April 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

The Eastern Orthodox cross

Apr. 3 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - Apr. 5

All fixed commemorations below are observed on April 17 by Orthodox Churches on the Old Calendar.^{[note 1]}

For April 4th, Orthodox Churches on the Old Calendar commemorate the Saints listed on March 22.

Saints

• Martyrs Agathopodes, a Deacon, and Theodulus, a Lector, at Thessalonica, under Maximian (ca. 286-305)^{[1][2][note 2]} (see also: April 5 - Slavonic)
• Virgin-martyr Pherbutha (Phermoutha, Ferfouthe) of Persia, with her sister and her servants (343)^[4][5][6]
• Venerable George of Mount Maleon (Malevon) in Laconia, monk, in the Peloponnese (5th-6th centuries)^[4][7][8]
• Venerable Publius the Egyptian.^[2][9] (see also: April 5 - Slavonic)
• Venerable Zosimas of Palestine, Hieromonk (ca. 560)^{[4][10][11][note 3]}
• Venerable Saints Theonas, Symeon, and Fervinus (Phorbinus).^[2][12] (see also: April 5 - Slavonic)
• Venerable Platon the Studite (Plato of Sakkoudion), Abbot of the Studion and Confessor (812)^{[2][13][note 4]} (see also: April 5 - Slavonic)
• Venerable Joseph the Hymnographer, of Sicily (883)^[4][14] (see also: April 3)

Pre-Schism Western Saints

• Saint Guier, a priest and hermit in Cornwall, where a church recalls his name.^[15]
• Saint Gwerir, a hermit near Liskeard in Cornwall, at whose grave King Alfred was healed of a serious illness.^{[15][note 5]}
• Saint Tigernach of Clones (Tigernake, Tierney, Tierry), Abbot of Clones, succeeded St Macartin as Bishop at Clogher in Ireland (549)^{[15][note 6]}
• Saint Isidore of Seville, Bishop of Seville (636)^{[4][15][17][18][note 7]}
• Saint Hildebert, Abbot of St Peter in Ghent in Belgium, martyred by fanatics for defending the veneration of icons (752)^[15]

Post-Schism Orthodox Saints

• Venerable Joseph the Much-ailing, of the Kiev Caves (14th century)^[4][19][20]
• Venerable James, monk of Starotorzhok (Old Torzhok) in Galich, Kostroma (15th-16th centuries)^[4][21]
• Venerable Theonas, Metropolitan of Thessaloniki (1541)^{[4][2][22][23]}
• Venerable Zosimas, founder and abbot of the Annunciation Monastery at Lake Vorbozoma (Vorbosomsk) (1550)^[4][24][25]
• New Hieromartyr Nicetas the Albanian, of Mount Athos and Serres (1808)^{[4][2][26][27]}
• Venerable Elias of Makeevka, Schemamonk, of Makeyevka (Ukraine) (1949)^{[4][28][note 8]}

New Martyrs and Confessors

• New Hieromartyr Benjamin (Kononov), Archimandrite, of Solovki Monastery (1928)^{[4][29][30][note 9]}
• New Hieromartyr Nicephorus (Kuchin), Hieromonk, of Solovki Monastery (1928)^[4][29][30]
• New Hieromartyr Nicholas (Karaulov), Bishop of Velsk (1932)^[4][29]
• New Nun-martyr Maria (Lelyanova) of Gatchina (1932)^[4][29]
• New Hieromartyr John Vechorko, Priest (1933)^[21][29]
• Martyr John Kolesnikov (1943)^[21][29]

Other Commemorations

• Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos "The Life-giving Spring" (450)^[4][28][30] (see also: Bright Friday)
• The Akathist Hymn (Chairetismoi) to the Virgin Mary (626)^[31]
• Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos "Gerontissa" ("Eldress"), at Pantokratoros monastery, Mount Athos.^[30][32][33]
• The Icon of the Mother of God "Deliverer" ("Deliveress") (1841, 1889)^{[30][34][note 10]} (see also: October 17)
• Repose of Elder Savvas of Little St. Anne’s Skete, Mt. Athos (1908)^[4]
• Repose of Archimandrite John (Maitland Moir) of Edinburgh, Scotland (April 17, 2013)^{[4][note 11]}

Icon Gallery

• 

  Venerable Zosimas of Palestine, with St. Mary of Egypt (Greece, 17th century).

• 

  Venerable Joseph the Hymnographer, of Sicily.

• 

  Abbey of St. Peter & Paul, Clones (Clones Abbey).

• 

  New Hieromartyr Benjamin (Kononov), Archimandrite, of Solovki Monastery.

• 

  Russian icon of the Theotokos, Life-giving Spring, 17th century.

• 

  Detail of the icon of the Praises of the Theotokos, before which the Akathist may be chanted.

• 

  Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos "Gerontissa" ("Eldress").

Notes

1. The notation Old Style or (OS) is sometimes used to indicate a date in the Julian Calendar (which is used by churches on the "Old Calendar").
   The notation New Style or (NS), indicates a date in the Revised Julian calendar (which is used by churches on the "New Calendar").
2. "At Thessalonica, in the time of the emperor Maximian and the governor Faustinus, the holy martyrs Agathopodes, a deacon, and Theodulus, a lector, who, for the confession of the Christian faith, were thrown into the sea with stones tied to their necks."^[3]
3. "In Palestine, the anchoret St. Zozimus, who buried the remains of St. Mary of Egypt."^[3]
4. "At Constantinople, St. Plato, a monk, who for many years combated with invincible courage the heretics that were breaking sacred images."^[3]
5. St Gwerir's cell was later occupied by St Neot.
6. "St. Tigernake - Confessor, Bishop of Clogher aud Clones. This Saint was a native of Ireland, who came to Great Britain for his religious education, and is said to have been a disciple of Monennius. On his return to his country he was made Bishop of Clogher, to which he united the district of Clones."^[16]
7. Born in Cartagena in Spain, he was the brother of Sts Leander, Fulgentius and Florentina. He succeeded St Leander as Bishop of Seville in 600. He presided over several Councils, reorganised the Spanish Church, encouraged monastic life, completed the Mozarabic rite, was an encyclopedic writer and was also responsible for the Council of Toledo in 633.
8. The canonization of the Great-Schema Monk Elias (born Ilya Yakovlevich Ganja / Ilya Hanzha) took place in Makeevka, Ukraine on September 22, 2012.
9. See: (Russian) Вениамин (Кононов). Википедии. (Russian Wikipedia).
10. Note, there is another icon of the Theotokos "the Deliverer" ("Eleftherotria"), which is commemorated on October 28 in Greece, at the Shrine of Panagia Eleftherotria ("Our Lady of Deliverance"), Athens.
11. "In 1981 he went to the Holy Mountain where he was received into the Orthodox Church at the Monastery of Simonos Petra. Then he came to Britain where he was ordained Deacon (12/07/81) and Priest (13/07/81) within the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain. His first parish was Coventry. He came to Edinburgh in 1984 where there was a small Orthodox community consisting of Slavs and Greeks which was served by Archpriest John Sotnikov (and occasionally by the Greek priest from Glasgow) and was under the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Fr John Maitland Moir united the Orthodox of the city in one community that of St Andrew the First-Called under the Archdiocese of Thyateira and the Ecumenical Patriarchate."^[35]

References

1. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Οἱ Ἅγιοι Θεόδουλος καὶ Ἀγαθόπους οἱ Μάρτυρες. 4 Απριλίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
2. (Greek) Συναξαριστής. 4 Απριλίου. ECCLESIA.GR. (H ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ).
3. The Roman Martyrology. Transl. by the Archbishop of Baltimore. Last Edition, According to the Copy Printed at Rome in 1914. Revised Edition, with the Imprimatur of His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons. Baltimore: John Murphy Company, 1916. p. 96.
4. April 4 / April 17. Orthodox Calendar (PRAVOSLAVIE.RU).
5. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Ἡ Ἁγία Φερφούθη , ἡ ἀδελφή της καὶ ἡ δούλη αὐτῶν οἱ Μάρτυρες. 4 Απριλίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
6. Virginmartyr Pherbutha (Phermoutha) of Persia, with her sister and servant. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
7. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Ὁ Ὅσιος Γεώργιος ὁ ἐν Μαλεῷ. 4 Απριλίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
8. Venerable George of Mt. Maleon in the Peloponnesus. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
9. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Ὁ Ὅσιος Πόπλιος ὁ Αἰγύπτιος. 4 Απριλίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
10. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Ὁ Ὅσιος Ζωσιμᾶς. 4 Απριλίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
11. Venerable Zosimas of Palestine. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
12. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Οἱ Ὅσιοι Θεωνᾶς, Συμεὼν καὶ Φερβίνος. 4 Απριλίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
13. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Ὁ Ὅσιος Πλάτων. 4 Απριλίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
14. Venerable Joseph the Hymnographer. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
15. April 4. Latin Saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome.
16. Rev. Richard Stanton. A Menology of England and Wales, or, Brief Memorials of the Ancient British and English Saints Arranged According to the Calendar, Together with the Martyrs of the 16th and 17th Centuries. London: Burns & Oates, 1892. p. 144.
17. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Ὁ Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Ἐπίσκοπος Σεβίλλης. 4 Απριλίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
18. St Isidore the Bishop of Seville. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
19. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Ὁ Ὅσιος Ἰωσὴφ ὁ Πολύαθλος. 4 Απριλίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
20. Venerable Joseph the Much-Ailing, of the Kiev Far Caves. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
21. April 17 / April 4. HOLY TRINITY RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (A parish of the Patriarchate of Moscow).
22. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Ὁ Ἅγιος Θεωνᾶς Ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Θεσσαλονίκης. 4 Απριλίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
23. Venerable Theonas the Archbishop of Thessalonica. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
24. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Ὁ Ὅσιος Ζωσιμᾶς ἐκ Ρωσίας. 4 Απριλίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
25. Venerable Zosimas the Abbot of Vorbozomsk. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
26. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Ὁ Ἅγιος Νικήτας ὁ Ἱερομάρτυρας ἐκ Σερρῶν. 4 Απριλίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
27. New Martyr Nicetas of Pojani and Serres. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
28. Dr. Alexander Roman. April. Calendar of Ukrainian Orthodox Saints (Ukrainian Orthodoxy - Українське Православ'я).
29. (Russian) 4 апреля (ст.ст.) 17 апреля 2013 (нов. ст.). Русская Православная Церковь Отдел внешних церковных связей. (DECR).
30. The Autonomous Orthodox Metropolia of Western Europe and the Americas (ROCOR). St. Hilarion Calendar of Saints for the year of our Lord 2004. St. Hilarion Press (Austin, TX). p. 26.
31. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Ἀκάθιστος Ὕμνος. 4 Απριλίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
32. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Σύναξις Ὑπεραγίας Θεοτόκου τῆς Γεροντίσσης. 4 Απριλίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
33. The Icon of the Mother of God, named "Gerontissa". HOLY TRINITY RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (A parish of the Patriarchate of Moscow).
34. The Icon of the Mother of God "Deliveress". HOLY TRINITY RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (A parish of the Patriarchate of Moscow).
35. +Fr John Maitland Moir. Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain. Retrieved on 31 January 2014.

Sources

• April 4 / April 17. Orthodox Calendar (PRAVOSLAVIE.RU).
• April 17 / April 4. HOLY TRINITY RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (A parish of the Patriarchate of Moscow).
• April 4. OCA - The Lives of the Saints.
• Dr. Alexander Roman. April. Calendar of Ukrainian Orthodox Saints (Ukrainian Orthodoxy - Українське Православ'я).
• The Autonomous Orthodox Metropolia of Western Europe and the Americas (ROCOR). St. Hilarion Calendar of Saints for the year of our Lord 2004. St. Hilarion Press (Austin, TX). p. 26.
• April 4. Latin Saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome.
• The Roman Martyrology. Transl. by the Archbishop of Baltimore. Last Edition, According to the Copy Printed at Rome in 1914. Revised Edition, with the Imprimatur of His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons. Baltimore: John Murphy Company, 1916. p. 96.
• Rev. Richard Stanton. A Menology of England and Wales, or, Brief Memorials of the Ancient British and English Saints Arranged According to the Calendar, Together with the Martyrs of the 16th and 17th Centuries. London: Burns & Oates, 1892. p. 144.

Greek Sources

• Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) 4 ΑΠΡΙΛΙΟΥ. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
• (Greek) Συναξαριστής. 4 Απριλίου. ECCLESIA.GR. (H ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ).

Russian Sources

• (Russian) 17 апреля (4 апреля). Православная Энциклопедия под редакцией Патриарха Московского и всея Руси Кирилла (электронная версия). (Orthodox Encyclopedia - Pravenc.ru).
• (Russian) 4 апреля (ст.ст.) 17 апреля 2013 (нов. ст.). Русская Православная Церковь Отдел внешних церковных связей. (DECR).