Holy Confessor Priest Elijah Lăcătușu; Myrrhbearer and Equal of the Apostles Mary Magdalene; Martyr Markella of Chios

Orthodox Calendar, July 22 Holy Confessor Priest Elijah Lăcătușu The Holy Confessor Priest Elijah Lăcătușu was born on December 8, 1909, in the village of Țepești, in the commune of Crăpăturile, in Vâlcea County, Romania. His parents, Marin and Maria, were devout people who worked the land. They had seven children, with Elijah being the second.

Saint Elijah attended school in the commune of Șerbănești-Tetoiu, then the Saint Nicholas Theological Seminary in Râmnicu Vâlcea, and completed his studies at the Faculty of Theology in Bucharest.

On July 5, 1931, he married the teacher Ecaterina Popescu, with whom he established a beautiful Christian family. God blessed their family with five children, though four of them passed away at young ages, causing much sorrow in the hearts of their parents.

Young Elijah was ordained a deacon on August 27, 1934, and the next day, he was ordained a priest for the parish of Osica de Jos in Olt County by Bishop Vartolomeu Stănescu of Râmnicu-Noul Severin.

On October 5, 1934, Saint Elijah Lăcătușu was transferred to the Pluta-Buicești Parish in Mehedinți County. During World War II, on November 1, 1942, he was sent by the Metropolis of…