She was born in Antioch of Pisidia to pagan parents; her father was a pagan priest. When she was about twelve years old her mother died, and she was given into the care of a woman who told her of the Gospel of Christ. She was immediately filled with love for Christ and consecrated her life to His service. Her father, hearing of this, was furious and disowned her. When she was fifteen years old, she was brought before the governor Olymbrius, who first desired to marry her and, when she refused, ordered her to make sacrifice to the idols. She refused and proclaimed herself a Christian. For this she was harshly tortured, imprisoned, and finally beheaded. While she was in prison she was tormented by demons, but drove them away by her prayers. For this reason she is especially invoked for deliverance from demonic possession. One of her hands is preserved at Vatopedi Monastery on the Holy Mountain, and some of her relics are preserved at an Albanian Monastery dedicated to her.

Before baptism he was a renowned military commander under Trajan. While hunting in the woods, he met a great stag with a shining Cross between his antlers. Through the stag, the Lord spoke to Placidas (his pagan name) and told him to find a priest and be baptized into Christ. Returning home, he found that his wife Tatiana had also had a vision in which she was told to become a Christian. They were baptized, Placidas receiving the name Eustathius, and Tatiana the name Theopiste; their two sons were baptized with them. Eustathius and his family were almost immediately subjected to a series of grievous trials, in which all were separated from one another. After years of hardship they were re-united, and returned to Rome with honor when the Emperor sought out Eustathius to command his army once again. But when the Emperor Hadrian (who had succeeded Trajan) commanded them to worship the idols, all of them refused. They were put together into a large bronze ox which was heated white-hot in a fire. When their bodies were removed, they were found to be dead but intact. The Prologue concludes, 'Thus this glorious general gave to Caesar that which is Caesar's, and to God that which is God's, and entered into the eternal Kingdom of Christ our God.

Acindynus, Pegasius and Anempodistus were courtiers to King Shapur II of Persia. When the king began a fierce persecution of Christians, the three withdrew from court to a private house and, fearless of their own safety, openly exhorted their fellow-Christians to stand firm in their faith. For this they were arrested and brought before their former lord, who subjected them to many cruel tortures, from which they emerged miraculously unscathed. Seeing this, one of the king's soldiers, named Aphthonius, embraced the Faith and was immediately beheaded. The former courtiers were then put to further tortures, but their only effect was to convince Elpidophorus, a distinguished nobleman, and seven thousand other Persians to faith in Christ. All were beheaded, but not before receiving holy Baptism. The trials of the three continued, but once again they were preserved, and even the king's mother was led to the true faith. Finally they were killed (the account does not say how), receiving the crown of martyrdom along with the king's mother and twenty-eight others.

She was born in Rome to a wealthy and prominent family. Though her father Pretexatus was a pagan, her mother Fausta instructed her in the things of God. Her father married her against her will to Publius, a prodigal and impious man lacking in Christian or pagan virtue. Anastasia was in the custom of dressing herself as a poor working woman and going out by night to visit and comfort the many Christians in prison (this was the time of Diocletian's persecution). When Publius discovered this, he was furious that his wife was demeaning herself by consorting with the despised Christians, and had his wife locked in the house with so little food that she came close to death by starvation. She was able to get a letter to her spiritual father Chrysogonus, who was also in prison, and their correspondence helped to sustain her through her ordeal. After three months her husband died in a shipwreck and she regained her freedom. Immediately she redoubled her work for the suffering Christians and their families, devoting all her time and wealth to their comfort and care.   One day Diocletian declared that all Christians in his prisons should be slain, and his command was carried out in one night. The next day Anastasia came to visit her beloved companions and, learning that all were dead, fell sobbing by the gate, no longer caring to conceal her Christian faith from anyone. Almost immediately she was arrested and brought before the authorities, who subjected her to every form of abuse. One prefect offered to marry her if she would bow to the idols, but to have her tortured to death if she would not. When she was unmoved, he attempted to rape her, but was struck blind and died miserably. She then briefly escaped to Nicaea and found refuge with the pious St Theodota, but was seized again along with Theodota and her children. After further trials and torments Anastasia, Theodota and her children, and others who had been converted to Christ through Anastasia's example, were executed.   Saint Anastasia's relics were taken to Rome, where a church was built in her honor. The relics were later translated to Constantinople and placed in another church bearing her name, where they worked many miracles. Because she has healed many through her prayers from the effects of poisons and potions, she is called Pharmocolytria, "Deliverer from Potions."

He was a disciple of Saints Cyril and Methodius (May 11), and traveled with them on their missionary journey to the Slavs. With them and their other companions, he endured many trials, including several imprisonments at the hands of the Latin Franks, who were seeking to seize control of the region of Moravia in order to impose the Latin language and to spread the heresy of the filioque. For a time their troubles were relieved by Pope Hadrian II, who supported the mission and made St Methodius Archbishop of Pannonia, with jurisdiction over the Eastern European Slav lands. But when St Methodius died, St Nahum and his companions were imprisoned once more, then sent into exile, where they finally found shelter in the Orthodox Kingdom of Bulgaria. There they were able to continue their work of evangelization in the Slavonic language. Saint Nahum founded the Monastery that bears his name on the shore of Lake Ochrid. After his repose his relics were brought there for burial, and are venerated there today.

He was born to a noble family in Alexandria. For a short time he taught rhetoric in Pelusium in Egypt; but soon his love for the things of God led him to flee to the Desert as a solitary. After a year of ascetical life, he returned to Pelusium, where he was ordained to the priesthood. After a few years he retired to a monastery where he spent the rest of his life, eventually becoming Abbot. From the monastery he wrote thousands of epistles full of divine grace and wisdom; of these more than two thousand still survive.   Saint Isidore was a student and devout disciple of St John Chrysostom, as he knew him through his writings. When St Cyril became Patriarch of Alexandria, he refused to commemorate St John in the diptychs during the Divine Liturgy. Saint Isidore wrote him a strong letter reminding him not to heed the rumors, prejudices or threats of men, and St Cyril was persuaded to restore commemoration of the Archbishop of Constantinople, and later became a strong advocate of the veneration of St John. Isidore, though a monk, was treated as a spiritual father by Patriarch Cyril: around 433, when St Cyril was inclined to deal harshly with some who had been swept up in the Nestorian heresy, St Isidore wrote to him: 'As your father, since you are pleased to give me this name, or rather as your son, I adjure you to put an end to this dissension lest a permanent breach be made under the pretext of piety.'   With reputation came persecution, and St Isidore suffered much from Imperial and church authorities unhappy with his holy influence. He bore all these troubles impassibly, and in 440 (according to one source) or about 449 (according to another) he joyfully gave up his soul to God.

'The daughter of the Emperor Trajan, she was seized with five other women when they were gathering the bodies of the martyrs who had suffered for Christ by night, and was for this cruelly mutilated by the Emperor. The five women were terribly tortured and at last thrown into molten copper, where they surrendered their souls to their Lord. But Drosida remained under strict imperial guard. However, she escaped from the court and baptised herself in a river. After eight days she gave her soul into God's hands.' (Prologue)

He was German by birth but, drawn to the Orthodox faith, he moved to Rostov and not only became Orthodox, but took on the podvig of folly for Christ. He lived in complete destitution, spending the days pretending madness and the nights in prayer. Many wonders were performed by this Saint even in his lifetime. When he died in his meager hut in 1484, the people of Rostov smelled a fragrant odor throughout the city. A merchant whom he had miraculously saved from drowning built a church in the place where his hut had stood.

"St Gregory the Dialogist relates of her that she was a mere nine years old when the most holy Mother of God appeared to her on two occasions, surrounded by virgins bathed in light. When Musa expressed her desire to be included in the resplendent company of the Queen of heaven, the Mother of God told her that she would come for her and take her within a month, outlining for her how she should spend those thirty days. On the twenty-fifth day, Musa took to her bed and on the thirtieth day the most pure and holy Mother again appeared to her, calling to her in a quiet voice, to which Musa replied: 'Here I am waiting, my Lady! I'm ready!', and she breathed forth her spirit. She passed from this life to life eternal in the fifth century." (Prologue)

"In the reign of the wicked Emperor Maximilian, there lived in Alexandria a maiden, Theodora, well-educated and of noble lineage. She was brought to trial before the pagans for her Christian faith. After long interrogation and torture for the Faith, the prince, her tormentor, ordered that she be thrown into a brothel and the soldiers given free access to her to indulge their carnal lusts. Theodora prayed fervently to God to save her from defilement, and, when she had prayed, a soldier called Didymus came in to her and told her that he was a servant of Christ. He dressed her in his soldier's garb and himself in her dress, then let her out and remained in the brothel himself. He was seized and brought before the judge, where he acknowledged that he was a Christian and had saved Theodora, and was now prepared to die for Christ. He was condemned to death and taken out to the place of execution. Theodora ran up to him there and cried out: 'Although you saved my honour, I did not ask you to save me from death. Yield the martyr's death to me!' Didymus replied: 'My beloved sister, do not hinder my death for Christ, nor the washing of my sins in my blood.' Hearing this exchange, the pagans condemned them both to death, and they were beheaded and their bodies burned. They suffered with honour and received eternal wreaths of glory in Alexandria in the year 304." (Prologue)

She was born in Antioch of Pisidia to pagan parents; her father was a pagan priest. When she was about twelve years old her mother died, and she was given into the care of a woman who told her of the Gospel of Christ. She was immediately filled with love for Christ and consecrated her life to His service. Her father, hearing of this, was furious and disowned her. When she was fifteen years old, she was brought before the governor Olymbrius, who first desired to marry her and, when she refused, ordered her to make sacrifice to the idols. She refused and proclaimed herself a Christian. For this she was harshly tortured, imprisoned, and finally beheaded. While she was in prison she was tormented by demons, but drove them away by her prayers. For this reason she is especially invoked for deliverance from demonic possession. One of her hands is preserved at Vatopedi Monastery on the Holy Mountain, and some of her relics are preserved at an Albanian Monastery dedicated to her.

Before baptism he was a renowned military commander under Trajan. While hunting in the woods, he met a great stag with a shining Cross between his antlers. Through the stag, the Lord spoke to Placidas (his pagan name) and told him to find a priest and be baptized into Christ. Returning home, he found that his wife Tatiana had also had a vision in which she was told to become a Christian. They were baptized, Placidas receiving the name Eustathius, and Tatiana the name Theopiste; their two sons were baptized with them. Eustathius and his family were almost immediately subjected to a series of grievous trials, in which all were separated from one another. After years of hardship they were re-united, and returned to Rome with honor when the Emperor sought out Eustathius to command his army once again. But when the Emperor Hadrian (who had succeeded Trajan) commanded them to worship the idols, all of them refused. They were put together into a large bronze ox which was heated white-hot in a fire. When their bodies were removed, they were found to be dead but intact. The Prologue concludes, 'Thus this glorious general gave to Caesar that which is Caesar's, and to God that which is God's, and entered into the eternal Kingdom of Christ our God.

Acindynus, Pegasius and Anempodistus were courtiers to King Shapur II of Persia. When the king began a fierce persecution of Christians, the three withdrew from court to a private house and, fearless of their own safety, openly exhorted their fellow-Christians to stand firm in their faith. For this they were arrested and brought before their former lord, who subjected them to many cruel tortures, from which they emerged miraculously unscathed. Seeing this, one of the king's soldiers, named Aphthonius, embraced the Faith and was immediately beheaded. The former courtiers were then put to further tortures, but their only effect was to convince Elpidophorus, a distinguished nobleman, and seven thousand other Persians to faith in Christ. All were beheaded, but not before receiving holy Baptism. The trials of the three continued, but once again they were preserved, and even the king's mother was led to the true faith. Finally they were killed (the account does not say how), receiving the crown of martyrdom along with the king's mother and twenty-eight others.

Around the tenth century, we hear the venerable St. Simeon the New Theologian explaining that many illnesses are caused by a disorderly and irregular diet. Does a saint speaking to us one thousand years ago have answers for our food choices today in the world of egg beaters, diet sodas, and fat-free foods?

Fr. Adrian and Chaplain Sarah begin a conversation about the challenge of applying the joy of the resurrection of Christ in the context of suffering that we see and experience as caregivers.

Chaplain Sarah and Fr. Adrian discuss the painful reality of grief during the holidays, and ways to carry that grief into the feast of the Nativity of Christ.

Chaplain Sarah Byrne-Martelli interviews Dr. Daniel Henshaw on the topic of physician assisted suicide. (Part 1 of 2)

Chaplain Sarah Byrne-Martello continues her interview with Dr. Daniel Henshaw on the topic of physician assisted suicide. (Part 2 of 2)

Fr. Adrian Budica and Chaplain Sarah Byrne-Martelli discuss their experiences serving as hospital chaplains during the COVID-19 pandemic.

How should our lives differ from the world as Orthodox Christians? Fr. Andrew challenges us to embrace our faith amidst a growingly hostile environment.

In part 2, Fr. Andrew focuses on the importance of worship as Christians.

On this Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, Fr. Andrew examines how Christ becomes a bridge for her, how she becomes a bridge between Him and her people, and how we may also become bridges.

Fr. Andrew tells the story of St. Aidan of Lindisfarne and stresses how he was not just a bishop but also a neighbor.

On this feast of the Elevation of the Cross, Fr. Andrew shows how the Cross reveals the divinity of Jesus.

In reflecting on the entrance of mankind into space, Fr. Andrew notes that telescopes and microscopes aren't the right tools for seeing God.

On this Sunday of the Blind Man, Fr. Andrew discusses how all things are a gift from God meant for salvation—even blindness.

On this Sunday of the Paralytic, Fr. Andrew talks about what the resurrection of Jesus did and what we do with that.

Discussing the idea that the Ascension was Jesus abandoning His flock, Fr. Andrew unpacks what's really going on in the feast, what it says about Who Jesus is, about what His mission is, and about our salvation and our mission.

With the Sunday of All Saints, Fr. Andrew discusses how the saints could do what they did and what it really means for us to be like them.

Focusing on Christ's command to 'seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness', Fr. Andrew fleshes out what that means in terms of our participation in Christ.

On the Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick compares her journey into the wilderness with a similar journey made in the 19th c. by Henry David Thoreau. What is it that each hoped for by making that journey?

With the parable of the Publican and Pharisee, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick shows how the Pharisee was actually an idolater. He adds further comments on the nature of idolatry and why it always turns back toward the self.

On the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick discusses how idols are radically different from icons, based both on man's encounters with the visible God before and after the Incarnation and also on a thorough understanding of how idolatry actually works.

This year, the All-Stars series is highlighting students from all over North America—students from each of OCF's nine regions. For the Northwest regional feature, Tasya speaks with the co-presidents of Boise State University's OCF chapter: Mercedes Huse and Kayla Munkres. Mercedes and Kayla explain how they share the work of the Chapter President, give advice to OCF students in leadership positions in their chapter, and share some of their favourite chapter meeting activities.

So what does it mean "There is no salvation outside of the Church?" Matthew explores that in this week's episode.

The chat room was hopping tonight as Fr. Nick and Dr. Roxanne talk about how to deal with difficult relationships during this holiday season. They couldn't get to all the questions and their prepared remarks so look for part two on January 9, 2018.

Fr. Martin Johnson joins Fr. Nick and Dr. Roxanne for a conversation about America's national struggle with race.

Fr. Martin Johnson joins Fr. Nick and Dr. Roxanne again for the second part of a deeply honest and insightful conversation about America's national struggle with race.

The Louhs welcome Tim Tassopoulos, President and COO of Chick-fil-A, and early endorser of their upcoming book, Renewing You: A Priest, a Psychologist, and a Plan. Listen for a conversation on adaptability and renewal in both corporate and spiritual contexts.

Join us on Healthy Minds Healthy Souls this week as we discuss how to navigate the increasing political divide in our country.

A special episode of Healthy Minds Healthy Souls Radio Show entitled "The Opioid Crisis: What You Need to Know" with guests Fr. Anthony Salzman, Chris Thrasher, and Rev. Dr. Von Wrighten. Join us for a practical and in-depth discussion on the growing opioid crisis.

As we begin the Advent Fast, Fr. John Oliver reflects on the chasm that divides us from the Divine and the uniqueness of Christianity in bridging that gap.

Each year on the Friday after Thanksgiving, shoppers and stores gear up for the busiest day of the shopping year. Fr. John reflects on what drives the passion for that day and how it relates to our quest for peace.

During the afterfeast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, Fr. John reflects on the mystery that is Mary.

Fr. John Oliver asks, Is it possible to experience true conversion? What role does our effort play in the conversion of our souls?

Fr. John Oliver reflects on pride and humility.

Take a trip in the time machine with Fr. Joseph and travel back to the 4th Century (with a brief musical stop in the 1970s).

Fr. Joseph is away at Camp St. Raphael -- YaBoy! -- this week. He took his AFR mic with him and promises an interview with Big Foot next week ... that is, if the Mama Eater doesn't get him first. Until then, enjoy this week's rebroadcast! (Oh, and pray for Orthodox campers & staff.)

In the third and final episode of Ortho-Man, Fr. Joseph is led down a dark hallway by a mysterious stranger who reveals to him the similarities of Underdog, Batman, Pink Panther, Indiana Jones, Buzz Lightyear and ... Ortho-Man.

In this encore presentation, Fr. Joseph takes a trip in the time machine and travels back to the 4th Century (with a brief musical stop in the 1970s).