Lives of the Saints
1. HOLY MARTYR QUADRATUS OF CORINTH AND OTHERS WITH HIM
During the persecution of Christians, many of the faithful scattered to the mountains and caves. So did the mother of this Quadratus. But at that very time she was with child, and in the forest she gave birth to Quadratus, and shortly afterward died. Kept, nourished, and guided by God's Providence and by his guardian angel, Quadratus grew up in nature and solitude. He who had given manna from heaven to Israel in the desert also let sweet dew fall from the clouds into the mouth of the child Quadratus. When he was twelve years old, he came down to the city, where certain good people took him to heart and put him to school. He studied medicine and healed the sick — as much by natural remedies as, and yet more, by spiritual power and prayer, to which he had grown accustomed from childhood. When a new persecution arose under Decius, Quadratus was brought to trial and cast into prison. But five of his companions joined him and confessed the name of Christ. These were Cyprian, Dionysius, Anectus, Paul, and Crescens. They were all dragged through the streets and beaten with clubs and stones by pagans — especially by their children — until they were hauled to the place of execution. There the martyrs prayed to God and were beheaded with the sword. At that place a spring of water burst forth from the earth, which to this day bears the name of Quadratus and recalls the heroic death for Christ of these six holy ones. They suffered honorably for the truth in the year 250 in Corinth, in the time of Emperor Decius and his governor Jason.
2. HOLY MARTYR QUADRATUS OF NICOMEDIA
He was a nobleman and a man of wealth, yet at the same time a convinced and baptized Christian. During the persecution, when Valerian imprisoned many Christians, Quadratus bribed the jailers and entered the prison, bringing the prisoners various provisions and strengthening them in the faith. When they were brought before the judge and asked for their name, their homeland, and their rank, they were silent. Then from behind them Quadratus appeared and cried out with his full voice: "We are Christians by name, servants of the Lord Jesus Christ by rank and by grace, and our city and homeland is heaven." After this declaration he too was put on trial, and after long and severe torments was beheaded along with the others.
3. VENERABLE MOTHER ANASTASIA
Venerable Mother Anastasia was a patrician and lady at the court of Emperor Justinian. When she was widowed and saw that Empress Theodora bore her no goodwill, she suddenly disappeared from Constantinople and found herself in the Egyptian desert. The renowned spiritual father Abba Daniel tonsured her and presented her as the monk Anastasius the eunuch, at her own request, so that as a woman in male guise she might more easily be saved and also conceal herself from the emperor's searches for her. And Anastasia shut herself in a narrow cell where she spent twenty-eight years, and where she reposed in the year 563. Before her death, the elder Daniel saw her face shining like the sun.
“We are Christians by name, servants of the Lord Jesus Christ by rank and by grace, and our city and homeland is heaven.”
Hymn of Praise
VENERABLE MOTHER ANASTASIA
Once a renowned patrician,
The venerable Anastasia,
Left money, flattery, all behind,
And directed her whole life to Christ;
Christ her bread, Christ her water,
Christ her joy and freedom,
Christ the renewer of the soul,
Christ the bridge over death,
Anastasia withered away,
The spirit shines through her dried face;
The spirit lifts her higher toward God,
She breathes by the Spirit of God,
Until she became illumined,
Consecrated by grace,
Strengthened by the power of God
And inscribed among the Living.
She forgave all, came to love all,
And prayed for the entire world,
Truly she became like an angel,
Wholly cleaved to Christ;
By the power of God she was mightier
And in wealth richer
Than the Empress Theodora
Amid the splendor of the imperial court.
“By the power of God she was mightier and in wealth richer than the Empress Theodora amid the splendor of the imperial court.”
Reflection
When the forty-two Greek commanders from Amorion were in the Hagarene prison (see March 6), certain Muhammadan sages came to counsel them to accept the faith of Muhammad and gain their freedom. These sages set before the Christian commanders two advantages of Islam over Christianity: first, that Muhammad is a more recent prophet than Christ; and second, that the Muhammadans everywhere win victories over Christians, by which God clearly demonstrates the truth of their faith. To the first point the commanders replied: if two men are disputing over a field, and one has many witnesses that the field is his, while the other has no testimony on his behalf save his own assertion — what do you think, whose is the field? To this the Hagarenes answered: certainly, the field belongs to him who has many witnesses. — Then the commanders said: you have yourselves decided in favor of Christ and against Muhammad! For Christ has with Him the testimony of all the prophets and apostles, while Muhammad bears witness to himself alone. — To the second point the commanders replied: if the truth of a faith were judged by victories in war, then all the idol-worshipping peoples who from time to time conquered the world — such as the Persians, Greeks, Romans, and others — would have had the true faith! Even you Muhammadans yourselves would not acknowledge that. And the fact that you have now conquered Christians does not mean that your faith is better, but that our sins are great, on account of which God punishes us through you.
Contemplation
Contemplate the Lord Jesus at the trial before Caiaphas, namely:
1. How the Jewish elders sought false witnesses everywhere;
2. How the witnesses gave contradictory testimony;
3. How the Lord listened to all the slanders and was silent without anger.
Homily
on mysteries revealed
For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, neither hid that shall not be known (Matt. 10:26)
There is one eye, brethren, that never sleeps. That is the eye of God. There are in the heavens, brethren, more eyes than stars in the vault of heaven. Those are the eyes of the angels. No veil, no wall, no darkness can hide any secret on earth from those eyes. Before God the All-Seeing and His holy angels, all things are revealed and open. That man becomes a criminal who believes that the deeds of men can be hidden. So thought the Jewish elders who were preparing their crime against Christ the Lord in secret — they persecuted Him secretly, judged Him secretly, in the darkness of night secretly hired and bribed false witnesses, as well as Judas, and secretly condemned Him. Where are those secrets of theirs today? All has become known to the entire world. Sooner could a man hide from the air than from the sight of God. All the secrets of the human race, both good and evil, are revealed before God; and many of those secrets God reveals to the entire world according to His Providence. Men who are able to grasp this truth — that God sees all and knows all — guard themselves carefully even from evil thoughts in the secrecy of their hearts, much less from evil deeds. Whenever your heart draws you toward evil, O man, remember these words, which are not from man but from God: there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed. And you who do good in secret — do not grow faint: your every good deed is inscribed in the heavens and shall be made known in its own time.
O Lord All-Seeing, help us and save us. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“Sooner could a man hide from the air than from the sight of God. All the secrets of the human race are revealed before God.”