♱Daily Synaxarium ♱Saturday, August 1, 2026translated

On this day, the Holy Church commemorates:

The beginning of Our Lady’s Fast. *Celebrating the procession of the Holy Life-giving Cross in Constantinople.*The seven young martyrs of the Maccabees with their mother Solomoni and their teacher Eliezer.*The nine martyrs of the towers of Pamphylia.*The martyrs Polyphectus, Theodorus, Cyricus, Eliezer and their companions.*The martyrs Minas and Minaeus.*The martyr Papas. The little one.*The martyr among the virgins, Alyssa Cetera.*Our venerable father among the saints, Timothy the Wonderworker.*Our venerable father among the saints, Ephesus the Italian.*The new one among the martyrs, Dmitri Baevsky.

✤ Commemorating our venerable father in Saints Ephesus Verkel of Italy (4th century AD) ✤

Born in Sardinia. He lived in Rome for some time. There he befriended Saint Athanasius the Great during one of his periods of exile between the years 339 and 342. He was chosen as bishop of Verkil in Bayamon in the year 345 AD. He was jealous of his sheep and the right faith. He refused to condemn Saint Athanasius. During the time of Emperor Constans II, he was exiled to Beisan in Palestine, where the Arian bishop treated him badly. He was transferred to Cappadocia, then to Egypt, where the monks lived and derived examples of virtues from them. He was released following the death of Constans. He participated in the Council of Alexandria in the year 362 AD. He visited Antioch as part of efforts to resolve problems between Orthodox groups. If he was not successful in his mission, he returned to Italy. Continue to carry the banner of defense...