St. Venerable Sabbatius of Tver († 1438) was a famous Russian miracleworking monk. He took the tonsure and labored in the Orshinsky Ascension Monastery. In the 1380s, he traveled to the Holy City of Jerusalem, where he got acquainted with the life of Palestinian monasticism. Returning to his native monastery, he decided to move to desert life. For this purpose, having asked the blessing of his confessor, St. Arseny, he retired to a dense forest up the Orsha River, where he dug a cave in which he prayed for the salvation of human souls. In the same place, the monk dug a pond, and on the bank of the river, through the prayers of the saint, a healthy spring broke through. Soon the brethren began to gather around the Monk Sabbatius and, eventually, the Sabbatius' Monastery arose. The saint was in fraternal correspondence with St. Sergius of Radonezh, Cornelius of Komel, and many other holy monks. The monastery arranged by the Monk Sabbatius was considered one of the most strict and organized. Even during the life of St. Sabbatius became famous for miracles. Through his prayer, the daughter of Prince Boris of Tver, Maria, the future wife of Ivan III, received healing. The St. Sabbatius monastery suffered the fate of many Russian monasteries and in the 18th century.
St. Martyr Pelagia of Tarsus (Greek: Πελαγία, † early 4th century), was a legendary Christian saint and martyr who lived in Tarsus in Cilicia (southeastern Asia Minor) during the reign of Roman emperor Diocletian. According to her vita, Pelagia was born in the 3rd century in Tarsus (the Cilician region of Asia Minor) in a family of noble pagans. The girl was distinguished by her extraordinary beauty, received a good education, and the emperor Diocletian decided to make her the wife of his adopted heir, who was captivated by her beauty. Pelagia, who heard about Christians, their faith and martyrdom, was baptized by Bishop Clinon in Tarsus. After that, she refused to marry the adopted son of Diocletian and was brought by her mother to the Emperor, who, after seeing her beauty, wanted to make her his wife. Pelagia refused Diocletian, confessed herself as a Christian, and was executed by being burned in a red-hot copper bull. The bones of the saint were collected by local Christians and buried on one of the hills in the vicinity of the city. Emperor Constantine I the Great built a holy church over the relics of Pelagia.
St. Charitina of Amisus was a virgin martyr from Asia Minor, distinguished by strict chastity and piety. Charitina spent her life in fasting, prayer, and study. By her example, she converted many to Christianity during the reign of Emperor Diocletian and was seized in the city of Amisus in Pontus. After torture and death, her body was thrown into the sea in the year 304.
Saint Barbara, known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian saint and martyr living in the Greek city Nicomedia, present-day Turkey or in Heliopolis of Phoenicia, present-day Baalbek, Lebanon. Saint Barbara is often portrayed with miniature chains and a tower. As one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, Barbara continues to be a popular saint in modern times, perhaps best known as the patron saint of armourers, artillerymen, military engineers, miners and others who work with explosives because of her old legend's association with lightning, and also of mathematicians. Many of her thirteen miracles turn on the security she offered that her devotees would not die without making confession and receiving extreme unction.
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