The Church celebrates the memory of Saint Ieronymus, who was contemporary of St. Augustine.
Saint Ieronymos was born in AD 345 in the village of Stridon in Dalmatia to virtuous Christians, who sent him to Rome in order to receive better education. Rome was the place where he was baptized, but also fell into temptations due to his young age.
After Rome he visited several countries ending up in the East. In AD 373, he arrived in Antioch to continue his studies. After renouncing his youthful excesses, he retired to the desert of Chalcis south east of Antioch and led an ascetic life.
He then traveled to Constantinople, where he met Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa (brother of the Saint Basil the Great) and returned to Rome.
Saint Hieronymus fell asleep in the Lord in Bethlehem in AD 420. His holy relic was later transferred to Rome and placed in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. The liturgy of Saint Ieronymus, a poem by Niphon of Mount Athos, was published in Athens in 1925.
The fast of the Holy Apostles begins today and ends on June 28. It lasts 14 days this year, according to the day Easter was celebrated.
The course of the believer within the Orthodox Church is a practice with the prospect of graceful deification, that is, sanctification. Fasting is a form of spiritual and material practice. The Christians can reap the fruit of this practice as long as it is practiced in moderation and with discernment.
Source: Church of Cyprus
