March 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

An Eastern Orthodox cross

March 8 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - March 10

All fixed commemorations below are observed on March 22 by Orthodox Churches on the Old Calendar. ^{[note 1]}

For March 9th, Orthodox Churches on the Old Calendar commemorate the Saints listed on February 24 (February 25 on leap years).

Saints

• Martyr Urpasian the Senator, at Nicomedia, by being burned alive (c. 305) ^{[1] [2] [3]}
• The Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (320): ^{[1] [4] [5] [6] [note 2] [note 3]}

• Cyrion (or Quirio), Candidus, Domnus, Hesychius, Heraclius, Smaragdus, Eunoicus, Valens, Vivianus, Claudius, Priscus, Theodulus, Eutychius, John, Xanthias, Helianus, Sisinius, Angus, Aetius, Flavius, Acacius, Ecdicius, Lysimachus, Alexander, Elias, Gorgonius, Theophilus, Dometian, Gaius, Leontius, Athanasius, Cyril, Sacerdon, Nicholas, Valerius, Philoctimon, Severian, Chudion, Aglaius, and Meliton.

• Saint Caesarius of Nazianzus (Caesarios the Doctor), brother of St. Gregory the Theologian (369) ^{[1] [8] [9]}
• Saint Philoromus the Confessor, of Galatia (4th century) ^[1]
• Righteous Tarasius the Wonderworker, of Lycaonia. ^[1] (see also March 8 and May 7 )

Pre-Schism Western saints

• Saint Pacianus, Bishop of Barcelona (390) ^{[1] [10] [11]}
• Saint Constantine of Cornwall and Govan (576) ^{[10] [note 4]} (see also: March 11 ^[15] )
• Saint Bosa of York, Bishop of York (705) ^{[1] [10] [16] [17]}
• Venerable Vitalis of Castronovo, Sicily (994) ^{[1] [18] [note 5]}
• Saint Anthony, a monk at Luxeuil in France, became a hermit in Froidemont in Franche-Comté (10th century) ^[10]

Post-Schism Orthodox saints

• Saint Jonah, archbishop of Novgorod (1470) ^[1]
• Saint Theodosius Levitsky, priest of Balta, Odessa (1845) ^[1]
• Saint Dimitra (Ihorova), nun and foundress of the Vvedensk (Vovedenska) Convent in Kiev (1878) ^[1]

New martyrs and confessors

• 42 Martyrs of Momišići  [ sr ], two priests and their forty students, martyred by fire by the Ottomans (1688) ^{[1] [20] [21]}
• New Hieromartyr Mitrophan Buchnoff, Archpriest, of Voronezh (1931) ^{[1] [22]}
• New Hieromartyr Joasaph (Shakhov), Abbot, of Popovka (Moscow) (1938) ^{[1] [22]}
• New Hieromartyrs (1938): ^{[22] [23] [24]}

• Michael Maslov, Alexis Smirnov, ^[1] Demetrius Glivenko, ^[1] Sergius Lebedev, ^[1] Sergius Zvetkov, ^[1] Priests;
• Nicholas Goryunov, Protodeacon.

• Virgin-martyrs Natalia Yulianova and Alexandra Samoylovoy (1938) ^{[22] [24]}

Other commemorations

• Translation to Vladimir (1230) of the relics of Martyr Abraham of the Bulgars on the Volga (1229) ^[1]
• "Albazin" Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos ("The Word Was Made Flesh") (1666) ^{[1] [25] [26] [note 6]}
• Repose of Elder Cleopas of Ostrov-Vvedensky Monastery (1778) ^{[1] [28] [note 7]}
• Repose of Schema-Archimandrite Theophilus (Rossokha) of Kiev (1996) ^{[1] [29]}

Icon gallery

• 
  The Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste.
• 
  Saint Pacianus in the façade of the bishop's palace in Barcelona, Catalonia.
• 
  St. Abraham of Bulgaria.

Notes

1. The notation Old Style or (OS) is sometimes used to indicate a date in the Julian Calendar (which is used by churches on the "Old Calendar").
   The notation New Style or (NS), indicates a date in the Revised Julian calendar (which is used by churches on the "New Calendar").
2. Name days today include: "Smaragda" or "Smaragdos" (Emerald), and "Sarantis". ^[4]
3. "GRANT, we beseech thee, Almighty God: that, like as we have known thy glorious Martyrs to be constant in their confession of thy Faith; so we may feel the succour of their loving intercession. Through Christ our Lord. Amen." ^[7]
4. His feast day is observed on March 9 in the tradition of Cornwall and Wales; and on March 11 ^{[12] [13] [14]} in the Scottish and Irish traditions. Two places in Cornwall are still named after him today. ^[10]
5. We ought tentatively to regard it as probable that the saints whose lives have come down to us were really the founders of Greek monasticism in South Italy, and that before their time there were no Greek monasteries in the district. There probably were hermits; but the rise of monasteries does not begin before the end of the ninth century; and the leaders of the monks were Elias Junior (†903), Elias Spelaeotes ("the Cave-Dweller", †c. 960), Lucas of Demena (†984), Vitalis of Castronuovo (†994), and Nilus of Rossano (†1004). ^[19]
6. The Albazin Icon of the Mother of God "the Word made Flesh" is of great religious significance in the Amur River region. It received its name from the Russian fortress of Albazin (now the village of Albazino) along the Amur river, founded in the year 1650 by the famous Russian frontier ataman Hierotheus Khabarov on the site of a settlement of the Daurian prince Albaza. For more than 300 years the Wonderworking Albazin Icon of the Mother of God watched over the Amur frontier of Russia. ^[27]
7. See: (in Russian) Свято-Введенский Островной монастырь. Википедии. (Russian Wikipedia). -- Ostrov-Vvedensky Monastery.

References

1. "March 9, 2019. + Orthodox Calendar". orthochristian.com. Retrieved 2025-03-13.
2. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Ὁ Ἅγιος Οὐρπασιανὸς ὁ Μάρτυρας. 9 Μαρτίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
3. Martyr Urpasianus of Nicomedia. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
4. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Οἱ Ἅγιοι Τεσσαράκοντα Μάρτυρες οἱ ἐν Σεβαστείᾳ. 9 Μαρτίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
5. 40 Holy Martyrs of Sebaste. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
6. Very Rev. John O'Hanlon. "Article XI.—Festival of the Forty Martyrs of Sebasten, Lesser Armenia. [Fourth Century]." In: Lives of the Irish Saints: With Special Festivals, and the Commemorations of Holy Persons. VOL. III. Dublin, 1875. p. 279.
7. "March 10th: THE FORTY HOLY MARTYRS." In: The Anglican Breviary, Containing The Divine Office According To The General Usages Of The Western Church. Frank Gavin Liturgical Foundation, Inc., New York, 1955. p. 1132.
8. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Ὁ Ἅγιος Καισάριος. 9 Μαρτίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
9. St Caesarius, brother of St Gregory the Theologian. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
10. March 9. Latin Saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome.
11. Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould (M.A.). "S. PACIAN, B. OF BARCELONA. (BEFORE A.D. 390.)." In: The Lives of the Saints. Volume the Third: March. London: John C. Nimmo, 1897. p. 172.
12. Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). March 11 - St. Constantine, Martyr. The Lives of the Saints. Volume III: March. 1866. (Bartleby.com)
13. William Canon Fleming (Rector of St. Mary’s, Moorsfields, London). A Complete History of the British Martyrs – From the Roman Occupation to Elizabeth’s Reign. Proprietors of the Catholic Repository. Little Britain, London, 1902. (pp. 19,141,145)..

    • Cites: Challoner's Britannia Sancta (Meighan, 1745).

14. Katherine I. Rabenstein. March 11 - Constantine of Scotland M (AC). St. Patrick Catholic Church, Washington, D.C. - Saint of the Day.
15. Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain. Constantine of Scotland - King & Martyr. Feast day: March 11 (†576).
16. Very Rev. John O'Hanlon. "Article XVII.—St. Bosa, Bishop of the Deiri, at York, England. [Seventh Century]." In: Lives of the Irish Saints: With Special Festivals, and the Commemorations of Holy Persons. VOL. III. Dublin, 1875. pp. 281-282.
17. Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould (M.A.). "S. BOSA, B. C. (A.D. 705.)." In: The Lives of the Saints. Volume the Third: March. London: John C. Nimmo, 1897. p. 175.
18. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Ὁ Ὅσιος Βιτάλιος ἐκ Σικελίας. 9 Μαρτίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
19. K. Lake. "The Greek Monasteries in South Italy I." J Theol Studies (1903) os-IV(15): 345-368 doi:10.1093/jts/os-IV.15.345. p. 364.
20. "Света 42 мученика момишићка – слава цркве у Момишићима • Радио ~ Светигора ~". svetigora.com (in Serbian). 2019-03-21. Retrieved 2025-03-09.
21. "Светих 40 мученика Севастијских – Младенци; Св. 42 муч. Момишићка". Prijateljboziji.com (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 2021-07-23. Retrieved 2025-03-09.
22. March 22 / March 9. HOLY TRINITY RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (A parish of the Patriarchate of Moscow).
23. The Autonomous Orthodox Metropolia of Western Europe and the Americas (ROCOR). St. Hilarion Calendar of Saints for the year of our Lord 2004. St. Hilarion Press (Austin, TX). p. 20.
24. (in Russian) 9 марта (ст.ст.) 22 марта 2013 (нов. ст.). Русская Православная Церковь Отдел внешних церковных связей. (DECR).
25. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Σύναξις Ὑπεραγίας Θεοτόκου «τοῦ Ἔνσαρκου Λόγου» ἐν Ἀλμπαζὶν τῆς Ρωσίας. 9 Μαρτίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
26. Icon of the Mother of God “The Word was made Flesh”. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
27. Icon of the Mother of God “The Word was made Flesh”. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
28. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Ὁ Ὅσιος Κλεόπας ἐκ Ρωσίας. 9 Μαρτίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
29. (in Russian) Схиархимандрит Феофил (Россоха) (1929–1996). Православная энциклопедия «Азбука веры» (Azbyka.ru). Retrieved: 8 November 2019.

Sources

• March 9/March 22. Orthodox Calendar (PRAVOSLAVIE.RU).
• March 22 / March 9. HOLY TRINITY RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (A parish of the Patriarchate of Moscow).
• March 9. OCA - The Lives of the Saints.
• The Autonomous Orthodox Metropolia of Western Europe and the Americas (ROCOR). St. Hilarion Calendar of Saints for the year of our Lord 2004. St. Hilarion Press (Austin, TX). p. 20.
• March 9. Latin Saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome.
• The Roman Martyrology. Transl. by the Archbishop of Baltimore. Last Edition, According to the Copy Printed at Rome in 1914. Revised Edition, with the Imprimatur of His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons. Baltimore: John Murphy Company, 1916. pp. 70–71.

Greek Sources

• Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) 9 ΜΑΡΤΙΟΥ. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
• (in Greek) Συναξαριστής. 9 Μαρτίου. ECCLESIA.GR. (H ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ).

Russian Sources

• (in Russian) 22 марта (9 марта). Православная Энциклопедия под редакцией Патриарха Московского и всея Руси Кирилла (электронная версия). (Orthodox Encyclopedia - Pravenc.ru).
• (in Russian) 9 марта (ст.ст.) 22 марта 2013 (нов. ст.). Русская Православная Церковь Отдел внешних церковных связей. (DECR).