October 16, the Orthodox Church honors the memory of the Hieromartyr Dionysius Areopagite

An elite Athenian, Dionysius studied astronomy in Egypt. It was there that he witnessed a dark solar eclipse at the time of Christ’s crucifixion. Astonished by what he saw, he uttered the prophetic phrase: “Either God, the Creator of all things, suffers, or this visible world comes to an end.”.

Returning to his homeland, he took the high post of judge in the supreme Athenian areopagus. There his fate crossed with the apostle Paul. Hearing his preaching, Dionysius converted to Christianity, for three years he was a faithful companion of Paul, and later became bishop of Athens.

A special page of his biography is a personal meeting with the Virgin. Dionysius went to Jerusalem to see her. Later he wrote to his teacher that he was blinded by the divine radiance and fragrance emanating from the Virgin Mary. He said, “If it were not for your teachings, I would have considered her a true God.”.

After the death of the Apostle Paul, Dionysius went with a missionary sermon to the west, reaching Gaul (the territory of modern France). During the persecution of Emperor Domitian, he was captured and sentenced to beheading. But a miracle happened that glorified him for centuries: after the blow of the executioner, Saint Dionysius took up his severed head, walked with it a considerable distance to the temple and only there he fell dead.

Dionysius left behind a great theological legacy. His works, such as “On the Heavenly Hierarchy” and “On Mystic Theology”, were kept for centuries in a secret tradition, and later formed the basis of the teaching of the Orthodox Church on the nine angelic ranks and ways of knowledge of God. His manuscripts were carefully copied in Russia, becoming a spiritual landmark for many generations of believers.

October 16 celebrate the name day Denis, Ivan, Martha, Paul, Peter.