The Lives of the Saints
1. THE HOLY MARTYR JUSTIN THE PHILOSOPHER
Born of Greek parents in the Samaritan city of Shechem, later called Nablus, in the year 105 after Christ. He earnestly sought wisdom from philosophers, first the Stoics, then the Peripatetics, then the Pythagoreans, and finally the Platonists. Although Plato's philosophy did not satisfy him either, he lingered with it the longest, having nothing that attracted him more. But by the Providence of God a certain honorable elder appeared to him, who shook in him the whole philosophy of Plato and reminded him that men cannot know the truth about God until God reveals it to them, and God has revealed the truth about Himself in the books of Holy Scripture. Justin began to read Holy Scripture and became a convinced Christian. Yet he would not be baptized or call himself a Christian until he had personally verified the falseness of all the accusations that the pagans raised against Christians. Coming to Rome in a philosopher's cloak, he quickly gained great respect and many followers there. He was present at the martyrdom of the holy martyrs Ptolemy and Lucius. Seeing the suffering of innocent Christians, he wrote an apology (defense) of Christians and the Christian teaching and presented it to Emperor Antoninus and the senate. The emperor read the apology attentively and ordered the persecution of Christians to cease. Justin took a copy of the emperor's decree and went with it to Asia, where by means of that decree he saved many persecuted Christians. Then he returned again to Rome. When persecution arose under Emperor Marcus Aurelius, he wrote a second apology and addressed it to the emperor. A certain dishonorable philosopher Crescens, a Cynic, accused him as a Christian, out of envy because Justin surpassed him in all debates, and Justin was thrown into prison. Desiring Justin's death but fearing that he might somehow vindicate himself at trial, Crescens found an opportunity and somehow poisoned Justin in prison. Thus this great defender of the Christian faith ended his earthly life and departed to blessed eternity in the year 166.
2. THE HOLY MARTYRS JUSTIN, CHARITON, CHARITA, EUELPISTUS, HIERAX, PAEON, VALERIAN, AND JUSTUS
All suffered in Rome during the time of Marcus Aurelius and the prefect Rusticus. When Rusticus asked: "Do you think that if you die for Christ, you will receive a reward in heaven?" — Saint Justin answered: "We do not think so; we know it." After this they were all beheaded in the year 163 and departed to the eternal kingdom of Christ God.
3. THE VENERABLE AGAPITUS OF THE CAVES
An unmercenary healer. A disciple of Saint Anthony of the Caves. He healed people by prayer and by giving them herbs from which he made his own bread. Thus he healed Prince Vladimir Monomakh, for which he became renowned everywhere. The prince's physician, a certain Armenian, grew envious and began to slander him. When Agapitus fell ill, this Armenian came and, looking at him, told him he would die in three days; and if he did not die, he, the Armenian, would become a monk. Agapitus told him that it had been revealed to him by the Lord that he would not die in three days but in three months. And so it came to pass. After the death of Agapitus the Armenian came to the abbot of the Caves and asked to be tonsured, for, he said, Agapitus had appeared to him from the other world and reminded him of his promise. And so the former envious man became a gentle monk by the Providence of God, Who desires that all men be saved. Saint Agapitus reposed around the year 1095.
“We do not think so; we know it.”
Hymn of Praise
Anubius, three more dark threads remain,
And then to God in truth thou shalt go:
Tell us a profitable word! —
Three elders asked him thrice.
Anubius spoke to the elders:
— I was exposed to persecutions
For the honorable Cross and for the true faith.
I wished to give my head for the Lord,
But the Lord turned me from this,
The martyr's crown He would not give.
Never earthly things did I seek from God,
With every good the Lord blessed me.
Radiant angels appeared to me,
Heavenly food they brought me.
Whatever I asked, from God I received,
Many mysteries I saw and fathomed.
I saw heaven and angelic hosts,
Apostles, saints, and martyrs,
The heavenly company, holy and joyful,
And Paradise wondrous, wondrous and sweet.
I saw Hell and the torments of sinners,
And all the dark armies of Satan.
A lie my lips never uttered,
From all earthly pleasures I renounced myself.
The image of Christ shines brighter than the sun for me —
Forgive, O elders, the sinful Anubius!
“The image of Christ shines brighter than the sun for me — Forgive, O elders, the sinful Anubius!”
Reflection
No one has poured out so many shameless slanders upon Christ the Lord as the Jews. Their Talmud seethes with malice and spite toward the Lord. But all these worthless slanders are refuted by the most prominent Jewish historian after Christ, Josephus Flavius, a rabbi and scholar who lived at the end of the first century. He writes: "At that time there lived Jesus, a wise man, who can hardly be called a man because He performed wondrous deeds — a teacher of men who received the truth with joy. He attracted to Himself many followers, both from the Jews and from the Greeks. He was the Christ. And even after Pilate, at the instigation of our most prominent men, condemned Him to death on the cross, those who had loved Him earlier did not forsake Him: He appeared to them alive again on the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold concerning these and many other deeds that relate to Him. And the sect of Christians, so named after Him, exists to this day." Thus wrote a man who did not believe in Christ, but a scholar free from bias and malice.
Contemplation
Contemplate the miraculous healing of Peter's mother-in-law, namely:
1. How the Lord Jesus took by the hand the woman sick with fever, and the fever left her and she served them,
2. How the Lord can also heal me of the fever of the passions, so that I might immediately rise up and serve Him with my whole spirit.
Homily
On What Is the Beginning
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 1:7)
If someone knew the number of stars in the sky, and the names of the fish in the sea, and the sum of the grass in the field, and the habits of the beasts in the mountains, yet had no fear of God, his knowledge would be like water in a sieve. And before death his knowledge would make him a greater coward than a mere ignoramus.
If someone could guess all the thoughts of men, and foretell the destinies of men, and reveal every secret the earth hides in its depths, yet had no fear of God, his knowledge would be like milk poured into an unclean vessel, from which all the milk turns sour. And at the hour of death his wisdom would not shine even as much as a coal without a flame, but would make his night of death even darker.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. He who has not begun rightly, how shall he finish rightly? He who from the beginning has set out on the wrong path must turn back and take hold of the right beginning, that is, set his foot upon the right path. He who has no fear of God cannot have love for God. What are we saying? He who has no fear of God has no faith in God. The greatest ascetics, who struggled day and night for forty or fifty years, were filled with the fear of God until death, and they, the most sinless among mortals, cried out at the hour of death: God, have mercy on me, a sinner!
The fear of God is the salt of all piety. If that salt is lacking, all our piety is tasteless and flaccid. The fear of God girds the loins, belts the stomach, sobers the heart, bridles the mind, and scourges self-will. Where is repentance without the fear of God? Where is humility? Where is temperance? Where is chastity? Where is patience? Where is service and obedience?
O my brethren, let us embrace this word as holy truth: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom! O Almighty Lord, root Thy fear in our hearts. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“The fear of God is the salt of all piety. If that salt is lacking, all our piety is tasteless and flaccid.”