Today our Holy Church honors the memory of St. Basil the Confessor, who distinguished himself in the struggle against iconoclasm, the holy martyr Protherius, who lived in the 5th century and was Archbishop of Alexandria, and the neo-parthenomartyr Cyranna, who sacrificed herself for Christ during the time of Turkish rule.
The touching life and martyrdom of St. Kiranna is proof, especially instructive for our time, that the Church, as the Body of Christ, has not ceased and will never cease to give birth to Saints. Coming from a village in the Thessaloniki area, she was vulnerable and stood out among her peers for her outer and inner beauty. When she refused to give in to the intense pressure and threats of a Janissary who wanted to marry her, the court of Thessaloniki charged her for allegedly promising to change her faith and become a Muslim.
To every threat, to the imprisonment and to all the torture she was subjected to, Kiranna answered firmly that she was a nymph of Christ and was ready to sacrifice her life for him.
The saint surrendered her spirit to the dungeon, as she does today, in 1751 AD.
It should be noted that today Wednesday (also next Friday) of the first week of Trinity all food is permitted. The purpose is to prepare for Lent, the arduous period before Easter, which we enter on Clean Monday, March 18. Also to realize that fasting is not an end in itself or a virtue in itself, but a course of practice for acquiring virtues.
The touching life and martyrdom of St. Kiranna is proof, especially instructive for our time, that the Church, as the Body of Christ, has not ceased and will never cease to give birth to Saints. Coming from a village in the Thessaloniki area, she was vulnerable and stood out among her peers for her outer and inner beauty. When she refused to give in to the intense pressure and threats of a Janissary who wanted to marry her, the court of Thessaloniki charged her for allegedly promising to change her faith and become a Muslim.
To every threat, to the imprisonment and to all the torture she was subjected to, Kiranna answered firmly that she was a nymph of Christ and was ready to sacrifice her life for him.
The saint surrendered her spirit to the dungeon, as she does today, in 1751 AD.
It should be noted that today Wednesday (also next Friday) of the first week of Trinity all food is permitted. The purpose is to prepare for Lent, the arduous period before Easter, which we enter on Clean Monday, March 18. Also to realize that fasting is not an end in itself or a virtue in itself, but a course of practice for acquiring virtues.
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