21 January 2024 (MIA)

Macedonian Orthodox Church Calendar

The Venerable George the Chozebite

The Venerable George the Chozebite was famed for his struggle against the Eutychian heresy, and also for his graced gifts of insight and wonderworking. He was born in Cyprus and while still a youth he spent a long time with his brother, an ascetic, in the wilderness. The saint, yearning for solitude, withdrew into the Chozebite wilderness (between Jerusalem and Jericho) and pursued asceticism there until the end of his life in 625.

Catholic Calendar

St. Agnes, Virgin, Martyr

A suitor, or suitors, chagrined by her refusal to wed, denounced Agnes to the prefect of Rome as a Christian. No threats could shake her determination to preserve her virginity as the bride of Christ and her faith. When she was taken by the order of the prefect to a brothel, divine power protected her purity; and a subsequent attempt to burn her failed, because the fire was miraculously extinguished. Her courage unshaken. She was beheaded. The death of this brave child made a profound impression, and she became among the best known and most widely honored of the Roman martyrs. She has always been regarded as the special patroness of bodily purity. She is considered a patron saint of girls, betrothed couples, gardeners, virgins, and is invoked for chastity.