SKU: 8548267105

St. Philaret the Merciful icon (2)

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St. Philaret the Merciful icon (2)Orthodox icon of Saint Philaret, Philaretos the Merciful. Protector Saint of Beekeepers. Commemorated December 1. Righteous Philaret the Merciful, son of George and Anna, was raised in piety and the fear of God. He lived during the eighth century in the village of Amnia in the Paphlagonian district of Asia Minor. His wife, Theoseba, was from a rich and illustrious family, and they had three children: a son John, and daughters Hypatia and Evanthia.

Orthodox icon of Saint Philaret, Philaretos the Merciful.

Protector Saint of Beekeepers.

Commemorated December 1.

Righteous Philaret the Merciful, son of George and Anna, was raised in piety and the fear of God. He lived during the eighth century in the village of Amnia in the Paphlagonian district of Asia Minor. His wife, Theoseba, was from a rich and illustrious family, and they had three children: a son John, and daughters Hypatia and Evanthia. Philaret was a rich and illustrious dignitary, but he did not hoard his wealth. Knowing that many people suffered from poverty, he remembered the words of the Savior about the dread Last Judgment and about these least ones (Mt. 25:40); the Apostle Paul's reminder that we will take nothing with us from this world (1 Tim 6:7); and the assertion of King David that the righteous would not be forsaken (Ps 36/37:25).

Philaret, whose name means lover of virtue, was famed for his love for the poor. One day Ishmaelites [Arabs] attacked Paphlagonia, devastating the land and plundering the estate of Philaret. There remained only two oxen, a donkey, a cow with her calf, some beehives, and the house. But he also shared them with the poor. His wife reproached him for being heartless and unconcerned for his own family. Mildly, yet firmly he endured the reproaches of his wife and the jeers of his children. I have hidden away riches and treasure, he told his family, so much that it would be enough for you to feed and clothe yourselves, even if you lived a hundred years without working.

The saint's gifts always brought good to the recipient. Whoever received anything from him found that the gift would multiply, and that person would become rich. Knowing this, a certain man came to St Philaret asking for a calf so that he could start a herd. The cow missed its calf and began to bellow. Theoseba said to her husband, You have no pity on us, you merciless man, but don't you feel sorry for the cow? You have separated her from her calf.

The saint praised his wife, and agreed that it was not right to separate the cow and the calf. Therefore, he called the poor man to whom he had given the calf and told him to take the cow as well. That year there was a famine, so St Philaret took the donkey and went to borrow six bushels of wheat from a friend of his. When he returned home, a poor man asked him for a little wheat, so he told his wife to give the man a bushel.

Theoseba said, First you must give a bushel to each of us in the family, then you can give away the rest as you choose. Philaretos then gave the man two bushels of wheat. Theoseba said sarcastically, Give him half the load so you can share it. The saint measured out a third bushel and gave it to the man. Then Theoseba said, Why don't you give him the bag, too, so he can carry it?He gave him the bag. The exasperated wife said, Just to spite me, why not give him all the wheat. St Philaret did so. Now the man was unable to lift the six bushels of wheat, so Theoseba told her husband to give him the donkey so he could carry the wheat home.

Blessing his wife, Philaret gave the donkey to the man, who went home rejoicing. Theoseba and the children wept because they were hungry. The Lord rewarded Philaret for his generosity: when the last measure of wheat was given away, a old friend sent him forty bushels. Theoseba kept most of the wheat for herself and the children, and the saint gave away his share to the poor and had nothing left. When his wife and children were eating, he would go to them and they gave him some food. Theoseba grumbled saying, How long are you going to keep that treasure of yours hidden? Take it out so we can buy food with it.

During this time the Byzantine empress Irene (797-802) was seeking a bride for her son, the future emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitos (780-797). Therefore, emissaries were sent throughout all the Empire to find a suitable girl, and the envoys came to Amneia. When Philaret and Theoseba learned that these most illustrious guests were to visit their house, Philaret was very happy, but Theoseba was sad, for they did not have enough food. But Philaret told his wife to light the fire and to decorate their home.

Their neighbors, knowing that imperial envoys were expected, brought everything required for a rich feast. The envoys were impressed by the saint's daughters and granddaughters. Seeing their beauty, their deportment, their clothing, and their admirable qualities, the envoys agreed that Philaret granddaughter, Maria was exactly what they were looking for. This Maria exceeded all her rivals in quality and modesty and indeed became Constantine's wife, and the emperor rewarded Philaret. Thus fame and riches returned to Philaret. But just as before, this holy lover of the poor generously distributed alms and provided a feast for the poor.

He and his family served them at the meal. Everyone was astonished at his humility and said: This is a man of God, a true disciple of Christ. He ordered a servant to take three bags and fill one with gold, one with silver, and one with copper coins. When a beggar approached, Philaret ordered his servant to bring forth one of the bags, whichever God's providence would ordain. Then he would reach into the bag and give to each person, as much as God willed. St Philaret refused to wear fine clothes, nor would he accept any imperial rank. He said it was enough for him to be called the grandfather of the Empress.

The saint reached ninety years of age and knew his end was approaching. He went to the Rodolpheia (The Judgment) monastery in Constantinople. He gave some gold to the Abbess and asked her to allow him to be buried there, saying that he would depart this life in ten days. He returned home and became ill. On the tenth day he summoned his family, he exhorted them to imitate his love for the poor if they desired salvation. Then he fell asleep in the Lord.

He died in the year 792 and was buried in the Rodolpheia Judgment monastery in Constantinople. The appearance of a miracle after his death confirmed the sainthood of Righteous Philaret. As they bore the body of the saint to the cemetery, a certain man, possessed by the devil, followed the funeral procession and tried to overturn the coffin. When they reached the grave, the devil threw the man down on the ground and went out of him.

Many other miracles and healings also took place at the grave of the saint. After the death of the righteous Philaret, his wife Theoseba worked at restoring monasteries and churches devastated during a barbarian invasion.

Reference: O.C.A.

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Jenna
Battle Creek, US
★★★★★ 4
Kind of difficult to get through for the first half but worth the read!
Format: Kindle
3.75/5 ⭐️ What this book lacked in being fully polished, it made up for in world and character building for sure! While the first half was hard to get through, as this is a book that starts you in the present and then goes back and forth between different times in the past to get you up to speed with what’s happening in the future (and it’s not all chronological in the past which made it even harder), once all of the book is set in the present, Tessa and her pack, Ryder, Dixon, Mac, and Tray, (and of course Josie the cat,) all begin their journeys of finding themselves both individually and within their pack which is so rewarding to see after all of the tragedy and sadness detailed in their last few years leading up to meeting. I think this book could’ve done with another beta reader or two to polish up grammatical errors as well, some of those took me out of the story for a minute to try to figure out what was trying to be communicated. Overall, this story filled with so many dichotomies of love and loss, grief and happiness, hurt and comfort, all culminating in a lovely story of a pack that strengthens each other after many tribulations, and it warms your heart so so much to see them go through every version of themselves, landing on secure and happy individuals who make a wonderful pack together. Would absolutely recommend if you like slow burn, rockstar, big city, and initially heavy and a bit dark but fades into comfort and fluffy omegaverse stories!
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Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2026
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j j
Phoenix, US
★★★★★ 3
i should have waited for there to be reviews posted
Format: Kindle
I'm being more generous than I should because this is a debut novel i downloaded this book because i like why choose and band romances i figured that it wouldn't take too long to get back to where the prologue was because the prologue seemed to be less than a day before they met the FMC and the MMCs don't meet til 60 % of the way in which for a Romance novel kinda hard for the relationship to develop or for there to be plot beyond them just meeting in a way where the FMC really lacks agency a lot of early plot and character things are forgotten about after they met it's almost as if the last third of the book was written first and then they went back to write backstory separately but forgot there needs to be a plot i get wanting to have background on the characters, but there has to be a way to do it without constant time jumps and no plot progression. Tessa's story jumps around a week lead up so much also the band aspect is very much an afterthought in the novel Spoilers-- one of the MMCs is openly pan and one of them has been dealing with a bi awakening but being somewhat defensive about it and once Tessa arrives that gets forgotten about til the epilogue and even then doesn't actually confront his sexuality the wrap up of the church hiding her name is tied up with a quick sentence, but no real consequences for anyone i honestly thought she forgot about family pack IRS deal until the final chapter and that gets resolved in an unsatisfying way the pack is upset that Tessa gets viewed as an object and tricked into the contract but has no interest in making the company's wrongdoings public or trying to prevent this from happening to other omegas tessa goes over a lot of struggles of homelessness but she only thinks about food waste once after joining the pack -- you'd think she'd use her newfound wealth and power to help other homeless individuals, especially youths and omegas. even a little side note to say that a portion of tour proceeds or her family fortune would go towards public food pantries and shelters would've done something to connect her beginning character to the end character
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Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2025
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Shelly B
Los Angeles, US
★★★★★ 3
BORING and too long
Format: Kindle
I could not believe how wordy and boring this book was. No spice at all. Slow burn is really a NO burn. Almost DNF and now I’m sorry I stuck with it. 500 pages could ave been 150 and it would have been more than enough. I highly doubt not recommend this work of yuck.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2026
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Amanda
Alexandria, US
★★★★★ 4
Good read
Format: Kindle
Good book but good God was there a lot of preamble when I just wanted them to meet already haha
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Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2025
K
Kindle-klant
Waukegan, US
★★★★★ 4
Still 4 stars
Format: Kindle
A little to much before and to much dive into the days, months before, but I still kept reading. Maybe because of that you could read about them all. I just couldn't put this book in my to read another day list. I just wanted to know what happens to them.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2026

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