THE HOLY AND GREAT MARTYR PANTALEON [PANTELEIMON]
Pantaleon was born in Nicomedia of a Christian mother and a pagan father. His mother was called Eubula and his father Eustorgius. As a young man he studied the science of medicine. The priest, Hermolaus, invited Pantaleon to be with him and taught him the Faith of Christ and baptized him. Pantaleon miraculously cured a blind man whom the other doctors treated in vain; he cured him by the power of Christ and baptized him. Out of envy the doctors accused Pantaleon of being a Christian and he went before the Emperor Maximian to stand trial. “He stood before the earthly king in body but in thought he stood before the heavenly King.” Before the emperor, he freely declared that he was a Christian and, before the eyes of the emperor, he healed a paralytic of a long-standing illness. This miracle drew many pagans to the Faith of Christ. The emperor subjected him to torture but the Lord appeared to him on several occasions and delivered him whole and unharmed. Saint Hermolaus with Hermippas and Thermocrates were then martyred. Sentenced to death, Saint Pantaleon knelt for prayer. At that moment the executioner struck him on the neck with a sword and the sword broke as though it were made of wax. The executioner was unable to execute him until the saint completed his prayer and until Pantaleon told him to behead him. His relics possessed the ability to heal. Pantaleon was executed under an olive tree which, after that, became all adorned with fruit. PANTA LEON means, “all merciful” “all compassionate.” The All-merciful God received his righteous soul and glorified him among His great saints. This wonderful martyr suffered honorably for Christ in his youth, on July 27, 304 A.D. Saint Pantaleon is invoked in prayers at the time of the “Blessing of Waters” and in the blessing of the holy oils used in the “The Sacrament of Holy Unction,” together with Saint Hermolaus and the other unmercenary saints and wonder-workers. A most beautiful church dedicated to this saint is located on Holy Mount Athos.
SAINT CLEMENT, THE ARCHBISHOP OF OHRID
Clement was a disciple of Saints Methodius and Cyril. After the death of St. Methodius, Clement, under pressure by the Germans traveled from Moravia to the south. With Gorazd, Nahum, Sava, and Angelarius – together, they were called “The Numbers Five” – crossed the Danube river where they were guests of Emperor Boris Michael and following that came to the region of Ohrid. They first founded a monastery in Belica [Velitsa] where Clement’s first episcopal see was located. Afterward, he settled in Ohrid and from there he developed his great arch-pastoral and illuminating work for the nearby and distant regions. In Ohrid, St. Clement erected a church to Saint Pantaleon. He had many disciples who copied books in the Slavonic script for the Slavic peoples. Saint Naum especially assisted him in this work. He worked miracles during his life and his relics manifeste a healing power until today. Following great labors and faithful service to God, he reposed peacefully in Ohrid in the year 916 A.D. His wonder-working relics repose in the former church dedicated to the Holy Birth-giver of God (The Theotokos) and later was renamed St. Clement.
BLESSED NICHOLAS, FOOL FOR CHRIST
Nicholas was from Novogrod and the son of wealthy parents. He left his wealth and as a “fool for Christ” ran throughout the streets and through his foolishness for Christ he instructed men. His companion, of the same mortification, was Blessed Theodore. Running one time in the presence of the people they both ran across the river on the surface of the water. Nicholas reposed in the Lord in the year 1392 A.D.
THE VENERABLE FEMALE ANTHUSA
After a long ascetical life of solitude, Anthusa founded a convent of ninety sisters. At the time of the Iconoclastic controversy, under Constantine Copronymos, all ninety nuns were slain and after that, the Venerable Anthusa herself died in the year 759 A.D.
THE ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-THREE MARTYRS DROWNED IN THE SEA IN THRACE