The Lives of the Saints
1. SAINT NICETAS THE CONFESSOR
Born in Bithynia, in the city of Caesarea. His father Philaretus, having lost his wife, became a monk, and Nicetas remained with his grandmother, his father's mother. When he had grown up and completed all his studies he went to the Monastery of Medikion, where the Abbot Nicephorus tonsured him as a monk, and after seven years of labor and ascetic struggles Patriarch Tarasius ordained him as a hieromonk. After the death of Nicephorus and Nicetas's faithful friend Athanasius, the brotherhood chose Nicetas, against his own will, as Abbot. Saint Nicetas was a radiant example of life and ascetic labor for his brethren through a long series of years. But when Leo V the Armenian came to the throne, after the pious Irene and the right-believing emperors Nicephorus and Michael, the iconoclast heresy flared up again. The emperor deposed Patriarch Nicephorus and sent him into exile, and in his place elevated a certain heretic Theodotus Cassiteras, a man of impure life. Nicetas too was imprisoned and tortured, but he was not shaken in his Orthodoxy. He was led from prison to prison, and tortured by hunger and thirst, cold and heat, and by mockery. But he would not allow himself to be shaken. A certain Nicholas especially tormented him with ridicule and mockery. But one night Nicholas's dead father appeared to him in a dream and reproachfully said to him: "Depart from the servant of God!" And from that hour Nicholas repented and not only ceased tormenting the saint but also dissuaded others from tormenting him. When Leo the Armenian perished by an evil death, the right-believing emperor Michael Balbus assumed the throne and freed all the Orthodox sufferers. Nicetas withdrew to a solitary place near Constantinople, where in prayer and thanksgiving to God for all things he spent his last days of earthly life. He wrought many miracles through prayer during his lifetime. And when he died, they transferred his body to his monastery. And during that procession many of the sick touched his body and were healed. His relics were laid beside the tomb of his spiritual father Nicephorus and his friend Athanasius. This great hierarch reposed in the year 824.
2. SAINT PAUL THE SUFFERER
A Russian by birth. In his youth he was captured by the Turks. Not wishing to betray the faith of Christ and to convert to Islam, he was tortured and beheaded in Constantinople in the year 1683.
3. HOLY MARTYR ULPIAN
A young man from the city of Tyre. Tortured for Christ by the governor Urban, the torturer of Saint Amphianus (April 2). He was finally tied in a sack, together with a dog and a serpent, and cast into the sea. He suffered and was glorified in the year 306.
Hymn of Praise
SAINT NICETAS THE CONFESSOR
"I bear the wounds of the Lord upon my body
And only in the Cross of the Lord do I glory!"
Thus spoke Paul, the chosen apostle,
Whom hosts of the penitent followed,
Hosts of the penitent who received their wounds
And in many torments spent their days,
For the sake of the Living Christ, the Savior and Lord,
Even as holy Paul, the apostle to the nations.
And wondrous Nicetas bore a heavy cross,
Torments and mockery for Christ he endured.
In a frail body a spirit as of steel
In holy Nicetas, the courageous martyr.
He conquered the emperor and outlived the empire,
For this both earth and heaven at him do marvel.
Now crowned in glory among the angels,
He helps all those persecuted for the Cross.
His prayer ascends before God on high,
And his help descends upon the earth below.
“He conquered the emperor and outlived the empire, for this both earth and heaven at him do marvel.”
Reflection
"I expect for myself a thousand deaths," thus wrote Saint Athanasius the Great to his flock in Egypt during the time of the terrible Arian heresy. Thus can every spiritual man speak of himself, who has seen clearly with the spirit and has beheld the net in which every human soul finds itself in this world. The more spiritual a man is, the denser that net becomes. Such is the will of God: that the most spiritual be saved by the narrowest path. The Psalmist himself says: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous." But in the final end, victory and glory belong to the righteous. One need only arm oneself with faith and patience. He who believes also understands his suffering. He who girds himself with patience shall behold victory and glory. For him who loves the Lord, even the narrowest path is spacious enough, and the greatest torments are a light yoke, and the fiercest death is a wedding joy.
“For him who loves the Lord, even the narrowest path is spacious enough, and the greatest torments are a light yoke.”
Contemplation
To contemplate the Lord Jesus in Hades, namely:
1. How He descends into Hades with great power, before which Hades trembles;
2. How the evil spirits, the former masters of Hades, flee before His face;
3. How the souls of the righteous forefathers and prophets rejoice inexpressibly at His coming.
Homily
on the great desire of God
**God desires all men to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4). **
God desires all men to be saved — therefore the Lord Jesus descended into Hades, to save even those who had lived on earth before His coming. For had He not descended into Hades, an enormous number of righteous souls would have perished forever. And furthermore: had He not descended into Hades, the chief stronghold of malice against God and the human race would have remained undestroyed. These two reasons, therefore, moved Christ the Giver of Life to descend in soul into Hades — first: to destroy the nest of the powers of Hades, and second: to lead out of Hades into Paradise the souls of the forefathers, prophets, righteous men and righteous women, who had fulfilled the old law of God and thereby pleased God. Before Satan had rejoiced enough at the sight of Christ humiliated and put to death on the Cross, Christ appeared, alive and almighty, in the midst of Hades, the chief stronghold of Satan. What an unexpected and terrible piece of news for Satan! For three years he had been weaving snares against Christ on earth, and Christ in three days was now destroying his kingdom and carrying away the most abundant spoils in the form of a swarm of righteous souls.
Thou desirest all men to be saved, O Lord. Save us also, we pray to Thee. For there is no salvation and no savior apart from Thee. In Thee alone do we hope and to Thee alone do we bow down, to Thee and to the Father and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.
“Before Satan had rejoiced enough at the sight of Christ humiliated on the Cross, Christ appeared, alive and almighty, in the midst of Hades.”