The Lives of the Saints
1. HOLY MARTYR MAURICIUS AND SEVENTY SOLDIERS
In the time of Emperor Maximian there was a great persecution of Christians. In the Syrian city of Apamea, Mauricius was the commander of the local army. The pagans accused him to the emperor as a Christian and as a sower of the Christian faith among the soldiers. The emperor himself came and conducted an investigation. Together with Mauricius, seventy Christian soldiers were brought before the emperor, among them the son of Mauricius, Photinus. Neither the emperor's flattery nor his threats could shake these heroes. To the emperor's threats they replied: "O emperor, there is no fear in the right-minded and powerful soul of those who love the Lord!" When the emperor commanded that their military belts and garments be stripped from them, they said to him: "Our God will clothe us in garments and belts of incorruption, and in eternal glory!" When the emperor rebuked them for despising the military honor he had bestowed upon them, they answered: "Your honor is dishonor, for you have forgotten God who gave you imperial power!" Then the emperor commanded that before the eyes of Mauricius his son Photinus be beheaded, in order thereby to terrify the father and the rest. But Mauricius said: "You have fulfilled our desire, O tormentor, and have sent Photinus ahead of us — a soldier of Christ." Then the emperor condemned them to the most inhuman death: they were led to a swamp, stripped naked, bound to trees, and smeared with honey so that mosquitoes, wasps, and hornets would sting them. In terrible torments they surrendered their souls to God only on the tenth day, and departed to rejoice eternally with the holy angels in heaven. Christians secretly took their bodies and buried them honorably. These brave soldiers of Christ suffered around the year 305.
2. MANY MARTYRS IN EUGENIA, NEAR CONSTANTINOPLE
In the time of Emperor Arcadius the relics of many martyrs of Christ were unearthed, among them the Apostle Andronicus and his helper Junia (Rom. 16:7). These relics were discovered by a revelation from God to a certain cleric, Nicholas Calligrapher. "Their names are known only to the Lord, who has inscribed them in the Book of the Living in the heavens." Over the relics of the Apostle Andronicus, Emperor Andronicus I built a magnificent church in the twelfth century.
3. VENERABLE THALASSIUS AND LIMNAEUS
They were syrian hermits. One of their particular ascetic labors was silence. After the death of Saint Thalassius in 440, Limnaeus passed to Saint Maron (February 14) and there pursued his ascetic struggle on the summit of a mountain under the open sky.
4. SAINT PAPIAS OF HIERAPOLIS
Papias was a disciple of the holy apostles and a patristic writer. From him we have testimony concerning the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, concerning the four Marys and the brethren of the Lord, as well as one incompletely preserved work: the Exposition of the Dominical Oracles.
“O emperor, there is no fear in the right-minded and powerful soul of those who love the Lord!”
Hymn of Praise
HOLY MARTYR MAURICIUS AND PHOTINUS
From a noble root — a noble branch,
Young Photinus — a sacrifice beautiful and pleasing to God!
The father watched as they cut off his son's head,
And as streams of crimson blood began to flow.
Mauricius, the steadfast father, mastered his own heart,
He neither cried out, nor lamented, nor shed a tear.
Thou gavest him to me, dear God, he said,
For all Thy love, O Blessed One, what better could I give?
Count me worthy of the same death as Photinus,
Thou who for our sake didst sacrifice Thine Only Son!
Mauricius, glorious soldier of the heavenly King,
From earthly rulers he accepts no gift,
But he rallies his company, his proud legion,
That before soulless idols they should not bow,
He leads his company into death, and through death to life —
The tongue is too weak to express that rare beauty...
Let wasps and hornets feed upon our flesh,
Yet we are not, O soldiers, we are not defeated.
Let mosquitoes suck our blood, let them be fed,
Soon, my brethren, we shall be on the other side,
Where all who fought for the Cross now reign,
And we shall say to Christ God: we did not betray Thee!
Reflection
Concerning unceasing abiding with God, Saint Anthony teaches: "Let your soul be with the Lord at all times, and let your body be on the earth like a statue. Stand always upright before the face of the Lord. Let the fear of God be unceasingly before your eyes; likewise also the remembrance of death and aversion from all things worldly. — Die every day, that you may live; for he who fears God shall live forever. Be vigilant unceasingly, lest you fall into sloth and idleness. — Hate everything worldly and remove it from yourself, otherwise it will remove you from God. Hate everything that brings harm to the soul. — Do not depart from God for the sake of passing things. Let those who loved the Lord with all their heart and did good deeds serve you as a pattern and example. — Above all, pour out prayer unceasingly and give thanks to God for everything that befalls you. — If you fulfill all that is commanded, you shall receive the inheritance which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man" (I Cor. 2:9).
Contemplation
Contemplate the Lord Jesus in conversation with Martha and Mary, namely:
1. How both sisters receive the Lord cordially and desire to hear His word;
2. How Mary is more concerned with the spiritual, and Martha with the bodily, reception of the divine Guest;
3. How the Lord rejoices more to offer someone spiritual food than to be offered bodily food by someone.
Homily
on fools wiser than the world
We are fools for Christ's sake (I Cor. 4:10)
So speaks the great Apostle Paul, who was first guided by worldly wisdom — which is against Christ — until he came to know the falsehood and rottenness of worldly wisdom, and the light and steadfastness of the wisdom of Christ. Then the holy apostle was not angered at the world for calling him a fool for Christ's sake, nor did he, in defying the world, himself shrink from calling himself by that name.
It is of no value to us how the world will regard and name us. What is important — supremely important — is how the holy angels in the heavens will regard and name us when after death we meet them. That is of fateful importance, and all the rest is nothing.
Either we are fools to the world on account of Christ, or we are fools to Christ on account of the world. But oh, how short-lived is the sound of a worldly word! If the world calls us fools, the world will die and its word will die with it. What then is its word worth? But if the immortals of heaven call us fools, that neither dies nor is removed from us — it stands as an eternal condemnation.
He who does not believe in the Living God, nor in immortal life, nor in the incarnation of the Lord Christ, nor in Christ's resurrection, nor in the truth of the Gospel, nor in the eternal mercy and justice of God — is it any wonder if he considers a fool the one who believes in all this?
Oh, would that each one of us who signs himself with the Cross should not only bear lightly but receive with satisfaction the name of fool for Christ's sake! Let us rejoice and be glad if unbelievers call us so, for that means we are near to Christ and far from unbelievers. Let us rejoice and be glad, and repeat with a mighty echo into the ears of the world: yes, yes, truly we are fools for Christ's sake!
O most wise Lord, strengthen us with Thy power, that we may not fear the unbelieving world even when it scourges us with whips or with contemptuous words for Thy sake. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“Either we are fools to the world on account of Christ, or we are fools to Christ on account of the world.”