February 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

The Eastern Orthodox cross

Feb. 7 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - Feb. 9

All fixed commemorations below are observed on February 21 by Orthodox Churches on the Old Calendar.^{[note 1]}

For February 8th, Orthodox Churches on the Old Calendar commemorate the Saints listed on January 26.

Feasts

• Afterfeast of the Meeting of our Lord in the Temple.^[1]

Saints

• Prophet Zechariah, of the Twelve Minor Prophets (520 BC)^[2][3][4][5]
• Virgin-martyrs Martha and Mary, sisters, and the monk Lukarion, martyrs by crucifixion.^{[4][6][note 2]}
• Martyrs Nicephorus and Stephen.^[4][2][7]
• Martyr Pergetos.^[2][8]
• Great martyr Theodore Stratelates "the General" of Heraclea (319)^{[2][4][9][10]}
• Saint Agathangelus, Bishop of Damascus (c. 325)^{[2][2][11][note 3]}
• Venerable ascetics Philadelphus and Polycarp, monastics, reposed in peace.^[4][2][12]

Pre-Schism Western saints

• Saint Juventius of Pavia, Bishop of Pavia (1st century)^{[13][14][note 4]}
• Martyrs Paul, Lucius and Cyriacus, in Rome.^[13][14]
• Martyr Cointha of Alexandria (249)^{[note 5]}
• Saints Jacut and Guethenoc, disciples of St Budoc, they were driven from Britain to Brittany (5th century)^{[14][note 6]}
• Saint Honoratus of Milan, Bishop of Milan and Confessor (570)^{[13][14][note 7]}
• Saint Kewe (Kigwe, Ciwa), a saint venerated in Gwent in Wales.^[14]
• Saint Oncho (Onchuo), a pilgrim, poet, and guardian of holy relics and the Celtic tradition (c. 600)^{[14][note 8]}
• Saint Nicetius of Besançon (Nizier), Bishop of Besançon in France and a friend of St Columbanus of Luxeuil (611)^{[14][note 9]}
• Saint Paulus of Verdun, Bishop of Verdun, renowned for miracles (c. 649)^{[13][14][note 10]}
• Saint Ælfflæd of Whitby (Elfleda), Abbess of Whitby Abbey (714)^{[14][note 11]}
• Saint Cuthmann of Steyning, a confessor who lived a holy life as a shepherd near Steyning in Sussex in England (8th century)^[14][15]
• Saint Mlada (Mileda, Mary), a Benedictine abbess and founder of the first monastery in Bohemia (994)^{[14][note 12]}
• Saint Meingold of Huy, a holy man who lived in Huy on the Meuse and was venerated in Belgium (10th century)^[14]

Post-Schism Orthodox saints

• Saint Sabbas II, Archbishop of Serbia (1271)^{[2][2][16][17]}
• Saints John and Basil, of the Kiev Caves (14th century)^[2][18][19]
• Saint Makarios, Bishop of Paphos on Cyprus (1688)^{[2][4][2][20]}
• Saint Lyubov of Ryazan, Fool-for-Christ (1921)^{[2][2][note 13]}

New martyrs and confessors

• New Hieromartyrs Simeon Kulgavets, Andrew Dobrinin,^[21] Sergius and Peter, Priests (1938)^[2]
• New Hieromartyr Alexander Abissov, Priest (1942)^[2][21]

Other commemorations

• Repose of Schema-Abbot Theodore of Valaam Monastery (1937)^[2]

Icon gallery

• 

  Prophet Zechariah.

• 

  Great martyr Theodore Stratelates "the General" of Heraclea.

• 

  St Paulus of Verdun, distributing rolls from the "Paul Cross" near Verdun.

• 

  St Cuthmann of Steyning.

• 

  St Sabbas II, Abp of Serbia.

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. The prefect ordered that they be put to death by crucifixion. The soldiers nailed the martyrs on crosses. The pagans who were present admired their youthful bravery and valor. Then the prefect ordered his executioners to behead them. Thus the two sisters Martha and Mary and the monk-martyr Lucarios delivered their souls into the hand of the Lord and received from Him crowns of glory.^[6]
3. The Greek Synaxarion states that he lived in the 3rd century.
4. The tradition is that St Hermagoras, Bishop of Aquileia and disciple of the Apostle Mark, sent Sts Syrus and Juventius to preach the Gospel in Pavia in Italy where the latter became the first bishop.
5. "At Alexandria, under the emperor Decius, the martyr St. Cointha, whom the Pagans seized, led to the idols and urged to adore them. As she refused with horror, they put her feet in chains, and dragged her through the streets of the city, mangling her body in a barbarous manner."^[13]
6. See: Saint-Jacut-de-la-Mer.
7. Appointed Bishop of Milan in Italy in 567, at a time when much trouble was caused by Arianism and the Lombard invasion. He was driven out of Milan by barbarians.
8. While searching for memorials of the saints, he reposed at Clonmore monastery in Ireland and his body was enshrined there together with the relics which he had gathered.
9. He restored the episcopal see to Besançon after it had been transferred to Nyon on Lake Geneva after the invasion of the Huns.
10. A courtier who became a hermit on Mt Voge (now Paulberg) near Trier in Germany. Later he became a monk at the monastery of Tholey and then Bishop of Verdun in France.
11. Daughter of Oswy, King of Northumbria in England. She was offered to God as a child at the convent of Hartlepool. She then went to Whitby with St Hilda and succeeded her mother Enfleda as abbess there. She was one of the most influential people of her time.
12. Daughter of Boleslav, Duke of Bohemia. She founded the convent of St George in Prague.
13. See: (Russian) Блаженная Любовь Рязанская. 28 августа 1852 г. - 21 февраля 1921 г.. Рязанской епархии (Official website of the Ryazan Diocese).

References

1. Afterfeast of the Meeting of our Lord in the Temple. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
2. February 8 / 21. Orthodox Calendar (PRAVOSLAVIE.RU).
3. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Ὁ Προφήτης Ζαχαρίας. 8 Φεβρουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
4. (Greek) Συναξαριστής. 8 Φεβρουαρίου. ECCLESIA.GR. (H ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ).
5. Prophet Zachariah. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
6. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Οἱ Ἅγιοι Μάρθα, Μαρία καὶ Λυκαρίων ὁ Ὁσιομάρτυρας. 8 Φεβρουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
7. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Οἱ Ἅγιοι Νικηφόρος καὶ Στέφανος οἱ Μάρτυρες. 8 Φεβρουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
8. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Ὁ Ἅγιος Περγέτος ὁ Μάρτυρας. 8 Φεβρουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
9. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Ὁ Ἅγιος Θεόδωρος ὁ Μεγαλομάρτυρας ὁ Στρατηλάτης. 8 Φεβρουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
10. Greatmartyr Theodore Stratelates “the General”. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
11. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Ὁ Ἅγιος Ἀγαθάγγελος Ἐπίσκοπος Δαμασκοῦ. 8 Φεβρουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
12. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Οἱ Ὅσιοι Φιλάδελφος καὶ Πολύκαρπος. 8 Φεβρουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
13. 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. pp. 41–42.
14. February 8. Latin Saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome.
15. 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. pp. 58–60.
16. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Ὁ Ἅγιος Σάββας Ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Σερβίας. 8 Φεβρουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
17. St Sava II the Archbishop of Serbia. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
18. Dr. Alexander Roman. February. Calendar of Ukrainian Orthodox Saints (Ukrainian Orthodoxy - Українське Православ'я).
19. There is not such commemoration neither in Russian nor in Ukrainian Church Calendars. There was not St John and Basil in XIV at Kiev-Pechersk Lavra!
20. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Ὁ Ὅσιος Μακάριος Ἐπίσκοπος Πάφου. 8 Φεβρουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
21. 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. 13.

Sources

• February 8 / 21. Orthodox Calendar (PRAVOSLAVIE.RU).
• February 21 / 8. Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church (A parish of the Patriarchate of Moscow).
• February 8. OCA - The Lives of the Saints.
• Dr. Alexander Roman. February. 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. 13.
• The Eighth Day of the Month of February. Orthodoxy in China.
• February 8. 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. pp. 41–42.
• 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. pp. 58–60.

Greek Sources

• Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) 8 ΦΕΒΡΟΥΑΡΙΟΥ. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
• (Greek) Συναξαριστής. 8 Φεβρουαρίου. ECCLESIA.GR. (H ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ).

Russian Sources

• (Russian) 21 февраля (8 февраля). Православная Энциклопедия под редакцией Патриарха Московского и всея Руси Кирилла (электронная версия). (Orthodox Encyclopedia - Pravenc.ru).