Lives of the Saints
1. THE HOLY MARTYR BASILISCUS
A kinsman of Saint Theodore the Recruit. He was tortured together with Eutropius and Cleonicus. When these latter two were crucified and breathed their last on March 3, Basiliscus was returned to prison again. During that time there was a change of imperial governors, so Basiliscus remained languishing in prison for a long time. With tears Basiliscus prayed to God not to deny him a martyr's death. And after long prayer the Lord Jesus Himself appeared to him, promised to fulfill his desire, and sent him to his village to bid farewell to his mother and brothers. Then a new governor, Agrippa, arrived, and in the city of Amasea the Lord wrought great miracles through His martyr, on account of which many of the people believed in Christ. Agrippa commanded the martyr to offer sacrifice to Apollo. "Apollo means the destroyer!" said Basiliscus, and by fervent prayer he crushed the idol to dust and burned the temple with heavenly fire. The frightened Agrippa attributed it all to magic and ordered Basiliscus beheaded with a sword. Then Agrippa went mad, and in his madness went to the place of execution, found a little of the martyr's blood in the dust, and tied it beneath his belt, from which he became well. Having come to his senses, he was baptized. Later a certain Marinus, a citizen of Comana (Comana being the name of the place where Basiliscus was executed), built a church over the relics of the martyr, in which many who were sick found healing.
2. THE HOLY MARTYR JOHN VLADIMIR, KING OF SERBIA
He was of princely lineage from Zahumlje. His grandfather was named Hvalimir, and his father Petrislav. As a ruler he was wise, merciful, meek, chaste, and courageous. He prayed to God fervently and willingly built and supported churches. But he had difficult struggles both from within and from without: from within with heretics and Bogomils, and from without with conquerors: Emperor Samuel and Emperor Basil. Samuel treacherously captured him and cast him into prison. While he languished in prison, an angel of God appeared to him and foretold that he would soon be freed from prison but that he would nevertheless end his life as a martyr. Having come to know him better, Samuel grew to love him and gave him his daughter Kosara as his wife. When Samuel died, his son Radomir became emperor. But Radomir's cousin Vladislav slew Radomir, and then treacherously summoned Vladimir and beheaded him also in the year 1015. The relics of this holy king and martyr rest incorrupt in his monastery near Elbasan, and through the centuries miracles have occurred and continue to occur over them to this day. Near the Monastery of Saint Naum, a church was erected in 1925 to this crowned martyr as the founder of that glorious monastery.
3. THE SECOND ECUMENICAL COUNCIL
In the time of Emperor Theodosius the Great, this council was convened in the year 381 in Constantinople to establish the Orthodox teaching on the Holy Spirit, about Whom the then-Archbishop of Constantinople, Macedonius, taught erroneously. This spirit-fighting archbishop taught that the Holy Spirit was a creature of God and not a divine Hypostasis, equal to the Hypostasis of the Father and the Son and consubstantial with Them. Macedonius was condemned by the council, and the Nicene Creed was supplemented with the teaching on the Holy Spirit.
4. THE HOLY RIGHTEOUS MELCHIZEDEK, KING OF SALEM
A contemporary of the Patriarch Abraham. According to the words of the Apostle Paul, he was as king and priest a prototype of the Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 7).
Hymn of Praise
Melchizedek, King of Salem —
Had he anyone of his own?
He was king and he was priest
Of the Most High King — God.
Greater than Abraham he was,
A mystery he was and remains.
—
He blessed Abraham,
And Abraham gave tribute to him.
A king in the world and a priest,
He became a prototype of Christ,
Peace and righteousness he proclaimed —
A mystery he was, a mystery he remains.
His birth is unknown, and his end,
And the length of his earthly life.
But it is known that he was
A wondrous model of a man.
A wondrous model of a man,
Of a king, a saint, a righteous one.
Melchizedek thereby became
A prophet of Christ — and a prefiguration.
Without a single word a prophet,
But by his splendid person alone;
Without a single word a prophet,
A prophet — by righteousness and mercy.
“Without a single word a prophet, but by his splendid person alone; without a single word a prophet — by righteousness and mercy.”
Reflection
How could Moses fast for forty days? How could many Christian ascetics live, and live long, in the utmost abstinence from food and drink? To the carnal man, who knows nothing of the spiritual life, this is impossible to believe. It is impossible to prove it to him either, for the understanding of this is attained only through experience. When the torturers of Saint Basiliscus held him three days without bread and water and then offered him food, he refused, saying that he was not hungry. "I am," he says, "filled with immortal food, and I do not wish to receive mortal food. You are nourished by earthly bread, but I by the heavenly word of God; you are gladdened by wine, but I by the grace of the Holy Spirit; you are sated by meat, but I by fasting; you are strengthened by bodily power, but I by the Cross of Christ; you are enriched by gold, but I by the love of Christ; you are adorned by clothing, but I by virtue; you rejoice in laughter, but I am consoled in spirit through prayer." Behold a man, one of many, many others, in whom the word of Christ was confirmed: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4)!
“You are strengthened by bodily power, but I by the Cross of Christ; you are enriched by gold, but I by the love of Christ.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the grace of God the Holy Spirit in the Mystery of Baptism, namely:
1. How that grace cleanses a man from original sin,
2. How it establishes him as a citizen of the freedom of Christ.
Homily
on Human Bodies as Temples
Know ye not that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price (I Cor. 6:19-20)
Why, brethren, have our bodies become the temple of the Holy Spirit? Because we have been bought with a price. The Lord Christ paid for us with His cares, His labors, His sufferings, and His death. Because of that price we have been deemed worthy to be the temple of the Holy Spirit.
But someone will say: that price was paid long ago, and we live twenty centuries later? No matter: the price was not paid for one time and one generation, but for all times and all generations from Adam to the Dread Judgment. And if billions and billions more human beings are yet to be born on earth, the price has already been paid for all of them. The price is so great and so rich that if all the sand of the sea were turned into people, it would be sufficient.
From what moment, brethren, do our bodies become the temple of the Holy Spirit? From the moment of our baptism. The price was paid for all people, but only those who are baptized become the temple of the Holy Spirit.
What is the consequence, brethren, of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us? The consequence is that we are no longer our own. When the Holy Spirit takes up His dwelling in our bodies, then He is the Master over us, and not we over Him or over ourselves. Then we, brethren, are the property of God the Holy Spirit.
And what does it mean, brethren, that at the Mystical Supper, when the Lord washed the feet even of Judas, and when Judas received the morsel of bread from the Lord, then, it is said, Satan entered into him (John 13:27)? O what dreadful words! O what a dreadful punishment for betrayal of God! Does it not mean, brethren, that when we too renounce the God Who washes and feeds us, the Spirit of God departs from us and Satan takes up His place within us? O what a heavy meaning! O what a terrible warning to all of us who are baptized! The Holy Spirit took up His dwelling in us at baptism and made of us a temple for Himself. But the Holy Spirit does not dwell in us by force but by our own good will. If we sin against Him, He departs from us; in His place Satan enters, and our bodily temple is turned into a pigsty.
O All-gracious Holy Spirit, do not forsake us. Have mercy and forgive us. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“When the Holy Spirit takes up His dwelling in our bodies, then He is the Master over us, and not we over Him or over ourselves. Then we are the property of God the Holy Spirit.”