The Lives of the Saints
1. SAINT EPHRAIM, PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH
In the time of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius, Ephraim was the military governor of the eastern territories. Known to all for his great piety and mercy, and therefore greatly esteemed. When it was necessary to rebuild Antioch, which had been destroyed by earthquake and fire, the emperor appointed Governor Ephraim to oversee this work. Ephraim fulfilled his duty with diligence and love. Among the ordinary workers and masons there was a certain bishop who, for unknown reasons, had left his episcopacy and was working as an ordinary laborer, and no one knew that this man was a bishop. One day this man lay down to rest from heavy labor with the other workers and fell asleep. And Governor Ephraim looked and saw a pillar of fire extending from that man up to the heavens. Amazed and awestruck, Ephraim then summoned that man and made him swear to tell who he was. The man long hesitated but finally confessed that he was a bishop and prophesied to Ephraim that he would soon be consecrated as Patriarch of Antioch (the patriarchal see was vacant, as the old Patriarch Euphrasius had perished in the earthquake). And indeed, in those days Ephraim was elected and consecrated as patriarch. Because of his goodness, purity, and zeal for Orthodoxy, God gave him a great gift of wonderworking. Once, in order to convince a heretic that Orthodoxy is true, he placed his omophorion in the fire and prayed to God. And the omophorion stood in the fire for three hours and remained unharmed. Seeing this, the heretic was horrified and rejected his heresy. Saint Ephraim ended his life in peace in the year 540 and departed to the Kingdom of God.
2. THE VENERABLE ZOSIMAS OF PHOENICIA
This saint was born in the village of Synda, in the vicinity of the city of Tyre. He struggled ascetically near the city of Tyre in his own monastery. Having no cloud upon his conscience, he could see by his spirit into the distance and knew what was happening in the world. Thus he perceived and saw the fall of Antioch from the earthquake, and weeping bitterly he prostrated himself upon the ground and prayed to God not to destroy that city completely. It once happened that a lion killed and ate his donkey on the road. The saint commanded the lion to serve him in place of the donkey and carry the burden. The lion showed himself meek as a lamb before the saint, accepted the burden upon itself, and bore it to the gates of the city of Caesarea, where Zosimas freed and released it. Saint Zosimas reposed peacefully in the sixth century.
3. THE HOLY GREAT MARTYR THEODORE STRATELATES
This saint is celebrated on February 8, and there his life is described; on June 8 the transfer of his relics from Heraclea to Euchaita is celebrated. For Saint Theodore had so bequeathed at his suffering, to his servant Varus: "My body," he said, "lay in Euchaita on the estate of my ancestors." Saint Anastasius of Sinai recorded this miracle of the icon of Saint Theodore: in the place of Karsata near Damascus there was a church in the name of Saint Theodore Stratelates. When the Saracens conquered Damascus, a group of Saracens with women and children settled in that church. On the wall was a fresco image of Saint Theodore. A Saracen shot an arrow and struck the image of the saint in the face. Suddenly blood flowed from the image. Soon after, that entire group of Saracens perished there in the church. Saint Anastasius says that he personally visited that church, saw the image of the saint on the wall, and the traces of dried blood.
Hymn of Praise
Saint Ephraim, full of piety,
Was a soldier against impiety,
Against sinful heresies and follies,
But for the Church that Christ redeemed
With His honorable Blood, poured from the Cross,
With His honorable Blood, eternally glorified.
Ephraim guards the flock from wolves
And scatters the nests of spiders.
Ephraim the saint, God's chosen one,
Was a light in Antioch.
The Church shone through his lips
As in the time of the glorious Chrysostom.
God glorified His glorifier
With the wonderworking power of a healer.
Ephraim — a star in the glorious past,
Ephraim — the pride of the Orthodox Church.
Reflection
Fear in suffering and fear from the absence of suffering. This is one and the same fear, and it signifies the apprehension of a spiritual man as to whether God has not withdrawn from him. When Saint Catherine had endured many grievous torments, the Lord appeared to her, and she asked Him: "Where wast Thou, Lord, until now, to console me in so many sufferings?" And the Lord answered her: "I was here, in thy heart."
But no less fear may come upon a spiritual man when sufferings do not befall him for a long time. A monk entered a church in Alexandria and saw a woman kneeling before the icon of the Savior and crying out to the Lord with tears: "Thou hast forsaken me, Lord; have mercy on me, O Merciful One!" After the prayer the monk asked the woman: "Who has offended thee, that thou dost complain so bitterly to God?" The woman answered: "Until now no one has offended me; and precisely for that reason I weep, for God has forsaken me: for three years He has not visited me with any suffering. During this time neither I have been sick, nor my son, nor has any of my livestock perished."
“Where wast Thou, Lord, until now, to console me in so many sufferings? — I was here, in thy heart.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the miraculous healing of two blind men (Matt. 9:27), namely:
1. How the blind men cried out to the Lord to open their eyes,
2. How the Lord touched their eyes and did to them according to their faith, and they received their sight,
3. How the Lord can also touch my blind soul and restore my spiritual sight, if I cry out to Him with faith.
Homily
On the King of Kings
**By Me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By Me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. I love them that love Me** (Prov. 8:15-17)
Let not a king think that he reigns by his own power and wisdom, for he will be mocked by the powerless and the foolish. Let not a ruler think that by his own mind and will he establishes justice among men — let him not think a folly laughable even to children. Let not princes and nobles and judges think that they rule by anyone's will and favor other than the will and favor of God, for they will crash to their death on the ice upon which all who forget God slide.
I love them that love Me, says the Lord. This the Lord says first of all to kings and princes and judges of men. For if they love the Lord, they are very dear to the Lord. If they love the Lord, the peoples over whom they rule and judge will also love the Lord. And if the peoples love the Lord, they will love their kings and princes and judges also.
The more a man is exalted by authority and honor above other men, the closer to God he must be than the men above whom he is exalted.
O my brethren, the Lord was crucified for us on the Cross, and thereby showed His love for us. He who was crucified for us truly loves us more than one who merely makes merry with us at the table. If we love our friends at the table so much, how can we not love Him Who out of love for us was crucified on the Cross!
O blessed Lord, open our spiritual sight, that we may see the whole immeasurable depth of Thy love, and that we too may be kindled with love for Thee! To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“The more a man is exalted by authority and honor above other men, the closer to God he must be than the men above whom he is exalted.”