Gregory of Ohrid
Our Venerable Father Gregory of Ohrid
Venerable
Commemorated 8 January — Commemoration; kept within the afterfeast of the Theophany
Gregory of Ohrid was a saint of the church of Ohrid (Achris), in the region of the ancient archbishopric, remembered as a faithful teacher and shepherd of Christ's flock. An inscription in the cathedral church of the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) of Ohrid names him "Gregory the Wise." Beyond this the record is very thin; he is commemorated on January 8, within the afterfeast of the Theophany.
Almost nothing is securely transmitted of Gregory's life. He is honoured as a teacher and pastor of the church of Ohrid — the great see of the Ohrid archbishopric, the mother-church of the Slavs of Macedonia and the heir of the mission of Clement and Naum — and an old inscription in the church of the Holy Wisdom of Ohrid preserves his memory under the epithet "the Wise" (Grēgorios ho sophos), which suggests a hierarch or learned churchman of the city honoured there. The period of his life is not fixed by the sources, and the entry does not manufacture one; he is remembered on this day in the synaxaria as a venerable shepherd of the flock of Christ. He should not be confused with the other saints named Gregory of the calendar, nor with the several hierarchs of the Ohrid archbishopric of other days.
Feast and commemoration
Gregory is commemorated on January 8 (church date; Old Calendar civil January 21), within the afterfeast of the Theophany. His veneration belongs especially to the region of Ohrid and its church, where his memory is kept in the cathedral of the Holy Wisdom.
Hymns
Troparion — Tone 1
As a wise teacher and faithful shepherd of the flock of Christ, thou didst shine in the church of Ohrid, O venerable Father Gregory; wherefore, honouring thy holy memory, we entreat thee: intercede with Christ our God that our souls may be saved.
Original translation from the Greek
Iconography
Gregory is depicted as a bearded churchman — a hierarch in phelonion and omophorion, or a venerable elder — holding a Gospel-book or scroll, in the church of the Holy Wisdom of Ohrid where his memory is honoured. No storable public-domain image identified with certainty was found at the time of writing; the entry notes a wanted icon.