The Lives of the Saints
1. SAINT EUTYCHIUS, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE
Born in Phrygia of pious parents. His father was a military officer. Once the boy Eutychius was playing with his companions, and their game consisted in each one writing his name upon a rock together with the rank he believed he would one day attain. When Eutychius's turn came, he wrote: "Eutychius — Patriarch!" In his thirtieth year he became Abbot of a monastery in Amasea. And when he was forty years of age, the Metropolitan of Amasea sent him in his stead to the Fifth Ecumenical Council. At the Council he shone like a radiant star among the fathers of the Church, as much by his learning as by his piety. When a dispute arose as to whether heretics could be subjected to anathema after their death, he upheld the view that they could, appealing to the Book of Kings 13:1-8 and to IV Kings 23:16. He greatly endeared himself to Emperor Justinian and to Patriarch Menas. The emperor frequently sought his counsel, and Menas (at that time greatly esteemed) designated him as his successor and besought the emperor to bring this to pass. And so it was. For twelve years Saint Eutychius governed the Church in peace. But then the devil raised a storm against him. That storm reached even to Emperor Justinian himself. For the emperor was beguiled and fell into the Monophysite heresy of the Aphthartodocetists, which falsely taught that the Lord Jesus even before His Resurrection possessed a divine and incorruptible body, without any sensation of hunger, thirst, or pain. Eutychius resolutely rose against this heresy, for which the emperor drove him into exile, to his original monastery. There Eutychius lived for twelve years and eight months, and showed himself a great wonderworker, healing people of various diseases by prayers and the anointing with oil. Justinian repented and died, and was succeeded by Justin, who restored Eutychius to the patriarchal throne, on which this holy man remained until his death, peacefully governing the Church of God. In his seventieth year he departed to the Kingdom of Christ the Lord, Whom he had faithfully and courageously served all his life, in the year 582.
2. THE HOLY ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY MARTYRS WHO SUFFERED IN PERSIA
When the Persian King Shapur plundered the Byzantine lands, he led away into captivity one hundred and twenty Christians. When he had in vain compelled them to renounce Christ and worship fire, he cast them into the fire and burned them alive. Among these martyrs there were also nine virgins consecrated to God. All suffered honorably between the years 344 and 347, and departed to the courts of Christ the King.
Hymn of Praise
SAINT EUTYCHIUS
Eutychius witnessed to Christ before the emperor:
"Christ," he said, "possessed a body subject to infirmity,
A body subject both to hunger and to pain,
Like, yet not the same as, a body on the throne.
The form of a servant on earth the King of Glory bore,
But glorified flesh He carried up to heaven.
Where would tears have been in a body merely seeming?
Where, O emperor, bloody sweat upon a phantom brow?
'I am hungry!'
'I am thirsty!' — so spake the Truth Himself;
Why dost thou drive the Son of God into a lie?
When He, hungering, bears witness to His holy hunger,
And thou sayest to His face: 'Thou art not hungry!'
When He cries out thirsting, as upon the Cross He hangs,
And thou repliest to Him: 'Thou art not thirsty — no!'
O great emperor, speak not such impiety,
Behind thy words the demon himself doth hide.
In vain thou buildest churches when thou dost ruin faith,
And in vain the lampadas, when thou dost quench their light.
The sufferings of Christ surpass all other sufferings,
All of history revolves around the Cross.
The Cross is therefore honored, healing, and awesome,
For it is a wellspring of pain, overflowing and abundant.
On the Cross is Christ — a Man nailed fast,
Blood, sweat, and weeping — not a dream that someone dreamed."
“In vain thou buildest churches when thou dost ruin faith, and in vain the lampadas, when thou dost quench their light.”
Reflection
It is told of a certain ancient orator that he labored day and night to perfect himself in oratory. Someone said to him: "Demosthenes will not let you be the foremost orator!" To which he immediately replied: "Nor will I let him be the only one!" — If you cannot be a first-rate saint such as Saint Anthony, do not let your hands fall and do not say: nothing can come of me! Rather, exert yourself to double your talent. In My Father's house are many mansions, the Lord has said. If you merit to settle even in the smallest of those mansions, you will be more glorious and more blessed than all the emperors on earth who have ever existed. Each according to his own talent. Neither will you be Saint Anthony, nor will Saint Anthony himself occupy the entire Kingdom of God.
“Neither will you be Saint Anthony, nor will Saint Anthony himself occupy the entire Kingdom of God.”
Contemplation
To contemplate the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, namely:
1. How the stone of the tomb did not crack, nor were the seals upon it broken;
2. How the almighty and meek Lord did not damage the tomb at His Resurrection, just as He did not damage the virginal womb at His birth.
Homily
on the victory over the last enemy
**The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death (1 Cor. 15:26). **
Man's first enemy is the devil, the second is sin, and the third is death. The Lord Jesus has vanquished all three of these enemies of the human race. By His humiliation He vanquished the proud devil; by His death He vanquished sin; and by His Resurrection He vanquished death. Having conquered all our enemies, He calls us to partake in His glorious victory. Not that we ourselves should conquer, but only that we should cleave to the Conqueror. His power alone conquers; His weapons alone cut down. We are without power and without weapons, and our enemies are fearsome. But with Him and alongside Him, we overcome those mightier than ourselves. At what price does He offer us His victory? At a cheap price, my brethren; at a very cheap price does He offer us the most precious victory. To humble ourselves and submit to the will of God — that is the price He asks in order to vanquish the devil for us. To die to ourselves, to die to bodily desires and passions — that is the price He asks in order to vanquish sin for us. To live for Him and not for ourselves, to let Him dwell in our hearts — that is the price He asks in order to vanquish death for us. He has conquered all enemies openly and completely, yet this is the price at which He offers His victory to each one of us. The Apostle says: Thanks be to God, Who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:57).
O risen Lord, illumine us and strengthen us and heal us by Thy victory! In gratitude we raise up glory and praise unto Thee forever. Amen.
“At a cheap price, my brethren; at a very cheap price does He offer us the most precious victory.”