Orthodox saints and name days on December 23

Name days on December 23

Nifon, Niphon

Saints and feasts of December 23

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  Ten Martyrs of Crete

  Martyr, Δέκα Μάρτυρες Κρήτης

  The Ten Holy Martyrs of Crete suffered together under the persecution of the emperor Decius in the third century. Drawn from various towns of the island, they were brought before the governor at Gortyna, and when they refused to sacrifice to the idols they endured mockery and torments for many days before being beheaded, going to their death rejoicing.

• Nahum of Ochrid

  Venerable, Ναούμ ο Θεοφόρος

  Venerable Nahum was a disciple of Sts. Cyril and Methodius and a fellow-labourer of St. Clement of Ochrid in the enlightenment of the Slavs. He founded the monastery on the southern shore of Lake Ochrid that bears his name, where he reposed in peace in the early tenth century. His relics are venerated there as a source of healing.

• Niphon of Constantia

  Hierarch, Νήφων Κωνσταντιανής

  Niphon was born in Paphlagonia and lived a dissolute youth in Constantinople before coming to deep repentance. Tradition relates that he was later made Bishop of Constantia in Cyprus, where he shepherded his flock in humility and reposed in peace in the fourth century.

  Name days: Nifon, Niphon

• Paul of Neocaesarea

  Hierarch, Παύλος Νεοκαισαρείας

  Paul was Bishop of Neocaesarea in Pontus in the fourth century. Under the emperor Licinius his hands were burned with hot iron for his confession of Christ, and he bore the marks of his suffering when he took part in the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea. He reposed in peace.

• Dedication of Hagia Sophia

  Saint, Εγκαίνια της Αγίας Σοφίας

  On this day the Church remembers the consecration of the Great Church of the Holy Wisdom of God in Constantinople, built by the emperor Justinian in the sixth century. For nearly a thousand years it was the cathedral of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the greatest church of the Christian world.