The Lives of the Saints
1. THE HOLY APOSTLE ANDRONICUS
One of the Seventy. A kinsman of the Apostle Paul, as Paul himself writes (Rom. 16:7), mentioning also Saint Junia, the helper of Andronicus. Andronicus was appointed Bishop of Pannonia, but he did not stay in one place; rather, he preached the Gospel throughout all Pannonia. Together with Saint Junia he succeeded in leading many to Christ and in destroying many idol temples. They both possessed the grace-filled power of wonderworking, by which they drove demons out of people and healed every infirmity and every disease. They both suffered for Christ, and thus received a double crown: both of apostleship and of martyrdom. Their holy relics were found in the region of Eugenius (see February 22).
2. THE HOLY MARTYR SOLOCHON
An Egyptian by birth and a Roman soldier under Commander Campanus, in the time of the impious Emperor Maximian. When the imperial command came that all soldiers offer sacrifice to the idols, Solochon declared himself a Christian. His two companions, Pamphamer and Pamphalon, did the same. The commander ordered that they be beaten and tortured with terrible torments, under which Saints Pamphamer and Pamphalon breathed their last. Solochon remained still alive and was subjected to new tortures. Thus the commander ordered his soldiers to pry open his teeth with a sword and pour the idol sacrifice into his mouth. The martyr broke the iron with his teeth and did not receive the foul idol sacrifice. At last they pierced a stylus through both his ears and left him to die. Christians took the martyr and brought him to the home of a widow, where he was slightly refreshed with food and drink and continued counseling the faithful to be steadfast in the faith and in their sufferings for the faith. After this he raised praise to God, ended his earthly life, and stood before the Lord in the Kingdom of Heaven in the year 298.
3. SAINT STEPHEN, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE
The son of Emperor Basil the Macedonian and the brother of Emperor Leo the Wise. He came to the patriarchal throne after Photius and governed the Church of God from 889 to 893. He ended his life peacefully and stood before the Lord Whom he greatly loved.
Hymn of Praise
The Apostle Andronicus, kinsman of Saint Paul,
A preacher of peace and spiritual health,
Burned with flaming love for Christ
And carried the radiant teaching throughout the world:
Without pay or comfort and without much clothing,
Rich only in the power of the divine Spirit.
He shared all torments with Saint Junia
Until they bore the Cross through all Pannonia.
Where the honorable Cross shone, there darkness vanished,
The wheat was separated from the chaff and straw.
People awoke from the sleep of bestiality
And received the gift of divine adoption.
They shattered the idols like feeble reeds,
They abandoned discord and hateful vices,
Their lips began to sing when their hearts cried out:
Our heavenly Father, we are Thy children!
Now we have received the light from Thy Apostle,
Forgive us that we were slaves of idols.
Reflection
After the terrible earthquake in Antioch, Chrysostom said to the people: "Great are the fruits of the earthquake. Behold the love for mankind of the Lord, Who shakes the city but strengthens the soul, Who shakes the foundations but fortifies the thoughts, Who shows the weakness of the city but makes the will powerful! Observe His love for mankind: He shook it for a short while but strengthened it forever; the earthquake lasted two days, but piety must remain for all time; you grieved for a short time but were strengthened forever… A mother, wishing to wean her infant from the habit of frequent crying, shakes his little cradle vigorously — not to destroy him, but to frighten him. In exactly the same way the Master of all, Who holds the universe in His hands, shakes it not to destroy it, but to bring to salvation those who live in lawlessness." This is how the Holy Fathers, the pillars of the Universal Church, knew how to explain by the love of God for mankind both misfortunes just as well as benefactions, and unhappiness just as well as happiness. Let us be ashamed, we who are slow to thank God when God gives and quick to murmur against God when God takes away.
“A mother, wishing to wean her infant from crying, shakes his cradle — not to destroy him, but to frighten him. In the same way the Master shakes the universe.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the action of God the Holy Spirit upon the holy martyrs for the faith, namely:
1. How the Holy Spirit gives them wisdom to speak before the courts,
2. How the Holy Spirit gives them courage to perish at the places of execution.
Homily
On the Holy Spirit the Comforter
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you (John 14:26)
What do these words practically mean if not that we must pray every day for the Holy Spirit to be sent to us, just as we pray every day for our daily bread? God is willing to send us the Holy Spirit every day, but He requires of us that we pray every day for the Holy Spirit. For just as with bread there is now abundance and now scarcity, so it is also with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to us and departs from us, now and then, according to our zeal or laziness in prayer, according to our good works and patience. For this reason the Church has established that the first morning service begin with the invocation of the Holy Spirit: O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, come — and only then comes the prayer: Give us this day our daily bread! Why? Because without the Holy Spirit we do not even know how to use bread rightly for our salvation.
He shall teach you all things. That is: every day and every night, according to the circumstances in which you find yourselves, He will guide you, counsel you, instruct you in what you should think, what you should say, what you should do. Therefore ask of God only the Holy Spirit, and the rest He will bring with Himself — all that you need at any given moment. When He descends upon you, you will know all things, be able to do all things, and have the power for all things that are needful.
And bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. That is: do not fear that you will forget My teaching and My words. The Holy Spirit knows all that I know, and when He is present within you, all My teaching will also be present within you together with Him.
O Lord the Holy Spirit, deign to descend upon us, not according to our merit but according to the merit of the Lord Jesus and according to Thy boundless goodness. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“Without the Holy Spirit we do not even know how to use bread rightly for our salvation.”