December starts tomorrow, Sunday, December 1st.
According to the calendar they have this day a feast the:
- theoklitus, Theoklitus
- naum, Naumis, Naomi, Nauma
- Philaretis, Philaretos, Philaretis
- Areti, Aretousa*
- Fainareti
Saint Philaretos the Merciful
According to the synaxarist, Saint Philaretos was a model of all virtues and especially charity. He lived in the time of Constantine Porphyrogenitus and his mother Irene of Attica (780 – 797 AD). He was born in the village of Amnia (or Amnea) in Gangra (Paphlagonia) to pious parents, george and Anna. He married Theosevo and they had three children. A son, ioannis, and two daughters, the first named Hypatia and the second Evanthia. Philaretos was a farmer and from his income he generously distributed alms to the poor. Was he hungry? he was tired. Naked? dressed him. Widowed and orphaned? he gave help and comfort.
But God allowed, and Philaretus became very poor once. His estates were seized by his neighbors and his life was scattered. only his bees, 250 hives, remained strong and productive. And when a poor man came to him, having nothing else to give him, he took it, whent to the beehives, took a beehive and gave the honey to the poor man to satisfy him. In this way, whether it was harvest time or not, he got rid of all his bees.
God who saw his faith without controversy saved his finding, so that Constantine took the son of Queen Irene, the granddaughter of Saint Mary, as his wife, because she was very lovely in soul and body. The weddings were performed by Saint Tarasios (see February 25) in November 788 AD, who was then Patriarch of constantinople. as for Filareto, the Emperor conferred on him the office of (provincial) governor. Thus he became the possessor of much wealth, which he distributed even more to the poor.
Shortly before he died, he called his relatives and said the following: “My children, do not forget generosity, do not desire foreign things, do not be absent from the services and functions of the Church, and that general, as I lived, so you might live too ». And after saying this, he cooled down with the sentence: “let your will be done”.
Saint Filaretos is the patron saint of beekeeping.
Absolute
With the wealth of the divine faith, having distributed the gift of your wealth to the poor, philaret; and with mercy you decorated your life, giver of mercy you glorified; and divine mercy.
