Lives of the Saints
The Orthodox Church remembers an enormous company of saints — early martyrs, desert monks, learned bishops, simple villagers, princes and beggars, women and men. To read their lives is to see what holiness has looked like in a great many forms and circumstances. The articles in this section are short — most can be read in under ten minutes — and they aim to give a faithful picture rather than an exhaustive one.
Wherever possible we follow the standard hagiographic sources. Where modern scholarship has refined the picture, we mention it without making the article into an argument.
Saint Spyridon of Trimythous
The fourth-century Cypriot shepherd-bishop, defender of the Nicene faith, whose incorrupt relics are still venerated on the island of Corfu.
Saint Anthony the Great
The third-century Egyptian who became the father of Christian monasticism — the figure at the origin of the entire monastic tradition of East and West.
Saint John Chrysostom
The fourth-century archbishop of Constantinople — preacher, biblical commentator, and the author of the liturgy that bears his name.
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
The Russian hermit-elder of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries whose teaching on the acquisition of the Holy Spirit reshaped modern Orthodox spirituality.
Saint Mary of Egypt
The fifth-century desert ascetic whose life is read aloud in every Orthodox parish during Great Lent — the most extraordinary repentance story in the tradition.
Saint George the Trophy-Bearer
The early-fourth-century martyr from Cappadocia whose memory was kept across the entire Christian world — the story behind the dragon-slayer of the icons.
Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker
The fourth-century bishop of Myra, defender of the Nicene faith, and patron of sailors, prisoners, and children — and the historical figure behind the modern Santa Claus.