New coloring pages for March

Saint Tikhon

March 25
*He is celebrated and commemorated many different days

Saint Tikhon was from Russia. He was ordained Bishop at only 32 years old. He came to the United States around 1900 as a missionary in the early years of our Church in America. He worked hard concecrating churches, founding a monastary; and even estabolished the Diocese of the Aleutians and North America. He worked alongside St Raphael of Brooklyn to prepare and concecrate the Cathedral in New York, and went on estabolish St Tikhon’s Seminary in Pennsylvania (named for his patron).

He returned to Russia before World War I and was elevated to Patriarch in 1917. When things got really bad for Orthodox during the war, St Tikhon called on the Orthodox to unite; repent and continue the faith with all their strength. He also protected the priests from getting arrested by telling them not to talk about politics. St Tikhon spoke out himself often, mostly to calm people. He also spoke out against the government destruction of Church property; and was arrested. The government continued to kill and persecute the Christians and destroy places of worship.
When the priests were told to sell things from the parishes to buy food for people, St Tikhon went to court to protect his priests again. He said the priests were innocent, it was his fault. He was arrested and spent a year in prison. The soldiers told him the Church was destroyed. St Tikhon was desprate to get out and rebuild what he could, so he pledged loyalty to the Communist Government.
All the stress of the war and persecution wore down St Tikhon until he fell asleep in the Lord after Liturgy in 1925.
+Biographical information from the Synaxarion Lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church and may be different from other accounts

St Hilarion the New

The Father of Palestinian Monasticism
March 28th

St Hilarion spent many years as a hermit. The Lord worked many miracles through him during his life. He cast out demons, diverted a river to water crops and sometimes God shared what would happen in the future with him.
In the year 754 soldiers broke into the Pelekete monastery church in the middle of services for Great and Holy Thursday. They were looking for icon-venerating-believers. They dumped the Communion on the ground. Saint Hilarion was arrested with 40 other monks. They were killed because they venerated icons. The soldiers hate was so strong that even after they killed the monks, they continued to beat, burn and cut their bodies.
St Hilarion and the other monks are martyrs.
Saint Hilarion is remembered by name because he left behind writings about the spiritual battle he faced as a monk.
See the link below to the archeological project at St Hilarion’s monastery. As the father of Palestinian monasticism, he would be happy to know it is open to the public. Despite the war and political turmoil, local authorities keep it open.
https://www.wmf.org/project/tell-umm-el-amr-saint-hilarion-monastery