Wednesday June 3, 2026 / May 21, 2026
Afterfeast of Pentecost. Tone seven.
Fast-free Week. Fast-free
The Meeting of the "Vladimir" Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos (was established to commemorate the deliverance of Moscow from an invasion of Tatars led by Khan Makhmet-Girei in 1521).Holy Equals-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine (337) and Helen, his mother (327).
St. Constantine (1205) and his children Sts. Michael and Theodore, wonderworkers of Murom.
Uncovering of the relics of Blessed Andrew of Symbiksk (1998).
Venerable Cassian the Greek, monk, of Uglich (1504).Synaxis of Hieromartyrs of Kerel.Synaxis of Hieromartyrs of Simbir.Synaxis of Hieromartyrs of Ufa.Honour list of Icon of the Mother of God "Virgin of Tenderness" from Pskov-Pechersk (1524), Zaonikievsky (1588), Krasnogorsk, or Chernogorsk (1603), Oransk (1634).Venerable Agapitus, abbot of Markushev (Vologda) (1578).St. Basil, bishop of Ryazan (1295).St. Hospicius of Trier (Gaul).New Martyr Pachomius of Patmos (Mt. Athos) (1730) (Greek).Hieromartyr Secundus and those with him in Alexandria (356).St. Cyril, bishop of Rostov (1262).St. Helen of Dechani, Serbia (1350).The Scripture Readings
Luke 1:39-49, 56 Matins GospelRomans 1:18-27
Matthew 5:20-26
Philippians 2:5-11 Epistle, Theotokos
Luke 10:38-42; 11:27-28 Gospel, Theotokos
Acts 26:1-5, 12-20 Equals-to-the-Apostles
John 10:1-9 Equals-to-the-Apostles
Full Liturgical Calendar | Monastery Service Schedule
Prologue of Ohrid — Daily Reading
May 21 according to the Church Calendar
1. SAINT CONSTANTINE AND EMPRESS HELENA
Constantine\'s parents were Emperor Constantius Chlorus and the Empress Helena. Chlorus had other children by another wife, but from Helena he had only Constantine. After his coronation Constantine fought three great battles: one, against Maxentius, a Roman tyrant; the second, against the Scythians on the Danube and the third, against the Byzantines. Before the battle with Maxentius, while Constantine was greatly concerned and in doubt about his success, a brilliant Cross appeared to him in the sky during the day, completely adorned with stars and written on the Cross were these words: \"By this Sign Conquer.\" Astonished, the emperor ordered a large cross to be forged similar to the one that appeared to him and that it be carried before the army. By the power of the Cross he achieved a glorious victory over the enemy who was superior in members. Maxentius was drowned in the Tiber river. Immediately after that, Constantine issued the famous Edict of Milan in the year 313 A.D. to halt the persecution of Christians. Defeating the Byzantines, Constantine built a beautiful capital on the Bosphorus which from that time on was called Constantinople. Before that, however, Constantine succumbed to the dreaded disease of leprosy. As a cure, the pagan priests and physicians counseled him to bathe in the blood of slaughtered children. However, he rejected that. Then the Apostles Peter and Paul appeared to him and told him to seek out Bishop Sylvester who will cure him of this dreaded disease. The bishop instructed him in the Christian Faith, baptized him and the disease of leprosy vanished from the emperor\'s body. When a discord began in the Church because of the mutinous heretic Arius, the emperor convened the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, 325. A.D., where the heresy was condemned and Orthodoxy confirmed. St. Helena, the pious mother of the emperor, was very zealous for the Faith of Christ. She visited Jerusalem, discovered the Honorable Cross of the Lord, built the Church of the Resurrection on Golgotha and many other churches throughout the Holy Land. This holy woman presented herself to the Lord in her eightieth year in 327 A.D. Emperor Constantine outlived his mother by ten years. He died in Nicomedia in his sixty-fifth year in 337 A.D. His body was interred in the Church of the Twelve Apostles in Constantinople.
2. THE VENERABLE MARTYR PACHOMIUS
Pachomius was born in Little Russia. The Tartars captured him in his youth and sold him to a Turkish furrier as a slave. He spent twenty-seven years in slavery in the town of Usaki in Asia Minor. He was forced to become a Muslim. He went to Mt. Athos, was tonsured a monk and spent twelve years in the monastery of St. Paul. He decided to suffer for Christ. His spiritual father, the Elder Joseph, accompanied him to Usaki where Pachomius presented himself to his former master as a Christian in the monastic habit. The Turks subjected him to tortures, threw him into prison and beheaded him on the Feast Day of the Ascension, May 8, 1730 A.D. Many miracles occurred from his blood and relics. Pachomius was buried on the island of Patmos in the Church of St. John the Theologian. Thus this Little Russian peasant became a martyr and wreath-bearer in the kingdom of Christ.