Click on highlighted names for more information and pictures.
January
3 Daniel, perhaps of Jewish
descent, who aided the first bishop of
7 Clerus, martyred at
8 Domnika, holy
person, healer, and spiritual mother in
Theophilus,
martyred in Lybia, tortured and thrown into a furnace with the layman
Helladius, ?
Harriet Mary Bedell,
missionary among the Seminoles and Mikosuki in Florida, 1969
10 Nicanor, one of the seven
ordained by the apostles (Acts 6:5), according to tradition martyred in Cyprus,
c 76 [also July 28]
Theosebia, wife of
Gregory of Nyssa, c 387
12 Tatiana,
martyred at Rome, c 230
13 Hermylus, of Singidunum
(Belgrade), martyred in the Balkans by drowning in the Danube, 315
14 Charles
Dodgson, English author (as Lewis Carroll) and Oxford mathematician, 1898
17 Marianus, with presbyter
Diodorus and others, martyred at Rome, 284
18 Hugo Gorovoka, native
missionary at Miravovo, Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands, 1918
21 Augurius and Eulogius,
with bishop Fructuosus of Tarragoņa, martyred by burning at the stake in Spain,
259
22 Vincent of
Saragossa, martyred at Valencia, Spain, 304
23 Parmenus, one of the seven
ordained by the apostles (Acts 6:5), according to tradition martyred at
Philippi in Macedonia, c 98 [also July 28]
24 Xenia, "the
Merciful," founder of monastery and spiritual mother, Caria of Milasa, 5th
c.
29 Caesarius, of Angouleme under
its first bishop, Ausonius, 1st c.
February
3 Celerinus, an African who
suffered at Rome and was later ordained by Cyprian at Carthage, after 250
6 Luke, with bishop Silvanus
of Emesa in Phoenicia, martyred after long imprisonment, 312
8 Stephen of Grandmont, hermit
and founder of the (Benedictine) Grandmontines at Murat in France, 1124 [He
refused ordination as a priest to remain a deacon.]
9 Apollonia,
martyred by fire at
Primus and Donatus,
slain by Donatist schismatics at Lavallum in northwest Africa, c 297
12 Modestus, a native of
13 Priscilla or Prisca,
fellow apostle with her husband Aquilas, 1st c. (Rom 16:3-4)
14 Constantine (later Cyril),
scholar, philologist, linguist, and (with his brother Methodius) missionary to
the southern Slavs, 869
15 Joseph (Josippus) of
21 Milnor Jones, missionary in
Western North Carolina, 1916
23 Gorgonia, daughter
of Gregory of Nazianzus and Nonna and sister of Gregory the Theologian, c 372
24 Flavian,
with Montanus, Lucius, and their companions, martyred at Carthage, 259
25 Elizabeth Fedde, pioneer
Lutheran deaconess, 1921
28 Deacons of Alexandria, with
presbyters and many others, died ministering to the sick during the plague, 262
March
8 Pontius, who attended
Cyprian of Carthage in his exile and at his trial and execution, and who wrote
an account of Cyprian's life and passion, c 260
Apollonius, of
Antinoe in Egypt, with the actor Philemon, cast into the sea at Alexandria, c
305
12 Peter the Deacon, disciple,
secretary, and companion of Gregory the Great, after 605
14 Diaconus, of the church of the
Marsi in central Italy, martyred with two monks by the Lombards, 6th c.
16 Tatian, with bishop Hilary of
Aquileia and others, martyred by beheading, c 284
18 Felix, with bishop Narcissus,
martyrs at Gerona in Spanish Catalonia, c 307
19 Amantius, with presbyter
Landoald, Romans sent by the pope to evangelize what is now Belgium and
northeast France, c 670
22 Octavian, archdeacon at
Carthage, and several thousand companions, martyred by Arians, 484
26 Irenaeus, with bishop Theodore
of Pentapolis in Libya, had his tongue cut out but survived and died in peace,
310
27 Pelaguis, venerated at Treviso
in Italy, ?
29 Cyril, martyred at Heliopolis,
and companions, who suffered under Julian the Apostate, c 362
31 Benjamin of Susa, with bishop
Andos, martyred in Persia, by torture for refusing to cease preaching
Christianity, c 421
April
4 Agathopodes (Agathopus), with
reader Theodulus, martyred by drowning in Thessalonica for refusing to give up
the sacred books, 303
6 Platonida, founder of a
nunnery at Nisibis in Mesopatamia, 308
7 Rufinus, with Aquilina and
their companions, martyred in Sinope, ?
9 Elfgete, with abbot Theodore
of Croyland and others, put to death by the Danes, 870
10 Gajan, martyred in
13 Papylus, with bishop Carpus
and others, martyred at Pergamos, 150 (or 250)
14 Triphena, 1st c.
(Rom 16:12)
16 Isabella Gilmore, deaconess in
Church of England, 1923
17 Peter, with his servant
Hermogenes, martyred probably at
18 Elizabeth
Ferard, first deaconess in Church of England, founder of Community of St.
Andrew, 1883
19 Timon, one of the seven
ordained by the apostles (Acts 6:5), 1st c. [also July 28]
21 Proculus, Sossius, and Faustus,
with their bishop Jannuarius and others, beheaded at Puteolum (Campagna,
central Italy), c 305
20 Mary
Stanley Drew, deacon of the diocese of
22 Luke and Mucius, with
companions, beheaded near Babylon, c 250
Abdiesus
(Hebedjesus), one of a vast multitude martyred in Persia, 341-380
Azadanes,
martyred in Persia, 341-342
25 Philo and Agathopodes
(Agathopus), who accompanied Ignatius of Antioch to his martyrdom in Rome,
brought back his relics, and are believed to have written accounts of his trial
and death, c 150
30 James, with reader Marianus
and others, martyred at Lambesa, an ancient town in Numidia (Algeria), 259
May
1 Acius (Ache), with subdeacon
Aceolus, martyred near
2 Felix of
3 Diodorus and Rhodopianus,
martyred in the province of Caria, Asia Minor, early 4th c.
4 Curcodomus, of Rome, who
attended Peregrinus, first bishop of Auxerre, on a mission to Gaul, 3rd c.
5 Euthymius, martyred at
Alexandria, ?
Robert Pantutun,
of Mota Island in the Banks Group in Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides),
Melanesia, 1910
16 Sixteen Persian deacons (nine
men and seven women), with bishop Abdjesus, sixteen presbyters, and six monks,
martyred in Persia, 420
17 Junia or Julia,
fellow apostle with her husband Andronicus, 1st c. (Rom 16:6-7)
19 Alcuin of
York (Flaccus Albinus), abbot of Tours, 804
21 Timothy, Polius, and Eutychius,
of the African province of Mauretania Caesariensis, martyred under Diocletian,
?
25 Winebald and Worad, of
the abbey of St Bertin, with companions, martyred by the Danes, 862
31 Paschasius, of
June
1 Valens, an aged deacon of
Jerusalem, with Pamphilus and Porphyrius and companions, martyred at Caesarea
in Palestine, 309
Richard Henry Pemble,
Archdeacon of Chicago, leader in the revival of the diaconate, 2001
2 Sanctus, one of the Martyrs
of Lyons, 177
3 Abraham Yac Deng,
shot to death by armed forces of the National Islamic Front in Sudan, 1998
6 Ini Kopuria, founder of the
Melanesian Brotherhood on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, 1945
7 Wallabonsus, of Cordoba in
Spain, with companions, beheaded for publicly rebuking Mohammed, 851
9 Vincent of Agen, martyred at
Agen in Gascony for having disturbed a feast of the Gallic druids, ? c 292
Ephraem
the Syrian (Ephrem of Edessa), theologian and hymn-writer, 373
14 Anastasius, with Felix and
Digna, martyred by beheading at Cordoba, 853
16 Ferrutio, with his brother the
presbyter Ferreolus, natives of Asia Minor, sent by Irenaeus of Lyons to
evangelize the country around Besanįon, where they worked for 30 years and were
then martyred, c 212
Colman McRoi,
disciple of Columba and abbot-founder of a monastery at Reachrain, now Lambay
Island, Dublin, 6th c.
19 Culmatius, with bishop
Gaudentius and others, martyred at Arezzo in Tuscany, 364
20 Demetrian, with presbyter
Aristocleus and reader Athanasius, martyred at Cyprus, 305-311
27 Arialdus, persecuted and
martyred by the party of the simoniac archbishop of Milan, 1066
July
3 Irenaeus, with the noble
lady Mustiola, martyred at Chiusi in
5 Athanasius, martyred at
15 Catulinus (Cartholinus), with
companions, martyred at
Gundisalvus
Hendriquez, Portuguese deacon and Jesuit scholastic, 1570
19 Macrina the Younger, sister of
Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa, founder of monastery, 379
Arsenius the Great,
of Rome, tutor to the emperor's sons and later hermit in the desert of Egypt, c
449
20 Barhadbesciabas, of Arbela in
Persia, martyred by beheading, 355
Paul of St Zoilus, a
community in Cordoba, Spain, imprisoned by the Muslims and beheaded, 851
25 Olympias of
Constantinople, benefactor, cathedral staff member at Constantinople,
and friend and disciple of the banished John Chrysostom, 410 [Also observed Dec
17]
27 George, a monk from Palestine,
with companions, martyred at Cordoba in Spain, c 852.
28 Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon,
Parmenus, and Nicolaus, companions of Stephen and Philip, 1st c.
(see Acts 6:5)
Irene of
Chrysovalantou, member of a community of women at
August
3 Lydia, 1st c.
(Acts 16:14)
5 Nonna of Nazianzus,
evangelist, and instructor of her husband Gregory of Nazianzus, 374
7 Felicissimus, Agapitus,
and four other deacons, with their bishop Sixtus II, beheaded at Rome,
258
8 Cyriacus, with companions,
martyred at Rome, 304
10 Laurence of
Rome, martyred at Rome, supposedly roasted on a gridiron but probably
beheaded, 258
11 Euplus, racked and martyred in
Catania of Sicily for having a copy of the gospels, 304
Theodor, of the
Monastery of the Caves near Kiev, martyred in 1088
13 Radegunde of Poitiers, queen,
hospital minister, then founder of Holy Cross convent at Poitiers, 587
16 Titus, put to death by a
soldier during the sack of Rome by the Goths, while distributing alms to the
poor, 410 (or 426?)
17 Boniface, with companion monks
in Africa, martyred by Arians, 483
James the Deacon,
Italian monk who accompanied Paulinus on his mission to Northumbria, 7th c.
20 Geert Groote,
founder of the Brethren of the Common Life, 1384
23 Archelaus, with bishop
Quiriacus of Ostia and others, martyr, c 234 (or 250?)
25 Nemesius, with his daughter
Lucilla, martyred at
31 David Pendleton
Oakerhater, former
September
1 Ammon, with the Forty Holy
Women, martyred in Greece by placing a red-hot helmet on his head, c 322
Laetus, with
Vincent of Xaintes (first bishop of Dax in Gascony), martyred, ? 5th c.
Hilaria, daughter
of bishop Remigius of Rheims, 6th c.
3 Phoebe of
Cenchreae (near Corinth, c 64 (Romans 16:1-2)
Memorius, of Troyes,
and companions, beheaded by Attila, 451
15 Emilas, with Jeremiah, Spanish
youths beheaded at Cordoba, 852
16 Abundantius, beheaded at Rome,
c 303
19 Susanna, adult convert,
martyred at Eleutheropolis, 362
20 Peter
Rautamara and Edwin Nuagoro,
first Papuan deacons, 1914 (date of ordination)
24 Thyrsus of Smyrna, with
presbyter Andochius and Felix, martyred in Gaul, 2nd c.
Anna
E. B. Alexander, African-American deaconess and teacher in rural
southeast Georgia, 1947
26 Thomas Clarkson,
English campaigner for abolition of slavery and the slave trade, 1846
October
1 Romanos Melodos, hymn-writer
in
2 Justina
4 Francis of Assisi,
1226
5 Firmatus, with the virgin
Flaviana, martyrs, venerated at Auxerre in
8 Demetrius (Dimitri),
martyred at Sirmium in Dalmatia, early 4th c.
Ywe (Iwi, Ywi, Iwigius), of
Northumbria, ordained by St. Cuthbert at Lindisfarne, hermit and miraculous
healer in Brittany, relics at Wilton Abbey in England, d. 6 Oct 690
Poplia or
Publia of Antioch, abbess and music minister at Antioch, c 363
11 Philip the Deacon, one of the seven
ordained by the apostles, 1st c. (Acts 6:5; 8:4-8,26-40) [also June 6]
13 Papylas, with bishop Carpus,
martyred at Pergamum, Asia Minor, 251
16 Baldwin (Balduinus, Baudoin),
archdeacon at Laon, murdered, c 680
20 Maximus of Aquila, martyred by
being thrown from a cliff near his native city in southern Italy, c 250
22 Severus, with bishop Philip of
Heraclea, martyred by burning at the stake at Adrianopolis, for refusing to
give up the sacred books, 304
24 Charles Sapibuana, of Gela or
Nggela (called Florida by Spanish explorers), Melanesia, 1885
25 Tabitha or
Dorcas of Joppa, "the Merciful," 1st c. (Acts 9:36)
30 Tabra
and Trabata, martyred with bishop
Teonesto at Treviso (north of Venice), 380
31 Nemesius, martyred in Rome,
3rd c.
November
1 Caesarius the African, with
presbyter Julian, martyred at Terracina, ?
3 Hilary, with presbyter
Valentine, beheaded at Viterbo near Rome, c 304
Aeithalas,
martyred in Persia, 379
10 Anianus, with bishop Demetrius
and 21 companions, martyred at Antioch in Syria, ?
15 Abidus, of Edessa in Syria,
martyred by burning, 322
17 Zachaeus, martyred by beheading
at Caesarea in Palestine, 303
Eugene, a
disciple of Ambrose and deacon at Florence, 422
18 Romanos of Palestine, martyred
at Antioch in Syria, 305
19 Faustus, companion in exile of
Dionysius of Alexandria, martyred, 4th c.
29 Sisinius, sentenced to hard
labor and later martyred at Rome, ? 309
December
1 Nicholas Ferrar
of Little Gidding, 1637
2 Marcellus, with companions,
beheaded at Rome, 254-259
8 William West Skiles, farmer,
missionary, and monk at Valle Crucis, North Carolina, 1862
10 Abundius, with presbyter
Carpophorus, martyred at either Rome, Spoleto, or Seville, 290-300
15 Susanna, archimandrite,
martyr, 3rd c. (perhaps identical to the Susanna listed at Sept. 19)
17 Awakrum or Abbacum of
Serbia, ?
19 Timothy, burnt alive in
Africa, c 250
26 Stephen the Deacon,
first martyr, c 35 (Acts 6:1--7:3)
28 Domitian, with presbyter
Eutychius, martyred at Ancyra in Galatia, ?
31 Melania the Younger,
founder of monasteries in
This calendar of more than 160 deacons is assembled from several sources, including Anglican, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Lutheran calendars. If anyone wishes to make corrections, or to add deacon saints, please send an e-mail message to Ormonde Plater.
