A saint's day
St Xenia of St Petersburg
Xenia lived in eighteenth-century St Petersburg as the happy young wife of Andrew Petrov, until he died suddenly without confession or Communion. She gave her whole life to praying for his soul: she put on his uniform, answered only to his name, gave her house and goods to the poor and took up the hard path of foolishness for Christ. For forty-five years she wandered the poor quarters of the city, praying through the nights in an open field and secretly hauling bricks for the new cemetery church, and she came to be loved by all.
The dates
- Kept on
- 24 January (6 February 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
Her chapel at the Smolensk cemetery has drawn the faithful ever since, and Russian Orthodox women pray to her there for a good spouse, a peaceful family, a home and work.
Women praying for a husband read the akathist to St Xenia.
The Church keeps St Xenia of Rome on the same day; they are two different saints.
Name days
These names keep their name day on this feast: