January 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) explained

December 31 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - January 2

All fixed commemorations below are observed on January 14 by Eastern Orthodox Churches on the Old Calendar.

For January 1 (New Style), Orthodox Churches on the Old Calendar commemorate the Saints listed on December 19.

Feasts

• Feast of the Circumcision of Christ.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Saints

• Martyr Theodotus, by the sword.^{[4] [5]}
• Martyr Basil of Ancyra (362)^[6] (see also: January 2)
• Saint Gregory of Nazianzus the Elder, bishop and father of Saint Gregory the Theologian (374)^{[7] [8]}
• Saint Emilia, (mother of Sts. Macrina, Basil the Great, Naucratius, Peter of Sebaste, and Gregory of Nyssa) (375)^{[8] [9]}
• Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia (379)^{[10] [11]}
• Saint Theodosius of Tryglia, abbot^{[5] [8] [12]}

Pre-Schism Western saints

• Hieromartyr Concordius of Spoleto (c. 175)^[13]
• Thirty soldier-martyrs in Rome, under Diocletian (c. 304)^[13]
• Saint Telemachus (Almachius), hermit who came to Rome from the East and publicly protested against Pagan rites on New Year's Day, killed by gladiators in the Roman amphitheatre (391 or 404)^[13]
• Saint Basil, Bishop of Aix en Provence (c. 475)^[13]
• Saint Eugendus, fourth Abbot of Condat Abbey in the Jura Mountains (510)^{[5] [8] [13]}
• Saint Fanchea of Killeany (Fanchea of Rossory), sister of St Enda of Aran (c. 520)^{[5] [8] [13] [14]}
• Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe, Bishop of Ruspe in North Africa (533)^{[5] [8]}
• Saint Justin of Chieti, bishop of Chieti, Italy (c. 540)^[13]
• Saint Felix of Bourges, Bishop of Bourges (c. 580)^[13]
• Saint Connat (Comnata, Comnatan), Abbess of Kildare Abbey in Ireland (c. 590)^{[13] [15]}
• Saint Maelrhys, a saint on Bardsey Island in Wales (6th century)^[13]
• Saint Clarus, Abbot of St. Marcellus Monastery in Vienne, Gaul (c. 660)^{[8] [13]}
• Saint Cúan (Mochua, Moncan), Irish abbot, founder of many churches and monasteries in Ireland, lived to nearly 100 (752)^{[13] [16]}
• Saint Peter of Atroa, Abbot, opponent of iconoclasm (Peter the Standard-Bearer) (837)^[17] (see also: January 3 - East)
• Saint William of Dijon (William of Volpiano), Italian monastic reformer and architect (1031)^[13]

Post-Schism Orthodox saints

• Saint Peter Mogila, Metropolitan of Kiev and Galicia (1646) ^[18]
• New Martyr Peter of Tripolis in the Peloponnesus, at Temisi in Asia Minor (1776)^[19]
• Saint Athanasius (Volkhovsky), Bishop of Mohyliv, Wonderworker of Poltava (1801)^[20]

New martyrs and confessors

• New Hieromartyr Jeremiah Leonov (1918)^{[5] [21]}
• New Hieromartyrs Platon (Kulbush), Bishop of Tallinn (Reval), Estonia, and with him protopresbyters Michael (Blaive) and Nicholas (Bezhanitsky) (1919)^{[8] [21] [22]}
• New Hieromartyrs Alexander (Trapitsyn), Archbishop of Samara;
  • with him, priests: John (Smirnov), Alexander (Ivanov), Alexander (Organov), John (Suldin), Trophimus (Miachin), Viacheslav Infantov, Basil Vitevsky, and Jacob Alferov (1938)

Sources

• January 1/14. Orthodox Calendar (PRAVOSLAVIE.RU).
• January 14 / January 1. HOLY TRINITY RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (A parish of the Patriarchate of Moscow).
• January 1. OCA - The Lives of the Saints.
• January 1. 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. 1–3.
• Rev. Richard Stanton. A Menology of England and Wales, or, Brief Memorials of the Ancient British and English Saints Arranged According to the Calendar, Together with the Martyrs of the 16th and 17th Centuries. London: Burns & Oates, 1892. p. 1.

Greek Sources

• Great Synaxaristes: 1 ΙΑΝΟΥΑΡΙΟΥ. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
• Συναξαριστής. 1 Ιανουαρίου. ECCLESIA.GR. (H ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ).

Russian Sources

• 14 января (1 января). Православная Энциклопедия под редакцией Патриарха Московского и всея Руси Кирилла (электронная версия). (Orthodox Encyclopedia - Pravenc.ru).
• 1 января (ст.ст.) 14 января 2013 (нов. ст.) . Русская Православная Церковь Отдел внешних церковных связей. (DECR).

Notes and References

1. Great Synaxaristes: Περιτομὴ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. 1 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
2. http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100001 The Circumcision of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
3. Very Rev. John O'Hanlon. "Article XX.—Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord." In: Lives of the Irish Saints: With Special Festivals, and the Commemorations of Holy Persons. VOL. I. Dublin, 1875. pp. 26-27.
4. Great Synaxaristes: Ὁ Ἅγιος Θεόδοτος. 1 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
5. http://www.holytrinityorthodox.com/calendar/index.php?year=2011&today=14&month=1&trp=0&tzo=-5 January 14 / January 1
6. http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100004 Martyr Basil of Ancyra
7. Great Synaxaristes: Ὁ Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος. 1 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
8. http://orthochristian.com/calendar/20180101.html January 1/14
9. http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100005 St Emilia, the Mother of St Basil the Great
10. Great Synaxaristes: Ὁ Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας ὁ Καππαδόκης. 1 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
11. http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100003 St Basil the Great the Archbishop of Caesarea, in Cappadocia
12. Great Synaxaristes: Ὁ Ὅσιος Θεοδόσιος. 1 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
13. http://www.orthodoxengland.org.uk/stdjan.htm January 1
14. Very Rev. John O'Hanlon. "ARTICLE I.—ST. FANCHEA, VIRGIN, ABBESS OF ROSS OIRTHER, OR ROSSORY, COUNTY OF FERMANAGH, AND OF KILLANY, COUNTY OF LOUTH. [FIFTH AND SIXTH CENTURY.]." In: Lives of the Irish Saints: With Special Festivals, and the Commemorations of Holy Persons. VOL. I. Dublin, 1875. pp. 1-11.
15. Very Rev. John O'Hanlon. "Article XIV.—St. Connat, or Comnatan, Abbess of Kildare, County of Kildare. [Sixth Century.]." In: Lives of the Irish Saints: With Special Festivals, and the Commemorations of Holy Persons. VOL. I. Dublin, 1875. pp. 24-25.
16. Very Rev. John O'Hanlon. "Article XI.—Feast of St. Mochua, or Cuan, Abbot and Patron of Teach-Mochua, or Timahoe, Queen's County. [Sixth or Seventh Century.]." In: Lives of the Irish Saints: With Special Festivals, and the Commemorations of Holy Persons. VOL. I. Dublin, 1875. pp. 23-24.
17. 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.4.
18. Web site: The Orthodox Faith - Volume III - Church History - Seventeenth Century - Saint Peter Mogila . 2023-04-08 . www.oca.org.
19. Great Synaxaristes: Ὁ Ἅγιος Πέτρος ὁ Πελοποννήσιος. 1 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
20. RUSSIAN CHURCH ADDS 30 LOCALLY-VENERATED SAINTS TO CHURCH-WIDE CALENDAR. Orthodox Christianity. December 1, 2017.
21. 1 января (ст.ст.) 14 января 2013 (нов. ст.) . Русская Православная Церковь Отдел внешних церковных связей. (DECR).
22. Great Synaxaristes: Ὁ Ἅγιος Πλάτων ὁ Ἱερομάρτυρας καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ. 1 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.