On the Sunday that falls on or immediately after the eleventh of this month, we chant the Service to the 350 holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, which gathered in Nicaea in 787 under the holy Patriarch Tarasius and during the reign of the Empress Irene and her son, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, to refute the Iconoclast heresy, which had received imperial support beginning with the Edict issued in 726 by Emperor Leo the Isaurian. Many of the holy Fathers who condemned Iconoclasm at this holy Council later died as Confessors and Martyrs for the holy Icons during the second assult of Iconoclasm in the ninth century, especially during the reigns of Leo the Armenian and Theophilus.

Saint Symeon became a monk of the Studite Monastery as a young man, under the guidance of the elder Symeon the Pious. Afterwards he struggled at the Monastery of Saint Mamas in Constantinople, of which he became abbot. After enduring many trials and afflictions in his life of piety, he reposed in 1022. Marvelling at the heights of prayer and holiness to which he attained, and the loftiness of the teachings of his life and writings, the church calls him "the New Theologian." Only to two others, John the Evangelist and Gregory, Patriarch of Constantinople, has the church given the name "Theologian." Saint Symeon reposed on March 12, but since this always falls in the Great Fast, his feast is kept today.

The Holy Virgin Martyr Chrysḗ, that “golden vessel of virginity, and undefiled bride of Christ,” was born in the village of Slatena, in the Meglena diocese, on the border of Bulgaria and Serbia, when Bulgaria was under the Turkish Yoke. Her father was poor and he had four daughters. Saint Chrysḗ was beautiful in appearance, and her soul was beautiful as well. From childhood she displayed an unusually strong character, and an unshakeable faith in Christ.

A certain Turk became obsessed with her, and kidnapped her one day as she was gathering wood with some other women. He brought her to his house, and repeatedly tried to seduce the maiden, and persuade her to convert to Islam, saying that he would make her his wife. Chrysḗ, however, resisted and asserted: "I know only Christ as my Bridegroom, Whom I shall not deny, even if you tear me to to shreds."

Since persuasion and flattery proved unsuccessful, the Turk began to threaten her with grievous torments. The glorious martyr was not frightened by these threats, however. For six months the impious Moslems tried to make Chrysḗ accept their religion, but she remained steadfast. Then they ordered the saint’s parents and sisters to convince her to become a Moslem. Otherwise, they would kill Chrysḗ and torture them.

The Saint's parents and sisters wept and urged her to deny Christ “just for the sake of appearances,” so that they might be spared torture and death. Saint Chrysḗ was unmoved by their pleas, and replied, “You who now urge me to deny Christ are no longer my parents and sisters. Instead, I have the Lord Jesus Christ as my father, the Lady Theotokos as my mother, and the Saints of our Church as my brothers and sisters!”

When the Moslems saw that they could not weaken the Saint's resolve, they tortured her for three months, beating her with clubs. Later, they peeled strips of skin from her body so that the earth was reddened by her blood. Then they heated a skewer and passed it through her ears.

Standing nearby was her Spiritual Father, Hieromonk Timothy of Stavronikḗta Monastery on Mount Athos, She sent word to him to pray that she would persevere until the end. It was he who recorded her martyrdom.

Finally, the Moslems fell into a rage at having been defeated by a woman, so they tied her to a tree and cut her virginal body to pieces with their knives. Her pure soul was received by Christ, Who bestowed on her the double crowns of virginity and martyrdom. Certain Christians gathered her relics secretly and buried them with great reverence. Saint Chrysḗ suffered for Christ on October 13, 1795.

According to some, Hosea, whose name means "God is help," was from the tribe of Issachar, or more likely, from that of Reuben; he was the son of Beeri. He is the first in order of the twelve minor Prophets and the most ancient of all. He prophesied in the days of the divided Kingdom; the Lord told him to take a harlot to wife (Hosea 1:2), and then an adulteress (ibid., 3:1). The harlot, a known sinner, was a figure of the Kingdom of Israel in Samaria, which openly worshipped idols; the adulteress, lawfully married yet sinning secretly with her lovers, was a figure of the Kingdom of Judah in Jerusalem, which, while having the Temple, and the priesthood, and the divine worship according to the Law, stealthily served the idols also. The Prophet Hosea prophesied for sixty years, and lived for some ninety years, from 810 to 720 B.C. His book is divided into fourteen chapters.