Orthodox saints and name days on June 9

Name days on June 9

Cyril, Kyrillos, Kyril, Columba, Colm

Saints and feasts of June 9

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  Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria

  Hierarch, Κύριλλος

  St. Cyril was Archbishop of Alexandria in the fifth century and one of the great theologians of the Church. When Nestorius denied that the Virgin Mary may be called Theotokos, Birth-Giver of God, Cyril rose in defense of the truth that the one born of her is truly God the Word made flesh. He presided at the Third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus in 431, which upheld the Orthodox faith.

  Name days: Cyril, Kyrillos, Kyril

• Thecla, Mariamne, Martha, Mary and Ennatha, Virgin Martyrs of Persia

  Holy Woman, Θέκλα, Μαριάμνη, Μάρθα, Μαρία και Ενναθά

  These five consecrated virgins lived in Persia during the persecution of Christians under King Shapur II in the fourth century. Denounced by a priest who had renounced the faith, they refused to worship the sun and, tradition relates, were beheaded by him at the king's command.

• Alexander of Prusa

  Hierarch, Αλέξανδρος Επίσκοπος Προύσας

  Saint Alexander was bishop of Prusa in Bithynia. Tradition relates that he was arrested during the persecutions for confessing Christ, endured torture and was beheaded, receiving the crown of martyrdom.

• Cyril of White Lake

  Venerable, Κύριλλος ο εν τη Λευκή Λίμνη

  Saint Cyril was born in Moscow in 1337 and became a monk of the Simonov monastery, where he knew Saint Sergius of Radonezh. Guided, tradition relates, by a vision of the Theotokos, he went north to the shore of White Lake and founded the monastery that bears his name.

• Columba of Iona

  Venerable, Κολούμβας ο εν Ιόνα

  Saint Columba was born in Ireland of a noble family in 521 and became a monk and founder of monasteries. In 563 he left Ireland with twelve companions and settled on the island of Iona, from which he preached to the Picts of Scotland and established a monastic community that shaped the Church of the British Isles.

  Name days: Columba, Colm

• Alexander of Kushta

  Venerable, Αλέξανδρος του Κούστα

  Saint Alexander was a monk of the Savior-Stone monastery on Lake Kubensk who withdrew to the river Kushta in the forests of Vologda and founded a monastery there in the fifteenth century. He was known for his humility and love of solitude, and reposed in 1439.