Feast today, July 22: Find out which names are celebrated and which Saints our Church honors.
The celebration today, July 22, brings to the fore, according to the calendar, some of the most beloved and popular female names, but also a historic male title.
Holiday today: Who celebrates on July 21st
Take a quick look at the names that have their due:
- Magdalene, Magda, Magdula, Magdalena, Magdalenia, Magdali, Magdalo
- Markella, Markella, Markelli, Markelli
- Marialena, Marilena, Maria Eleni (combined names)
- Menelaus
Which Saints does the Orthodox Church honor today?
July 21 is a great day for Christianity, as the calendar is dedicated to two leading female figures who sealed the faith with their lives and work, as well as a great Saint.
Specifically, the Church honors:
- Saint Mary Magdalene Myroforo
- Saint Markella, the virgin martyr Hiopolitida
- Saint Menelaus
Saint Mary Magdalene, Myrobearer and Isapostolos
Saint Mary Magdalene came from Magdala, a city located west of the Sea of Galilee. When she learned about Christ, she went to him and got rid of the seven demons that were bothering her and then became his disciple. She, in fact, during the Lord’s Resurrection came first to His tomb with perfumes, and angels dressed in white announced His Resurrection. Mary, after the descent of the Holy Spirit, continued to minister in the first Christian Church in Jerusalem. Then he went to Ephesus, near Saint John the Theologian, where he died. He was buried at the entrance to the cave where the seven children later slept in Ephesus.
Saint Markella the Parthenomartys the Hiopolitis
Among the numerous Saints, who adorn the local canon and the long ecclesiastical history of the fragrant island of Chios is the Saint Martyr Markella, who is the reverent boast of the people everywhere in the Land of Chios and the precious spiritual treasure for thousands of pilgrims, who flock to the place of her martyrdom to pay due respect to her greatness and heroism her, but also to ask for her miraculous grace for the resolution of physical and mental illnesses.
According to her biographer, Osios Nikiforos of Chios (see May 1), Saint Markella lived and flourished around 1500 AD. Her father was a pagan and her Christian mother died at a young age. Markella was distinguished early on for her deep faith and love for Christ, her goodness and purity, her modesty and gentleness of soul. Endowed with divine wisdom and innumerable psychic gifts, she was in constant communication with God. Lucifer envied this “earthly angel” and wanted to fight her by any means.
Thus her idolatrous and hard-hearted father began to lust after his own daughter and to feel towards her an inexhaustible carnal desire. When Markella found out the shameless character of her sarcolati father, she left the parental home and sought refuge in the mountains of the area. Then her father, driven by his beastly appetites and with indescribable fury, began to search for the young and beautiful Markella. Then the unfortunate and fearful daughter tried to protect herself and save her honor. A large reed was the safe haven of Agia. But a shepherd noticed Markella and pointed out the bush to her maniacal father. Then the father set fire to the bush to force her out of it. Markella managed and found a way out and thus escaped from the hands of her sarcolati father. She then began to run over the stones and rocks, but her father seeing the difficulty of reaching her, decided to mark her with his bow and thus shot an arrow at her. The Saint was wounded and her pure blood watered the rocks. However, she did not lose her mental strength and continued to run. But her physical strength began to leave her and at some point she fell down suffering and hurt. Her deep and unwavering faith helped her find the saving solution. With her eyes fixed on the Heavenly Bridegroom she prayed and asked Him to split the rock and hide her inside. The Saint’s request came true and so the rock split open and received the body of the virtuous Markella up to the chest. The flesh-eating father, arriving at the place and seeing this paradoxical miracle, became even more enraged and cut off her breasts with a knife and threw them on the mountain. He then beheaded his daughter and threw her head into the sea. According to tradition, an unusual glow began to radiate from the head of the Saint, who was crowned with the heavenly and indestructible crown of sport and divine glory.
The torn rock, which received the martyred body of the Saint, is to this day a point of reverent reference and a source of healing for pilgrims, since those who pray with faith notice the red coloring of the rocks and the steaming of the water. Countless are the miracles that, by the grace of God, Saint Markella has performed from the time of her martyrdom to our days, while brilliant spiritual personalities of our Church became witnesses of wonderful signs, such as Saint Makarios the Notary Bishop of Corinth, Saint Nektarios Bishop of Pentapolis and the biographer and editor of her Order Saint Nikiforos of Chios, who often came to the place of the Saint’s martyrdom to pray. The memory of Saint Markella is celebrated every year on July 22nd and a glorious celebration takes place in the eponymous church of Agia, which is located on the sandy beach in the bay of the same name in Volissos and is a pan-Hellenic pilgrimage.
Photo: Marina Koutsoumpa
Source: In
