Lives of the Saints
1. THE HOLY MARTYR PELAGIA OF TARSUS
Born in the city of Tarsus, of pagan but distinguished and wealthy parents. Having heard from Christians about Christ and the salvation of the soul, she was inflamed with love for the Savior and was in her soul entirely a Christian. At that time there was a terrible persecution of Christians. It came to pass that Emperor Diocletian himself stopped in Tarsus, and during his stay in that city his son, the prince, fell desperately in love with Pelagia and wished to take her as his wife. Pelagia replied through her wicked mother that she had already betrothed herself to her heavenly Bridegroom, Christ the Lord. Fleeing from the vile prince and from her wicked mother, Pelagia sought out and found Bishop Clinon, a man renowned for his holiness. He instructed her in the Christian faith and baptized her. Then Pelagia distributed her luxurious garments and great wealth, returned home, and confessed to her mother that she had already been baptized. When the emperor's son heard of this and lost all hope of obtaining this holy virgin for his wife, he pierced himself with a sword and died. Then the wicked mother herself accused her own daughter before the emperor and handed her over for judgment. The emperor marveled at the beauty of the maiden, and forgetting his own son, was inflamed with impure passion for her. But as Pelagia remained unshakeable in her faith, the emperor condemned her to be burned alive in a metal ox heated by fire. When the torturers stripped her, the holy Pelagia made the sign of the Cross and, with a prayer of thanksgiving to God upon her lips, entered the heated ox of her own accord, where in the blink of an eye she melted entirely like wax. She suffered honorably in the year 287. The remains of her bones were recovered by Bishop Clinon and buried on a hill beneath a stone. In the time of Emperor Constantine Copronymus (741-775), a beautiful church was built on that site in honor of the holy virgin and martyr Pelagia, who sacrificed herself for Christ that she might reign eternally with Christ.
2. THE PRIEST-MARTYR SILVANUS, BISHOP OF GAZA
He served at first in the military, but later, driven by the intensity of his faith, he entered the spiritual service. Accused of converting pagans to Christianity, he was first cruelly tortured and then beheaded together with forty other soldiers in the year 311; and thus they all became citizens of heaven.
3. THE VENERABLE NICEPHORUS
He was at first a Roman Catholic, but then converted to Orthodoxy. He struggled as a monk on the Holy Mountain with the wise Theoleptus. He was the teacher of the renowned Gregory Palamas and wrote a work on the prayer of the mind. He reposed peacefully in the Lord in the fourteenth century. He taught: "Gather thy mind and compel it to enter into the heart and to remain there. When thy mind is established in the heart, it must not stand idle, but unceasingly let it pray: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me! And let it never fall silent. Through this an entire array of virtues will take up dwelling in thee: love, joy, peace, and the rest, on account of which every petition of thine to God will afterward be fulfilled."
“When the emperor's son heard of this and lost all hope of obtaining this holy virgin for his wife, he pierced himself with a sword and died.”
Hymn of Praise
Pelagia, like an angel of light,
Stood before the emperor for trial and sentence;
The beast-faced emperor spoke to her:
— With a royal crown I shall crown thee,
Be my wife among women!
Pelagia boldly answered:
— I abhor marriage with a pagan,
Never, O emperor, shall I be thine,
What dost thou offer? A crown of dust!
Three crowns I have from the Lord,
From Jesus, my eternal Bridegroom:
The first crown — for I kept the faith,
The second crown — for I preserved my virginity,
The third crown — the crown of martyrdom.
Do not delay, O impious emperor,
Crush this body of dust,
Crush, cut, burn, and grind it.
That the soul may sooner go to the wedding,
That I may sooner stand beside my Bridegroom,
The Savior, the immortal God.
“Three crowns I have from the Lord: the first crown — for I kept the faith, the second — for I preserved my virginity, the third — the crown of martyrdom.”
Reflection
A man who is young and inexperienced in spiritual warfare underlines his every good deed with self-praise. But a seasoned soldier, in the midst of battle with passions and demons, belittles his every deed and intensifies his prayer for God's help. Abba Matthew used to say: "The closer a man draws to God, the more sinful he sees himself to be." And he also said: "When I was young, I thought that perhaps I was doing some good; but now that I have grown old, I see that I have not a single good deed."
Did not the Lord Himself say: No one is good save God alone? If, therefore, only God alone is good and the source of every good, how then can any good deed come about that is not from God? And how can anyone who performs a good deed ascribe it to himself and not to God? And if this be so, then with what can a mortal man boast? With nothing, save God and the goodness of God.
“The closer a man draws to God, the more sinful he sees himself to be.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the ascended Lord Jesus, namely:
1. How by His Ascension He proves His divine nature and His divine power,
2. How by His Ascension into heaven He shows mankind that there exists a better, more exalted world and life — the world and life of heaven.
Homily
on Idolatry as Adultery
What is this adultery that Israel and Judah (that is, the Israelite and Judean peoples) committed with stones and trees? It is the worship of idols of stone and wood. But before this sin they committed another, namely: they turned away from the worship of the true God, the living God, the only God. Why is their idolatry called adultery? Because they were bound by their first love to the true God, the living God, the only God, and afterward they betrayed that love and gave their hearts to alien idols of stone and wood. Therefore the Lord calls their idolatry adultery.
Was this reproach of God deserved only in that ancient time and not in ours, and only by Israel and Judah and not by Christians? Sadly, this reproach of God is fully deserved today as well, by many Christians. In whomever love for the true God, the living God, the only God has grown cold, and a base love for things of stone and wood, for perishable things and mortal creatures, has been kindled — that person commits adultery and brings upon himself that reproach of God. Therefore that reproach of God is as fitting today as it was then, for in those times men sinned not knowing Christ, while now they sin knowing Christ.
O brethren, how long shall this dark idolatry drag itself across the earth? How long shall the earth reek of man's adultery with idols of stone and wood, of silver and gold, of flesh and blood? Has not the almighty Christ crushed all idols to dust and ashes? Why do some now stoop down and from that dust fashion gods for themselves again? Because of the devil's lie and their own self-deception.
O Lord, ascended to the highest heaven, defend us from the devil's lie and our own self-deception. Preserve us from shameful adultery with crushed idols — by Thy honorable Cross. Help us, O Lord, to worship unceasingly only Thee, the true God, the living God, the only God. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“How long shall the earth reek of man's adultery with idols of stone and wood, of silver and gold, of flesh and blood?”