Researchers have uncovered a tomb in Turkey’s Antalya Province that could belong to St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra.

Rising Mediterranean seawater in the Middle Ages flooded the church and the site has since been buried under alluvial deposits. Another church was constructed over the original basilica in the seventh and eighth centuries to protect it. After archeologists excavated the church, they found an early fourth-century floor covering from the ancient basilica where St. Nicholas reigned as bishop.

Relics of St. Nicolas have resided at Bari, Italy, since the 11th century. However, Dr. Osman Eravşar, Chairman of the Antalya Cultural Heritage Preservation Regional Board, told news agency DHA that other relics could still be inside the tomb.

When a consecrated person commits a transgression, a greater punishment awaits him than awaits a layman, less enlightened in the mystery of the will of God than he, who commits the same sin. St. Arethas [12th c., Oct 24] was a monk in the Monastery of the Kiev Caves, and was very avaricious. He would give nothing to anyone of the piles of possessions in his cell, not even a kopeck. But once, he became very seriously ill and saw, as if in a vision, devils snatching his soul from the angels, screaming, "He is ours, he is ours!" and citing as their proof Arethas's greed and miserliness. Upon his recovery Arethas amended his life, and from then on counted all earthly goods as nothing. Our benevolent God forgave him, and later endowed him with abundant grace.

☦️ Prologue of Ohrid

As a commander in the Roman army, the Holy and Glorious Greatmartyr Demetrius the Myrrh-gusher (Oct 26/ Nov 7) earned the crown of martyrdom by refusing Emperor Maximian's orders to persecute Christians. Demetrius openly confessed and preached Christ at Thessalonica. He became for Thessalonika "a second Apostle Paul" in the same city where St Paul founded the first community of believers (1 Thes., 2 Thes.).

In the early 4th century, emperor Galerius Maximian gave orders to "put to death anyone who calls on the name of the Crucified." Demetrius, proconsul of Thessalonika, disobeyed. Instead of executing Christians, Demetrius instead openly confessed and taught the Christian faith. At dawn on October 26, 306 soldiers appeared in the Saint's underground prison and ran him through with lances.

During the reign of Saint Constantine (306-337), a church was built over the grave of St Demetrius. A hundred years later, during the construction of a majestic new church on the old spot, the incorrupt relics of the holy martyr were uncovered. Since the seventh century, there has been a miraculous flow of fragrant myrrh beneath the crypt of the Great Martyr This gave St Demetrius the epithet Μυροβλήτης, or "Myrrh-streamer."

Save me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul.
I am stuck fast in the mire of the deep, and there is no sure standing.
I am come into the deeps of the sea, and a tempest hath overwhelmed me.

—Psalm 68:1-3

"God’s grace always assists those who struggle, but this does not mean that a struggler is always in the position of a victor. Sometimes in the arena the wild animals did not touch the righteous ones, but by no means were they all preserved untouched.

What is important is not victory or the position of a victor, but rather the labor of striving towards God and devotion to Him.”

☦️ St John Maximovitch

“It is a fact, brothers and sisters, that the path of the saints in this life is one full of troubles. They either endure the pain of longing for that which is to come, like the one who said, ‘Woe is me that I have such a long pilgrimage’ (Ps. 120:5, LXX) or they are distressed by their longing for the salvation of others, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, ‘I am afraid that when I come to you, God may humble me and cause me to weep and mourn over many who have sinned and not repented of impurity, fornication and licentiousness which they have practiced.”

+ St Athanasius the Great

“Man of God” full movie now available on YouTube
https://youtu.be/i_y6jkKYL_M

☦️ St Nektarios of Aegina on Humility: “Seek God every day, but in your heart; and not outside of it, and on discovering Him stand with fear and trembling, like the Cherubim and Seraphim, as your heart becomes God’s dwelling place. To discover the Lord, humble yourself to the earth before Him, for the Lord rejects the proud and high minded, but loves and visits the humble of heart …."

For our good, let us make a vow that from this hour, from this minute we shall strive to love God above all else. ☦️ St Herman of Alaska

Beware of despair. You do not serve a tyrant, but your service is to a kind Lord, Who, taking nothing from you, he has given you all. And when you did not exist at all, He fashioned you so that you would be in that [state] in which you now are. ☦️ St Isaac the Syrian

“One must examine oneself while reading the Writings of the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church, who help us use the light of the Gospels without error.

The more a person delves deeply into himself and comes to know himself, the more he comes to recognise his passions, the different ways they act on him and attack him. Then he comes to know his weaknesses; then he can begin to destroy within himself all sinful qualities grafted into his nature by the fall. Then he can acquire the qualities indicated by the Gospels.
And only then will his foundation for the edifice of Prayer be completely firm.”

☦️ Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov

“[I]t has thundered; now is the time to make the sign of the Cross!”
~~Russian Orthodox publication "Tserkovniye vedomosty", 1917, reporting the death of hieromartyr John of Chicago and Tsarskoe Selo (Oct 31)

Defying the bloodthirsty spirit of the time, Holy Hieromartyr John of refused to stop leading public prayers for his people and their land. In doing so, he became the first martyr of the Bolshevik Revolution. To make an example of him, the Bolsheviks publicly shot the beloved archpriest and dragged his body through town.

At the time of his martyrdom, Father John had only recently returned to Russia from America where he had ministered faithfully among poor Slavic immigrants and established numerous parishes and missions in the Chicago area. He also ministered to converts who came seeking the fullness of the Apostolic Faith.

Holy Hieromartyr John of, pray to God for us!

“The world doesn’t need some special wisdom and intelligence—the world needs prayer. The world needs saints…”

— Patriarch Porfirije of the Serbian Orthodox Church, from his homily for the feast of St. Petka (Paraskeva), Belgrade

https://orthochristian.com/148991.html

Do not pray for the fulfillment of your wishes, for they may not accord with the will of God. But pray as you have been taught, saying: Thy will be done in me. Always entreat Him in this way – that His will be done. For He desires what is good and profitable for you, whereas you do not always ask for this.

☦️ Evagrios the Solitary

“When you sit down to eat, pray. When you eat bread, do so thanking Him for being so generous to you. If you drink wine, be mindful of Him who has given it to you for your pleasure and as a relief in sickness. When you dress, thank Him for His kindness in providing you with clothes. When you look at the sky and the beauty of the stars, throw yourself at God’s feet and adore Him who in His wisdom has arranged things in this way. Similarly, when the sun goes down and when it rises, when you are asleep or awake, give thanks to God, who created and arranged all things for your benefit, to have you know, love, and praise their Creator."

☦️ St. Basil the Great, from Homily V.

The harsh persecution of St Gabriel the New Confessor of Georgia (Nov 2) began in 1965, when as a young monk, he famously set fire to a banner of Lenin during an International Workers' Day parade in Tbilisi. He was arrested, tried, ruled psychotic, and confined to a mental hospital for seven months. He was even suspended from his priesthood for years, after the Soviet government put pressure on the Georgian Orthodox Church, although his status was later restored.

Holy Saint Gabriel pray to God for us!

Icon by Fr Deacon Paul Drozdowski