A saint's day
St Demetrios the Myrrh-Streamer
St Demetrios, son of the Roman proconsul of Thessaloniki, was charged with defending the city and stamping out the faith, and instead he preached Christ openly. From prison he made the sign of the Cross over his young disciple Nestor, who went out and overthrew the emperor's champion wrestler Lyaeus, and soldiers sent to the prison pierced Demetrios with spears in 306. A fragrant myrrh has flowed from his tomb for centuries.
The dates
- Kept on
- 26 October (8 November on the Old Calendar)
- Next, New Calendar
- Next, Old Calendar
The New Calendar (the Greek, Antiochian, Romanian and Bulgarian churches, the OCA and most converts) keeps fixed feasts on the church date; the Old Calendar (the Russian, Serbian and Georgian churches, Jerusalem and Mount Athos) keeps them 13 days later. Pascha and the feasts that follow it are kept on the same day by both.
How the day is kept
Thessaloniki has called on him in every siege, and Greeks honor him above all as the city's protector and as the Myrrh-streamer.
Soldiers of Greece, Russia and Serbia carry his icon, and Orthodox Christians pray to him for courage, for the protection of those who serve and for the souls of the fallen.
On Dmitrievskaya Saturday, just before his feast, Russian Old-Calendar churches pray for all the departed: families bring the names of their parents and grandparents to church, and pray too for the soldiers who did not come home.
Name days
These names keep their name day on this feast: