Daily Calendar – October 3

The 277th day of the year; 89 days remain until the New Year.

Church Calendar

Commemoration of the Great Martyr Eustathius Placidus, his wife Theopiste, and their children Agapius and Theopistus (c. 118).

Before his baptism in Christ, the Holy Great Martyr Eustathius was known as Placidus. He was a military commander under the Roman emperors Titus and Trajan. Even before coming to know Christ, Placidus performed many acts of charity, mercifully aiding the needy and the unfortunate. The Lord bestowed His mercy upon this virtuous pagan and delivered him from the darkness of idolatry.

Once, while hunting, Placidus pursued a stag. The stag stopped upon a high mountain, and Placidus saw a radiant cross between its antlers—upon which the Son of God was crucified—and heard a voice say: "I am Jesus Christ, and I have appeared to you here to turn you toward the truth." "Go to a Christian priest, receive holy baptism from him, and let him instruct you on the path of salvation."

Filled with joy, Plakidas returned home and recounted everything to his wife. They turned to a Christian priest, who baptized Plakidas’s entire family in Christ and administered the Lord’s Holy Mysteries to them.

Pagans tried to force them to renounce Christ and offer sacrifices to idols. They refused; consequently, a terrible punishment was decreed for Eustathius and his family—to be thrown to wild beasts—but, by God’s grace, the animals did not harm the holy martyrs. Then, the cruel emperor ordered them to be cast alive into a heated copper bull, where they met their martyric end: the Great Martyr Eustathius Plakidas, his wife Theopiste, and their sons Agapius and Theopistus.

When the executioners opened this fiery tomb three days later, they found the holy martyrs' bodies completely unharmed. Upon witnessing this miracle, many pagans... He came to believe in Christ as the true God and received holy baptism. Christians laid the precious bodies of the holy martyrs to rest with great honor. The Holy Great Martyr Eustathius and his martyred wife and children suffered martyrdom for the sake of Christ around the year 118.

Born:

1803 – John Gorrie, a physician who discovered the principle of refrigeration technology; died in 1855.

1867 – Pierre Bonnard, a French painter; died in 1891.

1887 – Ivane Franguliani, a pioneer in organizing the healthcare system in Georgia; died in 1970.

1889 – Carl von Ossietzky, a German publicist and Nobel Prize laureate; died in 1938.

1895 – Sergei Yesenin, a renowned Russian poet; died in 1925.

1900 – Thomas Wolfe, an American writer; died in 1938.

1904 – Charles Pedersen, a Danish biochemist and Nobel Prize laureate... Laureate.

1908 – Vazgen I, Catholicos of All Armenians. Died in 1994.

1918 – Otar Mchedlishvili, chemist, Corresponding Member of the Georgian Academy of Sciences.

1933 – Zurab Kiknadze, literary scholar, translator.

1954 – Zaal Samadashvili, writer.

Died:

1226 – Francis of Assisi, saint of the Roman Catholic Church, founder of the Franciscan Order.

1629 – Giorgi Saakadze; beheaded in Aleppo by order of Khusrev Pasha.

1896 – William Morris, renowned English writer, artist, art theorist, and public figure.

1910 – Jean Anouilh, French playwright, translator, theatre figure, and screenwriter.

1981 – Nodar (Bichiko) Chkheidze, renowned actor.

1991 – William Penney, English physicist, head of the British atomic bomb development program.

1999 – Akio Morita, renowned... Founder of the Sony company.

Events:

1629 – In Aleppo, by order of Grand Vizier Khusrev Pasha, Giorgi Saakadze, his eldest son Avtandil, and about 40 of their retinue were captured and beheaded.

1762 – Catherine II, Empress of Russia, was crowned in the Cathedral of the Dormition in the Kremlin.

1785 – The Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard made the first balloon flight in Germany.

1811 – November 26 was proclaimed Thanksgiving Day in the United States.

1866 – A peace treaty between Italy and Austria was signed in Vienna.

1899 – George Thurman patented the vacuum cleaner.

1922 – The first fax machine was put into operation in Washington.

1932 – Iraq gained independence.

1963 – A powerful hurricane struck the island of Haiti; 5,000 people died and thousands were injured.

1988 – Chad and Libya ceased hostilities and... Diplomatic relations were established.

Notable days:

Germany – Reunification Day.

South Korea — National Foundation Day.

Belgium — Independence Day.

Lesotho — Independence Day.