The Lives of the Saints
1. HOLY APOSTLE HERMAS
One of the Seventy. He is mentioned in the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Romans (Rom. 16:14). He was a Greek by birth, but lived for a long time in Rome. He was a bishop in Philippopolis, and ended his life as a martyr. He composed a very instructive book, The Shepherd, based on the revelations of an angel of God. Hermas was a wealthy man, but on account of his own sins and those of his sons, he fell into utter poverty. Once at prayer, a man appeared to him in white garments and with a staff in his hand, and told him that he was the angel of repentance, who had been sent to him until the end of his (Hermas's) life. And the angel gave him twelve commandments: 1. to believe in God; 2. to live in simplicity and innocence, not to do evil, and to give alms to everyone who asks; 3. to love truth and avoid falsehood; 4. to preserve chastity in one's thoughts; 5. to learn patience and magnanimity; 6. to know that beside every man there is appointed both a good spirit and an evil spirit; 7. to fear God and not to fear the devil; 8. to do every good deed and to refrain from every evil deed; 9. to pray to God from the depths of the soul with faith that our prayer will be heard; 10. to guard oneself from sorrow, as the sister of doubt and anger; 11. to discern true and false prophecies; 12. to guard oneself from every evil desire.
2. HOLY MARTYR HERMIAS
He grew old as an imperial soldier and in his old age suffered for Christ the King. After the wicked judge had tried in vain to turn him from the Christian Faith and counseled him to offer sacrifice to the idols, he ordered that his teeth be knocked out with stones and the skin flayed from his face with a knife. Then they cast him into a fiery furnace, but he arose, preserved by the grace of God. Then he drank the most potent poison, which a certain sorcerer gave him by order of the judge, but the poison did him no harm. Seeing this, the sorcerer was so astonished that he publicly confessed Christ, for which he was immediately beheaded with the sword. Then they gouged out both of Hermias's eyes, but he, without lamenting, cried out to the judge: "Take for thyself these bodily eyes, which gaze upon the vanity of the world; I have the eyes of the heart, with which I clearly see the true Light." Then he was hung upside down by his feet, but those who did this to him were struck blind and staggered about around him. Saint Hermias called them to himself, laid his hands upon them, and by prayer to the Lord restored their sight. Seeing all of this, the judge flew into a rage like a lion, drew his knife, and cut off the head of God's man. Christians secretly took the body of Hermias and buried it with honor. His relics gave healing to all the sick and afflicted. Saint Hermias suffered in the year 166, in the time of Emperor Antoninus.
3. HOLY MARTYR PHILOSOPHUS
This martyr of Christ was from the vicinity of Alexandria. In the time of the persecution of Christians, the holy Philosophus would not deny Christ the Lord before the pagan princes and judges. For this the pagans subjected him to cruel torments. After he had been tortured with various torments, they finally placed him in a soft bed and bound both his feet and his hands, and sent a dissolute woman to him to lead him into sin. When the holy Philosophus felt that lust was being aroused in him by the touch of the woman's hands, he clenched his tongue between his teeth, bit it off, and spat it in the face of the harlot. From this the lust within him was extinguished, and the unchaste woman was so horrified that she immediately fled from him. He was then beheaded with the sword around the year 252, in his young years, and departed to the Kingdom of eternal youth.
“When he felt that lust was being aroused in him, he clenched his tongue between his teeth, bit it off, and spat it in the face of the harlot.”
Hymn of Praise
HOLY MARTYR HERMIAS
The sorcerer, old and foul, a poisoner and liar,
In all things very small, but a great coward.
He gave fierce poison to holy Hermias,
Poison from which serpents themselves would hide!
Hermias drank the poison, death did not take him,
And the old sorcerer saw and trembled all over,
— O what a wondrous miracle, he cried aloud,
Poison has no power over God's warrior!
Let the days of my dark life be hidden,
Let the years of my shameful life be erased!
My whole life I devoted to dull deceits,
My whole life in the service of stupid idols.
And only today I see in great terror:
The God of Hermias is the only true God.
The Crucified Christ is the Lord from heaven,
His alone are miracles that do not lie.
From now on I am Christ's — O Christ, forgive me,
As Thy last servant, O Gracious One, receive me,
Forgive my most abundant sins, forgive,
I will sacrifice for Thee my body, my mortal bones!
So spoke the elder, bitterly repentant,
From lies and fear at once washed clean.
Among the Christians he publicly enrolled himself —
The sword flashed above him, and with blood baptized him.
“The God of Hermias is the only true God. The Crucified Christ is the Lord from heaven, His alone are miracles that do not lie.”
Reflection
This life is spiritual warfare. To conquer or to be conquered! If we conquer, we shall enjoy the fruits of victory through all eternity; if we are conquered, we shall suffer the horrors of defeat through all eternity. This life is a duel between man and all that is opposed to God. God is the almighty ally of everyone who sincerely calls upon Him for help.
"This life is no joke and no plaything," says Fr. John of Kronstadt, "but men turn it into a joke and a plaything. They frivolously play with the time given us for preparation for eternity; they play with empty words. They gather as guests, sit and chatter idly, and then sit and play one game or another; they gather in theaters, and there they only amuse themselves... All of life for them is amusement. But woe to those who only amuse themselves!"
“This life is spiritual warfare. To conquer or to be conquered!”
Contemplation
Contemplate the grace of God the Holy Spirit in the Mystery of Holy Unction, namely:
1. How that grace acts through the consecrated oil,
2. How it, according to prayer and faith, heals every disease and every infirmity.
Homily
on the Mystery of Holy Unction
And they anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them (Mark 6:13)
So did the holy Apostles, and it is commanded that we do likewise. The Apostle James writes to us: Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him (5:14–15). One must not call just anyone, but the priests, the elders of the church; one must not anoint him in just anyone's name (lest it be sorcery), but in the name of the Lord; not just anyone will raise him up, but the Lord Himself, nor can anyone else forgive him his sins save the Lord alone. Why with oil and not with something else? Because it is so commanded, so that we might show obedience and faith. Why is it commanded that we be baptized with water, chrismated with chrism, and receive communion with bread and wine? This is God's choice and God's providence, and ours is to obey and believe. Different elements are used in the different Mysteries; but the grace is one, just as the Lord is one, and all things are from the Lord. Why does the Lord require some material substance in order to pour out His grace upon us? The Lord does not require matter, but we do: while we are in matter, we require matter. Condescending to our weakness, the Lord makes use of matter. To the immaterial angels He gives grace in an immaterial way.
The oil is powerless in and of itself, just as every material substance is powerless in and of itself, but the grace of God is almighty. Through the oil the Lord gives the grace of His Holy Spirit, and that grace heals the sick, raises up the paralyzed, and restores the deranged.
O my brethren, how inexpressible is the goodness of God! What has the Lord not done for us! And what more could we desire? All our needs He knew in advance, and for all of them He foresaw remedies in advance. And from us He asks only that we believe in Him and fulfill His commandments. Is it not brazen and shameful for us that we often more conscientiously fulfill the prescriptions of physicians, mortal men just as we are, while we disregard the commandments of the immortal God?
O all-gracious Lord, melt our stony hearts by the power of Thy grace, that before the hour of death we may show due gratitude toward Thee — toward Thee, O our all-gracious and all-wise God! To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.