The heresiarch Arius was a Libyan by race and a protopresbyter of the Church of Alexandria. In 315, he began to blaspheme against the Son and Word of God, saying that He is not true God, consubstantial with the Father, but is rather a work and creation, alien to the essence and glory of the Father, and that there was a time when He was not. This frightful blasphemy shook the faithful of Alexandria. Alexander, his Archbishop, after trying in vain to correct him through admonitions, cut him off from communion and finally in a local council deposed him in the year 321. Yet neither did the blasphemer wish to be corrected, nor did he cease sowing the deadly tares of his heretical teachings; but writing to the bishops of other cities, Arius and his followers requested that his doctrine be examined, and if it were unsound, that the correct teaching be declared to him. By this means, his heresy became universally known and won many supporters, so that the whole Church was soon in an uproar.

Therefore, moved by divine zeal, the first Christian Sovereign, Saint Constantine the Great, the equal to the Apostles, summoned the renowned First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, a city of Bithynia. It was there that the shepherds and teachers of the Church of Christ gathered from all regions in the year 325. All of them, with one mouth and one voice, declared that the Son and Word of God is one in essence with the Father, true God of true God, and they composed the holy Symbol of Faith up to the seventh article (since the remainder, beginning with "And in the Holy Spirit," was completed by the Second Ecumenical Council). Thus they anathematized the impious Arius of evil belief and those of like mind with him, and cut them off as rotten members from the whole body of the faithful.

Therefore, recognizing the divine Fathers as heralds of the Faith after the divine Apostles, the Church of Christ has appointed this present Sunday for their annual commemoration, in thanksgiving and unto the glory of God, unto their praise and honour, and unto the strengthening of the true Faith.

On this day we commemorate Saint Cyril's falling asleep. On January 18 we commemorate the occasion of the Saint's restoration to his see in Alexandria after he had suffered a brief exile because of the machinations of the Nestorians. Shortly thereafter the Third Ecumenical Council was convoked in Ephesus and the blasphemous doctrine of Nestorius was condemned. See January 18 for Saint Cyril's life and works.

After he established a number of monasteries and churches in his native Ireland, Saint Columba founded the renowned monastery of Iona, off the coast of Scotland. Having guided many in the path of salvation, reposed in peace in 597.

The holy Martyrs Alexander and Antonina were from the town of Cardamon (or Crodamon). Antonina was arrested by Festus the Governor and, because she refused to deny Christ, he had her placed in a brothel. But Alexander, sent by divine providence, came in unto her and gave her his cloak; with her head covered, she escaped without having been defiled. When Alexander was discovered, he was taken before Festus, and with Antonina was tortured and burned to death.

Saint Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Apostles, and had Galilee as his homeland; this is all that is known of him for certain according to the history of the Gospels. Concerning his apostolic work, certain say that he preached in Arabia and Persia, and especially in India, bringing to them the Gospel written by Saint Matthew, which had been written originally in Hebrew, and which was found there one hundred years later by Pantaenus, formerly a stoic philosopher and later an illustrious teacher of the Christian school in Alexandria (see Eusebius, Eccl. Hist., 5: 10). Other accounts say that he went to Armenia. According to some, he ended his life by being crucified, or by being flayed alive, in Albanopolis (Urbanopolis) of Armenia. This also confirms an ancient tradition preserved by the Armenians. According to some, Bartholomew and Nathanael are the same person, because the Evangelists who mention Bartholomew do not mention Nathanael; and John, who alone mentions Nathanael as one of the Twelve, says nothing of Bartholomew. Indeed, Bartholomew is a patronymic, "son of Talmai," which means "bold, spirited" (see also Jesus of Navi 15:14; II Kings 3:3), and Nathanael could have had this as a surname. According to the Synaxarion of the Menaion on April 22, however, it is Simon the Zealot and Nathanael who are the same; the Evangelists who mention Simon the Zealot (or "the Canaanite") do not mention Nathanael.

Saint Onuphrius flourished in the fourth century, first in the cenobium near Hermopolis of Thebes in Egypt, and later as a solitary in the desert, where he was discovered by Saint Paphnutius. When Paphnutius first encountered him deep in the desert, he was affrighted at the Saint's appearance, seeing him covered with hair like a wild beast and naked except for a garment sewn of leaves covering his loins. After relating his life and the bitter conflicts he had endured as a hermit, Onuphrius told Paphnutius that he was about to die, and that Paphnutius had been sent to bury him, which soon came to pass. Although Paphnutius desired afterwards to remain in the Saint's cave, as soon as he had buried him, the cave fell in and the palm tree, which had furnished the Saint with dates withered up, indicating that it was the will of God that Paphnutius return to his monastery and make Saint Onuphrius known to all.

This Martyr contested in Byblos of Syria during the reign of Diocletian, in 289. Because she taught other young maidens to turn from the idols to Christ, she was brought before the governor. Her ears were pierced with heated spits until blood ran from her nostrils; finally she was beheaded, at the age of ten or twelve.

The Prophet Elisseus, the son of Saphat, was from the town of Abel-me-oul and had been a husbandman. In the year 908 B.C., at God's command, the Prophet Elias anointed him to be Prophet in his stead. This happened while Elisseus was plowing his land, having twelve oxen under yoke. Straightway, Elisseus slew the oxen and cooked them, using the wooden plough and the other instruments of husbandry as firewood; then he gave the oxen as food to the people. Bidding farewell to his parents, he followed Elias and served him until the latter was taken up as it were into Heaven (see July 20). When Elisseus received his teacher's mantle and the grace of his prophetic spirit twofold, he demonstrated whose disciple he was through the miracles he wrought and through all that is related of him in the Fourth Book of Kings. He departed full of days and was buried in Samaria, about the year 839 B.C. But even after his death God glorified him; for after the passage of a year, when some Israelites were carrying a dead man for burial and suddenly saw a band of Moabites, they cast the dead man on the grave of the Prophet. No sooner had the dead man touched the Prophet's bones, than he came to life and stood on his feet (IV Kings 13:20-21). Mentioning this, Jesus the Son of Sirach says, "He did wonders in his life, and at his death his works were marvelous" (Ecclus. 48:14). It is because of such marvels that the faithful have reverence for the relics of the Saints (see also Jan. 16). His name means "God is savior."

The Prophet Amos was from the city of Thekoue of the land of Zabulon. He was an unlearned man, a shepherd of goats and sheep, as he testifies concerning himself (Amos 7:14-15). He began to prophesy two years before the earthquake, which some say took place in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of Ozias, King of Judah, about the year 785 B.C. (Amos 1:1). Later, however, Amasias, the false priest of Bethel, brought about his death. His book of prophecy, divided into nine chapters, is ranked third among the minor Prophets. This Amos is different from the Prophet Esaias' father, who also was called Amos. His name means "bearer of burdens.