[Salvation]

St. Gregory Nazianzen's Feastday is January 2nd.

[Salvation]

An interesting tidbit:
**The bishop of Nazianzus, St Gregory, is one of the first earliest Fathers from whom we have any mention of prayers addressed to Mary for obtaining her protection and assistance.**

[NYer]

Also celebrating their feast today ...

St. Macarius of Alexandria

St. Macarius of Alexandria, also known as Alexandria the Younger, lived in the fourth century in Egypt. Not only was he a very successful confectioner, he was also a very devout Christian. Because he desired to serve God with his whole being, he gave up his business to become a monk. He spent the last sixty years of his life living as a hermit. He built cells in the deserts of Skete and Nitria, however most of his time was spent in the area called the Cells. He was ordained and lived a life of austerity. St. Macarius became known for all the miracles that happened around him or through his prayers. He was sent into exile to an island in the Nile along with Macarius the Elder. He was eventually set free. There is a constitution named after him, which he wrote for the monastery in Nitria. Some of the rules in his constitution were adopted by St. Jerome for his monastery.

[Kolokotronis]

Apolytikion:

First Tone

The pastoral flute of your theology conquered the trumpets of orators. For it called upon the depths of the Spirit and you were enriched with the beauty of words. Intercede to Christ our God, O Father Gregory, that our souls may be saved.

Kontakion:

Third Tone

O Glorious One, you dispelled the complexities of orators with the words of your theology. You have adorned the Church with the vesture of Orthodoxy woven from on high. Clothed in this, the Church now cries out to your children, with us, "Hail Father, the consummate theological mind."

In Orthodoxy his feast is celebrated on January 25th. Today, January 2nd, is the feast day of +Sylvester, Pope of Rome and the much beloved +Seraphim of Sarov.