December 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) explained

December 28 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - December 30

All fixed commemorations below are observed on January 11 by Orthodox Churches on the Old Calendar.

For December 29th, Orthodox Churches on the Old Calendar commemorate the Saints listed on December 16.

Feasts

• Afterfeast of the Nativity of Christ.^{[1] [2]}

Saints

• The 14,000 Infants (Holy Innocents) slain by Herod at Bethlehem, the first Christian martyrs.^{[1] [3] [4]}
• Venerable Athenodorus, disciple of St. Pachomius the Great (4th century)^{[1] [5]}
• Venerable Benjamin, monk, of Nitria in Egypt (392)^{[1] [6]}
• Venerable Marcellus, Abbot of the Monastery of the Unsleeping Ones ("the Ever-Vigilant"), Constantinople (485)^{[1] [7] [8]}
• Venerable Thaddeus, Confessor, of the Studion Monastery (818)^{[1] [9] [10] [11]}
• Venerable Saint George, Archbishop of Nicomedia, composer of Canons and Troparia (c .857 - 891)^{[1] [12]}

Pre-Schism Western saints

• Saint Trophimus, first Bishop of Arles in France (c. 280)^{[1] [13]}
• Martyrs Callistus, Felix and Boniface, martyrs in Rome.^[13]
• Martyrs Dominic, Victor, Primian, Lybosus, Saturninus, Crescentius, Secundus and Honoratus, martyrs in North Africa.^[13]
• Saint Albert of Gambron, a courtier who became a hermit, later founding the small monastery of Gambron-sur-l'Authion in France (7th century)^[13]
• Saint Ebrulfus (Evroult), Abbot, born in Bayeux, became a monk at the monastery of Deux-Jumeaux, later founding a monastery at Pays d'Ouche in Normany, and other smaller monasteries (596)^{[1] [13]}
• Saint Girald (Girard, Giraud), a monk at Lagny in France, later Abbot of Saint-Arnoul; he became Abbot of Fontenelle Abbey, where he was murdered (1031)^[13]

Post-Schism Orthodox saints

• Saint Mark the Grave-digger, of the Kiev Caves (11th century)^{[1] [14] [15]}
• Saints Theophilus and John, of the Kiev Caves (11th-12th century)^{[1] [16]}
• Saint Theophilus, Abbot, of Luga and Omutch (Pskov) (1412), disciple of St. Arsenius of Konevits.^{[1] [17]}
• Saint Basiliscus, Elder, the Hesychast of Siberia (Turinsk) (1824)^{[1] [18]}
• Venerable Laurence of Chernigov (1950)^{[11] [18]}

New martyrs and confessors

• New Hieromartyr Arcadius, Bishop of Tver (1937)^[19]
• New Hieromartyr Theodosius Belenky, Priest, at Chimkent (1938)^{[11] [18] [19]}
• Virgin-martyrs: Natalia, Natalia, Eudokia, Anna, Matrona, Barbara, Anna, Eudokia, Ephrosia, Agrippina and Natalia (1942)^{[11] [18] [19]}

Other commemorations

• Commemoration of the consecration of the church of the Holy Forty Martyrs, near the Copper Tetrapyle (four-way arch).^[20]
• Commemoration of all Orthodox Christians who have died from hunger, thirst, the sword, and freezing.^{[1] [2] [18] [19]}

Sources

• December 29/January 11. Orthodox Calendar (PRAVOSLAVIE.RU).
• January 11 / December 29. HOLY TRINITY RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (A parish of the Patriarchate of Moscow).
• December 29. 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. 3.
• December 29. 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. 400–401.

Greek Sources

• Great Synaxaristes: 29 ΔΕΚΕΜΒΡΙΟΥ. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
• Συναξαριστής. 29 Δεκεμβρίου. ECCLESIA.GR. (H ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ).

Russian Sources

• 11 января (29 декабря). Православная Энциклопедия под редакцией Патриарха Московского и всея Руси Кирилла (электронная версия). (Orthodox Encyclopedia - Pravenc.ru).
• 29 декабря (ст.ст.) 11 января 2013 (нов. ст.). Русская Православная Церковь Отдел внешних церковных связей. (DECR).

Notes and References

1. http://orthochristian.com/calendar/20171229.html December 29/January 11
2. Afterfeast of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. OCA - Feasts and Saints.
3. Great Synaxaristes: : Τὰ Ἅγια Νήπια (περίπου 14.000) ποὺ ἐσφάγισαν μὲ διαταγὴ τοῦ Ἡρώδη. 29 Δεκεμβρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
4. 14,000 Infants (the Holy Innocents) slain by Herod at Bethlehem. OCA - Feasts and Saints.
5. Great Synaxaristes: : Ὁ Ὅσιος Ἀθηνόδωρος. 29 Δεκεμβρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
6. Great Synaxaristes: : Ὁ Ὅσιος Βενιαμίν. 29 Δεκεμβρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
7. Great Synaxaristes: : Ὁ Ὅσιος Μάρκελλος. 29 Δεκεμβρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
8. Venerable Marcellus the Abbot of the Monastery of the "Unsleeping Ones". OCA - Feasts and Saints.
9. Great Synaxaristes: : Ὁ Ὅσιος Θαδδαῖος ὁ Ὁμολογητής. 29 Δεκεμβρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
10. Venerable Thaddeus the Confessor of the Studion. OCA - Feasts and Saints.
11. 29 декабря (ст.ст.) 11 января 2013 (нов. ст.). Русская Православная Церковь Отдел внешних церковных связей. (DECR).
12. Great Synaxaristes: : Ὁ Ὅσιος Γεώργιος Ἐπίσκοπος Νικομήδειας ποιητὴς ἀσματικῶν Κανόνων καὶ Τροπαρίων. 29 Δεκεμβρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
13. http://www.orthodoxengland.org.uk/stddec.htm December 29
14. Venerable Mark the Grave-Digger of the Kiev Near Caves. OCA - Feasts and Saints.
15. Прп. Марк гробокопатель (XI-XII) - Память 11 января. Свято-Успенская Киево-Печерская Лавра (мужской монастырь) Украинской Православной Церкви 1991-2019. Retrieved: 6 August 2019.
16. Venerable Theophilus of the Kiev Near Caves. OCA - Feasts and Saints.
17. Venerable Theophilus of Luga and Omutch. OCA - Feasts and Saints.
18. http://www.holytrinityorthodox.com/calendar/index.php?year=2012&today=11&month=1&trp=0&tzo=-4 January 11 / December 29
19. 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.3.
20. Great Synaxaristes: : Ἐγκαίνια τοῦ Ναοῦ Ἁγίων Τεσσαράκοντα πλησίον τοῦ Χαλκοῦ Τετραπύλου. 29 Δεκεμβρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.