Saint Magdalena of Malajnica; Martyr Lucian the Presbyter of Antioch

Orthodox Calendar, October 15

Saint Magdalena of Malajnica Saint Magdalena was born on November 22, 1895 (Old Style), the day after the Feast of the Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple, into a devout Christian family in the village of Šćiubic. Her father, Milenko Ilić, was of Serbian origin, and her mother, Milca, a Romanian from the old Cătălinici family that had come from Transylvania. At her Baptism, performed on 3/16 December, she received the name Magdalena, a sign of her calling to a life of humility and service.

From her earliest childhood, she showed a love for prayer and for the Church. Although in those times girls were not encouraged to study, she learned to read and write, receiving from God the gift of wisdom and steadfast faith.

At the age of nineteen, on the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord (2 February 1914), she was married in the nearby Romanian village of Malajnica. Yet the will of the Lord was otherwise: her husband Miloš fell in the First World War, leaving her a widow with a small child. Then Saint Magdalena strengthened her faith, often saying, “God sees.” This phrase became the seal of her soul.

During the Bulgarian occupation…