St. Mary of Egypt Orthodox Church in America

09/14/2026

The pagan Roman Emperors tried to obliterate the holy places where our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and rose from the dead, so that they would be forgotten. Emperor Hadrian (117-138) ordered that Golgotha and the Lord's Sepulchre be buried, and that a temple in honor of the pagan "goddess" Venus and a statue of Jupiter be placed there.

Pagans gathered at this place and offered sacrifice to idols. Eventually after 300 years, by Divine Providence, the Christian holy places, the Sepulchre of the Lord, and the Life-giving Cross, were discovered and opened for veneration. This took place under Emperor Constantine the Great (306-337) after his victory over Maxentius (in 312), who ruled the Western part of the Roman Empire, and over Licinius, the ruler of its Eastern part. In the year 323 Constantine became the sole ruler of the vast Roman Empire.

In 313 Saint Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, by which Christianity was legalized and persecutions against Christians in the Western half of the Empire were stopped. Although Licinius had signed the Edict of Milan in order to oblige Constantine, he continued his cruel persecutions against Christians. Only after his conclusive defeat did the Edict of Milan extend also to the Eastern part of the Empire. The Holy Equal of the Apostles Emperor Constantine, triumphing over his enemies in three wars, with God’s assistance, had seen the Sign of the Cross in the heavens. Written beneath were the words: “By this you shall conquer.”

Ardently desiring to find the Cross upon which our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, Saint Constantine sent his mother, the pious Empress Helen (May 21), to Jerusalem, providing her with a letter to Saint Makarios, the Patriarch of Jerusalem. Saint Helen journeyed to the holy places connected with the earthly life of the Savior, building more than 80 churches, at Bethlehem the birthplace of Christ, and on the Mount of Olives where the Lord ascended to Heaven, and at Gethsemane where the Savior prayed before His sufferings, and where the Mother of God was buried after her Dormition.

Although the holy Empress Helen was no longer young, she set about completing the task with enthusiasm. In her search for the Life-giving Cross, she questioned both Christians and Jews, but for a long time her search remained unsuccessful. Finally, she was directed to a certain elderly Jew named Jude who stated that the Cross was buried beneath the temple of Venus. They demolished the pagan temple and, after praying, they began to excavate the ground. Soon the Lord's Tomb was uncovered. Not far from it were three crosses, and a board with the inscription ordered by Pilate, and four nails which had pierced the Lord’s Body (March 6).

In order to discover on which of the three crosses the Savior had been crucified, Patriarch Makarios alternately touched the crosses to a co**se. When the Cross of the Lord touched the dead man, he was restored to life. After witnessing the raising of the dead man, everyone was convinced that the Life-giving Cross had been found.

Christians came in a huge crowds to venerate the Holy Cross, beseeching Saint Makarios to lift the Cross, so that those far off could see it. Then the Patriarch and other spiritual leaders lifted the Holy Cross, and the people prostrated themselves before the Honorable Wood, saying “Lord have mercy." This solemn event occurred in the year 326.

During the discovery of the Life-giving Cross another miracle took place: a woman who was close to death was healed by the shadow of the Holy Cross. The elderly Jude (October 28) and other Jews believed in Christ and were baptized. Jude was given the name Kyriakos, and later he was consecrated as the Bishop of Jerusalem. He suffered a martyr’s death for Christ during the reign of Emperor Julian the Apostate (361-363).

Saint Helen took part of the Life-giving Wood and nails with her to Constantinople. Saint Constantine ordered a majestic and spacious church to built at Jerusalem in honor of the Resurrection of Christ, also including under its roof the Life-giving Tomb of the Lord and Golgotha. The church was built in ten years. Saint Helen did not survive until the dedication of the church, she reposed in the year 327. The church was consecrated on September 13, 335. On the following day, September 14, the festal celebration of the Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-giving Cross was established.

Another event connected to the Cross of the Lord is remembered also on this day: its return to Jerusalem from Persia after a fourteen year captivity. During the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Phokas (602-610) the Persian king Khozróēs II attacked Constantinople defeated the Greek army, plundered Jerusalem, capturing both the Life-giving Cross of the Lord and the Holy Patriarch Zachariah (609-633).

The Cross remained in Persia for fourteen years, and only under Emperor Herakleios (610-641), who defeated Khozróēs and concluded peace with his successor and son Syroes, was the Lord's Cross returned to the Christians.

With great solemnity the Life-giving Cross was transferred to Jerusalem. Emperor Herakleios, wearing a crown and his royal purple garments carried the Cross of Christ. The Emperor was accompanied by Patriarch Zachariah. At the gates by which they ascended Golgotha, the Emperor stopped suddenly and was unable to proceed. The holy Patriarch explained to the Emperor that an Angel of the Lord was blocking his way. Herakleios was told to remove his royal trappings and to walk barefoot, since He Who bore the Cross for the salvation of the world had made His way to Golgotha in all humility. Then Herakleios donned plain clothes, and without further hindrance, carried the Cross of Christ into the church.

In a sermon on the Exaltation of the Cross, Saint Andrew of Crete (July 4) says: “The Cross is exalted, and everything true is gathered together, the Cross is exalted, and the city makes solemn, and the people celebrate the feast."

Troparion — Tone 1

O Lord, save Your people, / and bless Your inheritance. / Grant victories to the Orthodox Christians / over their adversaries. / And by virtue of Your Cross, / preserve Your habitation.

Kontakion — Tone 4

As You were voluntarily raised upon the cross for our sake, / grant mercy to those who are called by Your Name, O Christ God; / make all Orthodox Christians glad by Your power, / granting them victories over their adversaries, / by bestowing on them the Invincible trophy, Your weapon of Peace.

Saints commemorated today: https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2026/09/14

Read sermon: https://www.oca.org/fs/sermons/the-cross-the-preserver-of-the-universe

Music downloads: https://www.oca.org/liturgics/music-downloads/elevation-of-the-lifegiving-cross

09/14/2026

Blessed Feastday of the Exaltation of the Holy and Life Giving Cross

09/11/2026

Many Orthodox homes have this icon in their kitchen. St Euphrosynos pray to God for us.

Our Holy Father Euphrosynos (Euphrósynos) the Cook was born into a peasant family, and had no schooling, but he was truly devout and faithful.

As an adult, he became a cook, and was able to save money out of his expenses by depriving himself, but only for the sake of almsgiving. His position as a cook permitted him to eat the best food first, but he never took advantage of this privilege. He ate his greens and olives gratefully, while the most appetizing meats and most tantalizing fish were cooking before him.

Later Euphrosynos went to a monastery, where his obedience was to work in the kitchen as a cook. In contrast to the meals that he used to prepare in secular hotels, he made very plain food in the monastery. To those who complained and mocked him, Euphrosynos meekly replied: "Good cooking is not useful for attaining the Kingdom of Heaven. The more the body craves pleasure, the more the soul will lose that which it truly needs. It is not my intention to punish you."

Some of the monks scorned him because of his coarse rustic background, but he endured their contempt in silence and was not disturbed by it. Saint Euphrosynos strove to please the Lord by his virtuous life, which he concealed from others, but the Lord Himself revealed to the monastic brethren just what spiritual heights their cook had attained.

In the same monastery there was a devout priest who prayed that he might know what good things are prepared for those who love God. One night, as he was sleeping, he found himself in a beautiful garden, where, to his astonishment, he beheld the most wondrous things. Then he saw Father Euphrosynos, the monastery cook standing in the garden and partaking of the good things of that place. As he approached the cook, he asked to whom the garden belonged, and how he came to be there.

Saint Euphrosynos replied, "This garden is reserved for God's elect, and by His great goodness, I also dwell here."

Then the priest asked him what he did in the garden. The Saint told him, "I have authority over all the things you see here. I rejoice and am filled with gladness and the spiritual enjoyment of them."

The priest questioned him again, "Can you give me something of these good things?"

"Certainly," he replied, "by God's grace, take whatever you wish."

Pointing to some apples, he inquired if he might have some of them. Taking a few of the apples, Saint Euphrosynos placed them in the priest's outer garment saying, "Receive that which you requested, and may you delight in them."

At that moment the semantron was heard, summoning the Fathers to the Midnight Service. When the priest awakened, he thought that his vision was just a dream. But when he reached for his outer garment, he found the apples which the cook had given him, and he could still smell their wonderful fragrance.

He got out of bed and then hurried to church. There he saw Euphrosynos and asked him where he had been that night. The Saint said, "Forgive me, Father, I have not been anywhere tonight. I have just come to church or the Service."

The priest urged him to tell the truth, so that God's glory might be made manifest. The humble Euphrosynos told him, "I was in the place where the good things are, which those who love God shall inherit, and which for many years you wished to behold. There you saw me enjoying the blessings of that garden; for God had deigned to reveal to you the blessings of the Just. He has performed this miracle through me, the lowly one."

"Father Euphrosynos, what did you give me from that garden?"

He replied, "The delightful and most fragrant apples which you just put on your bed. Forgive me, Father, for I am a worm and not a man."

When the service of Matins was over, the priest told the brethren about his vision and showed them the apples. They noticed the ineffable fragrance with spiritual joy, marveling at what the priest had told them. Rushing into the kitchen, they found that Saint Euphrosynos had already left the monastery, fleeing from the glory of men, and he could not be found.

The brethren shared the apples among themselves and, as a blessing, gave pieces to those who visited the monastery, especially for those in need of healing, for those who ate the apples were cured of their ailments. Many received benefit from the gift of Saint Euphrosynos. An account of this vision was written, not only on paper, but also in their hearts.

Finally, Saint Euphrosynos reposed in a remote Hēsykhastḗrion. The Church, knowing that a king or a philosopher is not more worthy to enter the Kingdom of Heaven than a cook, has numbered Euphrosynos the Cook among her Saints, for he knew God's will and lived according to it..

A fragment of the Saint's relics is located in the Monastery of Loukous in the Holy Metropolis of Mantineia and Kynouria in Greece.

Troparion — Tone 4

You lived righteously in great humility, / in labors of asceticism and in guilessness of soul, / O righteous Euphrósynos. / In a mystical vision, you demonstrated most wondrously the heavenly joy which you had found. / Make us worthy to be partakers of it as well, by your intercessions.

Troparion — Tone 5
(Podoben: “O coeternal Word...”)

With a humble heart O Father Euphrósynos, / you offered your service as a cook‭, ‬ / and you were truly filled with the Holy Spirit‭, ‬ / therefore the glory of God became known to us through a venerable priest‭; / ‬make us partakers of it as well, O God-bearer‭, ‬by your intercessions‭.‬

Kontakion — Tone 4
(Podoben: “You appeared today...”)

You shared in heavenly gladness because of your angelic life‭, / and you appeared as one equal in honor to the Angels, / with them, O Euphrósynos, intercede ‬for those who honor you‭.

More saints commemorated today: https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2026/09/11

Music downloads: https://www.oca.org/liturgics/music-downloads/september

09/08/2026

Wishing all a most blessed Feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos on this the first Great Feast of the new Liturgical Year.

09/08/2026

Blessed feastday!

The Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary: The Most Holy Virgin Mary was born at a time when people had reached such a degree of moral decay that it seemed altogether impossible to restore them. People often said that God must come into the world to restore faith and not permit the ruin of mankind.

The Son of God chose to take on human nature for the salvation of mankind, and chose as His Mother the All-Pure Virgin Mary, who alone was worthy to give birth to the Source of purity and holiness.

The Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary is celebrated by the Church as a day of universal joy. Within the context of the Old and the New Testaments, the Most Blessed Virgin Mary was born on this radiant day, having been chosen before the ages by Divine Providence to bring about the Mystery of the Incarnation of the Word of God. She is revealed as the Mother of the Savior of the World, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Most Holy Virgin Mary was born in the small city of Galilee, Nazareth. Her parents were Righteous Joachim of the tribe of the Prophet-King David, and Anna from the tribe of the First Priest Aaron. The couple was without child, since Saint Anna was barren.

Having reached old age, Joachim and Anna did not lose hope in God’s mercy. They had strong faith that for God everything is possible, and that He would be able to overcome the barrenness of Anna even in her old age, as He had once overcame the barrenness of Sarah, spouse of the Patriarch Abraham. Saints Joachim and Anna vowed to dedicate the child which the Lord might give them, to the service of God in the Temple.

Childlessness was considered among the Hebrew nation as a Divine punishment for sin, and therefore the righteous Saints Joachim and Anna had to endure abuse from their own countrymen. On one of the feastdays at the Temple in Jerusalem the elderly Joachim brought his sacrifice to offer to God, but the High Priest would not accept it, considering him to be unworthy since he was childless.

Saint Joachim in deep grief went into the wilderness, and there he prayed with tears to the Lord for a child. Saint Anna wept bitterly when she learned what had happened at the Jerusalem Temple. Never once did she complain against the Lord, but rather she prayed to ask God’s mercy on her family.

The Lord fulfilled her petitions when the pious couple had attained to extreme old age and prepared themselves by virtuous life for a sublime calling: to be the parents of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, the future Mother of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Archangel Gabriel brought Joachim and Anna the joyous message that their prayers were heard by God, and of them would be born a most blessed daughter Mary, through Whom would come the Salvation of all the World.

The Most Holy Virgin Mary surpassed in purity and virtue not only all mankind, but also the angels. She was manifest as the living Temple of God, so the Church sings in its festal hymns: “the East Gate... bringing Christ into the world for the salvation of our souls” (2nd Stikhera on “Lord, I Have Cried”, Tone 6).

The Nativity of the Theotokos marks the change of the times when the great and comforting promises of God for the salvation of the human race from slavery to the devil are about to be fulfilled. This event has brought to earth the grace of the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom of Truth, piety, virtue and everlasting life. The Theotokos is revealed to all of us by grace as a merciful Intercessor and Mother, to Whom we have recourse with filial devotion.

Troparion — Tone 4

Your Nativity, O Virgin, / has proclaimed joy to the whole universe! / The Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God, / has shone from You, O Theotokos! / By annulling the curse, / He bestowed a blessing. / By destroying death, He has granted us eternal Life.

Kontakion — Tone 4

By Your Nativity, O Most Pure Virgin, / Joachim and Anna are freed from barrenness; / Adam and Eve, from the corruption of death. / And we, your people, freed from the guilt of sin, celebrate and sing to you: / The barren woman gives birth to the Theotokos, the nourisher of our life!

Saints commemorated today: https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2026/09/08

Music downloads: https://www.oca.org/liturgics/music-downloads/nativity-of-the-theotokos

Read sermon: https://www.oca.org/fs/sermons/sermon-on-the-nativity-of-the-theotokos

09/01/2026

The first day of the Church New Year is also called the beginning of the Indiction. The term Indiction comes from a Latin word meaning, “to impose.” It was originally applied to the imposition of taxes in Egypt. The first worldwide Indiction was in 312 when the Emperor Constantine (May 21) saw a miraculous vision of the Cross in the sky. Before the introduction of the Julian calendar, Rome began the New Year on September 1.

According to Holy Tradition, Christ entered the synagogue on September 1 to announce His mission to mankind (Luke 4:16-22). Quoting Isaiah 61:1-2, the Savior proclaimed, “The spirit of the Lord is upon Me; because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to proclaim release to captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord...” This scene is depicted in a Vatican manuscript (Vatican, Biblioteca. Cod. Gr. 1613, p.1).

Tradition says that the Hebrews entered the Promised Land in September.

Troparion — Tone 2

O Creator of the universe, / Thou didst appoint times by Thy power; / bless the crown of this year with Thy goodness, O Lord. / Preserve in safety Thy rulers and cities: / and through the intercessions of the Theotokos, save us!

Kontakion — Tone 4

O Creator and Master of time and the ages, / Triune and Merciful God of all: / grant blessings for the course of this year, / and in Thy boundless mercy save those who worship Thee and cry out in fear: / “O Savior, grant blessings to all mankind!”

More saints commemorated today: https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2026/09/01

Music downloads: https://www.oca.org/liturgics/music-downloads/september

08/31/2026

To the Clergy, Monastics, and Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America, My Beloved Children in the Lord, Joyous…

08/29/2026

The Beheading of the Prophet, Forerunner of the Lord, John the Baptist: The Evangelists Matthew (Mt.14:1-12) and Mark (Mark 6:14-29) provide accounts about the martyric end of John the Baptist in the year 32 after the Birth of Christ.

Following the Baptism of the Lord, Saint John the Baptist was locked up in prison by Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch (ruler of one fourth of the Holy Land) and governor of Galilee. (After the death of king Herod the Great, the Romans divided the territory of Palestine into four parts, and put a governor in charge of each part. Herod Antipas received Galilee from the emperor Augustus).

The prophet of God John openly denounced Herod for having left his lawful wife, the daughter of the Arabian king Aretas, and then instead cohabiting with Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip (Luke 3:19-20). On his birthday, Herod made a feast for dignitaries, the elders and a thousand chief citizens. Salome, the daughter of Herod, danced before the guests and charmed Herod. In gratitude to the girl, he swore to give her whatever she would ask, up to half his kingdom.

The vile girl on the advice of her wicked mother Herodias asked that she be given the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Herod became apprehensive, for he feared the wrath of God for the murder of a prophet, whom earlier he had heeded. He also feared the people, who loved the holy Forerunner. But because of the guests and his careless oath, he gave orders to cut off the head of Saint John and to give it to Salome.

According to Tradition, the mouth of the dead preacher of repentance once more opened and proclaimed: “Herod, you should not have the wife of your brother Philip.” Salome took the platter with the head of Saint John and gave it to her mother. The frenzied Herodias repeatedly stabbed the tongue of the prophet with a needle and buried his holy head in a unclean place. But the pious Joanna, wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, buried the head of John the Baptist in an earthen vessel on the Mount of Olives, where Herod had a parcel of land. (The Uncovering of the Venerable Head is celebrated February 24). The holy body of John the Baptist was taken that night by his disciples and buried at Sebastia, there where the wicked deed had been done.

After the murder of Saint John the Baptist, Herod continued to govern for a certain time. Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea, later sent Jesus Christ to him, Whom he mocked (Luke 23:7-12).

The judgment of God came upon Herod, Herodias and Salome, even during their earthly life. Salome, crossing the River Sikoris in winter, fell through the ice. The ice gave way in such a way that her body was in the water, but her head was trapped above the ice. It was similar to how she once had danced with her feet upon the ground, but now she flailed helplessly in the icy water. Thus she was trapped until that time when the sharp ice cut through her neck.

Her co**se was not found, but they brought the head to Herod and Herodias, as once they had brought them the head of Saint John the Baptist. The Arab king Aretas, in revenge for the disrespect shown his daughter, made war against Herod. The defeated Herod suffered the wrath of the Roman emperor Caius Caligua (37-41) and was exiled with Herodias first to Gaul, and then to Spain.

The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, a Feast day established by the Church, is also a strict fast day because of the grief of Christians at the violent death of the saint. In some Orthodox cultures pious people will not eat food from a flat plate, use a knife, or eat food that is round in shape on this day.

Today the Church makes remembrance of Orthodox soldiers killed on the field of battle, as established in 1769 at the time of Russia’s war with the Turks and the Poles.

Troparion — Tone 2

The memory of the righteous is celebrated with hymns of praise, / but the Lord’s testimony is sufficient for you, O Forerunner. / You were shown in truth to be the most honorable of the prophets, / for you were deemed worthy to baptize in the streams of the Jordan Him whom they foretold. / Therefore, having suffered for the truth with joy, / you proclaimed to those in hell God who appeared in the flesh, / who takes away the sin of the world, / and grants us great mercy.

Kontakion — Tone 5

The glorious beheading of the Forerunner, / became an act of divine dispensation, / for he preached to those in hell the coming of the Savior. / Let Herodias lament, for she entreated lawless murder, / loving not the law of God, nor eternal life, / but that which is false and temporal.

More saints commemorated today: https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2026/08/29

Music downloads: https://www.oca.org/liturgics/music-downloads/august

08/15/2026

Blessed Feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos

08/12/2026

The hymn was familiar. Its chorus, deeply sentimental, ran: “Come home, come home, ye who are weary come home!” I was seven years old and “walked the aisle,” making a “profession of faith” in Christ in response to the hymn. I have no memory of the sermon at all. I have no memory of the [...