The Lives of the Saints
1. SAINT SAMPSON THE HOSPITABLE
This saint was born of wealthy and distinguished parents in old Rome, where he learned all the secular knowledge of that time and devoted himself especially to the science of medicine. Sampson was a merciful and unmercenary physician, and he gave the sick remedies for both body and soul, counseling everyone to fulfill the prescriptions of the Christian faith. He then moved to Constantinople, where he lived in a small house from which he scattered in all directions, like the sun its rays of light, alms, consolation, counsel, hope, medicine, and in general, help to the helpless, both spiritual and bodily. The patriarch heard of the high virtues of this man and ordained him a priest. At that time Emperor Justinian the Great fell ill, and his illness, according to the assurance of all the physicians, was incurable. Then the emperor prayed to God with great fervor, and God revealed to him in a dream that Sampson would heal him. And indeed, when the emperor learned of Sampson, he summoned him to his court, and the moment the elder placed his hand on the sore spot, the emperor was healed. When the emperor offered him great treasure for this, Sampson thanked him and would receive nothing, saying to the emperor: "O Emperor, I had gold and silver and other possessions, but I left all for the sake of Christ, that I might obtain the eternal blessings of heaven." But when the emperor insisted on doing something for him, the holy Sampson asked the emperor to build him a home for the poor. In that home Sampson served the poor as a parent serves his children. Mercy toward the poor and the infirm was as natural to him. At last this holy man, all filled with heavenly power and goodness, reposed peacefully on June 27, 530, and was buried in the Church of the Holy Martyr Mocius, his kinsman. After his repose Sampson appeared several times to those who called upon him for help.
2. SAINT SEVERUS, PRESBYTER
He lived in central Italy. A man of unusual holiness. He was once called to confess and commune a dying man, but he was delayed working in the vineyard. Meanwhile word came to him that the sick man had died. Greatly frightened, as though he were the murderer of that man, he began to weep bitterly over the dead man. And by his fervent prayer God restored the dead man to life. Then Severus confessed and communed him and prepared him for a Christian departure from this world. On the eighth day the man died again.
3. SAINT JOANNA THE MYRRH-BEARER
The wife of Chuza, Herod's steward. When Herod beheaded John the Baptist, he had the head cast upon an unclean place. Joanna took the head of the Baptist and buried it honorably on the Mount of Olives, on Herod's estate. Only in the time of Constantine the Great was that head discovered. Saint Joanna is mentioned as present both at the Passion and at the Resurrection of the Lord. She reposed peacefully.
Hymn of Praise
When the dead man was revived, the people asked him:
Tell us, where wast thou? And who awakened thee?
I was in a place of fear and horror,
In the company of black ones, wolves, and dogs,
In a depth full of every uncleanness,
In a bottomless darkness without a single ray.
And when despair seized my whole soul,
A certain radiant youth took me by the hand.
Then cold currents roared through the deep,
And the black dog-faced ones snarled at me:
— He is ours, he is ours! Where dost thou lead him now?
Dost thou not recognize him, a citizen of Hell?
To this the angel said: Severus prays for him!
And I lead him away by the Lord's will.
Once more he must return to the body;
Behold, Severus seeks him, to confess him!
To confess him and to commune him —
Withdraw, ye hosts of malice and insolence!
So the angel spoke, then flew with me
Through the cold of Hell, through the dark abyss,
Until we reached the light, and my body.
That is the story of me, a dead man.
O what a blessing — to be confessed
And communed, and to enter the immortal world!
Reflection
No one is foolish except he who cannot see his own sins and the virtues of others; no one is enlightened except he who can see and acknowledge his own sins and the virtues of others. Those who discover only the faults of others and criticize them, Chrysostom compares to flies that land on the wounds of others (not to heal them but to eat into them further and poison them). "God has sent us here on a penance" — these are the words of the Blessed Theophilus of Kiev (d. 1853). He who knows and feels that he is on a penance plunges into silence and reflection upon his own sin, which brought him to the penance. This same blessed one also said: "To weep over the sins of one's neighbors as well — without that no human creature will be saved." To weep over or to broadcast — which does it say, my son? In the Blessed Theophilus it says: to weep over, and in Satan it says: to broadcast. And of himself Theophilus, on his deathbed, left this testament to the brethren: "Remember the stinking Theophilus!" That is the last will of the holiest human being in Kiev in the year 1853.
“God has sent us here on a penance.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the miraculous healing of the man with dropsy (Luke 14:2), namely:
1. How the Lord took hold of the man with dropsy, and he was healed and went home,
2. How my soul too, being burdened with love of the body, is under the burden of dropsy,
3. How the Lord can by one touch heal the swelling of my soul and free it from the excessive burden of passionate moisture.
Homily
On the High Refuge
Whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe (Prov. 29:25)
The righteous man is in the Lord's refuge, in a high refuge: the water will not reach him nor will the flood drown him. Not even Noah was drowned by the flood, for the Lord was Noah's high refuge.
But there is, brethren, a flood worse than the flood of water — it is the flood of the passions. When the passions are inflamed, when they smoke and darken, when they release and spread their stench around — where shall a man flee, and who will save him? Only under the hand of the Lord, only in His refuge, the high refuge. The flood of passions had rushed after David, but he fled and hid under the hand of the Lord; in the high refuge he was saved from the fire, from the smoke and stench of the pursuing passions.
From no flood does man save himself — only God saves. God is the Master of the clouds and the Tamer of the passions. He is truly the high refuge. Let us flee to Him and hide beneath His protection. A dog appears to be a lion before a beggar, but like an empty sack before the feet of its master.
O Most High Lord, Who sittest upon the high throne, Thou art our high refuge. Be merciful to us, our Creator, and stretch forth Thy hand to us, that we may rise up to Thy refuge. Save us from the rushing waters that hasten to drown us. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“There is a flood worse than the flood of water — the flood of the passions. When the passions are inflamed, when they smoke and darken — where shall a man flee?”