Orthodox saints and name days on March 17

Name days on March 17

Alexios, Alexis, Alekos, Alexei, Alex, Patrick, Patricia, Marinos, Marinus, Lazaros, Lazarus

Saints and feasts of March 17

• 

  Alexios Man of God

  Venerable, Αλέξιος

  St. Alexios, the Man of God, was the son of a noble Roman family. On the night of his wedding he secretly left his home, choosing poverty for the sake of Christ, and lived for years as a beggar in the East, spending his days in fasting and prayer at the doors of the church.

  Name days: Alexios, Alexis, Alekos, Alexei, Alex

• Patrick of Ireland

  Hierarch, Πατρίκιος Ιρλανδίας

  St. Patrick was born in Roman Britain in the late fourth century and as a youth was carried off by raiders to Ireland, where he tended sheep as a slave and learned to pray. After escaping and being ordained, he returned to Ireland as a bishop and spent the rest of his life preaching the Gospel, baptizing kings and people, and founding churches and monasteries.

  Name days: Patrick, Patricia

• Theosteriktos the Confessor

  Venerable, Θεοστήρικτος

  St. Theosteriktos was abbot of the monastery of Pelekete in Bithynia in the eighth century, during the iconoclast persecution of Constantine Copronymos. Tradition relates that when soldiers attacked the monastery on Holy Thursday, many of the monks were killed and he himself was tortured and had his nose cut off for his defense of the holy icons.

• Marinos the Martyr

  Martyr, Μαρίνος

  St. Marinos was a soldier who suffered for Christ during the Roman persecutions. Tradition relates that he was denounced as a Christian by a rival who wanted his position, and that when he confessed the faith openly he was tortured and beheaded.

  Name days: Marinos, Marinus

• Lazarus the Friend of Christ

  Saint, Λάζαρος ο φίλος του Χριστού

  The righteous Lazarus of Bethany, brother of Martha and Mary, was raised from the dead by the Lord four days after his burial, as the Gospel of John relates. Tradition holds that he later fled the persecution of the Jews and came to Cyprus, where he was made Bishop of Kition by the Apostles and lived for thirty more years.

  Name days: Lazaros, Lazarus

• Paul the Monk-Martyr

  Martyr, Παύλος ο Οσιομάρτυς

  St. Paul was a monk who suffered during the iconoclast persecution of the eighth century. Tradition relates that he refused to trample on an icon of Christ when commanded, and that he was burned to death for his confession.

• Makarios of Kalyazin

  Venerable, Μακάριος του Κολγιαζίν

  St. Makarios was born of a noble family near Tver in the fifteenth century and, after the death of his wife, became a monk. Seeking solitude, he settled in a forest by the Volga, where disciples gathered and the monastery of Kalyazin grew up around him.