater were relatives of Saint Paul. Jason lodged Paul and Silas in Thessalonica. The Apostle mentions them toward the end of his epistle to the Romans (Romans 16:21).

(It is believed that the holy martyrs Dadas, Maximos, and Quintillian suffered for the faith under Emperor Maximian, at the beginning of the Fourth century.)

Fifth Class Feast.

April 29

Memory of the Nine Holy Martyrs of Cyzicus
(322-323?, under Licinius)

The Venerable Memnon the Wonderworker(?)

The holy martyrs Theognis, Rufus, Antipater, Theosticus, Artemas, Magnus, Theodotos, Thaumasius, and Philemon suffered martyrdom in Cyzicus, probably under the tyrant Licinius around the year 322-323.

Fifth Class Feast.

April 30

Memory of the holy Apostle James, brother of John the Theologian (+42)

This holy Apostle was one of the Twelve Apostles, as was his brother John. The Lord surnamed them both Boanerges or "Sons of Thunder," because one day as He passed through a village of Samaria, the inhabitants not having wished to welcome Him, these two zealous brothers asked the Lord to let fire fall from heaven and burn these inhospitable people (Luke 9:54). After the Passion and Resurrection of Our Lord, Herod not being able to stand seeing blessed James speak openly about Christ and announce the Gospel of salvation, laid hands on him and made him perish by the sword around the year 42. He was the second martyr after the deacon Stephen.

Fifth Class Feast.