January 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

January 25 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - January 27

The Eastern Orthodox cross

All fixed commemorations below are observed on February 8 by Eastern Orthodox Churches on the Old Calendar.[note 1]

For January 26th, Orthodox Churches on the Old Calendar commemorate the Saints listed on January 13.

Saints

• Martyrs Ananias the priest, Peter the prison guard, and seven soldiers, in Phoenicia (295)[1][2][3]
• The Holy Two Martys of Phrygia.[4][5]
• Venerable Ammon of Egypt (350), disciple of St. Anthony the Great.[1][6]
• Venerable Symeon "the Ancient" of Mount Sinai (ca. 390)[1][7][8]
• Saint Paula of Rome (Paula of Palestine), monastic foundress in Palestine (404)[1][5][9][note 2][note 3]
• Venerable Gabriel, Abbot of the monastery of Saint Stephanos in Jerusalem (ca. 490)[1][12]
• Venerable Xenophon and his wife Mary, and their two sons Sts. Arcadius and John, of Constantinople (6th century)[1][13][14][15][note 4][note 5]

Pre-Schism Western saints

• Saint Conon, Bishop and monastic founder on the Isle of Man (648)[1][10]
• Saint Theofrid (Theofroy), a monk at Luxeuil in France who became Abbot of Corbie, and a Bishop (ca. 690)[10]
• Saint Athanasius, honoured as a bishop in Sorrento in the south of Italy.[10]
• Saint Alphonsus of Astorga, Bishop of Astorga in Spain (9th century)[10][note 6]
• Saint Ansurius (Aduri, Asurius, Isauri), Bishop of Orense in Galicia (925)[10][note 7]

Post-Schism Orthodox saints

• Venerable Clement of Mt. Sagmation (1111)[1][16]
• Saint David the Builder (David III), King of Georgia (1125)[1][17][18]
• Venerable Xenophon, Abbot of Robeika (Novgorod) (1262)[1][19][20]
• Venerable Arcadius of Vyaznikovsky (1592)[21][note 8]
• Saint Joseph (Naniescu) of Suceava, Metropolitan of Moldova, Romania (1902)[1][5][22][note 9]

New martyrs and confessors

• New Martyr Matushka Maria of Gatchina (1930)[5][23]
• New Hieromartyr Cyril, Metropolitan of Kazan (1937)[5][23][24]
• New Hieromartyr Arcadius (1938)[5][23]
• Martyr John Popov (1938)[19][23]

Other commemorations

• Commemoration of the Great Earthquake at Constantinople (447-448), during the reign of Emperor Theodosius II (r. 408–450).[25][note 10]
• Translation of the relics (845) of Sts. Theodore the Confessor, Abbot of the Studion (826),[note 11] and his brother Joseph the Confessor,[note 12] Archbishop of Thessalonica (832)[1][27][28]
• Repose of Metropolitan Gabriel of Novgorod and St. Petersburg (1801)[1][29]

Icon gallery

• 
  Venerable Xenophon and his wife Mary, and their two sons Sts. Arcadius and John
  (Menologion of Basil II)
• 
  A medieval fresco of the Georgian King David the Builder from Gelati Monastery.
• 
  Holy Hierarch Joseph the Merciful, the Metropolitan of Moldova.

Notes

1. The notation Old Style or (OS) is sometimes used to indicate a date in the Julian Calendar (which is used by churches on the "Old Calendar").
   The notation New Style or (NS), indicates a date in the Revised Julian calendar (which is used by churches on the "New Calendar").
2. A Roman lady of noble birth, she married a patrician and had five children, among them St Eustochium and St Blaesilla. Left a widow when she was thirty-two, she presided for twenty years over the sisterhood she had founded in Bethlehem. She also established a guest house for pilgrims there.[10]
3. "At Bethlehem of Juda, the demise of St. Paula, widow, mother of St. Eustochium, virgin of Christ, who abandoned her worldly prospects, though she was descended from a noble line of senators, distributed her goods to the poor, and retired to the manger of our Lord, where, adorned with many virtues, and crowned with a long martyrdom, she departed for the kingdom of heaven. Her admirable life was written by St. Jerome."[11]
4. Not to be confused with Venerable Xenophon (celebrated on April 24), † 1018, the builder of the Xenophontos monastery.
5. Name day celebrated today includes:

   • Xenophon (Ξενοφῶν).

6. Bishop of Astorga in Spain, he went to live as a simple monk at the monastery of St Stephen de Ribas de Sil in Spanish Galicia.
7. Bishop of Orense in Galicia, he helped found the monastery of Ribas de Sil in Spain. He became bishop in 915, but in 922 became a simple monk at the monastery. After his repose he was venerated there, together with seven other bishops who had followed his example.
8. (in Russian) Прп. Аркадий Вязниковский (+1592). Also commemorated on the "Synaxis of the Saints of Vladimir" (Собор Владимирских святых), June 23.
9. "Metropolitan Iosif Naniescu has been canonized under the name of the Holy Hierarch Joseph the Merciful, the Metropolitan of Moldova, to be celebrated on January 26 (new style)."[22]
10. Both the Constantinian and the original Theodosian walls were severely damaged, in two earthquakes, on 25 September 437 and on 6 November 447.[26] The latter was especially powerful, and destroyed large parts of the wall, including 57 towers. Subsequent earthquakes, including another major one in January 448, compounded the damage. Theodosius II ordered the praetorian prefect Constantine to supervise the repairs, made all the more urgent as the city was threatened by the presence of Attila the Hun in the Balkans.
11. November 11.
12. July 14.

References

1. January 26 / February 8. Orthodox Calendar (PRAVOSLAVIE.RU).
2. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Οἱ Ἅγιοι Ἀνανίας, Πέτρος καὶ οἱ ἑπτὰ στρατιῶτες μάρτυρες. 26 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
3. Presbyter Ananias in Phoenicia. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
4. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Οἱ Ἅγιοι Δύο Μάρτυρες. 26 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
5. The Autonomous Orthodox Metropolia of Western Europe and the Americas (ROCOR). St. Hilarion Calendar of Saints for the year of our Lord 2004. St. Hilarion Press (Austin, TX). p. 10.
6. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Ὁ Ὅσιος Ἀμμωνᾶς. 26 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
7. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Ὁ Ὅσιος Συμεὼν ὁ Παλαιός. 26 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
8. St Simeon “the Ancient” of Mt. Sinai. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
9. St. Paula of Palestine (404). HOLY TRINITY RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (A parish of the Patriarchate of Moscow).
10. January 26. Latin Saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome.
11. The Roman Martyrology. Transl. by the Archbishop of Baltimore. Last Edition, According to the Copy Printed at Rome in 1914. Revised Edition, with the Imprimatur of His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons. Baltimore: John Murphy Company, 1916. pp. 26–27.
12. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Ὁ Ὅσιος Γαβριήλ. 26 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
13. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Ὁ Ὅσιος Ξενοφῶν μετὰ τῆς συμβίου του Μαρίας καὶ τῶν τέκνων Ἀρκαδίου καὶ Ἰωάννου. 26 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
14. Venerable Xenophon of Constantinople. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
15. (in Greek) Συναξαριστής. 26 Ιανουαρίου. ECCLESIA.GR. (H ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ).
16. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Ὁ Ὅσιος Κλήμης. 26 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
17. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Ὁ Ἅγιος Δαυΐδ βασιλεὺς τῆς Γεωργίας. 26 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
18. Blessed David IV the King of Georgia. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
19. (in Russian) 26 января (ст.ст.) 8 февраля 2013 (нов. ст.). Русская Православная Церковь Отдел внешних церковных связей. (DECR).
20. Venerable Xenophon of Robika. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
21. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Ὁ Ὅσιος Ἀρκάδιος. 26 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
22. Two new saints canonized by Romanian Orthodox Church. BASILICA.RO (Biserica Ortodoxă Română). 06.10.2017.
23. February 8 / January 26. HOLY TRINITY RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (A parish of the Patriarchate of Moscow).
24. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Ὁ Ἅγιος Κύριλλος ὁ Μάρτυρας Μητροπολίτης Καζάν. 26 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
25. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Μνήμη Μεγάλου Σεισμοῦ. 26 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
26. Philippides, Marios; Hanak, Walter K. (2011). The Siege and the Fall of Constantinople in 1453: Historiography, Topography and Military Studies. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., p. 299. ISBN 978-1-4094-1064-5
27. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Ἀνακομιδὴ Τιμίων Λειψάνων Ὁσίου Θεοδώρου τοῦ Στουδίτου. 26 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
28. Translation of the relics of the Venerable Theodore the Abbot of Studion. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
29. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Ὁ Ἅγιος Γαβριὴλ Μητροπολίτης Νόβγκοροντ καὶ Ἁγίας Πετρούπολης. 26 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.

Sources

• January 26 / February 8. Orthodox Calendar (PRAVOSLAVIE.RU).
• February 8 / January 26. HOLY TRINITY RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (A parish of the Patriarchate of Moscow).
• January 26. OCA - The Lives of the Saints.
• The Autonomous Orthodox Metropolia of Western Europe and the Americas (ROCOR). St. Hilarion Calendar of Saints for the year of our Lord 2004. St. Hilarion Press (Austin, TX). p. 10.
• January 26. Latin Saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome.
• The Roman Martyrology. Transl. by the Archbishop of Baltimore. Last Edition, According to the Copy Printed at Rome in 1914. Revised Edition, with the Imprimatur of His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons. Baltimore: John Murphy Company, 1916. pp. 26–27.
• Rev. Richard Stanton. A Menology of England and Wales, or, Brief Memorials of the Ancient British and English Saints Arranged According to the Calendar, Together with the Martyrs of the 16th and 17th Centuries. London: Burns & Oates, 1892. p. 36.

Greek Sources

• Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) 26 ΙΑΝΟΥΑΡΙΟΥ. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
• (in Greek) Συναξαριστής. 26 Ιανουαρίου. ECCLESIA.GR. (H ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ).

Russian Sources

• (in Russian) 8 февраля (26 января). Православная Энциклопедия под редакцией Патриарха Московского и всея Руси Кирилла (электронная версия). (Orthodox Encyclopedia - Pravenc.ru).
• (in Russian) 26 января (ст.ст.) 8 февраля 2013 (нов. ст.). Русская Православная Церковь Отдел внешних церковных связей. (DECR).