The end of January marks the 5th anniversary of The Byzantine Life! Although the blog didn’t go live until March, January 2018 marked the beginning of The Byzantine Life, when we purchased the domain and began building this site. There are also many great feast days in January, with the 1st marking both the Circumcision …
Post Feast of the Nativity of Christ: Synaxis of the Most Holy Mother of God
In the East we celebrate the Theotokos on the day after Christmas (Roman Catholics celebrate St. Stephen). We celebrate the Theotokos on the second day of the Feast of the Nativity primarily because it is through Mary that the incarnation is possible. The Nativity of Christ is the greatest moment of Mary’s life. It is …
Living the December Byzantine Life
Each month this year I want to prepare and look ahead to see what major feast days are coming up. One thing I appreciate about blogging is that it gives me a reason to look ahead at feast days. And that it makes me take the time to learn about them. However, especially with a …
Apostle Philemon the Holy and Glorious
Apostle Philemon We celebrate Apostle Philemon on November 22nd. He is probably most recognized as a recipient of a letter from Paul, which is included in the cannon of scripture. Philemon was wealthy, and as such at the time, had slaves in his household. In the epistle to Philemon, we hear that one of his …
Matthew the Holy Apostle and Evangelist
Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew We celebrate the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew on November 16th. One thing we know about St. Matthew is that he was a tax collector before following Christ. And, in reading his gospel, we see his attentiveness to numbers never leaves him! His gospel was written specifically for a Jewish …
Apostle Phillip
Phillip the Apostle We know a few things about Phillip the Apostle from scripture and tradition. First of all, Phillip was well versed in the scriptures himself, and able to recognize Christ as the Messiah through this knowledge (and God’s grace). Phillip brought his friend Nathaniel to Christ (in the Gospel of John). In John’s …
Nativity of Mary
Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary On September 8th we celebrate the Nativity of Mary, which is one of the 12 major feast days. It is also the first major feast in our new liturgical year. Tradition is that Joachim (a descendant of King David) and Anna (of the tribe …
Venerable Epiphanius, Bishop of Cyprus
Venerable Epiphanius, Bishop of Cyprus We celebrate the Venerable Saint Epiphanius on May 12th. He was born to a Jewish family, around A.D. 315. Then, after witnessing a monk giving his clothes to the poor, he converted to Christianity. Epiphanius’ conversion brought him to the desert, where he became a disciple of the recluse St. …
The Nativity of Christ
Nativity of Christ: Byzantine Christmas One of the obvious differences in how the East and West celebrate the Nativity is the Calendar day. The Gregorian calendar, which is also the current calendar used by the secular world, places the date of Christmas on December 25th. And the Annunciation on March 25th, and so on. The …
Holy Martyrs Eustratios, Auxentius, Eugenius, Mardarius, and Orestes
We celebrate the five companions, Eustratios, Auxentius, Egenius, Mardarius, and Orestes on December 13th. These five companions, Martyred during the reign of Diocletian, the five companions are alternatively called Eustratius, Auxentius, Eugene, Mardarius, and Orestes. Either way, their names are quite the mouthful! So what do we know about these five companions? Eustratios/Eustratius and Auxentius …