February 27 — Orthodox Calendar

St Raphael Bishop of Brooklyn

Vigil. Kept with an All-Night Vigil.

Commemorated today

St Raphael, bishop of Brooklyn (1915)Hierarch · d. 1915 life on this site
The life we have written
Holy Raphael, Bishop of Brooklyn
Born to refugees from anti-Christian violence, Raphael crossed languages, jurisdictions, and a continent to gather scattered Arab Orthodox immigrants into communities that could worship faithfully and put down roots in North America.
Era
1860–1915
Region
Syria, Lebanon, Constantinople, Russia, and North America
Category
Missionary bishop, pastor, educator, and church-builder
Feast
February 27
Read the whole life →
Our Holy Father Procopius of Decapolis (9th century)9th century
What is known
The title places them at Decapolis. The year given is the 9th century.
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 Titus of the Lavra of the Kiev Caves (1190)Monastic · d. 1190
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 Lavra. The year given is 1190. Kept in the Slavic 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.
Our Holy Father Leander, Bishop of Seville and Apostle of Spain (600)Apostle · d. 600
What is known
An apostle was sent. The word covers the Twelve, the Seventy whom Christ sent ahead of him, and a few others the New Testament names in the same office.
The title places them at Seville. The year given is 600. Kept in the Slavic 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.
Ephraim of Katounakia
What is known
The title places them at Katounakia. 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.
Stephen the MonkMonastic
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.
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.
Gelasios the Actor and Martyr of HeliopolisMartyr
What is known
A martyr died rather than deny Christ. The word is Greek for witness, and the Church uses it in that sense: the death is testimony, not merely a fate. Most of these deaths fall in the Roman persecutions before 313, though the title is not restricted to them.
The title places them at Heliopolis. 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.
Nesios the MartyrMartyr
What is known
A martyr died rather than deny Christ. The word is Greek for witness, and the Church uses it in that sense: the death is testimony, not merely a fate. Most of these deaths fall in the Roman persecutions before 313, though the title is not restricted to them.
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.

Appointed readings

About this page. This is the Menaion date — the fixed calendar. Parishes on the New Calendar keep it on February 27 by the civil calendar. On the Julian calendar this same commemoration is kept on March 12 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.