January 2 — Orthodox Calendar — Meals for the Soul

Forefeast of Theophany

Polyeleos. Kept with the Polyeleos at Matins.

Commemorated today

Repose of St Seraphim of SarovRepose life on this site
The life we have written
Venerable Seraphim of Sarov
A merchant’s son became a hermit, a wounded forgiver, and one of Russia’s most beloved spiritual fathers, teaching that the Christian life is fulfilled not in religious display but in communion with the Holy Spirit.
Era
1754–1833
Region
Kursk and Sarov, Russia
Category
Monk, hermit, spiritual elder, and wonderworker
Feast
January 2; also July 19, the uncovering of his relics
Read the whole life →
St Sylvester, Pope of Rome (335)Hierarch · d. 335
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 Rome. The year given is 335.
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.
Venerable Juliana of Lazarevskoye (1604)Monastic · d. 1604
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 Lazarevskoye. The year given is 1604.
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.
Holy New Martyr George the Georgian (1770)New Martyr — killed under Ottoman or modern persecution · d. 1770
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 year given is 1770.
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.
Cosmas, Archbishop of ConstantinopleHierarch
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 Constantinople. 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.
Theagenes the Hieromartyr, Bishop of PariosHieromartyr — a bishop or priest killed for the faith
What is known
A hieromartyr was a bishop, priest or deacon killed for the faith. The clergy were often taken first in a persecution, because removing them scattered the community that depended on them.
The title places them at Parios. 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.
Theodota, the Mother of the Holy Anargyroi
What is known
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.
Righteous Mark the DeafRighteous
What is known
The righteous are lay men and women commemorated for holiness in ordinary life rather than for martyrdom or monastic vows.
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.
Basil the Martyr of AnkyraMartyr
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 Ankyra. 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.
Theopistos 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.
Nilos the Sanctified
What is known
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.
Sylvester of the Kiev Caves
What is known
The title places them at Kiev Caves.
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 January 2 by the civil calendar. On the Julian calendar this same commemoration is kept on January 15 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.