Orthodox saints and name days on June 2

Name days on June 2

Nikiforos, Nicephorus, Erasmos, Erasmus

Saints and feasts of June 2

• 

  Nikephoros of Constantinople

  Hierarch, Νικηφόρος

  St. Nikephoros was Patriarch of Constantinople in the ninth century, in the days when the iconoclast heresy rose a second time. A learned man who had served the empire before taking up the monastic life, he shepherded the Church with wisdom and stood immovably for the veneration of the holy icons. For this he was driven from his throne by the emperor and spent his last years in exile, a confessor for the Orthodox faith.

  Name days: Nikiforos, Nicephorus

• Constantine the New Martyr, former Hagarene

  Martyr, Κωνσταντίνος ο εξ Αγαρηνών

  Saint Constantine was born a Muslim in Mytilene on the island of Lesbos and, tradition relates, was drawn to Christianity after being healed at a church of the Theotokos. He was baptised on Mount Athos and lived for a time as a monk.

• John the New of Trebizond, Great Martyr

  Martyr, Ιωάννης ο Νέος ο Τραπεζούντιος

  Saint John was a pious merchant of Trebizond who, while travelling by sea in the fourteenth century, was denounced as a Christian at the port of Asprokastro on the Black Sea. Refusing to deny Christ, he was tortured and dragged through the streets until he died.

• Demetrios of Philadelphia, New Martyr

  Martyr, Δημήτριος ο Φιλαδελφεύς

  Saint Demetrios came from Philadelphia in Asia Minor. Tradition relates that as a young man he was pressured to renounce his faith and, after a fall, returned to Christ with repentance and confessed Him openly before the Turkish judge. He was beheaded in 1657 and is counted among the New Martyrs.

• Erasmus of Ochrid

  Hierarch, Έρασμος ο Ιερομάρτυρας

  Saint Erasmus was a bishop from Antioch who preached the Gospel widely, including in the region of Ochrid and Lychnidos in Illyria, where many were converted through his teaching. Tradition relates that he endured torture under the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian and reposed in Campania, in Italy.

  Name days: Erasmos, Erasmus

• Pothinus and the Martyrs of Lyons

  Hierarch, Ποθεινός και οι εν Λουγδούνω Μάρτυρες

  In the year 177 the Christians of Lyons and Vienne in Gaul suffered a savage persecution described in a letter preserved by Eusebius. The aged bishop Pothinus died in prison from his injuries, while the deacon Sanctus, the slave girl Blandina, the young Ponticus, Alcibiades, Vettius Epagathus and many others were tortured and put to death in the amphitheatre.

• Marcellinus and Peter of Rome

  Martyr, Μαρκελλίνος και Πέτρος

  Saints Marcellinus, a priest, and Peter, an exorcist, were imprisoned at Rome during the persecution of Diocletian. Tradition relates that they converted their jailer and his household while in prison. They were led out to a wood and beheaded there in secret, and were later greatly honoured in Rome.