The Lives of the Saints
1. PRIEST-MARTYR BASIL, PRESBYTER OF ANCYRA
Under Emperor Constantius he endured much from the Arians. During that time he had become renowned as a great defender of Orthodoxy and a true shepherd of the rational flock in Ancyra. And when Julian the Apostate then ascended the throne and began persecution of the Christians, Basil publicly denounced this new impiety and strengthened his people in the faith. For this he was cast into prison. When Emperor Julian came to Ancyra, Basil was brought before the emperor, and the emperor began urging him to abandon the faith of Christ, promising him honors and wealth. Then Basil answered the emperor: "I believe in my Christ, Whom thou hast denied, and Who gave thee this earthly kingdom — but it shall soon be taken from thee. Art thou not ashamed of the altar beneath which thou wast saved from death as an eight-year-old boy, when they sought to kill thee?... Therefore this temporal kingdom shall soon be taken from thee, and thy body shall not be buried when thou dost give up thy soul in bitter torments." Julian was enraged and ordered that seven strips of skin be flayed from Basil's body every day. And the torturers did so for several days. When Basil again appeared before the emperor, he himself took one strip of his own skin and flung it in Julian's face, crying out: "Take it, Julian, and eat it, if such food is sweet to thee — but to me Christ is life!" This event was spread abroad through the city, and the emperor, out of shame, slipped away secretly from Ancyra to Antioch. They continued to torture Basil with red-hot iron until he gave up his soul to the Lord, for Whom he had suffered greatly, in the year 363.
2. HOLY DROSIDA
She was the daughter of Emperor Trajan. She was seized along with five other women while gathering by night the bodies of martyrs who had suffered for Christ, and for this was severely punished by the emperor. Those five women were heavily tortured and finally cast into molten copper, where they gave up their souls to their Lord. Drosida remained under strict imperial guard. But she escaped from the palace and baptized herself in a certain river. After eight days she gave up her soul to God.
3. VENERABLE MARTYR EUTHYMIUS
Born in the village of Dimitsana on the Peloponnese. As a boy he lived as a Christian, but later went to Romania and there gave himself over to great dissoluteness. In that dissoluteness the evil spirit led him to convert to Islam. But as soon as he had done so, he began to repent bitterly. He returned once more to the faith of Christ and became a monk on the Holy Mountain. After several years spent in severe fasting and prayer, he resolved to die for Christ. With the blessing of his spiritual father he went to Constantinople, where he somehow managed to appear before the Grand Vizier. Before the Vizier he began to make the sign of the Cross, to glorify Christ, and to revile Muhammad. After lengthy torments he was condemned to death and beheaded on March 22, 1814, on Palm Sunday. Many miraculous healings of the sick occurred from his relics. His venerable head is kept in the Russian monastery of Saint Panteleimon on the Holy Mountain. And thus this twenty-year-old youth first died to Christ and then for Christ.
“And thus this twenty-year-old youth first died to Christ and then for Christ.”
Hymn of Praise
PRIEST-MARTYR BASIL OF ANCYRA
Thou art a wondrous Hunter, O Christ the Lord,
Thou hast cast Thy nets across the whole world,
Thou dost hunt pure pearls from the deep water,
With an invisible net, woven of the spirit,
Embroidered with love, moistened with tears,
Upheld everywhere by angelic hands.
All that a mother bears and the Spirit has nurtured,
All the most beautiful souls the world can offer,
All enters into the number of Thy rich catch,
All is captured by Thy silken net.
When Thou dost draw up the nets from the sea of life
Nothing will remain but muddy husks.
O wondrous Hunter of pure pearls,
We too, sinners, were once Thy pearls.
Now we are far from Thy throne,
Covered with the darkness of the dregs of passion.
But let Thy net take us up as well,
And from Thy face we shall shine like stars.
“When Thou dost draw up the nets from the sea of life nothing will remain but muddy husks.”
Reflection
Even in the torments on the Cross, the Lord Jesus did not condemn sinners, but presented before His Father an excuse for their sin, saying: they know not what they do! Let us also not judge anyone, lest we be judged. For no one can be sure that he himself will not commit before his death that very same sin for which he judges his brother. Saint Anastasius of Sinai teaches: "Even if thou seest someone sinning, do not judge, for thou dost not know how he will end his life. That robber, crucified with Jesus, was a murderer; Judas, however, was an apostle of Jesus — and yet the robber entered the Kingdom, while the apostle went to hell. Even if thou seest someone sinning, thou dost not know his good deeds. For many have sinned openly and repented secretly, and we see their sins but know not their repentance. Therefore, brethren, let us judge no one, lest we be judged."
“Even if thou seest someone sinning, do not judge, for thou dost not know how he will end his life.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the Lord Jesus crucified on the Cross, namely:
1. How His grief for men blinded by sin is boundless;
2. How His thoughts on the Cross are directed more toward the heavenly Father than toward Himself;
3. How His cares on the Cross are directed more toward men than toward Himself;
4. How even on the Cross He is certain of His victory and Resurrection.
Homily
on the majesty of Christ the Conqueror
His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire (Rev. 1:14)
Such did John the Theologian behold Jesus after His Resurrection and victory. He beheld Him as the Son of Man, clothed in a long garment, girded with a golden girdle, with seven stars in His right hand, and His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. In such power and glory appeared He Who on the Cross was without radiance, and Who seemed to all passersby as the most powerless of the sons of men.
But why were His hairs white like wool and like snow? Was the Lord barely thirty-four years old when they slew Him? Whence came the white hair? Does not white hair signify old age? Truly, white hair signifies old age in mortal man; but in Christ in glory it signifies more than old age — it signifies eternity. Eternally youthful age! Old age is the past; youth is the future. Is He not both at the same time? And more than all the times of the past and all the times of the future — a supra-temporal eternity.
And why were His eyes as a flame of fire? Because He is the All-seeing One. From the sun many things can be hidden; but from His gaze nothing can be hidden of all that is in heaven, on earth, and beneath the earth. He sees through all the fibers of all fabrics in nature; He sees through all atoms in stone, all drops of water in the sea, all particles of air, all thoughts and all desires of all created souls.
This is that same One, and no other, who out of compassionate love for the human race descended to earth, clothed Himself in a mortal and suffering body, and was mocked and spat upon by sinful men. This is that same One Who, without radiance, hung on the Cross among robbers, and was buried as a dead man by Joseph and Nicodemus.
O brethren, how dreadful even to think — what a great and majestic Visitor the earth had! And even more dreadful — against Whom senseless men raised their hand!
O Lord majestic, forgive us our sins, and remember us also in Thy power and glory. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.