Lives of the Saints
1. SAINT MARK THE CONFESSOR, BISHOP OF ARETHUSA IN SYRIA
His suffering is recounted by Saint Gregory the Theologian and the blessed Theodoret. According to these accounts, Mark, in the time of Emperor Constantine, had demolished a pagan temple and brought many into the faith of Christ. But when Emperor Julian came to the throne and soon became an apostate from the faith of Christ, certain citizens of Arethusa also renounced Christ and returned to paganism. And now they rose up against Mark because he had destroyed their temple, demanding that he either rebuild it or pay a large sum of money. When the elder Mark refused to do either, he was flogged, mocked, and dragged through the streets. Then they cut off his ears with a thin and strong cord, stripped him naked and smeared him with honey, and left him bound to a tree in the summer heat so that wasps, mosquitoes, and hornets might sting him. But the martyr of Christ endured all without a cry. He was quite old, yet his face shone like the face of an angel of God. The pagans kept lowering the price of their temple, demanding in the end from Mark a quite insignificant sum that he could easily have given. But he refused to give even a single coin. His endurance made an enormous impression on the citizens, who began to admire him and pity him, and for this reason kept reducing the price of their temple to almost nothing, if only he might remain alive. In the end they released him, and one by one they all again received instruction from him and returned to the faith of Christ.
For a similar act, Deacon Cyril of the city of Heliopolis at the foot of Mount Lebanon suffered at that same time. He had smashed certain idols during the time of Christian freedom, and under Julian was severely tortured for this. So enraged against him were the pagans that when they killed him they tore open his belly with their teeth. On the same day as the holy Cyril, many others also suffered. The wicked pagans cut their bodies into pieces, mixed them with barley, and fed them to swine. But punishment soon overtook them — all their teeth fell out and an unbearable stench struck their mouths.
2. VENERABLE JOHN THE HERMIT
He was the son of a Christian woman named Juliana, in Armenia. While still a boy he left his mother and fled to the desert. He burned entirely with love for Christ the Lord. In the desert he first submitted to the guidance of the spiritual father Pharmouthios, who had been so favored by God that an angel of God brought him bread every day. Afterward, young John withdrew and retired into solitude. He went down into a certain dry well, where he spent ten full years in fasting, prayer, and vigil. Saint Pharmouthios would bring him of the angelic bread and give it to him. For the angel of God was unwilling to give the bread directly to young John, lest John thereby become proud, but gave it through his spiritual father Pharmouthios. After ten years of severe asceticism in the well, the holy John was presented to the Lord, and his relics proved to be miracle-working. He lived and was glorified by God and by men in the fourth century.
“His endurance made an enormous impression on the citizens, who began to admire and pity him, and one by one they all again received the faith of Christ.”
Hymn of Praise
SAINT MARK THE CONFESSOR AND SAINT JOHN THE HERMIT
The Lord the Hero gathers all heroes,
All who are able to maintain the faith,
To remain faithful to God unto death;
And all who are able to endure suffering,
Raising up gratitude to God
And taking pride in their very sufferings;
And all who are able to forgive others
And receive insult as though it were praise;
And all who are able to instruct others,
To turn them from the sinful path to righteousness,
Who are sorrowful with the sorrowful,
And who are able to be merciful,
To rejoice in the joy of another,
And to weep with a weeping heart;
And all who are able to restrain themselves
From evil deed, word, and thought,
From excess in drink and food —
Who do not gratify their own body,
But regard it as a temporary carriage
From which they do battle in the field
To preserve the soul God has given,
To preserve the Christian faith,
That they may enter the garden of Paradise
Where is the Kingdom of the Lord the Hero,
Where the Hero reigns with heroes,
With heroes not of this world.
“Where the Hero reigns with heroes, with heroes not of this world.”
Reflection
Spiritualists of our day accept every manifestation of the spiritual world as sent by God and immediately boast of what has been "revealed" to them. I once knew an eighty-year-old monk, whom all revered as a great spiritual father. To my question whether in his life he had ever seen any being from the spiritual world, he answered me: No, never — glory to the mercy of God! Seeing that I was astonished at this, he said: I have always prayed to God that nothing appear to me, lest I accidentally fall into delusion and receive the devil in disguise for an angel. And God has hitherto hearkened to my prayer.
How modest and cautious the ancient fathers were in this regard is shown by this recorded example: the devil appeared to a certain brother clothed in angelic light, and said to him: "I am the Archangel Gabriel, and I have been sent to thee." To which the brother answered: "Consider whether thou hast not been sent to someone else, for I am not worthy to see an angel." And the devil at once became invisible and vanished.
“I have always prayed to God that nothing appear to me, lest I accidentally fall into delusion and receive the devil in disguise for an angel.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the Lord Jesus in death, namely:
1. How darkness covered all things;
2. How fear entered all those present beneath the Cross;
3. How the captain of the guard, seized with terror, cried out: Truly this was the Son of God!
4. How the Lord's prophecy concerning His death was fulfilled.
Homily
on the wondrous opening of the graves
And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose (Matt. 27:52)
O what a great sign! Even the dead bodies of holy men and women recognized Him Who breathed His last on the Cross in torments, while the dead souls of the Jewish elders did not recognize Him. All creation was shaken, only the criminal souls of Annas and Caiaphas and Herod were not shaken. The dead saints proved themselves more sensitive than the living sinners. But how could even the dead saints have remained indifferent to their Creator on the Cross, when even the dead stones cannot remain indifferent! How, at such an event by which the earth quaked and the sun was darkened, could the bodies of those righteous men remain lying in their graves — those who had fulfilled His ancient law, who had hoped in Him during their lives, who had prophesied of Him, and who had closed their eyes in hope of Him?
O what a great sign! O what great consolation for us who hope in the resurrection! For in our weakness and faint-heartedness we might say: truly Christ is risen, but shall we rise? Christ rose by His own power, but how shall we rise? And who knows whether God will raise us also by His power? Behold the consolation, behold the proof: the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints which slept arose! This means: death could not destroy even ordinary men. This means that even those who are far lesser than Christ are not dead like stones but alive like angels. This means: sooner or later our bodies too shall rise from the graves and we shall live. All that the Lord has said is confirmed and supported by countless proofs. Knowing the weakness of our faith, He proved His prophecy of the resurrection not only by His own Resurrection but also by the arising from the graves of many bodies at the time of His own death.
O brethren, not one of us shall have the smallest excuse for unbelief in life after death.
O Lord most merciful, confirm the faithful in the faith and turn the unbelieving to faith. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“Even the dead bodies of holy men recognized Him Who breathed His last on the Cross, while the dead souls of the Jewish elders did not recognize Him.”