Holy Foremother Eve

Eve was created by God from the side of Adam to be his helper and companion, and she was named "the mother of all living." Deceived by the serpent, she ate of the forbidden tree and gave the fruit to Adam, and with him she was driven out of Paradise. Yet God did not abandon her. Even at their exile He gave the first promise of a Savior, that the Seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head. The Orthodox Church honors Adam and Eve among the Holy Forefathers, the righteous of the Old Testament who lived and died in faith, waiting for Christ. Tradition holds that our first parents repented their whole lives long. The icon of the Resurrection shows Christ raising Adam and Eve by the hand from the tombs of Hades. Eve's sorrow is undone in the Most Holy Theotokos, the new Eve, through whom the promised Savior came.

Eve has no fixed feast of her own in the Orthodox Menaion. Greek name-day calendars list Εύα among the names celebrated on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers, which is movable. In Russian and Ukrainian usage, women named Ева usually keep the day of the New Martyr Abbess Eva (Pavlova), 14 Aug Julian = 27 Aug. A fixed 24 December 'Adam and Eve' day could not be confirmed in Orthodox sources and was left out; it appears to be Western popular custom.