On December 29, the Church commemorates the unknown martyrs. This day of remembrance is focused on those who died for the sake of Christ but are not recorded anywhere.
While the Church usually honors people who were well known by their contemporaries as heroic in the faith, today we are reminded that God exalts the nameless who sought to do the will of God and were put to death for it. As such, the glory of these unknown saints (to us, anyway) will be revealed at the Last Judgment.
This Synaxis originally took place in the church of the Most Holy Theotokos at Chalkoprateia, which is a district in Constantinople, west of Hagia Sophia.
Your holy martyrs O Lord, / through their sufferings have received incorruptible crowns from You, our God. / For having Your strength, they laid low their adversaries, / and shattered the powerless boldness of demons. / Through their intercessions, save our souls!
Comments