Saturday, 14 February 2026

Memorial Saturday

Saturday of Meatfare

57 days before Pascha · Tone 2 · Red cross (polyeleos typikon symbol) · No Fast

Saints commemorated

★ Saint Cyril, Equal-of-the-Apostles, Teacher of the Slavs

Cyril, along with his brother Methodius, was an apostle to the Slavic peoples and is venerated as one of the greatest missionaries in the history of the Church. Born in the ninth century, he was a learned and pious man who possessed great linguistic gifts. Cyril and Methodius were sent by the Patriarch of Constantinople to bring the Orthodox faith to the Slavic lands. To accomplish this mission, Cyril created the Glagolitic alphabet to allow the translation of the liturgical texts into the Slavonic language, making the divine services comprehensible to the Slavic peoples. Through his tireless labour and missionary zeal, Cyril brought countless souls to the knowledge of Christ and established the Orthodox Church among the Slavs. He endured many hardships and opposition but remained steadfast in his apostolic mission. His legacy continues through the Church's liturgical life among the Slavic peoples, and he is commemorated as one of the most important figures in the mission and Christianization of Eastern Europe.

Hieromartyr Philemon of Gaza

Philemon was a hieromartyr and priest of Gaza in the early Christian era. He was arrested for his Christian faith and refused to renounce Christ or offer sacrifice to idols. Despite severe tortures and imprisonment, Philemon remained steadfast in his confession of Christ. He was eventually martyred for his unwavering commitment to the Gospel and his refusal to deny the God he served. His martyrdom strengthened the faith of the Christian community in Gaza and testified to the power of Christ's redemption. He is remembered as a faithful priest and confessor whose life and death witnessed to the truth of the Christian faith.

Our Holy Father Auxentius

470

He was of Persian origin, born in Syria. As a young man, he distinguished himself as a member of the court of the Emperor Theodosius the Younger. Seeing the vanity of the world’s honors and pleasures, he became a monk in Constantinople; but when the people began to praise his holiness, he fled to Mount Oxeia near Chalcedon, which later became known as Auxentius’ Mountain. There he built a small hut and lived in reclusion; but in time he was discovered by some shepherds, and the faithful began to come in increasing numbers for his teaching, blessing, prayers and healing. He performed countless miracles, but such was his humility that he always sought to avoid their being attributed to him. When he was asked to pray for someone’s healing, he would try to refuse, saying “I too am a sinful man.” But, when he was prevailed on by the pleas of the people, he would call on all of them to pray together for the healing; or he would remind them that God would give according to their faith; or he would say to the sick person “The Lord Jesus Christ heals you.” When the Emperor Marcian summoned the Fourth Ecumenical Council to Chalcedon, he ordered that the hermit join the assembly of holy Fathers. Auxentius refused, saying that doctrinal teaching was the province of bishops, not monks. The Emperor’s envoys took him by force. He was greeted with honor by the Emperor, and affirmed all the decisions of the Council. He never returned to Mount Oxeia, but settled in an even wilder and more remote spot on Mount Skopa, which later came to be called Mount St Auxentius. His disciples built him a tiny wooden hut with one small window through which he could converse with his steady stream of visitors. He reposed in peace in 470. A great crowd gathered for his funeral, and his holy relics were taken into the care of a women’s monastery whose spiritual Father he had been. Mount St Auxentius soon became a center of hesychastic life, with seven monasteries.

Saint Auxentius of Bithynia

Auxentius was a holy ascetic and venerable monk of Bithynia who lived a life of great spiritual discipline and devotion to God. He withdrew from the distractions of worldly life to pursue monasticism and the perfection of the Christian virtue. Through his prayers, fasting, and unwavering commitment to God, Auxentius became a vessel of God's grace and was granted gifts of spiritual discernment and wisdom. He served as a spiritual father to many who sought his guidance, and his words of wisdom continue to inspire the faithful. He is remembered for his profound holiness and his dedication to the monastic life.

Venerable Maron the Hermit

Maron was a venerable hermit and ascetic monk of the fourth century known for his life of extreme asceticism and his powerful miracles of healing and deliverance. He withdrew from the world and devoted himself entirely to prayer and the pursuit of spiritual perfection. Through his unceasing prayers and intercession, Maron became a channel of divine grace and power, working wonders in the name of Christ. He was known for his great humility and his unwavering commitment to the monastic life. Maron's prayers were sought by the sick and afflicted, and many were healed through his intercession. He is remembered as one of the greatest ascetics of the Eastern Church and remains widely venerated for his holiness and miraculous powers.

What Happened to Valentine's Day?

On February 14 the Roman church commemorates two Saints named Valentinus, both martyred in Rome at different times (one was a bishop in Italy). Both are also saints of the Orthodox Church, but are commemorated on July 30 and October 24. As for chocolates, flowers, cards, etc., the Encyclopedia Britannica says: “St Valentine’s day as a lovers’ festival… has no relation to the saint or to any incident in his life. These customs seem rather to be connected either with the pagan Roman festival of the Lupercalia which took place in the middle of February, or with the spring season in general.”

Venerable Maron the Hermit of Syria

c. 423

This ascetic and wonderworker was a friend of St John Chrysostom. Read his life here.

Also commemorated: St Cyril, Teacher of the Slavs

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

1 Corinthians — 1 Corinthians 10.23-28

²³All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. ²⁴Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth. ²⁵Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake: ²⁶For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof. ²⁷If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake. ²⁸But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof:

Gospel

weekly cycle

Luke — Luke 21.8-9, 25-27, 33-36

⁸And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. ⁹But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.

²⁵And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; ²⁶Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. ²⁷And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ³³Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

³⁴And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. ³⁵For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Epistle

— Departed

1 Thessalonians — 1 Thessalonians 4.13-17

¹³But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. ¹⁴For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. ¹⁵For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: ¹⁷Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Gospel

— Departed

John — John 5.24-30

²⁴Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. ²⁵Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. ²⁶For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; ²⁷And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. ²⁸Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, ²⁹And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. ³⁰I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.