The Lives of the Saints
1. THE HOLY GREAT MARTYR IRENE
She lived in apostolic times in the Balkans, in a certain city of Magedon, where her father Licinius was a petty king. Some think she was a Slav. Born a pagan of pagan parents, Penelope — for that was her pagan name — was instructed in the Christian faith by her teacher Apellian. Saint Timothy, a disciple of the Apostle Paul, baptized her and her handmaidens, and brought her the epistles of the Apostle Paul to read. By her refusal to marry, she angered her father, and her father wished to torture her, but in a miraculous manner she converted her father to Christianity. By four other kings besides her father she was subjected to various torments, but God saved her through His angels. King Zedekiah buried her up to her head in a trench filled with serpents and scorpions. But an angel of God killed the venomous creatures and preserved the holy virgin unharmed. Then the same king attempted to saw her in half with a saw, but the saw bounced off her body as though from stone. Then the same king bound her to a wheel beneath a water mill and released the water to kill her in this way. But the water refused to flow and stood still, and the maiden remained sound and alive. King Sapor, the son of Zedekiah, nailed horseshoes to her, loaded a sack of sand upon her, bridled her, and commanded that she be led about like a beast far outside the city. "Truly I am as a beast before Thee, O Lord!" spoke the holy martyr, running bridled behind her tormentors. But an angel of God shook the earth, and the earth opened and swallowed her tormentors. Having survived all torments, through which she converted a vast number of pagans to Christianity, Irene crossed over to the city of Callipolis, where she preached the faith in Christ. The king there, Numerian, wished to kill her by casting her into three heated metal oxen, one after another. But the maiden was saved and remained alive. And many saw and believed. The eparch Vavodin led her to the city of Constantina, where he planned to kill her by placing her on heated iron grates. But this did not harm the holy Irene, and it brought many to the true faith. At last Irene came to the city of Mesembria, where King Saborius put her to death, but God brought her back to life. And the king, together with many people, seeing this, believed in Christ and was baptized. And thus the holy Irene, through her suffering and miracles, brought to the faith of Christ more than one hundred thousand pagans. At last she lay down in a grave of her own accord and commanded Apellian to close the tomb. After four days, when the grave was opened, she was not in the grave. Thus did God glorify forever the virgin and martyr Irene, who sacrificed everything and endured everything, that God might be glorified as much as possible among men.
2. SAINTS MARTIN AND HERACLIUS
Slavs. They were persecuted by the heretics, the Arians, in Illyria. Sent into exile, these champions of Orthodoxy ended their earthly life in the fourth century and departed to the Lord.
“His poor but Christ-loving mother counseled him: Just as you voluntarily denied the Lord, so now you must voluntarily and courageously accept martyrdom for the sweet Jesus.”
Hymn of Praise
Penelope, a king's daughter, sat upon her balcony,
When three birds, one after another, swiftly flew to her.
First a dove, white as milk, with an olive branch,
Then an eagle with a wreath of flowers in its bony beak.
Last of all a raven with a fierce serpent alighted and flew in.
Penelope asked her servants, can they recall the meaning?
The servants are silent, no one knows. All marvel at the wonder.
Apellian the elder spoke: we are all mortal men,
But hear me, Penelope, hear me, fair child,
The Spirit of God through these signs prophesies to thee clearly:
The dove signifies thy gentleness — thou shalt be called Irene,
The olive branch signifies God's grace upon thee.
The eagle signifies a victor — thou shalt conquer the passions,
The wreath of flowers signifies glory and heavenly delights;
The raven with the serpent is the demon with his spite,
But thou shalt defeat him by thy patience.
All this Irene heard, her heart trembled,
And she resolved to give herself entirely to the saving faith.
What she resolved, she accomplished, and God helped her.
By her holy prayers, save us also, O God.
“The prophet cries out, weeps, and threatens, / His words are like a living flame.”
Reflection
Prayer in words alone avails nothing if the heart does not participate in prayer. God hearkens only to fervent prayer. Abba Xois of the Thebaid was once returning from Mount Sinai when he met a monk who complained to him that in the monastery they were suffering greatly from drought. Xois said to him: Why do you not pray and ask God? The monk replied: We do pray and we do ask, but there is no rain. To this Xois said: Clearly, you do not pray fervently. Would you like to be convinced that this is so? And having said this, the elder raised his hands to heaven and prayed. And abundant rain fell upon the earth. Seeing this, the amazed monk fell to the ground before the elder and bowed to him, but the elder, fearing the glory of men, quickly fled from him. — Ask and it shall be given you, the Lord Himself has said. But in vain are lips full of prayer if the heart is empty: God does not stand and listen at the lips but in the heart. Let the heart be filled with prayer, even though the lips be silent. God will hear and accept the prayer. For God hearkens only to fervent prayer.
Contemplation
Contemplate the ascended Lord Jesus, namely:
1. How by His Ascension He marks the victorious completion of His entire work on earth over the course of some thirty-three years,
2. How by His Ascension He teaches us to direct all our strivings toward heaven and not toward earth.
Homily
On the Divine Marriage of the Human Soul
Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you (Jer. 3:14)
The human soul is a bride, and the Lord, living and almighty, is the husband of the human soul. His bride, the soul, the Lord clothes in splendor and nourishes with His grace. And the soul, from God her husband, bears good children, and many children, in the form of many and beautiful virtues. Not a single virtue can the soul bear of itself. Only a soul made fruitful by God bears virtues. But a soul made fruitful by the world either remains barren or gives birth to sin and vice. Therefore the Lord says to men: I am your husband. So that the human soul might know to whom she is betrothed and with whom she is wedded, and that she might not wander and destroy herself through adultery and turn herself to ashes!
God is a faithful husband of the human soul. He never betrays His bride, the soul. His love for the soul never grows cold, so long as the soul does not turn away from God and commit adultery. But even then God does not abandon the soul all at once, but follows after her and turns her back from the path of perdition. Turn back, the Lord then says to human souls. Repent, and I will forgive you. Turn back, and I will receive you. Penitents would know how to speak of how great is the mercy of God. They could attest how steadfast is the love of God, even toward sinners, until the very last hour. God is faithful in His love, and is not swift to take vengeance upon the adulterous soul. He continually strives to restore to the adulterous soul its lost sense of shame. And shame gives birth to repentance, and repentance leads to renewal, and renewal leads to the original love and faithfulness.
O Almighty Lord, help us, that from Thy eternal love our souls may bear good and abundant fruit. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“O brethren, let us not trust in our own constructions of stone — neither of marble nor of gold nor of silver, nor of the godless stone of our own thoughts.”