Nativity of the Most-Holy Theotokos
Great Feast. One of the Twelve Great Feasts of the Church year.
Commemorated today
- The Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos
What is known
The first of the Twelve Great Feasts in the Church's year, which begins in September.
This is a feast of the Church rather than the commemoration of a person, so there is no life behind it to tell.
- New Martyr Athanasius of Thessalonika (1774)New Martyr — killed under Ottoman or modern persecution · d. 1774
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 Thessalonika. The year given is 1774.
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 Serapion of Pskov (1481)Monastic · d. 1481
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 Pskov. The year given is 1481.
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.
- Sophronios, Bishop of IberiaHierarch
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 Iberia. 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
- Genesis 28:10–17
- Ezekiel 43:27–44:4 continues in 44
- Proverbs 9:1–11
- Luke 1:39–49, 56
- Philippians 2:5–11
- Luke 10:38–42, 11:27–28
About this page. This is the Menaion date — the fixed calendar. Parishes on the New Calendar keep it on September 8 by the civil calendar. On the Julian calendar this same commemoration is kept on September 21 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.