Lives of the Saints
1. THE HOLY MARTYRS MANUEL, SABEL, AND ISHMAEL
Brothers by birth, Persians, of a pagan father and a Christian mother. Raised in the Christian spirit and baptized. As Christians they held high offices under King Alamundar. They were sent to Emperor Julian the Apostate to conduct negotiations and establish peace between the Persian and Greco-Roman empires. The Apostate emperor organized a certain feast for the idols in Chalcedon. At that feast the emperor with his nobles offered sacrifices to the idols. The Persian envoys absented themselves from that feast. The emperor summoned them and ordered them to take part in the feast and offer sacrifices to the gods. Then they declared that they were foreign subjects, that they had come as envoys of the Persian king for the purpose of establishing peace between the two empires and for nothing else; that they were Christians and considered it unworthy to bow before dead idols and offer sacrifices to them. The emperor grew furious and cast them into prison. The next day he brought them out again and began to debate with them about the faith, but the holy brothers were unconquerable and unshakable. Then they were tied naked to trees and beaten and scraped with iron brushes. Throughout the tortures they prayed to God with gratitude: "O sweet Jesus, these torments are sweet to us because of Thy love!" An angel of God appeared to them, consoled them, and took away all their pain. Contrary to all international norms, the wicked Emperor Julian finally pronounced the sentence that these three brothers be beheaded with the sword. When they were beheaded, there was a great earthquake; the earth split open and received the bodies of the holy martyrs into itself, so that the pagans might not burn them by order of the emperor. The bodies of the martyrs were later cast up by the earth, so that Christians could find them and honorably bury them. When the Persian king heard how inhumanly Julian had put his delegates to death, he prepared an army against him. And Julian marched against the Persian kingdom, confident of his victory. But he was utterly routed, and he himself perished in shame, to the joy and laughter of the whole world.
2. THE VENERABLE PIOR, HERMIT OF NITRIA
Warmed by love for God, Pior early renounced the world and withdrew into the Egyptian desert, where he struggled heroically. Of him it is said that he never sat down at table to eat, but always ate standing and working. When asked why he did so, Saint Pior replied: "I do not wish to treat eating as work but as something incidental." When he was summoned to a council to judge a certain brother who had committed some sin, he came carrying on his back a large sack of sand and on his chest a small bag of sand. When asked what this meant, the saint replied: "The sack of sand on my back — those are my sins, which I do not see; and the bag of sand — those are the sins of my brother, which I am to judge." All the brethren were then ashamed and cried out: "This is the way of salvation!" He lived a hundred years and reposed in the Lord in the fourth century.
“The sack of sand on my back — those are my sins, which I do not see; and the bag of sand — those are the sins of my brother, which I am to judge.”
Hymn of Praise
Of a Christian mother and a pagan father,
Three brothers by birth, wondrous peacemakers:
Manuel and Sabel and young Ishmael —
Dead for the sake of Christ to earthly pleasure —
Set forth willingly to serve the cause of peace,
To unite Persians and Greeks in peace.
But the servant of the devil, the accursed Julian,
Began to debate the faith with the three brothers,
And offered the brethren, baptized in Christ,
To adopt his unclean faith.
Then the brothers said to the crowned beast:
— We did not come for this, to change our faith,
But to make peace, O emperor of the Greeks;
We have faith in the Son of God.
The worse for the better can still be exchanged,
But the better for the worse only a fool would trade.
—
The enraged Julian, hell burning within him,
In fierce torments put the three brothers to death.
But the all-seeing God, Who knows the value of all,
In wrath moved against the wicked emperor:
The wicked Julian, before God powerless,
Died a shameful death — everyone laughed,
Everyone who knew his pride laughed
And through him recognized the powerlessness of injustice.
“The worse for the better can still be exchanged, but the better for the worse only a fool would trade.”
Reflection
The opponents of Christ have always achieved the opposite result by their efforts against Christ. Instead of stopping the river of Christianity, they have widened it, deepened it, and made it louder. Instead of drying it up, they have caused, so to speak, a flood of it throughout the whole world. Where one martyr fell, a company of Christians arose; where shame was inflicted, glory sprang up; where it was said — the end of Christianity, there was the beginning of a more abundant harvest. Contrary to all international norms and customs, Julian the Apostate slew the Persian envoys for peace — Manuel, Sabel, and Ishmael — out of his mad idolatrous fanaticism.
What did Julian achieve by this? He multiplied the number of Christians, increased the number of holy martyrs, and hastened the end of both himself and paganism. Indirectly and unintentionally the Apostate helped the spread and deepening of Christianity. And not only by his wicked persecution, but also by his unintentional statements. Thus in a debate with Christians he declared: "Christ did nothing in His life that would deserve glory, unless one considers it a great deed that He healed the lame and the blind and cast out demons!" O wretched man! As if the opening of the eyes of a single blind man by a powerful word is not a greater deed than the conquest of ten kingdoms! But it is precious that he, as the greatest betrayer of Christ after Judas, acknowledged the miracles of Christ.
“Where one martyr fell, a company of Christians arose; where shame was inflicted, glory sprang up.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the miraculous Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus (Matt. 17:1), namely:
1. How the face of the transfigured Lord shone like the sun,
2. How I too, darkened by sin, can by the power and grace of Christ shine with the original brightness of sinless man.
Homily
on the Destruction of Those Who Bear False Witness
A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish (Prov. 19:9)
What happens in the world is seen by God and all the heavenly hosts. How, then, can a man hide the truth with so many witnesses of the truth! And not only do the heavenly hosts see the truth, but they are zealous for the truth. How, then, can one mortal man go against the truth, which means against the countless heavenly champions of truth! Truly, darkened in mind is he who thinks he can hide the truth and proclaim a lie in place of the truth. When a million keen-sighted angels know the truth, can one man hide the truth? Can anyone rise against the truth and remain unpunished? O my brethren, there is nothing more false than falsehood! Nothing more unsuccessful! Nothing more insolent! Nothing more foolish!
What happens within a man is seen by God and all the heavenly hosts. It is seen especially by that man's guardian angel. And this guardian angel cannot bear it when a man presents outwardly and about himself what is not within him. If a man persists in falsehood, his angel will leave him and deliver him entirely to the spirits of falsehood. Woe then to that man! What good is it to bear false witness against him before God and the heavenly host! Better for that man that he had never been born. For whoever lies, lies to the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God leaves the liar in darkness and death.
O Lord of truth, sustain us by the power of Thy Holy Spirit, that we may never bear false witness. Sweeten for us Thy holy truth and turn the false word from our tongues. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“When a million keen-sighted angels know the truth, can one man hide the truth?”