Holy Fathers slain by the Saracens at the Monastery of Saint Savva in Palestine.
On this day the Church remembers the monks of the Great Lavra of St. Savva in the Judean desert who were killed by Arab raiders, most famously in the attack of the year 796. The raiders demanded the monastery's treasures; when the fathers answered that they had nothing but their prayers, many were shut in a cave and suffocated with smoke, and others were cut down.
An eyewitness account was written by Stephen of Mar Saba. The Church honors the martyred fathers on March 20.
Feast day
On the New Calendar, Fathers of Saint Savva is commemorated on March 20. Churches on the Old (Julian) Calendar keep the feast on April 2 of the civil calendar.
Also commemorated on March 20
Niketas of Apollonias
Hierarch, Νικήτας ο Ομολογητής
Saint Niketas the Confessor, Bishop of Apollonias in Bithynia.
Seven Virgin Martyrs of Amisos
Holy Woman, Παρθενομάρτυρες Αμισού
Holy Virgin Martyrs Alexandria, Claudia, Euphrasia, Matrona, Juliana, Euphemia and Theodosia of Amisos.
Rodianos, Akylas, Lollion and Emmanuel
Martyr, Ροδιανός
Holy Martyrs Rodianos, Akylas the Eparch, Lollion and Emmanuel.
Cuthbert of Lindisfarne
Venerable, Κούθβερτος
Venerable Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne, wonderworker of Britain.
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