St. Constantine the Great, Emperor and Equal-to-the-Apostles

Flavius Valerius Constantinus, known as St. Constantine the Great or St. Constantine I, Emperor and Equal-to-the-Apostles (February 27, 272 to May 21, 337) was first Christian Emperor, responsible for spreading the faith all over the Empire. The Orthodox Church keeps his feast on May 21, along with his mother, Empress Saint Helen, as Holy Equals-to-the-Apostles.

St. Constantine the Great and his Mother St. Helen 

Constantine is perhaps best known for being the first Roman Emperor to endorse Christianity, traditionally presented as a result of an omen — a chi-rho in the sky, with the inscription "By this sign shalt thou conquer" — before his victory in the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312, when Constantine is said to have instituted the new standard to be carried into battle, called the labarum.

Christian historians ever since Lactantius have adhered to the view that Constantine "adopted" Christianity as a kind of replacement for the official Roman paganism. Though the document called the "Donation of Constantine" was proved a forgery (though not until the 15th century, when the stories of Constantine's conversion were long-established "facts") it was attributed as documenting the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity for centuries. Even Christian skeptics have accepted this formulation, though seeing Constantine's policy as a political rather than spiritual move.

By the end of the 3rd century, Christian communities and their bishops had become a force to contend with, in urban centers especially. Christians were preferred for high government positions; the Church was granted various special privileges; and churches like the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem were constructed. Christian bishops took aggressive public stances that were unknown among other cult leaders, even among the Jews. Proselytism had had to be publicly outlawed, simply to maintain public decorum. In the essential legions, however, Christianity was despised as womanish, and the soldiers followed pagan cults of Mithras and Isis. Since the Roman Emperors ruled by "divine right" and stayed in power through the support of the legions, it was important for them to be seen to support a strong state religion. The contumely of the Christians consisted in their public refusal to participate in official rites that no one deeply believed in, but which were an equivalent of an oath of allegiance. Refusal might easily bring upon all the Roman people the loss of the gods' support; such were the usual justifications for occasional lynchings of Christians by Roman soldiers, the fare of many martyrologies.

Constantine and Licinius' Edict of Milan (313) neither made paganism illegal nor made Christianity a state-sponsored religion. What it did was legalize Christianity, return confiscated Church property, and establish Sunday as a day of worship. Though the church prospered under Constantine's patronage, it also fell into the first of many public schisms. He called the First Ecumenical Council to settle the problem of Arianism, a dispute about the personhood and Godhood of Jesus Christ. It produced the Nicene Creed, which favored the position of Athanasius, Arius's opponent, and became official doctrine.

In medieval times, Constantine was presented as an ideal ruler, the standard against which any king or emperor could be measured.

From his recent illness, Constantine knew death would soon come. Within the Church of the Holy Apostles, Constantine had secretly prepared a final resting-place for himself. It came sooner than he had expected. Soon after the Feast of Pascha in 337, Constantine fell seriously ill. He left Constantinople for the hot baths near his mother's city of Helenopolis (Altınova), on the southern shores of the Gulf of Nicomedia (present-day Gulf of İzmit). There, in a church his mother built in honor of Lucian the Martyr, he prayed, and there he realized that he was dying. Seeking purification, he became a catechumen and attempted a return to Constantinople, making it only as far as a suburb of Nicomedia. He summoned the bishops and told them of his hope to be baptized in the River Jordan, where Christ was written to have been baptized. He requested the baptism right away, promising to live a more Christian life should he live through his illness. The bishops, Eusebius records, "performed the sacred ceremonies according to custom". He chose the Arianizing bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia, bishop of the city where he lay dying, as his baptizer. In postponing his baptism, he followed one custom at the time which postponed baptism until after infancy. It has been thought that Constantine put off baptism as long as he did so as to be absolved from as much of his sin as possible. Constantine died soon after at a suburban villa called Achyron, on the last day of the fifty-day festival of Pentecost directly following Pascha on 22 May 337.

The Church of the Holy Apostles was second in size and importance only to the Hagia Sophia among the great churches of the capital Constantinople. When Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453, the Holy Apostles briefly became the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Three years later the dilapidated edifice was abandoned, and the patriarchate was moved to the Theotokos Pammakaristos Church. In 1461, the church of the Holy Apostles was demolished by the Ottomans to make way for the Fatih Mosque.

To celebrate St. Constantine's feast day, you can read

"The Life of Saint Constantine" by Euphemia Briere

"The Story of Saint Constantine" 

Troparion (Tone 8)

Having seen the figure of the Cross in the heavens, And like Paul not having received his call from men, O Lord, Your apostle among rulers, the Emperor Constantine. Has been set by Your hand as ruler over the Imperial City That he preserved in peace for many years, Through the prayers of the Theotokos, O only lover of mankind.

Kontakion (Tone 3)
Today Constantine and his mother Helen
Reveal the precious Cross,

The weapon of the faithful against their enemies.
For our sakes, it has been shown to be a great sign, and fearsome in battle.

St. Reginos of Skopelos

St. Réginos was born in Livadeia in central Greece, in the late 3rd century to Christian parents, who instilled in him the love of virtue and zeal for truth. When the old Bishop of Skopelos passed away, Saint Réginos was acclaimed as the new Bishop by all of the people. As the Arian heresy continued to rage after the Council of Nicaea (325), a new council was called at Sardica (now Sofia, Bulgaria) in 343, during which St. Réginos distinguished himself by his ability to refute the heretics.

In the year 361 a persecution broke out against the Christians under Emperor Julian the Apostate. The Prefect of Greece had Bishop Reginos and other prominent Christians arrested. The Prefect alternated between words of flattery and threats to try to persuade the Bishop to deny the Lord Jesus, thinking that by his conversion to paganism many would follow. However, all this was done in vain, for it only increased his zeal to remain steadfast in the truth. Seeing his resolve, the Prefect had Bishop Reginos beheaded on February 25, 362.

 

The beheading of St. Réginos the Martyr 

He is commemorated on February 25, which is a local holiday on the island of Skopelos . At the Monastery of Saint Réginos, which houses the relics of the saint, thousands of faithful gather each year on February 25 from the surrounding islands of Skiathos and Alonissos as well as from the coastal port city of Volos, to pay homage to the martyr. The saint has shown his love for his flock by performing several miracles of healing according to the locals, several of which name their children after him (Réginos or Regina).

The procession of the old treasured icon of Saint Reginos at "Old Bridge" where he was beheaded

The church of Saint Reginos, the patron saint of Skopelos, was rebuilt in 1728, most likely over the ruins of an old Byzantine monastery, and is one of the island’s most important attractions. In the courtyard of the present-day church, which was built in 1960, the visiting worshipers can see the sarcophagus of Saint Reginos, a martyr and first bishop of the island (4th c. AD). The sacred relics of Saint Reginos are kept at the Nativity Metropolitan Cathedral (Genissi Christou). During the persecutions under Julian the Apostate, Saint Reginos was martyred. Skopelitians buried the holy relics of the bishop a few kilometers southwest of the diocese. During the 5th or 6th century, the first church of the island was built next to the tomb of the patron saint.

The tomb of Saint Reginos in his Monastery at the Nativity Metropolitan Cathedral

 A sacred relic of Saint Reginos, kept in the Sacred Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ

The stone-built katholikon of the Sacred Monastery of Saint Reginos

The ancient skete/shrine of Saint Reginos in Pyrgos, Greece

The interior of the katholikon of the Sacred Monastery of Saint Reginos

Saint Reginos is the patron saint of Skopelos in Greece

Skopelos Island, Greece

St. Reginos of Scopelos

One way to commemorate Saint Reginos's Feast Day it to color a dragon that he fought

Try and recreated food specialties of the island which include a local cheese pie, and the tasteful blackfish casserole with onions (stifado). 

Traditional Cheese pie of Skopelos 

Skepelos Blackfish Stew 

Greek Salad with local Feta (Choriatiki)

Avgato Plum Preserve

St. Helena of Serbia

Saint Helena (Elena) was a pious mother to her sons Stephen Milutin and Dragutin. Saint Stefan was the younger son of king Stefan Urosh I, and grandson of First-Crowned King Saint Stefan (Comm. 24 September). He ruled Serbia from 1275 to 1320. Stefan Miliutin received the throne from his elder brother Dragutin, a true Christian, who after a short reign transferred power over to his brother, and he himself in loving solitude withdrew to Srem, where he did secret ascetic deeds in a grave-pit, dug by his own hand. During his righteous life, Saint Dragutin toiled much over converting the heretic Bogomils to the true faith. His death occurred on 2 March 1316.

Saint Stephen (Stefan) Miliutin, King of Serbia, his brother Dragutin, and their mother Elena (Helen):

She devoted her whole life to religious deeds after the death of her husband. She built a shelter for the poor, and a monastery for those who wished to live in purity and virginity. Near the city of Spich, she built the Rechesk monastery and endowed it with the necessities.

Before her death, Saint Helen received monastic tonsure and departed to the Lord on February 8, 1306.