The Lives of the Saints
1. The Hieromartyr Pancratius, Bishop of Taormina
This saint was born in Antioch at the time when the Lord Jesus walked as a man among men on earth. Having heard of the miracles of Christ, the parents of Pancratius desired to see the Lord, the wonderworker. Together with Pancratius they came to Jerusalem, where they saw Jesus, heard His words, and beheld His miracles. There Pancratius became acquainted with the Apostle Peter. After the Ascension of the Lord, both the parents and the son were baptized in Antioch. Pancratius withdrew to a certain cave in Pontus, where the Apostle Peter found him, and in agreement with the Apostle Paul, appointed him Bishop of Taormina in Sicily. In that city Saint Pancratius performed great miracles, destroyed idols, baptized the unbaptized and strengthened the baptized, and governed the Church of God well. A certain pagan duke, Aquilinus, hearing that the entire city of Taormina had become Christian, set out with an army against that city to destroy it. Holy Pancratius encouraged the faithful not to be afraid, and he himself went out of the city with his clergy, carrying in his hand the invincible weapon — the Precious Cross. When the army drew near the city, a certain darkness fell upon it and great fear seized it. A great confusion arose, so that the attackers turned upon one another and stabbed and cut each other with swords. Thus did the servant of God, Pancratius, save the city and his flock by his powerful prayer before the Lord. At last he too was slain by stoning at the hands of certain envious and malicious pagans, and he reposed in the Lord. His holy relics rest in Rome.
2. The Hieromartyr Cyril, Bishop of Gortyna on Crete
As an elder of eighty-four years he was tortured for Christ during the reign of Emperor Decius. Cast into the fire, he was saved by the providence of God. Then the judge pronounced this sentence: "Cyril, who was brought out of the fire — the righteous court cannot suffer him among the living; therefore I command that he be put to death by the sword." With joy the holy elder bowed his head beneath the sword and was beheaded, that he might live forever in the Kingdom of Christ.
3. The Venerable Martyrs Patermuthius and Copres
Both were Egyptians. They were tortured by Emperor Julian the Apostate. The first was seventy-five years old and the second forty-five. The emperor succeeded in turning Copres from the faith of Christ and persuading him to worship idols. The perverted Copres cried out: "I am Julian's and not Christ's." But when the elder Patermuthius rebuked him and reminded him of the eternal torments, Copres came to his senses and cried out before the emperor: "I am Christ's and not Julian's." Both were beheaded by the sword. Along with them suffered Alexander, one of the emperor's soldiers, who, seeing their courage in suffering, himself became a Christian. They honorably suffered for Christ and departed to Christ in the year 361.
4. The Venerable Patermuthius and Copres
Although bearing the same names, these were different persons from the former. This Patermuthius was at first a leader of robbers, but after a miraculous vision he was converted to the true faith and became a monk. Namely, he had climbed upon the roof of a certain God-pleasing woman in order to enter her house from the roof and plunder it. But sleep fell upon him and in his sleep he saw Someone who warned him to do evil no more and to repent. Not only was he baptized, but he also became a monk. Both he and Copres were great wonderworkers. By the grace of God they healed people of every affliction and illness, converted sinners to the right path, and prophesied. A certain sinner, lying on his deathbed, besought Patermuthius to extend his life so that he might repent. After prayer, the saint told him that God was extending his life for three more years. The sinner repented, and exactly three years later he died. They reposed in the Lord at the end of the fourth century, in deep old age.
5. Saint Theodore, Bishop of Edessa, and Others with Him
At the age of twenty he became a monk and spent thirty-six years as a monk. Then, in the time of Emperor Michael and Theodora, he was chosen as Bishop of Edessa. He reposed in the year 848. Along with him are commemorated his teacher Saint Theodosius the Stylite of Syria, his brother Saint John, and Saint Ader, a nobleman and a wealthy man, who fled from his wife and became a monk.
“The perverted Copres cried out: "I am Julian's and not Christ's." But when the elder rebuked him, Copres came to his senses and cried out: "I am Christ's and not Julian's."”
Hymn of Praise
Pancratius, the saint, from his childhood days
Warmed himself in the sunlight of Christ's holy face,
And summer after summer flew by and passed away
But that face remained in his memory to stay.
Day and night before him, wondrous it would shine,
Therefore he cast away all that dimmed that light divine:
He left behind his wealth and his parents' home,
And turned away from every deceiving wish he'd known.
And earthly pleasures that delight the hearts of men —
Into a desert, into solitude he went,
That until the final day of his earthly span
He might drink the sweetness of the face of God's own plan.
Thus did Pancratius, but the Lord willed otherwise,
A shining lamp cannot so easily be disguised.
The land of Sicily was pagan, far from light,
It needed the radiance of holy Pancratius bright.
It needed a witness of the face of Christ the Lord,
It needed the blood of an honorable martyr poured.
All that it needed, Pancratius freely gave,
As a martyr he fell — immortal beyond the grave.
And the light remained above the land of Sicily,
The light of that face, to warm it eternally.
Reflection
Many ask why God takes from this life young men, young women, and children, and why He does not let all grow old and only then pass through death to the other world. This is God's plan of divine economy; it is the holy will of His Providence. But there are some examples in the vast experience of the Church where God sometimes acts thus at the wish and prayer of His servants in the other world, or of their relatives. Saint Ader (in monasticism Athanasius) appeared to his wife, whom he had suddenly left with three children and gone to a monastery, where he also died. When his wife came to despair — partly from care for her small children and partly from worry about her husband, for she did not know where he was — then her husband appeared to her in a dream from the other world, with a radiant face and a white and shining garment, and said to her: "Cease weeping and crying out against me; behold, I shall take our children (two of them) to myself, and thou, if thou desirest, take care for the salvation of thy soul." At the same time and in the same manner he appeared also to Theodosius the Stylite and said to him: "In three days an aged woman ascetic who lives in the nearby monastery will depart to the Lord; place my wife in her stead, that she may labor as a nun in that cell. Let the youngest child remain with her until it grows up: the child shall follow in my footsteps and shall be the heir of the apostolic throne in Jerusalem." And in truth all of this came to pass as it was said. The aged woman ascetic died on the third day, and likewise the two older children of Ader died, and his wife took the cell of that elder, together with the youngest son, who when he grew up became Patriarch of Jerusalem.
Contemplation
Contemplate the miraculous victory over Amalek (Exodus 17), namely:
1. How the people conquered Amalek so long as Moses with upraised hands prayed to God;
2. How Moses with upraised hands at prayer prefigures the victorious Crucifixion of Christ;
3. How by the power of the Cross and by prayer I too can conquer the dark passions, which Amalek represents.
Homily
On the Judgment of God upon the Righteous
**For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God? ** (I Peter 4:17)
When the judgment of God comes upon the house of the righteous, let not the unrighteous gloat but rather let him tremble with fear. If the righteous man and the unrighteous man are neighbors, and the hand of God falls upon the righteous man, it has fallen upon both: upon the first to refine him, upon the second to admonish him. And when bitter suffering befalls the righteous man — and it does not befall him without the will of God — let not the unrighteous man rejoice, for that suffering is more for his sake than for the sake of the righteous man, namely: that he might see what the wrath of God is like and hasten to change his spirit and amend his deeds. Let him also ask himself: if the wrath of God is so great upon the righteous man, how great will it be upon me? Know, brethren, that righteousness is strength and unrighteousness is weakness. Which can endure more without being broken under the burden: strength or weakness? Without doubt, strength. Therefore a heavy burden is laid upon the righteous man. Let not the unrighteous man mock when he sees the righteous man under a heavy burden, and let him not say: my unrighteousness is better than his righteousness! Rather let him look upon the burden of the righteous man with awe and trembling, and let him say to himself honestly: that burden is mine, but I am too weak to bear it; therefore it has been cast upon his back, upon the back of the righteous man. That I might see and repent of my ways, and through repentance be strengthened for the burden that awaits me. From the house of God judgment begins — this is the immeasurable mercy of God toward sinners, toward the weak ones enfeebled by sin: let them open their eyes and read the script of the wrath of God! From the house of God judgment begins, for the house of God is strong, and the house of God is the righteous man, in whom dwells the Spirit of God. When the wind shakes a stone tower, let the builders of huts fortify their huts.
O my brethren, how fateful and terrible are those apostolic words for the sinner! O Lord Jesus, righteous and merciful, merciful and righteous, have mercy on us and save us. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“When the wind shakes a stone tower, let the builders of huts fortify their huts.”