Lives of the Saints
1. THE HOLY MARTYRS LUCILLIAN AND WITH HIM: CLAUDIUS, HYPATIUS, PAUL, DIONYSIUS, AND THE MAIDEN PAULA
Having grown old as a pagan and an idol-priest, Lucillian, as a gray-haired elder, recognized the Christian truth and was baptized. His conversion to Christianity caused great agitation among the pagans in Nicomedia, and he was brought to trial; and since he would not renounce his new faith, he was fiercely beaten and, all battered, was cast into prison. In prison he found four youths: Claudius, Hypatius, Paul, and Dionysius, imprisoned for the faith in Christ. The elder rejoiced in the youths and the youths in the elder, and together they all spent their time in pious conversation, prayers, and psalm-singing. When they were brought out of prison, they were subjected to various tortures, and finally sent to Byzantium, where the youths were beheaded by soldiers and Lucillian was crucified by the Jews. The malicious Jews pierced his whole body with nails. A certain maiden Paula took the bodies of the martyrs openly and buried them honorably. For this she was accused and, after tortures, was beheaded, receiving from the Lord two crowns: the crown of virginity and the crown of martyrdom. Their martyrdom occurred in the time of Emperor Aurelian, between the years 270-275.
2. THE HIEROMARTYR LUCIAN
A Roman, renowned for his noble origin, wealth, and learning. For a time he was a disciple of the Apostle Peter. Later Pope Clement sent him with Dionysius the Areopagite to Gaul to preach the Gospel, having previously ordained him as bishop. With great zeal Lucian sowed the teaching of Christ first in Gaul and then in Belgium. When the wicked Emperor Domitian began the persecution of Christians, special men were sent from Rome to Gaul to seek out and seize Christian missionaries. They first captured and slew Saint Dionysius, and then went in pursuit of Lucian. Finding him in Belgium, together with his helpers the presbyter Maximian and the deacon Julian, they slew these two in one place and beheaded Lucian in another. When Lucian was beheaded, his dead body rose from the ground, took its head in its hands (like Saint Dionysius and Saint John Vladimir), and walked to the place where he wished to be buried. There he fell, and there he was buried. Over his relics a church was later built.
3. THE HOLY MARTYR DEMETRIUS, TSAREVICH OF RUSSIA
He was treacherously slain by the power-loving Boris Godunov in the eighth year of his life, in the year 1591, in the city of Uglich. After his death he appeared to a certain monk and prophesied that a false Demetrius would appear who would bring about the death of the murderer Boris Godunov, which later indeed happened. Countless miracles occurred at the tomb of the slain tsarevich. His relics, after fifteen years, were found whole and incorrupt, transferred solemnly to Moscow, and buried in the Church of the Holy Archangel Michael.
Hymn of Praise
Little Demetrius, a small child, became a great saint,
While Godunov the great murderer remained accursed forever.
By love of power the power-lover never profits,
It is a fire in two worlds, an unquenchable fire.
From the cup of Boris people were being poisoned,
But Boris himself drank the cup and judged himself.
To the throne Boris sailed down a river of blood,
Ah, that river empties into a sea of worms.
On the criminal the crown trembles as from an earthquake,
He fears everything, dreads every glance from heaven.
He who spills innocent blood, let him prepare his own,
From this there is no exception — none has been and none will be.
Love of power — a winged horse, with wings of wax;
When it flies to the summit of power — the wings have melted!
Then from the summit to the bottom it falls, lower than a beggar,
And Satan says to his own: behold, the hundredth fool!
Little Demetrius, the young tsarevich, suffered innocently;
He was a tsarevich then, a tsarevich now.
“Love of power — a winged horse, with wings of wax; when it flies to the summit of power — the wings have melted!”
Reflection
O if only we could enter into the mystery of God's Providence in human life! We would be filled with fear and trembling before every evil deed and every human sin. I understood Thy works, O Lord, and was terrified! In some great events the mystery of God's Providence is clear even to less spiritual people, as in the fate of the Tsarevich Demetrius and the bloodthirsty power-lover Boris Godunov. In order to reach the first place among the nobles at the court of Tsar Theodore, Godunov poisoned many noblemen. When he became first after the tsar, he conceived the idea of poisoning the tsar's brother as well, the eight-year-old Demetrius. Through hired men he gave the most potent poison to the little tsarevich several times, but the child was not poisoned. Providence permitted the criminal to slay his victim, but not secretly and quietly — rather openly: Godunov sent assassins who openly, in broad daylight, slew the tsarevich. Thus Demetrius became an open martyr and Godunov an open criminal before all Russia. Then a certain Demetrius arose and proclaimed himself the tsarevich (as if he were supposedly the true Tsarevich Demetrius and someone else had been slain) and marched with an army against Godunov. He defeated Godunov and brought him to such a pass that he had to prepare poison for himself and poison himself. He who had poisoned others poisoned himself! And he who had slain the innocent Demetrius was defeated by a man bearing the name Demetrius! He who has spiritual eyes to see, let him see the mystery of God's Providence.
Contemplation
Contemplate the miraculous calming of the storm on the lake (Matt. 8:24), namely:
1. How the disciples cried out: Lord, save us, we perish! And how the Lord with one word calmed the storm and there was a great calm,
2. How the Lord waits for me to call upon Him with fear, to calm the storm of passions, of men, and of demons on the sea of my life.
Homily
on the Peace of Fools and the Happiness of the Senseless
The turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them (Prov. 1:32)
Does peace slay? Yes, ungodly peace slays. Can prosperity destroy? Yes, prosperity apart from God and contrary to the law of God can destroy. Foolish are those who seek such peace, and senseless are those who chase after such prosperity. For in reality they do not seek peace but the sword, and they do not chase after prosperity but after ruin. What is the peace of the foolish? And what is the prosperity of the senseless? The peace of the foolish is bodily peace, and the prosperity of the senseless is bodily feasting. Such peace King Herod wanted, and worms ate him; and such prosperity Jezebel wanted, and dogs ate her.
What would you call a man who, resolved to build a house, devises how to first set the roof in the air, and afterward to build the walls and lay the foundation of the house? Foolish and senseless. Such are all those who attempt to create outward peace in the world without inward peace, and to create outward prosperity for men without inward prosperity.
The Christian faith alone builds everything from the foundation, and the foundation is Christ, the firm and indestructible rock. So also the peace and prosperity of men the Christian faith founds upon Christ. Upon Christ the Lord is founded the inward, gentle, and joyful peace, and upon this peace is founded the outward peace. It is the same with true and lasting prosperity. Even better to say: true peace and true prosperity are like a well-built house, and outward peace and prosperity are like the outward ornaments of the house. If the ornaments perish, the house will still stand; but if the house is destroyed, will the ornaments hang in the air?
O my brethren, the Christian teaching is the only reasonable teaching about peace and prosperity. Everything else is foolishness and senselessness. For how could servants build a palace on the estate of their master without the master's approval and without his help?
O Lord, eternal Source of true peace and true prosperity, save us from the peace of the foolish and the prosperity of the senseless. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“What is the peace of the foolish? Bodily peace. What is the prosperity of the senseless? Bodily feasting.”