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Holy Hieromartyr Athenogenes and his ten disciples Pidakhfoya (now the village of Petakhtun, 50 versts from Sebastia, now Sivash) is a city of the Sebastian metropolis, where Athenogenes was bishop. He suffered along with ten of his disciples in Sebastia, in 311, under Maximinus II, the emperor. The judge first ordered ten students to be naked, hanged, severely beaten and whittled with iron combs, then beheaded. After that, the bishop was cruelly scourged, and finally the judge sentenced him to death. Athenogenes asked the judge to carry out the execution in Pidakhfoy, his residence and homeland. The judge agreed to this request. When the holy confessor was led to his city, he sang psalms and the song “Quiet Light” (of which this is the oldest mention). Athenogenes was beheaded in his home, and the believers buried his body in the same place. The compiler of the “History of Trebizond and the Surrounding Country” (published in Constantinople in 1870 in Greek) says that “in the vestibule (εἰς τὸν νάρϑηϰα) of the ancient church, now a mosque, there is an inscription: Ἐνϑάδε ϰεῖται Ἀϑηνογένης - that is: Athenogenes rests here.” St. Muchch. Paul and with him two sisters Alevtina or Valentina and Fairy or Chionia In 308, during the reign of Maximian, many Christians of Thebaid were condemned to hard labor for confessing Christ. Of these, 97 confessors, along with their wives and newborn babies, were sent to Caesarea in Palestine to the prefect Firmilian from the Palestinian quarries. The prefect ordered to cauterize the folds and veins of the left leg with a hot iron, and with a knife to first remove the right eye along with the membranes and pupil, and then, through cauterization, destroy it at the very root. Among the Egyptian confessors there were two virgins - Fairy (Chionia) and Alevtina (Valentina) and the undaunted Paul. After terrible torture, the virgins were burned, and Paul was sentenced to death. He prayed at the place of execution for all Christian nations for the granting of peace to them, for the conversion of the Jews, Samaritans and all pagans, for the crowd of people surrounding him, for the emperor and the judge, and all the rulers, and for the executioner; He prayed that the Lord would not impute the sins of his tormentors in relation to him, and after prayer he himself bowed his naked neck under the executioner’s sword. Soon after this, 130 confessors were brought from Egypt and Caesarea and, having suffered torture, were exiled partly to the Palestinian, partly to the Cilician mines 217. St. Martyr Julia the Maiden When the Persians captured Carthage at the beginning of the 6th century, a girl in adolescence named Julia, the daughter of a noble Carthaginian citizen, was captured by them. Her parents were Christians and early on they took care to instill in her Christian feelings and teach her Christian beliefs. And what happiness it was for Yulia that her parents did not slow her down with this holy deed! This was real wealth with which they provided their child and saved her soul from the destruction that awaited her among strangers, and even pagans. Sold into slavery to a merchant, Julia, remembering her mother’s suggestions, diligently followed them; we can say that she valiantly endured her difficult fate and in her short life shone with eternal glory. Arriving in a foreign country, turned into a slave to strangers, Julia, remembering the misery and meekness of Christ on earth, humbly submitted to her fate and diligently fulfilled all the duties assigned to her. Therefore, the merchant to whom she was sold into captivity valued her very much, and, although he first forced her to renounce Christ, but, realizing that she would rather die than agree to this, he left her alone and, as she grew up, proving more and more her faithfulness and zeal, acting according to the words of the Apostle, she served “in the simplicity of her heart, not only working in front of people, as people-pleasers, but as servant of Christ, doing the will of God from the soul, serving with zeal, as to God Himself, and not to people” (Eph. 6:6-7), he trusted Julia more and more with the affairs of his household. The slave worked all day, and in the evening she consoled herself with prayer and reading the Holy Scriptures. Scriptures. She was already over twenty years old when, one day, leaving the city on his business, the merchant took her with him. In Corsica, where the ship landed on the way, the merchant went out with all those on the ship to take part in the sacrifice to the gods, which was performed here at that time. Julia remained alone on the ship. While she was sadly thinking about the unfortunate pagans who did not know the true God, some of them came to the ship and, speaking to her, learned that she was a Christian. They reported her to their elder, and he asked the merchant why not all his servants came to honor the gods? - No, they are all here, except for one slave, whom I could not force by any means to renounce the error of Christians, and I would have put her to death long ago if I had not valued her as an unusually zealous and faithful servant. -Will you sell it to me? I can make her give honor to our gods... said the elder. “I’m telling you that this is impossible and that she would rather die than renounce her Christ... I don’t want to sell her, because no money can replace her faithful service to me.” Annoyed by the merchant’s refusal, the elder did not want to give up his intention - to force the Christian woman to make a sacrifice to the gods. He treated and intoxicated the merchant, and when he was fast asleep, he sent to the ship for a slave and, when she was brought to him, he began to force her to honor the gods, promising her to ransom her for this from the merchant and set her free. “My freedom consists in serving Christ and not sharing pagan errors,” answered the Christian woman. Seeing that neither threats nor persuasion could shake the firmness of the young slave, the elder ordered her to be tortured, hoping that she would not resist the suffering. Yulia was beaten, tormented by her hair, and mutilated. She just prayed and repeated: “I confess Christ, who for the sake of men was beaten, wounded with a crown of thorns, crucified on the cross”... Hurrying to finish off the Christian woman before the merchant woke up, Julia was finally crucified on the cross. According to a revelation to the monks of the monastery on the island of Gorgone, not far from Corsica, they came here to take the remains of the martyr from the cross and buried her in their monastery. Relics of St. Julia, glorified by many miracles, was “transferred in 763 from the island of the Tuscan Gorgon by Desiderius, king of the Longobards, to Brescia, to the nunnery he founded.” Memory of St. Fathers of the Six Ecumenical Councils On the 16th day of July and in the 5th or 6th week after Pentecost, the Church commemorates St. Six Ecumenical Councils: the First, which took place in 325 after the Nativity of Christ in the presence of Constantine the Great and 318 St. father, contrary to Arius, with the unanimity of faith, they understood in the first eight members of the Creed the consubstantiality in the three hypostases of the Divine nature and the one worship of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - who determined the time of celebrating Easter and handed down 20 rules of deanery to the leadership of the Church. The second, who was in Constantinople in 381 under Emperor Theodosius the Great, among 150 St. father, who confirmed, contrary to Macedonia, the Patriarch of Constantinople, equal worship of the Holy Spirit, together with God the Father and the Son; indicating the importance and immutability of the faith preached by the First Ecumenical Council; who distributed the exposition of the eighth article of faith; who added the last four members and handed over 7 rules of deanery to the leadership of the Church. The third, who was in Ephesus in 431 among the 200 St. father under Theodosius II, who confessed against Nestorius the inseparable union of Divinity and humanity in the person of Jesus Christ, and the immaculate Ever-Virgin who gave birth to Him without seed as the actual and truly Mother of God: who confirmed the immutability of the Creed and handed down 8 rules of deanery to the leadership of the Church. The fourth, who was in Chalcedon in 451, under Marcian, was among the 630 St. father, who confessed the Lord Jesus Christ perfect in Divinity and perfect in humanity, true God and true man, from soul and body; consubstantial with the Father in Divinity and consubstantial with us in humanity; in everything similar to us except sin; born before the age of the Father according to the Divinity; for humanity for the sake of our salvation - from Mary the Virgin Mary; the one Christ, the Son of the Lord, the only begotten, in two natures unfused, unchangeably, inseparably cognizable, and in these two natures glorified: and the wise Eutyches, Archimandrite of Constantinople, who said that the great mystery of the saving economy was accomplished by a ghost, who cast out, and with him Nestorius, Patriarch of Alexandria, and Dioscorus, Archbishop of Alexandria, of whom one was the defender and champion of separation, and the other of the confusion of Divinity and humanity in Jesus Christ, and who handed over the 30 canons of deanery to the leadership of the Church. Fifth, who was under Emperor Justinian the Great in Constantinople in 553, among 165 St. father, who affirmed the truth of the teaching set forth by the Fourth Ecumenical Council, and who condemned Theodore of Mopsuet, Nestorius’s teacher, Origen, Didymus and Evagrius, also written by Theodoret against the right faith and against the twelve chapters of Blessed Cyril, and the so-called letter of Willow. The heretics, condemned by the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, rebelled against the Council of Chalcedon, claiming that, having condemned Eutyches, he justified Nestorius, and in support of this they pointed to the writings of Theodore, Bishop of Mopsuet, Theodoret of Cyrus and Willow of Edessa, which allegedly were not condemned by the Council of Chalcedon, while they favored the teachings of Nestorius. Theodore wanted the understanding of St. To base the Scriptures and all the teachings of faith on the principles of one reason; therefore he rejected the most important dogmas of the Law. Church, did not recognize the incarnate God of the Word in Christ, did not honor St. His Mother, the Mother of God, rejected the fulfillment of prophecies in the person of Jesus Christ, all miracles, etc. Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus, who was in a friendly relationship with Nestorius, before his error and during the Council of Ephesus, out of ignorance of Nestorius’ change of thoughts and through carelessness, for which he later repented, wrote 12 chapters against the famous 12 anathemas of St. Cyril of Alexandria on Nestorius. Iva of Edessa, in a letter to Marius the Persian, condemned Rabula, his predecessor, for anathematizing Theodore of Mopsuetia as if innocently and not respecting his works for the benefit of the Church. This message served as a temptation for some, while others were attracted to the way of thinking of Theodore, and through that to the heresy of Nestorius. At the same time, the false thoughts of Origen (186–254), which had already been condemned more than once before, began to spread in the East. teachers of the Church. They were condemned during the lifetime of Origen himself by Bishop Demetrius of Alexandria, then by Theophilus of Alexandria (in 399) at a council of bishops of Egypt and Libya. Thus, the V Ecumenical Council approved only the previous decisions about Origen. Origen's false opinions were that he 1) rejected the equality of the persons of St. Trinity; 2) he considered human souls to be created before bodies and imprisoned in bodies as punishment for sins committed by souls before being united with bodies; 3) the soul of Jesus Christ united with the Word before the incarnation; 4) the heavenly bodies are animated forces in which the rational soul dwells; 5) torment after death will have an end, - and 6) Jesus Christ, the Savior of men, will suffer a second time to save demons, etc. Didymus and Evagrius were students of Origen. And the Sixth, who was under Constantine Pogonatus, also in Constantinople in 691, contrary to Sergius, Bishop of Constantinople, and his followers, among the 170 St. father, who affirmed that in Jesus Christ two natural wills and two natural actions are inseparable and unmerged; confirming the rules of the Ecumenical and Local Councils and setting out 102 rules of deanery for the approval of the Church. Celebration of St. to the fathers of the six Ecumenical Councils that took place at different times, no doubt did not begin suddenly, but spread little by little, after the First Ecumenical Council. For the gradual establishment of the celebration of St. six Ecumenical Councils is indicated by the writings of St. father of different centuries. So St. Gregory Dvoeslov, a writer of the 6th century, in his letter to John, Patriarch of Constantinople, and other patriarchs, wrote about the four Ecumenical Councils: “I accept and honor the 4 councils, like the 4 books of St. Gospel, that is, with all devotion I maintain and completely preserve the Nicene, on which the false teaching of Arius was overthrown; – Constantinople, in which the error of Eunomius and Macedonius was exposed; Ephesus, where the wickedness of Nestorius was rejected; Chalcedon, in which the madness of Eutyches and Dioscorus was rejected." In the 7th century St. Patriarch of Jerusalem - Sophronius, in a conciliar letter to Sergius, Patriarch of Constantinople, wrote: “St. the fathers, wanting to show that their teaching is not new, but consistent with the councils, often list them. We accept four great, sacred Ecumenical Councils, which were for the establishment of the Divine dogmas of the Church, shining with Gospel splendor and adorned with Gospel qualities. In addition to these four great, most respected, most sacred and equal councils, I also accept the Fifth Ecumenical Council, which was besides and after those councils, which met to confirm the famous Council of Chalcedon.” In the 9th century, Nicephorus, Archbishop of Constantinople, wrote about six Ecumenical Councils and called them saints, moved by God. When remembering St. father of six Ecumenical Councils, the Church in the Gospel reading offers the intercessory prayer of Jesus Christ, indicated in the first Passion Gospel and in the VΙΙ-th week of St. father of the First Ecumenical Council (John 17:1–13, part 56). And in the words of the Apostolic Reading he teaches: remember your teachers who spoke the word of God to you: as they look to the end of their lives, imitate their faith. Don’t get involved in learning strange and different things. Obey your guides and submit: for they watch over your souls, so that they may reward the word: let them do this with joy, and not sighing, for it is not profitable for you (Heb. 13:1-17). Celebration of the Chira or Pskov Icon of the Mother of God The Chirsk or Pskov icon of the Mother of God was originally located in the church of Chirsk, a village in the Pskov province, and therefore is called Chirsk. In 1420, on September 16, under the rule of the blessed Grand Duke Vasily I Dimitrievich, under the Archbishop of Novgorod and Pskov Simeon, under the Pskov Prince Theodore Alexandrovich, during the pestilence that was in Pskov, tears flowed from both eyes from the Chira Icon of the Mother of God. This was announced to the authorities of Pskov. From here clergy were sent to bring the miraculous icon to Pskov. To meet her, a procession of the cross was made from the city, with a gathering of numerous people and the participation of the prince himself. Everyone prayed reverently. The citizens of Pskov carried the icon into the city on their shoulders and placed it in the cathedral church of the Holy Trinity, in observance and approval of the city, and established an annual holiday on July 16 in remembrance of the sign that came from St. icons. After being transferred to Pskov, the Chir Icon began to be called the Pskov Icon. See extract. in “Mesyatseslov” by Kosolapov from Evsev. Ts. ist., book. 8. Chapter 8.