Orthodox saints and name days on February 23

Name days on February 23

Polykarpos, Polycarp, Gorgonia, Polychronios, Polychronis

Saints and feasts of February 23

• 

  Polykarpos

  Hierarch, Πολύκαρπος

  St. Polycarp was Bishop of Smyrna and a disciple of St. John the Theologian, a living link between the apostles and the generations that followed. He shepherded his church for many decades, and in extreme old age was arrested during a persecution in the second century. Urged to deny Christ, he answered that in eighty-six years the Lord had done him no wrong, and he could not blaspheme his King.

  Name days: Polykarpos, Polycarp

• Gorgonia

  Holy Woman, Γοργονία

  St. Gorgonia was the daughter of St. Gregory the Elder and St. Nonna, and the sister of St. Gregory the Theologian, who delivered a funeral oration in her praise. A married woman and mother, she lived a life of prayer, fasting and charity, opening her home to the poor.

  Name days: Gorgonia

• Damian of Esphigmenou

  Venerable, Δαμιανός ο Εσφιγμενίτης

  St. Damian became a monk at the Monastery of Esphigmenou on Mount Athos in his youth and was an example to the brethren. He later withdrew to live in stillness on the mountain of Samareia and in caves, struggling in prayer.

• Lazaros of Tripolis

  Hierarch, Λάζαρος ο εκ Τριπόλεως

  St. Lazaros was a priest from Tripolis in the Peloponnese, born to pious parents. His service and synaxarion are preserved in a manuscript of the Monastery of Vatopedi on Mount Athos.

• John, Moses, Antiochos and Antoninos

  Venerable, Ιωάννης, Μωυσής, Αντίοχος και Αντωνίνος

  These fifth-century ascetics of Syria are described by Theodoret of Cyrrhus. John lived for twenty-five years on a hillside in the open, eating bread and salt; Moses, Antiochos and Antoninos followed similar lives of extreme self-denial.

• Zebinas, Polychronios, Damian and Moses

  Venerable, Ζεβινάς, Πολυχρόνιος, Δαμιανός και Μωυσής

  St. Zebinas lived to a great age on a mountain in Syria, standing in prayer day and night. His disciple Polychronios carried a heavy oak root as a self-imposed burden, and in turn taught Damian and Moses, who imitated his austerity.

  Name days: Polychronios, Polychronis