Orthodox saints and name days on December 3

Name days on December 3

Sofonias, Theodoulos, Theodoulis, Theodouli, Angelis

Saints and feasts of December 3

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  Zephaniah the Prophet

  Prophet, Σοφονίας

  The holy prophet Zephaniah, one of the twelve minor prophets, prophesied in the kingdom of Judah in the days of King Josiah, before the Babylonian captivity. He proclaimed the great day of the Lord, calling the people to seek righteousness and humility, and he foretold that a meek and lowly remnant would trust in the name of the Lord and rejoice in His salvation.

  Name days: Sofonias

• Theodoulos the Eparch

  Venerable, Θεόδουλος

  Venerable Theodoulos was a patrician and eparch of Constantinople in the days of the emperor Theodosius the Great. After the death of his wife he gave away his possessions and left the city, and tradition relates that he took his stand upon a pillar near Edessa, where he lived in prayer and fasting for many years until his peaceful repose.

  Name days: Theodoulos, Theodoulis, Theodouli

• Theodore of Alexandria

  Hierarch, Θεόδωρος Αλεξανδρείας

  The hieromartyr Theodore was Archbishop of Alexandria in the early centuries of the Church. Tradition relates that the pagans of the city seized him, crowned him with thorns, and dragged him through the streets before he was beheaded for his confession of Christ.

• John the Hesychast

  Venerable, Ιωάννης ο Ησυχαστής

  Venerable John was born in Nicopolis of Armenia in the fifth century and while still young was made Bishop of Colonia. Longing for stillness, he secretly left his see and came to Palestine, where he entered the Great Lavra of St. Sabas as an unknown novice.

• Angelis of Argos

  Martyr, Αγγελής ο Νεομάρτυς

  The new martyr Angelis was a physician from Argos in the Peloponnese who settled on the island of Chios. Tradition relates that after an unguarded word was taken by the Turks as a profession of Islam, he refused to deny Christ and was beheaded at Chios in 1813, receiving the crown of martyrdom.

  Name days: Angelis

• Gabriel Patriarch of Constantinople

  Hierarch, Γαβριήλ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως

  The hieromartyr Gabriel served as Patriarch of Constantinople in the seventeenth century. Tradition relates that he was accused before the Ottoman authorities of baptising a Muslim and, refusing to save his life by denying Christ, was hanged at Bursa in 1659.

• George of Cernica

  Venerable, Γεώργιος της Τσερνίκα

  Venerable George was born in Transylvania in the eighteenth century and became a disciple of St. Paisius Velichkovsky on Mount Athos and in Moldavia. He was sent to restore the abandoned monastery of Cernica near Bucharest, where he gathered a large brotherhood and established the hesychast tradition of his teacher. He reposed in peace in 1806 and is honoured by the Church of Romania.