Saint Alexander was sent to the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea as the delegate of Saint Metrophanes, Bishop of Constantinople (see June 4), to whose throne he succeeded in the year 325. When Arius had deceitfully professed allegiance to the Council of Nicaea, Saint Alexander, knowing his guile, refused to receive him into communion; Arius' powerful partisans threatened that they would use force to bring Arius into the communion of the Church the following day. Saint Alexander prayed fervently that God might spare the Church; and as Arius was in a privy place relieving nature, his bowels gushed forth with an effusion of blood, and the arch-heresiarch died the death of Judas. Saint Alexander was Bishop from 325 until 337, when he was succeeded by Saint Paul the Confessor, who died a martyr's death at the hands of the Arians (see Nov. 6). The Saint John commemorated here appears to be the one who was Patriarch during the years 562-577, surnamed Scholasticus, who is also commemorated on February 21. He was from Antioch, where he had been a lawyer (scholasticus); he was made presbyter, then was sent to Constantinople as representative (apocrisiarius) of the Patriarch of Antioch, and was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople by the Emperor Justinian. Saint Paul was Bishop of Constantinople during the years 687 - 693, in the reign of Emperor Justinian II, and presided over the Quinisext Council in 692.

Although the historical accounts differ somewhat, the Deposition that is celebrated today took place most likely during the reign of Emperor Arcadius (395-408), when the precious Cincture of the Mother of God was brought from Zela of Cappadocia to Constantinople, and placed in the Church of the Theotokos in the section of Chalcopratia.

For the maintenance of their armed forces, the Roman emperors decreed that their subjects in every district should be taxed every year. This same decree was reissued every fifteen years, since the Roman soldiers were obliged to serve for fifteen years. At the end of each fifteen-year period, an assessment was made of what economic changes had taken place, and a new tax was decreed, which was to be paid over the span of the fifteen years. This imperial decree, which was issued before the season of winter, was named Indictio, that is, Definiton, or Order. This name was adopted by the emperors in Constantinople also. At other times, the latter also used the term Epinemisis, that is, Distribution (Dianome). It is commonly held that Saint Constantine the Great introduced the Indiction decrees in A.D. 312, after he beheld the sign of the Cross in heaven and vanquished Maxentius and was proclaimed Emperor in the West. Some, however (and this seems more likely), ascribe the institution of the Indiction to Augustus Caesar, three years before the birth of Christ. Those who hold this view offer as proof the papal bull issued in A.D. 781 which is dated thus: Anno IV, Indictionis LIII -that is, the fourth year of the fifty-third Indiction. From this, we can deduce the aforementioned year (3 B.C.) by multiplying the fifty-two complete Indictions by the number of years in each (15), and adding the three years of the fifty-third Indiction. There are three types of Indictions: 1) That which was introduced in the West, and which is called Imperial, or Caesarean, or Constantinian, and which begins on the 24th of September; 2) The so-called Papal Indiction, which begins on the 1st of January; and 3) The Constantinopolitan, which was adopted by the Patriarchs of that city after the fall of the Eastern Empire in 1453. This Indiction is indicated in their own hand on the decrees they issue, without the numeration of the fifteen years. This Indiction begins on the 1st of September and is observed with special ceremony in the Church. Since the completion of each year takes place, as it were, with the harvest and gathering of the crops into storehouses, and we begin anew from henceforth the sowing of seed in the earth for the production of future crops, September is considered the beginning of the New Year. The Church also keeps festival this day, beseeching God for fair weather, seasonable rains, and an abundance of the fruits of the earth. The Holy Scriptures (Lev. 23:24-5 and Num. 29:1-2) also testify that the people of Israel celebrated the feast of the Blowing of the Trumpets on this day, offering hymns of thanksgiving. In addition to all the aforesaid, on this feast we also commemorate our Saviour's entry into the synagogue in Nazareth, where He was given the book of the Prophet Esaias to read, and He opened it and found the place where it is written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for which cause He hath anointed Me..." (Luke 4:16-30).

It should be noted that to the present day, the Church has always celebrated the beginning of the New Year on September 1. This was the custom in Constantinople until its fall in 1453 and in Russia until the reign of Peter I. September 1 is still festively celebrated as the New Year at the Patriarchate of Constantinople; among the Jews also the New Year, although reckoned according to a moveable calendar, usually falls in September. The service of the Menaion for January 1 is for our Lord's Circumcision and for the memorial of Saint Basil the Great, without any mention of its being the beginning of a new year.

Saint Mammas was from Gangra of Paphlagonia. He was born in prison, where his parents were suffering for Christ's sake and ended their lives. He was named Mammas because, after he had long remained without speaking, he addressed his foster mother Ammia as "mamma." He contested for Christ about the year 275.

Saint Theoctistus, a monk at the Palestinian lavra of Pharan, embraced a more severe life in the wilderness with his friend Saint Euthymius the Great. They founded a monastery, of which Theoctistus was the abbot. He reposed in deep old age in 451.

According to the Acts of the Apostles, the Apostles told the people of Jerusalem to elect  7 deacons, whom they  ordained to serve in the agape meals. One of them was St Philip the Deacon, who had four daughters. In Acts 21:8, St Luke the Evangelist testifies they were virgins and prophetesses. Two of them, Hermione and Eutychis, went to Asia Minor in search of St. John the Theologian. Instead, they found Petronios, a disciple of St. Paul, who became their teacher. They sought to imitate his virtues and intelligence, and Hermione also  learned the art of medicine. Large crowds hastened to her, and all were healed by her entreaty, in the name of  Christ.    When the Roman Emperor Trajan went to war

against the Persians, local pagans denounced her as a Christian. Hermione was brought before Trajan, and he tried to flatter her into abandoning her faith in Christ. Since he was unable to dissuade her, Trajan ordered that she be struck in the face for a long time. But she beheld our Lord Jesus Christ, sitting in judgment, in the form of Petronios, speaking to her, and she was strengthened. When the emperor saw that she remained steadfast, he was ashamed, and set her free.

   Hermione then opened a sacred guesthouse in Ephesus, which is considered the first Christian hospital. There, she received people sick both in body and soul. First, she led them on the path of repentance and Communion with God, and then healed physical illnesses that medical science of the era was unable to heal.

    When Trajan died in 117 AD, Hadrian took the throne. Learning about St Hermione, he called her before him and asked about her age and race. She answered, “My Christ knows how old I am and from which race I come.” Hadrian felt disrespected, and had her flogged, during which she prayed the Psalms continually. He then ordered nails to be put under her feet. She continued to thank God, enraging Hadrian even more. Next, he ordered a cauldron filled with pitch, sulfur, and asphalt. Before going in, she crossed herself, and the fire was extinguished and she remained unharmed. The emperor grew angry and ordered a second cauldron heated to extreme heat. Again, she stood in the cauldron unharmed, but when Hadrian came near it, his hand was burned. So, he ordered a large furnace heated up and sent her in, naked. But again, an angel of the Lord guarded her and scattered the flames, which burned witnesses, but not Hermione. When Hadrian witnessed this miracle, he was terrified, and had her removed from the furnace.

      When she came out, she told him that she saw the god Heracles being worshipped. Hearing this, he rejoiced and ordered her to enter the Greek temple. But when she entered, she prayed to the true God. Suddenly thunder was heard, and the idols fell and shattered to dust. When Hadrian entered the  temple and saw the shattered idols, he ordered Hermione to be beheaded.

  The executioners Theodoulos and Theotimos took her outside the city, but when they tried to behead her before she could say her prayers, their hands withered. They fell down before her, believed in Jesus, and their hands were healed.  They begged her to pray for them to deliver their souls before her, and thus they reposed and died a blessed death. Then, St. Hermione died in that same place.

According to the opinion of many Fathers of the Church, based on an ancient tradition, this is the Zacharias whom, as our Lord said, the Jews slew between the temple and the altar (Matt. 23:35), first, because even after the Virgin Mary gave birth, he continued to refer to her as virgin and number her among the virgins; second, because Zacharias' son John was not found during the slaughter of the Innocents, since the elderly Elizabeth had taken him and carefully hid him while he was yet an infant, in an unnamed place somewhere in the desert, where, according to the Evangelist, "the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel" (Luke 1:80). When the child was not found, his father was slain by Herod's command.