Saints of the day
Orthodox saints of December 4
The feasts and saints the Orthodox Church commemorates on December 4 — on the Old Calendar, civil December 17.
Commemorated on December 4
- Great Martyr Barbara
- St. John of Damascus
Great Martyr Barbara
Shut in a tower by her pagan father, she came to know God through the beauty of creation (†c. 306). Invoked against sudden death — that we not die unprepared.
St. John of Damascus
Monk of St. Sabbas (†749), last of the great Eastern Fathers. He defended the holy icons and wrote the Paschal Canon sung at midnight: 'It is the day of Resurrection!'
When it falls
- New Calendar: December 4 every year
- Old Calendar: civil December 17
Commemorations follow the Menaion of the Orthodox Church. New Calendar parishes keep them on the date shown; Old Calendar parishes keep them 13 days later on the civil calendar. Local churches add their own saints — your parish calendar comes first.