About the Holy Martyrs of Thessaloniki, Theodoulos and Agathopodas

In the Synaxarion of the martyrs Agathopodas and Theodoulos, the time of their martyrdom is not mentioned. However, taking into account certain details from the extended Martyrdom that follows the Synaxarion, we conclude that the two martyrs were perfected at the beginning of the Diocletian persecution, under Caesar Maximian (286–305) and the governor Faustinus.

In their Martyrology, special emphasis is placed on the courage, boldness, and steadfastness of the two martyrs in the true faith, which aroused the admiration of all those present.

Both martyrs were from Thessaloniki. Theodoulos, young in age, was a Reader and came from a distinguished family. His brothers — Kapiton, Metrodoros, and Philostorgos — were very devout young men, and during the difficult hours that Theodoulos endured after his arrest, they stood by him, strengthening and encouraging him. It is also noted in his Synaxarion that shortly before the persecution against the Christians broke out, Theodoulos, while asleep, received as a gift a unique ring, a symbol of God the giver. After this event, Theodoulos acquired healing abilities and performed cures.

The Life of Saint Porphyrios, Bishop of Gaza

Saint Porphyrios, Bishop of Gaza

By Aristeidis G. Theodoropoulos, Educator

The “initiate of the Lord and filled with divine zeal,” the God-appointed, compassion-loving and wonderworking Hierarch of Gaza.

Among the God-bearing hierarchs who shone in a manner worthy of God during the 4th–5th centuries A.D., a prominent place is held by the loving and wonderworking shepherd of the people of Gaza, Saint Porphyrios, commemorated by our Orthodox Church on February 26.

This venerable and illustrious native of Thessaloniki is hymned, among other titles, as “an imitator and equal of the Apostles,” as one “who practiced virtue with longing and despised gold for Christ’s sake,” and as “the bulwark of the orthodox dogmas and the downfall of idol-worshippers.”

This most wise hierarch of Christ distinguished himself through simplicity, humility, meekness, freedom from resentment, chastity, compassion, tenderness of heart, and generosity in almsgiving, as well as through his ability to interpret difficult passages of Holy Scripture.

Saint Anysia of Thessaloniki Resource Page

St. Anysia of Thessaloniki (Feast Day - December 30)

 

Verses

 

Mortally stabbed on the right side,

The side Adam conceived Anysia.

On the thirtieth the side of Anysia was stabbed with a sword. 

 

Synaxarion of Saint Anysia of Thessaloniki 

 

Saint Anysia the Virgin-Martyr of Thessaloniki

 

December: Day 30: Teaching 1: Holy Martyr Anysia

 

December: Day 30: Teaching 2: Holy Martyr Anysia 

 

Saint Anysia of Thessaloniki in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church 

 

The Discovery of the Relics of Saint Anysia of Thessaloniki in 1980

 

 

The Holy Well of Saint Demetrios, Which Served as His First Tomb After His Martyrdom

 

 

When Saint Demetrios was martyred by being pierced with Roman spears in the dungeon of Thessaloniki, his friends and disciples quickly took his body and by necessity threw it down a nearby well of water which was then used to supply water for a Roman bath, since there was a danger that the pagans would have taken the pierced body and either destroyed it or made it disappear. By doing this, the well became the first tomb to contain the body of the Saint.

Today, to the left of the Sanctuary in the Church of Saint Demetrios in Thessaloniki, this well still exists, having been preserved for centuries. Later, a marble ciborium was suitably shaped to cover it and keep it as a shrine.

Testimonies Regarding the Miraculous Discovery of the Sacred Relics of the Holy New Martyr Akylina

Narrative of a Dream of a Pious Woman About the 

Burial Place of the Holy New Martyr Akylina

Ten days after the discovery of the sacred relics of the Holy Great Martyr and Prize-Bearing Kyranna, the following miraculous event happened to me. Saint Kyranna appeared to me in a dream and spoke to me about her friend, Angelina as she called her, and that they are and coexist together.

After a few days I informed His Eminence Metropolitan John of Langada, Liti and Rentini of the dream that Saint Kyranna found me worthy me to see.

During this time, a girl appeared in my dream who told me she was Angelina and urged me to read the Supplicatory Canon of Saint Parthenios, Bishop of Lampsakis, because Nikodemos of Ierissos is being operated on, due to an illness he himself did not know about, stressing at the same time not to look elsewhere to find her, since we know where she is.

Saint Angelina who appeared to me in my dream was young in age, a tall girl with blond hair, of exceptional beauty and she was standing at the outer door that leads to the interior of the Sacred Bema of the Sacred Temple of the All-Great Taxiarches of Ossa. She was telling me how I should measure seven steps from the door near the Sanctuary of the Temple and she pointed out to me a spot where I would stand, exactly opposite, looking at the wall of the Temple and on which there was a sign of the Cross. And the Saint continued saying that there we will find her Bones and continued saying: "Wound to the bones, bitter red water."