Christian Saints Podcast

James John Marks guest hosts again - this time having a conversation with Father Symeon Kees of St George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Houston. The topic is the Eastern Orthodox Chinese Martyrs of the Boxer Rebellion, but the conversation touches also upon sainthood and martyrdom in general, multiculturalism in the church, and many other intersecting topics. This is a crossover episode with Fathe...

Saint Theophan the Recluse was a 19th century Russian monk and bishop, who in his later years dedicated himself to a life of seclusion. He is particularly celebrated for his writings, which give practical advice on living a Christian life in language understandable to a modern reader.  Our guest host Jim John Marks shares about the life of this great saint, including reading some excerpts from his...

Jim John Marks did a guest episode on Saint Basil the Great last year - this year I give my own take on him. Saint Basil the Great (also known as Saint Basil of Caesarea) was a fourth century bishop and theologian - one of the most important theologians of the church. He is declared a doctor of the church in the west, and one of the three Holy Hierarchs in the East. Basil was bishop during a time...

In this special Christmas episode read from "The First Christmas Tree", a short story by American author Henry van Dyke, which is a retelling of the story of Saint Boniface (in this story, called by his German name Winfried) introducing the Christmas tree, during his missionary journeys to the Germanic pagans. This is a powerful story that fleshes out the symbolic significance of the Chr...

Saint Lucy of Syracuse was an early Christian martyr from the town of Syracuse in Italy. She was martyred in the early 4th century.  The stories say she used to smuggle supplies to Christians hiding in the catacombs, wearing a wreath of candles so her hands could carry more supplies. Her feast day, 13 December is an important holiday in some parts of Europe, in particular Scandinavia. On Saint Luc...

Saint Andrew was one of Jesus' twelve apostles, and the brother of Saint Peter. He is known as the "first-called", because the Gospel of John suggests he was one of the first to follow Jesus. After the Resurrection and Pentecost, Saint Andrew spread the gospel in Eastern Europe. Most significantly, he is believed to have founded the church at Byzantium. Thus the Archbishop of Consta...

Saint John Chrysostom was Archbishop of Constantinople in the late 4th and early 5th centuries, and one of the most celebrated theologians in the Christian church. In the East he is honored as one of the three holy hierarchs, and in the West he is a doctor of the church. The most common liturgy celebrated in the Eastern church, the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom is attributed to him  and...

Saint Leonard of Noblac was a 6th century French hermit, known for miraculously releasing captives from prison.  He was a noble from the tribe of the Franks. Saint Leonard was born a pagan, but received the Christian faith through the efforts of the missionary Saint Remigius. He was inspired to live a life of a hermit.  The Christian Saints Podcast is a joint production of Generative sounds &...

Saint James was one of Jesus' apostles, who by tradition was a relative of Jesus, either a step-brother or a cousin. He was the bishop of Jerusalem in the early church, and wrote the epistle of James, one of the books in the New Testament. He is known for his crucial role in the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, a meeting of the Christian leaders of the early church that decided that gentile C...

Saint Longinus the Centurion was present during the crucifixion of Christ. He was the soldier who pierced Christ's side with a spear, and who proclaimed after Christ's death that "truly he was the Son of God". Tradition holds that he converted to Christianity afterward, and died a martyr. We read from the gospel passages about Saint Longinus, his entry in the "Golden Legen...

Saint Denis (or Dionysius) of Paris was a third-century martyr and Bishop of Paris. In his time, Paris was under the control of the Roman empire. He was part of a pioneering group of missionaries that brought the gospel to France, and he was very successful in bringing the pagans to Christ. He was beheaded during one of the Roman Empire's persecutions of Christians. Saint Denis gained a devot...

Saint Sergius of Radonezh is one of the most celebrated saints of the Russian Orthodox Church, credited for reforming and revitalizing monasticism in medieval Russia. He lived in the 14th century, and was known for his piety, as well as for his visions and miracle-working. He is particularly known for promoting the hesachystic movement in Russia., which is a form of prayer very prominent in the Ea...

Saint Andrei Rublev lived in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, and is celebrated as Russia's greatest iconographer. Not much is known about his life, so in this episode we will contemplate and discuss his most important icon: the icon of the Holy Trinity. This icon depicts the three angelic visitors that Abraham hosts in Genesis 18, but it really points to the true nature of the trinita...

Saint Boniface was an English monk who was a missionary to various Germanic tribes. He is thus known today as the "Apostle to Germany".  He converted many pagans, and strengthened the church in Germany. He died a martyr during the course of his missionary work, ambushed by one of these pagan tribes. Saint Boniface is said to have introduced the Christmas tree: tradition tells of how he f...

Saint Theodosia was a nun martyred in the year 729 during the reign of the Leo III the Isaurian of the Byzantine Roman Empire.  The emperor was an adherent of the iconoclast heresy, which prohibited the veneration of icons. When the emperor sent an official to remove an icon of Christ which stood above the Chalke Gate of the imperial palace, Saint Theodosia and some other women gathered to stop hi...

Saint Pachomius the Great is one of the most important of the desert fathers of 3rd-4th century Egypt. He is the founder of cenobitic monasticism, that is, the type of monasticism where monks live together in communities. He came from a pagan family in Egypt, and was a conscript in the Roman Empire's army. During his service, he encountered the kindness of Christians, and resolved to be a Chr...

Saint Thomas the Apostle was one of Jesus' twelve disciples. He is also known as "doubting Thomas", since he refused to believe that Jesus was resurrected until he saw Christ himself. Tradition holds that he later traveled east to spread the Gospel, establishing churches in the Middle East and finally in India, where he died as a martyr. For this reason, Saint Thomas is an especiall...

In this Easter episode of the Christian Saints Podcast, we will remember Saint Mary Magdalene, the first person to discover that Jesus Christ was resurrected. She was one of Jesus' closest followers, and indeed the gospels tell us she help to support his ministry financially. Saint Mary Magdalene is sometimes known as the "Apostle to the Apostles" a title given to her by Saint Thoma...

Saint John of the Ladder (also known as Saint John of Sinai) was abbot of Saint Catherine's monastery in Sinai, Egypt. He is principally known for writing the Ladder of Divine Ascent, a text intended to guide Christians, primarily monastics, towards a life of holiness. This book is much beloved, particularly in Eastern Christianity. It consists of 30 "steps" or "rungs" of...

Saint Matrona  of Thessalonica was a martyr from the 3rd or 4th century, who was a slave to a Jewish woman who tortured her to death for embracing the Christian faith. She is also celebrated in Barcelona, Spain, after her relics were moved there. The Christian Saints Podcast is a joint production of Generative sounds & Paradosis Pavilion. Our hosts are Father Symeon Kees of Iowa City & Jam...

The Annunciation, celebrated on March 25 is one of the most important feasts of the church. This is the moment when the Archangel Gabriel announces to Mary that Jesus Christ is conceived in her. For this episode, we read the account of the Annunciation in the Gospel of Luke, and hear reflections on the event by John Donne, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Pope Francis and Saint John of Kronstadt The Ch...

Saint Helen of Constantinople was born in the 3rd century Roman Empire from humble origins, but eventually became Empress, as mother of Saint and Emperor Constantine the Great. Saint Constantine was the first Christian emperor of Rome, and with his rule the Roman Empire would embrace the Christian faith.  Saint Helen is known also for traveling to Jerusalem and finding the true cross where Christ...

Saints Cyril and Methodius are known as the "teachers of the Slavs". They were 9th century missionaries who brought the gospel to the Slavic peoples (who are the ancestor's of today's Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Bulgarians, Ukrainians, Russians, etc). Saint Cyril in particular is known as the inventor of the Cyrilic alphabet, which is still in use today in many Slavic countries (an...

Saint Brigid of Kildare lived in c. 451 – 525. She is one of the patron saints of Ireland, and sometimes referred to as the "Gaelic Mary". She was the daughter of a slave who eventually became an abbess. She is particularly known for her miracle-working and great love for the poor. Her feast day on February 1 will be a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland starting in the year 2023 T...

Saint Basil the Great was Bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia in the 4th century, and one of the most important theologians in the Christian church. He is one of the Three Holy Hierarchs in Eastern Orthodoxy, and is regarded as a Doctor of the Church in the west. Basil came from a pious family (his parents and several of his siblings are also regarded as saints). He was at the forefront of the...