Religious calendar observations for March 12 and 13

The church calendar commemorates several figures on March 12 and 13. On March 12, the church honors Theophanes the Confessor, born in 760 AD, who participated in the Seventh Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 787 AD and later resisted the iconoclast policies of Emperor Leo the Armenian between 813 and 820 AD. On March 13, the church honors Saint Leander, Bishop of Seville, who lived in the 6th century, and Saint Marius, a Bishop of Sebasteia. Saint Leander was of aristocratic descent, founded a theological school, and taught Visigothic royal figures including Hermenegild and Reccared. Saint Marius is noted as one of the 318 fathers of the Church. These dates serve as traditional name days for individuals named Leander, Marios, Theophanes, Fanis, Theofania, Fania, Fani, Fenia, and Fanoula. The reports contain biographical information regarding these historical ecclesiastical figures.