Orthodox saints and name days on April 1

Name days on April 1

Maria, Mary, Maro, Marianna, Marika, Mariam, Marie

Saints and feasts of April 1

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  Mary of Egypt

  Holy Woman, Μαρία η Αιγυπτία

  St. Mary of Egypt is the great example of repentance. Living in Alexandria in the fifth and sixth centuries, she spent her youth in sin; traveling to Jerusalem, she was held back from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by an unseen power, and, praying before the icon of the Theotokos, she was converted. Crossing the Jordan, she lived some forty-seven years alone in the desert in fasting and prayer.

  Name days: Maria, Mary, Maro, Marianna, Marika, Mariam, Marie

• Makarios of Pelekete

  Venerable, Μακάριος ο Ομολογητής

  Makarios was born in Constantinople and, orphaned young, was raised by a pious uncle who gave him a thorough grounding in Scripture. He entered the Monastery of Pelekete in Bithynia and in time became its abbot, known for his humility and gift of healing.

• Gerontios and Basilides

  Martyr, Γερόντιος και Βασιλείδης

  Gerontios and Basilides are commemorated together as martyrs of the early centuries of the Church. The synaxaria record that they confessed Christ before the pagan authorities and were beheaded by the sword.

• Hermes and Theodora

  Martyr, Ερμής και Θεοδώρα

  Hermes and Theodora were siblings who confessed the Christian faith together and were put to death for it. The Greek synaxaria list them among the martyrs commemorated on the first of April.

• Abraham of Bulgaria

  Martyr, Αβραάμιος ο Νεομάρτυρας

  Abraham was a wealthy merchant of the Volga Bulgars, raised in Islam, who came to believe in Christ and was baptized. He became known for his generosity to the poor and for his open confession of the Christian faith among his countrymen.

• Euthymius of Suzdal

  Venerable, Ευθύμιος Σουζδαλίας

  Euthymius was born in Nizhny Novgorod in the fourteenth century and received his monastic formation under Saint Dionysius of the Caves monastery there. At the invitation of the prince of Suzdal he founded the Monastery of the Saviour in that city and governed it as archimandrite for many years.

• Barsanuphius of Optina

  Venerable, Βαρσανούφιος της Όπτινα

  Barsanuphius, born Paul Plikhankov in 1845, served as an officer in the Russian army before leaving a promising career to enter the Optina Hermitage in middle age. He became a disciple of the elder Anatole and was in time made skete superior and spiritual father to many.