Sts. Zechariah and Elizabeth, September 5: What Saint Day Is Today

If you are asking what saint day is today for September 5, 2026, the Orthodox calendar especially commemorates the Prophet Zechariah and Righteous Elizabeth, the parents of St. John the Baptist. The day also includes St. Athanasius of Brest, Prince Hlib, several early Christian martyrs, and groups of saints remembered for remaining faithful during persecution.

September 5, 2026 falls on a Saturday. There is no normal weekly fast attached to the date, and the feast does not create a general ban on ordinary work.

What saint day is today: What is today's church holiday, September 5, 2026 on the Orthodox calendar (Julian date)

The Orthodox calendar for September 5 includes:

• the Prophet Zechariah;

• Righteous Elizabeth;

• St. Athanasius of Brest;

• Right-believing Prince Hlib, known in baptism as David;

• the martyrs Phifael and Phiveia;

• the martyr Sarvil;

• the martyr Raisa, also known as Iraida;

• the martyrs Juventinus and Maximus;

• Urban, Theodore, Medimnus, and 77 other martyrs;

• the martyr Abdius of Persia.

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine follows the New Julian calendar for fixed feasts. Older Julian-calendar sources can show the same commemorations 13 days later on the civil calendar.

Who is the prophet Zechariah?

The Prophet Zechariah commemorated on September 5 is the father of St. John the Baptist. He appears in the Gospel of Luke as a priest serving in the Temple.

According to the Gospel narrative, an angel tells Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth will have a son despite the couple's advanced age. Zechariah initially doubts the message and temporarily loses the ability to speak. After the child's birth, he confirms the name John and his speech returns.

Zechariah then gives a prophetic blessing traditionally known as the Benedictus. In Christian interpretation, the passage connects the birth of John with the preparation for the ministry of Jesus Christ.

Who is righteous Elizabeth

Righteous Elizabeth is the wife of Zechariah and the mother of St. John the Baptist. The Gospel of Luke describes her as a relative of the Virgin Mary and an important figure in the story leading up to the birth of Christ.

When Mary visits Elizabeth after the Annunciation, Elizabeth greets her with words of blessing. This meeting, known in Western Christian tradition as the Visitation, is one of the best-known Gospel episodes involving Elizabeth.

Orthodox tradition remembers Zechariah and Elizabeth together as faithful parents who lived through years of childlessness before the birth of John.

Who is Athanasius Beresteyskyi?

St. Athanasius of Brest was a seventeenth-century Orthodox monk and church leader associated with Brest, or Berestia. He lived during a period of intense religious conflict in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Athanasius defended the Orthodox faith and became known for his public religious activity. He died in 1648 and is commemorated as a hieromartyr or monastic martyr in Orthodox tradition.

His presence in the September 5 calendar gives the date a direct connection to the religious history of Ukrainian and Belarusian lands, rather than limiting the day to early Christian saints.

Who is Prince Hleb?

Prince Hlib, or Gleb, was a son of Volodymyr the Great and the brother of Boris. In baptism he was known as David.

Boris and Hlib became among the earliest saints venerated in the Christian tradition of Kyivan Rus. They are remembered as passion-bearers because they accepted death without retaliatory violence during a dynastic conflict.

September 5 includes a commemoration connected with Hlib. His memory remains especially significant in the history of Christianity in medieval Kyiv and the wider Rus' tradition.

Who are Phifail and Phiveia

Phifael and his sister Phiveia are early Christian martyrs. Their names appear in different transliterations in Greek, Slavic, and English calendars, so readers may encounter variant spellings.

Relatively little biographical detail has survived compared with figures such as Zechariah, Elizabeth, or Hlib. They are remembered primarily for remaining Christian during persecution.

Their joint commemoration is one of several family or group martyr memories on September 5.

Who is the martyr Sarvil

Sarvil is remembered as an early Christian martyr. Short church calendars preserve his name and martyr status but offer much less detail than they do for major biblical or historical figures.

That is common in the Orthodox calendar. The purpose of the commemoration is not always to provide a complete biography but to preserve the memory of people recognized by the church for faith and endurance.

English sources may transliterate the name differently, so small spelling differences do not necessarily indicate different saints.

Who is the martyr Raisa

The martyr Raisa is also known as Iraida in some Christian sources. She is associated with the early fourth century and the period of Roman persecution of Christians.

Church tradition remembers her for openly identifying herself as a Christian and sharing the fate of other believers under persecution. Modern summaries generally emphasize her confession of faith rather than graphic details of martyrdom.

Her commemoration makes her one of the more recognizable female martyrs listed on September 5.

Who are Juventyn and Maxim

Juventinus and Maximus were Christian soldiers remembered as martyrs from the fourth century. They lived during the reign of Emperor Julian, a period in which Christians could again face pressure from state authorities.

They are remembered for refusing to abandon their Christian convictions. Their story is an example of how the Orthodox calendar includes people from different occupations, including soldiers, while focusing on their religious witness rather than their military role.

Their names may appear as Juventin, Juventinus, Maxim, or Maximus depending on translation.

Who are Urvan, Fedir, Medimn and 77 martyrs

Urban, Theodore, Medimnus, and 77 other martyrs are commemorated as a large Christian group. Church tradition connects them with persecution because of their religious identity and service.

Collective commemorations like this are common in early Christian calendars. They preserve the memory of communities, clergy, and groups even where detailed individual biographies are no longer available.

The emphasis of the September 5 feast is faithfulness under pressure, not the violent circumstances of their deaths.

Who is the martyr Avdiy Persky

Avdiy Persky is commonly rendered in English as Abdius of Persia. He is remembered as a Christian martyr from Persia during a period when local Christian communities faced persecution.

His commemoration shows the geographical breadth of the Orthodox calendar. The saints of September 5 are connected with Judea, the early Roman Empire, medieval Kyivan Rus, the lands around Brest, and Persia.

That diversity is one reason the day contains many names beyond Zechariah and Elizabeth.

Is there a fast on September 5, 2026

September 5, 2026 falls on a Saturday. It is not one of the normal weekly Wednesday or Friday fast days, and the commemoration of Zechariah and Elizabeth does not establish a separate universal fast.

Personal or monastic fasting rules can be different. People with health concerns should not adopt restrictive eating practices solely from an online feast-day list; medical needs and appropriate pastoral guidance take priority.

What is important to know about the church holiday of September 5, 2026

The principal saints are the Prophet Zechariah and Righteous Elizabeth, parents of St. John the Baptist. Their story comes directly from the Gospel of Luke and is closely connected with the events leading to Christ's birth.

The date also remembers Athanasius of Brest, Prince Hlib, Raisa, Juventinus and Maximus, Abdius of Persia, and several other martyrs and groups.

There is no general Orthodox prohibition on working, cleaning, studying, or traveling on September 5. If believers want to mark the day, prayer, worship where possible, and reading about the saints are more consistent with church practice than folk prohibitions presented as rules.