St. Niphon of Mount Athos went to the monastic state of Mount Athos sometime after 1335, where he dedicated himself to greater asceticism under the guidance of the monastic Elders settling in the cave of the venerable saint Peter the Athonite, close to the Great Lavra (Athos). In 1345, Niphon was the Protos of Mount Athos. At that time Athos came under the protection of the Serbian Tsar Stefan Dusan, who accused him of heresy and Bogomilism, but he was successfully defended by Gregory Palamas. Niphon lived the rest of his life as a Hesychast, dying peacefully at the age of 96 in 1411 AD, glorified by gifts of wonderworking and clairvoyance.
Saint Boniface of Tarsus was a Christian martyr who was executed in the year 307 at Tarsus, where he had gone from Rome in order to bring back holy relics of the martyrs requested by his mistress Aglaida. Finding upon arrival at Tarsus that the authorities were torturing Christians, he openly declared himself to be a Christian. His own body constituted the relics that were brought back to Aglaida, who in turn also became a Christian. The Orthodox Church celebrates both of them on 19 December as the "Martyr Boniface at Tarsus in Cilicia and Righteous Aglaida of Rome".
Saint Venerable Martha was mother of Venerable Simeon Stylites the Younger who lived as a model of chaste and pious life and by her example, she guided many on the pathway to salvation. When her son, Saint Simeon, had become a renowned ascetic, she urged him not to exalt himself for his own efforts but to thank God for everything.
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