Commemorated today
- Hieromartyr Polycarp, Bishop of SmyrnaHieromartyr — a bishop or priest killed for the faith life on this site
The life we have written
Hieromartyr Polycarp of Smyrna
A bishop who had heard the apostolic faith from those before him remained gentle in disagreement, steadfast under threat, and faithful when an arena demanded denial.
- Era
- First and second centuries, c. 69–c. 155
- Region
- Smyrna in Asia Minor
- Category
- Apostolic father, hierarch, and martyr
- Feast
- February 23
- Saint Gorgonia (372)d. 372
What is known
The year given is 372.
Beyond this, no life of them survives that could be checked — which is true of most of the saints kept on any given day. The commemoration is the record.
- Our Venerable Father Alexander the Unsleeping (430)Monastic · d. 430
What is known
A monastic — the calendar usually says venerable — lived under vows: a monk, nun, hermit, abbot or abbess. This is the largest single group in the Menaion, and for most of them the monastery is the whole of what is recorded.
The year given is 430.
Beyond this, no life of them survives that could be checked — which is true of most of the saints kept on any given day. The commemoration is the record.
- Proterios, Archbishop of AlexandriaHierarch
What is known
A hierarch is a bishop — including patriarchs, metropolitans and archbishops. The Church commemorates bishops in this rank whether they are remembered chiefly for teaching, for governing, or for holding a see through a difficult century.
The title places them at Alexandria. Kept in the Greek tradition.
Beyond this, no life of them survives that could be checked — which is true of most of the saints kept on any given day. The commemoration is the record.
- Damian the New Martyr of Mount AthosNew Martyr — killed under Ottoman or modern persecution
What is known
A new martyr died in one of the later persecutions rather than the Roman ones — most often under Ottoman rule, or in the twentieth century under Soviet and other modern regimes. The word new distinguishes the era, not the manner.
The title places them at Mount Athos.
Beyond this, no life of them survives that could be checked — which is true of most of the saints kept on any given day. The commemoration is the record.
- Boswell, Abbot of Melrose AbbeyMonastic
What is known
A monastic — the calendar usually says venerable — lived under vows: a monk, nun, hermit, abbot or abbess. This is the largest single group in the Menaion, and for most of them the monastery is the whole of what is recorded.
The title places them at Melrose Abbey. Kept in the Greek tradition.
Beyond this, no life of them survives that could be checked — which is true of most of the saints kept on any given day. The commemoration is the record.
About this page. This is the Menaion date — the fixed calendar. Parishes on the New Calendar keep it on February 23 by the civil calendar. On the Julian calendar this same commemoration is kept on March 8 by the civil calendar. The movable cycle, which turns on the date of Pascha and changes every year, is on the calendar page. Where a life has been written on this site the name links to it; where it has not, only what the commemoration itself attests is shown, and nothing is added to it.