The document summarizes the commemoration of various saints during the Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy. It describes how the priest places particles on the diskos to commemorate the honored, incorporeal powers of heaven (angels), the prophet and Baptist John, the holy prophets, the apostles Peter and Paul and other apostles, and holy hierarchs including Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, Athanasius, and others. It provides background on the importance of these figures in Eastern Christian tradition and theology.

1. THE COMMEMORATION
OF THE CHURCH TRIUMPHANT
After honoring the Mother of God, glorious above all angels and
men, the priest commemorates the Church Triumphant by
placing particles for its various categories on the diskos to the left of
the" Lamb" (the priest's right). In all, nine particles are arranged
in three vertical rows of three particles each.
The priest cuts small particles from the third prosphora, saying :
(In honor and memory) ofthe honored, incorporeal powers
of heaven.
He places this particle to the left of the" Lamb" (his right) and thus
begins the first vertical row. 1
This brief commemoration contains the general teaching of the
Eastern Fathers about the incorporeity, immateriality, and spiritual-
ity of the angels. 1
Chrysostom himself strongly opposed any other
opinion. a Theologians may not always have agreed about
incorporeal beings, but the Eastern Christian lived his simple belief
that the angels were servants of God, that they were his protectors,
helpers, and companions, ever guiding his faltering steps toward
God and heaven. He also believed strongly and vividly in the
pervading presence of Satan and his cohorts. To the Byzantine
Christian, the devil was no mere imaginary being, distant and unin-
terested in his fate, but a fiercely, viciously evil creature, ever close"
beguiling, enticing the unwary into wicked habits and eternal hell-
" a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (I Pet. 5:8). Because
1 The Russian Liturgy does not have this commemoration of the angels, but
begins immediately with that of St. John the Baptist : " Of the most honorable-
and glorious prophet, the Forerunner and Baptist John."
•Basil, Hom. Quod Deus non sit auctor mali, 9 (PG 31, 349); Didymus, De
Spirit. Sancro, 1, 5, 6 (PG 39, 1037); Eusebius Caesar., Dem. euang., 4, 1 (PG 22"'
252), etc.
•Chrysostom, In GetUIS. hom., 22, 2 (edit. Montfaucon 4, 196 AC).

2. the Byzantine Christian keenly appreciated the danger the evil one
could be to his soul, his devotion to good angels was fervent and
genuine. The iconography of Byzantium no less than its liturgy
bears ample witness to this.
The angelic hosts were present at Bethlehem. One of them
announced the Good News that the Saviour was born and" suddenly
there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising
God, and saying : Glory to God in the highest : and on earth peace
to men of good will" (Luke 2:13-14). Here, in the symbolical
Bethlehem of the proskomidia, the angelic hosts are represented by
a particle in their honor.
The priest then honors the prophets, saying:
(In honor and in memory) of the honorable and glorious
prophet, the Forerunner and Baptist, john, and all the holy
prophets.'
The prophetical Jewish heritage has been well preserved in the
Byzantine liturgy. Readings from the prophets dominate in the
Vespers and Matins offices of the major feasts. Icons of major
and minor prophets are shown in the fourth tier ofthe Slaviconostas
etc. The Old Testament prophet was an intermediary between God
and the people. He was, in a sense, God's voice to the people,
transmitting to them the messages received from the Almighty. The
prophets, therefore, played an extremely important role in the reli-
gious and social life of the Jew. He was a defender of the moral
law contained in the Ten Commandments-and the thundering
voice that condemned disobedience and idolatry. He promoted true
religion by preaching, teaching, and explaining God and his Law.
This function of the prophet as a teacher is often overshadowed
by his other role as a seer, threatening divine chastisement for
immorality and disobedience. Many prophetical sayings were con-
cerned with the coming ofthe Saviour, the Messiah. For centuries,
these Messianic prophecies kept the people in a state of lively
expectation.
• The Russian text reads : " (In honor and in memory) of the holy and glorious
prophets Moses and Aaron, Elias and Eliseus, David and Jesse, and the three
holy children, and Daniel the prophet and all the holy prophets. "

3. Besides the four major and twelve minor prophets, there were
many others. A few are mentioned by name in Russian texts of the
proskomidia: Moses, Aaron, Elisha, Jesse, and the three holy children.
Aaron, the brother of Moses, for example, although seldom listed
as a prophet, fulfills an essential prophetical function by speaking
to the people and Pharaoh the divine words suggested by Moses,
who, due to a speech defect, was unable to carry out his divine mission
(Exod. 4:16; 7:1 ff.).
John the Baptist is set in a different, higher place in the Byzantine
Church, which honors him with two major feasts, that of his birth
(June 24) and that of his beheading (Aug. 29). He deserved this
pre-eminence because Christ himself had said of him : " Amongst
those that are bom of women, there is not a greater prophet than
John the Baptist" (Luke 7:28). Indeed, he is "morethan a prophet"
(Matt. u:9; Luke, 7:26).
The priest then commemorates the apostles :
(In honor and in memory) of the holy, glorious and ever
praiseworthy apostles Peter and Paul, and all the other holy
apostles.
Cutti-ng out the third particle, he places it on the diskos below the
second particle, and thus completes the first vertical row.
Of all the apostles, Peter and Paul were the greatest. St. Peter
was chosen by Jesus himself as the solid rock upon which to build
his Church, against which the very gates of hell should not prevail.
As Christ's first vicar on earth, he was given highest authority and
the power of binding and loosing, not only on earth but in heaven.
Paul, on the other hand, was Christ's chosen instrument for
propagating his gospel to the nations. As apostle to the world, he
smpassed the others in labors and sufferings, enduring incredible
hardships, tribulations, watches, sorrows, hunger and thirst, cold
and nakedness, beatings with rods and with stones, shipwrecks,
imprisonments, and unending travels. In the Byzantine Liturgy,
their names are inseparably linked as the " two pillars of the Church
and destroyers of error,"" two trumpets proclaiming things divine
and revealing the doctrines of God. " 6
For several·centuries not
• Synaxarion of the Byzantine Canonical Office.

4. only was their feast one of the greatest of the year : it was preceded
by a period offasting similar to the Advent Fast ofthe Latin Rite. 6
" All the other holy apostles. " In this commemoration are
included all the others of the original Twelve called by Christ to
be the leaders of the infant Church : Andrew, James, Bartholomew,
John, Thomas, Matthew, Philip, James the Less, Simon and Jude.
All sealed their indefatigable preaching with martyrdom (St. John
died a natural death, but is considered a martyr for having been
thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil during Domitian's reign).
After Christ, they are the foundation of the Church; that is why it is
called " apostolic. "
The priest jJ'roceeds with the next commenwration lry saying :
(In honor and in memory) ofour fathers among the saints,
the hierarchs Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and
John Chrysostom; Athanasius and Cyril, Nicholas of Myra;
Cyril and Methodius, teachers of the Slavs, the holy priest
and martyr Josaphat, and all the holy hierarchs. 7
The priest places the fourth particle beside the first, and thus begins
the second vertical row.
This commemoration honors the general class ofhierarchs, that is,
the prelate saints (patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, etc.) who
distinguished themselves by their heroic faith.
BASIL THE GREAT, GREGORY THE THEOLOGIAN and JOHN CHR.YSO-
STOM, Bishops of the fourth century and Doctors of the Church,
were the greatest triumvirate of theologians in the Eastern Church.
Their personal admirers occasioned such controversies among the
Christians of Constantinople that it was necessary in A.D. 1076 to
establish a special feast in honor ofall three. This feast is celebrated
on January 30. Each also has his own feast.
GREGORY NAZIANZEN (the Theologian) was an intimate friend
of Basil's. Both studied at Athens and both entered religious life
together. The great St. Jerome boasts that he sat at Gregory's
• This period lasted two to five weeks, depending upon the date of Easter.
• Instead of the last four, the Russian recension has : "Nikita, Bishop of Nov-
gorod, Leonty, Bishop of Rostoff, and all the holy hierarchs. "

5. feet, and calls him his master in the Holy Scriptures. Gregory
Nazianzen was so resolute a champion of the faith, so expert and
exact in.his teachings, that the Eastern Church calls him Gregory
the Theologian.
BASIL THE GREAT, brilliant scholar and defender of the true faith
against the Arian and Macedonian heresies, compiled the Liturgy
that bears his name or, at any rate, revised the contemporary Liturgy
of the Cappadocian Church. Because he authored the well-known
Basilian monastic rule, praised and adapted by St. Benedict, he is
also known as the Patriarch ofEastern Monks.
JoHN CHRYSOSTOM (the "Golden-Mouthed") was one of the
greatest preachers of all time and one of the Church's greatest
scholars. The Church honors him as the " Heavenly Patron of
Ecclesiastical Orators. » Much in his sermons is still effective in
the twentieth century. He is credited with the compilation of the
anaphora which bears his name, the " ordinary» anaphora of the
Byzantine Church today.
These three great men lived amid the jealousies, misunder-
standings, and enmities that .plagued the Church of the fourth
century. None of them lived to see the full effects oftheir labor,
but they were God's chief instruments in eliminating ~m
and other heresies. All three were persecuted by civil officials,
thwarted and deserted by their brother bishops. They had much
in common-most of all, their eminent sanctity.
Another champion of the faith against the Arian heresy which
denied that Christ was true God was ST. ATHANASIUS, the "Father
of Orthodoxy. » While only a deacon, he had been called by his
bishop to go to the Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325), where his great
learning and ability attracted much attention. As Patriarch of
Alexandria for forty-six years, he, more than any other single man,
stemmed the tide of Arianism. Adamant in his defense of the true
faith, he was a meek and humble man, truly beloved by his flock.
He lived in constant danger of death at the hands of his enemies,
who had him banished no less than five times. His feast is celebrated
on May 2.
A name usually linked liturgically with Athanasius is that of

6. CYRIL OF Al.Ex:ANDRIA. 8
As Patriarchs of Alexandria, both suffered
horribly for their defense of the true doctrine. Where Athanasius
was the defender oforthodoxy against Arius, Cyril was the champion
against Nestorius, who denied the unity of the Person in Christ
(and denied therefore that Mary was the Mother of God). Cyril
presided over the Third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus in 431.
His feast is June 9.
In Lycia in the town of Myra lived a contemporary of Athanasius
and Cyril, NICHOLAS. As abbot of a monastery, he led many souls
to God; later, as Archbishop ofMyra, he became a special protector
of the innocent and the wronged. Favored by God with the power
of miracles, he is popularly called the " Wonder-worker" or " Per-
former of Miracles. " Many touching examples of his kindness
and generosity toward the poor have been recorded. His works
are commemorated in the modem Santa Claus, whose name is
a corruption of St. Nicholas. He is the patron of Russia. Many
nations honor him on his feast day, December 6.
STS. CYRIL and M.Ernooms, because of their great Inissionary
activity among the Slavs, are called " equal to the apostles " by the
Canonical Office of the Slav Church. Brothers by blood· and
religion, both became important prelates. Cyril was made Bishop
of Catania and the old Slav Cyrillic alphabet is ascribed to him.
Methodius became Archbishop of Moravia. The former died in
Rome in 867' the latter in Velehrad in 885. These great missionaries
translated many liturgical books from the Greek into Slavonic.
Their feast is celebrated on May n.
]OSAPHAT KUNSEVICH, Archbishop of Polotsk, has the honor of
being the first Oriental to be formally canonized at Rome (1867).
His life was spent in a labor of love, the reconciliation of souls
with the Church. He died for his work by having his skull crushed
with an ax. by the people of Witepsk. This " thief of souls, " as he
is still called, died on November 12, 1623. His feast day is No-
vember 12.
The priest then begins the commemoration of the martyrs :
(In honor and in memory) of the holy apostle, the first
•A feast common to both is celebrated on January 18.

7. martyr and archdeacon, Stephen; the holy and great martyrs
Demetrius, George, Theodore of Tyre, and all the holy
martyred men and women. •
The fifth particle which the priest cuts out is placed below the first
in the second vertical row.
Martyrs alone are commemorated in the Roman Canon both
before and after the consecration (in the Commwn"cantes and Nobis
quoque peccatoribus). There are not as many in the proskomidia.
This does not indicate any imbalance : martyrs were numerous in
both East and West.
Sr. STEPHEN leads the brilliant host. Counted among the
seventy-two disciples of Christ, he was the first to die. Dragged
outside Jerusalem by an angered mob, he was stoned to death for
having dared to preach the doctrine of Christ to the Jews (Acts 6-1).
His feast day is celebrated in the Eastern Church on December 27;
in the Westem Church, on December 26.
Sr. DEMETRIUS is one of the most popular saints, in the Ukraine
and Russia. This third-century martyr of Thessalonica (d. A.D.
306) held the high government office of consul, was imprisoned,
tortured, and finally speared to death because he refused to persecute
Christians. His feast is October 26.
Sr. GEORGE, patron of armies, was a high-ranking Cappadocian
army officer (a tribune). When Diocletian published his first edict
against the Christians at Nicomedia, George not only resigned his
commission but openly rebuked the Emperor for his cruelty.
Diocletian submitted him to dreadful torments and finally had him
beheaded. The Eastern Liturgy calls him " Great among the
Martyrs. " Devotion to St. George as the symbol of successful
combat against evil is one of the most ancient in the Church. His
feast in both East and West is celebrated on April 23. England,
Malta, Barcelona, Valencia, Aragon, and Genoa have chosen him
for their patron.
• The Russian recension continues with listing by name the following women
martyrs : " Thecla, Barbara, Kyriaka, Euphemia and Paraskevia, Catherine, and
all the holy martyred women. "

8. THEODORE, surnamed Tyro, is also a soldier-saint and martyr of
the early fourth century (he is surnamed thus, not because he was
a young recruit, but because for a time he belonged to the Cohors
Tyronum). When asked to choose between apostasy and death,
he told his commander that he was ready to be cut to pieces and
to offer up every limb to God. Given a brief reprieve to think
things over, he used his freedom to set fire to the great temple of
Cybele. He was condemned to be burned alive. As the flames
rose, a fellow Christian is said to have seen his soul go up to heaven
like a Bash of light. This happened at Amasea in the Pontus,
c. A.D. 3o6 when Galerius Maximian and Maximin ruled the empire.
In the East, his feast is celebrated on February 17.
Millions have been martyred in Christ's Church, perhaps millions
in our own century. All are honored in this commemoration.
Then the priest says :
(In honor and in memory) of our venerable and God.-
bearing fathers Anthony, Euthymius, Sabha, Onuphrius,
and all venerable fathers and mothers. 10
After taking out the sixth particle, the priest places it below the second
of this row, and thus completes the row.
The literal meaning of bohonosnyk is God-bearing or filled with
God. The expression refers to spiritual fathers and mothers,
usually superiors ofmonastic communities.
The first name in this commemoration is that of a founder of
cenobitical life, ST. A.NmoNY OF EGYPT. Popularly referred to as
the Patriarch of Monks, St. Anthony was one of the most ascetic
saints in the notably ascetic Eastern Church. Born in Upper Egypt
in the middle ofthe third century, he gave away his vast possessions
and became a desert hermit. His only food was bread and water,
and these he never tasted before sunset, sometimes only once in
two or three days. After he had lived in this way for twenty years,
10 The Russian recension inserts the following list of saints immediately after
Onuphrius : " Athanasius of Athos, Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves, Sergius
of Radonezh, Barlaam of Khutinsk, and all venerable fathers; and the venerable
matrons, Pelagia, Theodosia, Anastasia, Eupraxia, Fevronia, Theodulia, Euphros-
yne, Mary of Egypt, and all th.e holy and venerable matrons. "

9. many people came to him for direction, and thus a monastery was
born-perhaps the first. Anthony's many miracles attracted much
attention. He fled once more into solitude and died peacefully at
a very old age. His feast in both East and West is celebrated on
January 17.
ST. EUTHYMIUS, a fifth century Armenian, was also a hermit
and the founder of monasteries. His feast is celebrated on Janu-
ary 20. Chosen as the Superior of a monastery while yet a young
man, he heard the call to a higher life and retired into the wilderness
about six miles from Jerusalem. Desert caves were the onlywitnesses
of his extreme penitential life during the five years he spent there.
Later, he founded a monastery and became its leader, promoting
a strictly penitential spirit. When he was ninety, his soul separated
from his emaciated, worn-out body and went up to be completely
" filled with God. "
ST. SABBA became the Superior General of all the anchorites of
Palestine some time before the end of his long ascetical life. That
is why he is called the Patriarch of Palestinian Monks. After the
death of his master, Euthymius, he went into the wilderness where
he lived in a cave near the Kedron brook. Eventually, he founded
a new monastery and became a priest at fifty-three. His feast is
December 5, the day on which he died at the age ofninety-four.
Another of the greatest hermits of all time, ST. ONuPHRIUs, lived
alone for sixty years in the desert of Thebais. He died during
the reign of Constantius. Despite his excessive asceticism, he is
very popular in the East. In the Ukraine, for example, many men
bear his venerable name. His feast is on June 12.
The next commemoration is for a category of saints known in
the Byzantine-Slav Rite as bezsrebrennyky. The closest that one
can come to translating bezsrebrennyky would be "unmercenary, ,.
that is, those who worked without money, fees, or pay. More
literally, it means" without silver," but this may give the erroneous
impression that they were paupers, which is not true.
The priest says :
(In honor and in memory) ofthe holy and wonder-working
unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian, Cyrus and John,

10. Panteleimon and Hermolaus, and all the holy unmercen-
aries.
After cutting out this particle, the priest places it on the diskos
beside the first one of the second row. This begins the third vertical
row.
The first named of these miracle-working bezsrebrennyky are
CosMAS and DAMIAN. This inseparable pair were brothers, in fact,
twins according to some sources. Born in Arabia, both studied in
Syria and became well-known physicians. They are called bezsre-
brennyky because they charged no fees for their medical services.
This fact, coupled with their expert skill in medicine, won many
converts for Christianity. When the persecution of Diocletian
broke out, they were among the first to be singled out as Christians
because of their fame and charity. Arrested by order of Lysias,
governor of Cilicia, they were tortured and finally put to death.
Whether they were decapitated or thrown into the sea with their
hands and feet tied is a matter of conjecture, since sources differ.
In the East, their feast is celebrated on July 1; in the West, on
September 27.
Another team of physicians working without pay was that of
CYRUS and JOHN. During the final years ofthe Roman persecutions,
Cyrus was at the height of his fame as a doctor in Alexandria. He
worked in the slums and charged no fees. By so doing, he converted
many pagans, so many in fact that news of him reached Rome.
Escaping arrest, he fled to Arabia and continued to win souls for
Christ through free medical practice. He eventually became a
monk in order to devote himself entirely to charity. A young
Christian soldier from Mesopotamia, John, worked with him. So
famous a doctor could not long go unnoticed : persecution soon
caught up with Cyrus and John. They neither flinched nor weak-
ened under agonizing torture, even when salt and vinegar were
poured into their wounds. They were finally beheaded in A.D. 3u
or 292. Their feast day is January 31.
PANTELEIMON was yet another physician saint. He was so
expert in his profession that he became the personal physician to
Emperor Galerius Maximianus. He was a Christian at the time,

11. but la dolce vi.ta of the imperial court proved too much for him,.
and he apostatized. HERMoLAUS, a zealous priest, won him
back to Christ. Knowing that sooner or later Diocletian's perse-
cution would catch up with him, he prepared for it by giving all
his wealth to the poor. Hermolaus and two other friends were
arrested with him in his own house. All were tortured and con-
demned to be beheaded. Hermolaus and his friends were martyred
first, Panteleimon the following day. That is why St. Panteleimon's
feast is celebrated on July 27, the day after that of St. Hermolaus
and his two companions. St. Panteleimon is the patron saint of
physicians.
The priest proceeds with the next commemoration :
(In honor and in memory) of the holy and just forefathers.
of God, Joachim and Anne. 11
After cutting out the eighth particle, the priest places it on the
diskos below the preceding one.
JOACHIM and ANNE, sometimes called" the forefathers of God,'"
were the grandparents of Christ, since they were the parents
of his Mother Mary. Almost nothing is known about their lives.
Those whom God finds useful for his plans (especially if the work
done through them is important) must remain in obscurity, for it
is he and not they who must be glorified and remembered. The
Eastern Church celebrates their feast on September 9, the day after
the birthday of their sinless daughter.
The ninth and final commemoration of the Church Triumphant is
made with the words :
(In honor and in memory) of Saints N-- and N-- (the
patron of the church and the saint of the day) and all the
saints through whose prayers, 0 God, protect us. 12
11 After St. Joachim and St. Anne, the Russian recension commemorates the·
patron saint of the church, the saint of the day (mentioning both by name); the
holy and equal to the Apostles, Methodius and Cyril, teachers of the Slavs, the holy
and equal to the Apostles, the great prince Vladimir, and all the saints through whose
prayers, 0 God, mSit us.
" In the Russian Liturgy, this commemoration was made in connection with
the preceding particle. At this point, another commemoration is made : (In
honor and memory) ofourfather among the saints John, Archbishop of Constantinople,.
the Golden-mouthed.

12. After cutting out the ninth particle, the priest places it on the diskos
immediately below the preceding one, and thus compktes the third and
final vertical row.
Besides the patron saint of the church and the saint of day, all the
saints of heaven are commemorated in this petition; thus the whole
Church Triumphant is honored. And so ends testimony to the
ancient belief in the communion of saints, a doctrine as old as the
Apostles' Creed itself.