# 22. April
The Lives of the Saints
1. VENERABLE THEODORE OF SYKEON
His birthplace was the village of Sykea in Galatia, on account of which he was called Sykeon. Already as a ten-year-old boy, Theodore devoted himself to arduous fasting and all-night prayer, following the example of a certain elder Stephen, who dwelt in his household. His mother Maria was a wealthy widow who intended to dedicate her son to a military career. But Saint George appeared to her in a dream and informed her that Theodore was destined to serve not the earthly king but the Heavenly King. Saint George also appeared to Theodore himself many times, whether to instruct him or to save him from some danger into which malicious demons had placed him. He also had several visions of the Most Holy Theotokos. Theodore's ascetical struggle surpassed in its severity the struggles of all the living ascetics of his time. He tormented his body with hunger and thirst, with iron chains, and with all-night standing at prayer. All this — only so that he might bind his soul with love for God and make it the complete master over the body. To Theodore's love, the merciful Lord responded with love. He bestowed upon him great power over evil spirits and over all the diseases and sufferings of men. He became renowned on all sides as a wonderworking healer. On account of his great purity and spirituality, he was consecrated — even against his will — as Bishop of Anastasiopolis. He spent eleven years in the episcopal office, and then entreated God to release him from that service, so that he might again devote himself to his beloved ascetical struggle. After that, he returned to his monastery, where in old age he surrendered his soul to the Lord, for Whose sake he had willingly suffered much. He reposed at the beginning of the reign of Emperor Heraclius, around the year 613.
2. HOLY MARTYR LEONIDAS
He was the father of Origen. He suffered for Christ in Alexandria in the year 202. First, all his property was confiscated by imperial decree, and then he was condemned to death. Origen wrote to his father in prison: "Father, do not worry about us, and do not avoid martyrdom on our account" (that is, on account of his children).
3. VENERABLE MONK VITALIUS
In the time of Patriarch John the Merciful, a certain young monk appeared who, upon arriving, compiled a list of all the harlots in Alexandria. The struggle of this monk was exceptional and unique. During the day he labored at the most difficult tasks, and at night he would go to the houses of ill repute, give his earned money to some harlot, and shut himself in a room with her for the entire night. As soon as they were shut in, Vitalius would beg the woman to lie down and sleep, while he would spend the entire night in the corner of the room in prayer to God for that sinner. In this way he would preserve the sinful woman from sinning for at least one night. The next night he would go to another, the third night to a third, and so on in order until he had gone through them all, and then he would return again to the one with whom he had begun. Through his counsel, many sinful women abandoned their foul trade: some married, others entered monasteries, and still others took up honest work and livelihood. Vitalius forbade all these women from revealing the true reason for his visits. Because of this, Vitalius became a scandal to all of Alexandria. People reviled him in the street, spat upon him, and even beat him. But he endured all things patiently, revealing his virtue to God alone while hiding it from men. When he died, then everything was learned about him. At his grave many miraculous healings began to occur; people from various regions began to bring their sick to his tomb. Spat upon by men, he was and remained glorified by the all-seeing God.
“Spat upon by men, he was and remained glorified by the all-seeing God.”
Hymn of Praise
THE MONK VITALIUS IN THE GREAT CITY
Vitalius the monk in the great city
With prayer in his heart hastens to his labor.
But the sinful crowd plays at being righteous
And reviles the monk and spits upon his head.
The monk wipes his face and endures and keeps silence.
He neither answers back nor grows angry at anyone.
Then a certain youth, a debauched old sinner,
Approaches Vitalius and strikes him on the cheek.
And the young man says: thou filthy monk,
How long wilt thou torment our patience?
— Why didst thou strike me? Vitalius replies,
Struck thou shalt be — for all the city to see —
And not much time passed before the youth went mad
For judging God's man without God.
And the young man howled, the whole city was frightened.
Vitalius peacefully presented himself before God.
Then the madman came to the saint's grave
And at the grave found for himself healing.
And the young man told the tale, still recent,
And gave glorious praise to Vitalius the blessed.
Reflection
At the time of the Council of Nicaea, quarreling clerics wrote complaints against one another and gave them to the Emperor. Emperor Constantine received all these complaints, and without even opening them, burned them in the flame of a candle. And the Emperor said to his astonished attendants: "If I were to see with my own eyes a bishop, or priest, or monk in a sinful act, I would cover him with my own garment, so that no one else would see his sin." Thus this great Christian emperor put the slanderers to shame and silenced them. Our faith forbids us to be spies of the sins of others and commands us to be merciless judges of our own. A sick man in a hospital is occupied with his own sickness, and has neither the will nor the time to examine the other patients and to mock their illness. Are we not all in this world like patients in a hospital? And does not common sense itself tell us to look to our own illness and not to that of others? Let no one even think that in the other world he will be healed of his illness. This world is but a hospital and a place of healing, while in the other there is no hospital: there is only either the palace — or the dungeon.
“Are we not all in this world like patients in a hospital? In the other world there is no hospital: there is only either the palace — or the dungeon.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the risen Lord Jesus, namely:
1. How by His resurrection He justified the faith and hope of mankind in immortality;
2. How by His resurrection He destroyed among the faithful the fear of death.
Homily
on the power of God in human weakness
When I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12:10).
In Holy Scripture there are no contradictions, and these words are not a contradiction, even though they may sound like one. The carnal man goes by sound, but the spiritual man goes by meaning. For the carnal man, contradictions are everywhere, for he fears obstacles and flees even from a shadow, if that shadow seems to him an obstacle. The spiritual man is like a knight who loves to overcome obstacles. For the spiritual man, in these words is hidden the entire teaching concerning salvation. When I am weak, then I am strong. That is to say: when I am conscious of my own nothingness and of God's omnipotence, then I am strong. When I know that of myself I can do no good either for myself or for anyone else, and when I lay myself entirely upon the power and mercy of God, then I am strong. When I feel that I am a drowning man in this world, unable even to grasp the extended hand of God by my own power, but rather cry out to God that He seize me with His hand and pull me from the depths of the abyss of sin, then I am strong. When I see that I am a weak and empty reed amid stormy winds and floods, a reed that God can fill with His all-powerful grace, and when with faith I pray for God's grace, then I am strong.
O my powerless brethren, let us lay ourselves upon the power of God, so that in our nothingness we may be strong. By man ye are powerless, but by God ye are strong. Cling to God, and all the power of God shall be with you. Confess your powerlessness before God, and God will send you His omnipotent grace. The Apostle confirms this for you by his own example and his own experience: when I am weak, he says, then I am strong. Truly, there are no contradictions in Holy Scripture. The carnal man speaks of contradiction by the sound of words, but the spiritual man enters into the meaning and dispels the apparent contradiction by experience.
O risen Lord, have mercy upon our weakness, and fill us with Thy all-powerful grace. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“When I know that of myself I can do no good either for myself or for anyone else, and when I lay myself entirely upon the power and mercy of God, then I am strong.”