The Lives of the Saints
1. The Holy Martyrs Proclus and Hilary
These martyrs were by origin from Callipte in Asia, and Proclus was the uncle of Hilary. They suffered in the time of Trajan. "Of what lineage art thou?" the judge asked Proclus. Proclus replied: "My lineage is Christ, and my hope is my God." When the judge threatened him with torments, Proclus said: "If you are afraid to transgress the commandment of the emperor lest you fall into short-lived torments, how much more are we Christians afraid to transgress the commandment of God, lest we fall into eternal torments!" When Proclus was being tortured, Hilary approached the judge and said: "I too am a Christian." After many torments, both were condemned to death: Proclus was crucified on a cross, and Hilary was beheaded with a sword. And both departed into the joy of their Lord.
2. The Venerable Michael Maleinos
A man of noble and wealthy family. Despising earthly goods in his youth, he withdrew to Mount Malea, near the Holy Mountain, where he struggled ascetically, purifying his heart by fasting and prayer. He later had many disciples, of whom the most renowned was Saint Athanasius of Athos. He reposed peacefully around the year 940.
3. The Holy Martyr Golindukha
A Persian woman; she entered into marriage with a certain Persian sorcerer and lived in marriage for three years. Then she had a vision of an angel, who showed her the other world: the torments of sinners and unbelievers and the joy of the righteous. After this she left her husband and was baptized. At her baptism she received the name Maria. Persecuted by her husband, she was condemned to prison for life. She spent eighteen years in prison without wavering in her faith. Afterward she was thrown into a pit, but was saved by God, and she was placed before a fearsome serpent, but the serpent did not harm her. When certain wicked young men were sent to defile her, God made her invisible to their eyes. Marveling at her sufferings, many Persians accepted the faith of Christ. She visited Jerusalem, where she refuted the heresy of Severus, which taught that the divine nature in Christ suffered, for which reason they chanted: "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, who wast crucified for us, have mercy on us!" At last, while preaching the true faith, she peacefully reposed near the city of Nisibis in the year 587.
4. Saint Veronica
This is the woman with an issue of blood whom the Lord healed (Matthew 9:20). Out of gratitude to the Lord, her healer, Veronica ordered a statue of the Lord Jesus to be made, before which she prayed to God. According to tradition, this statue was preserved until the time of Emperor Julian the Apostate, who converted it into a statue of the idol Zeus. This is one of the rarest instances in which statues of saints were used in the Eastern Church. As is well known, this later became a general custom of the Western churches. Saint Veronica remained devoted to the faith of Christ until death and reposed peacefully.
5. The Holy Martyrs Theodore and John
Father and son, of Varangian descent, who were baptized and then settled in the pagan city of Kiev to live. Furious pagans demolished the house over them, and both perished for Christ. Their relics rest in the Caves of Anthony. They are prayed to especially by the childless and those whose children do not survive.
“My lineage is Christ, and my hope is my God.”
Hymn of Praise
Golindukha, a Persian by her birth,
Beheld the heavens and became a Christian,
Upon the narrow path she began to walk,
From all sides receiving blows.
As iron strikes against the flint
And from the striking sparks of fire are born,
So suffering strikes the human heart
Until the flame bursts forth that hides within
And illumines human paths so dark,
And saves the soul from shameful lust.
Golindukha, filled with the Spirit of God,
Had neither roof nor bread.
She had no friend upon the earth,
The world to her was a camp of tormentors.
All she had, for Christ she gave,
And all from suffering turned to gold she became,
Like gold that is refined by fire,
So became her entire being.
The tormentors one by one passed away,
Of all their goods they took nothing hence
Save evil deeds and a name of shame.
But Golindukha stood before God
Like an olive tree, wondrous and fruitful,
A pure soul, kindred to the angels.
Reflection
The fabric of justice is thinner than silk, but it is lasting and unbreakable, and it encompasses both worlds; while the fabric of injustice and violence is thick and easily torn. In the time of the Kievan Prince Vladimir there lived in Kiev only one Christian family: Theodore the Varangian and his young son John. When a certain vile idolatrous festival took place, the pagan citizens of Kiev, directed by the demon himself, decided to offer John, the son of Theodore, as a sacrifice to their idols. When some of them went and in the name of their "gods" demanded that Theodore hand over his son, Theodore said to them: "If your gods are alive, let them come themselves and take my son." The enraged pagans rushed upon the house of Theodore, demolished it, and left the God-pleasing man Theodore and his son John dead in the ruins. Thus far extends the fabric of violence. But the fabric of justice continues: Prince Vladimir soon accepted baptism and baptized his people as well, and upon that very spot where the house and grave of the Russian protomartyrs Theodore and John had stood, he erected a church of the Most Holy Theotokos.
“Upon that very spot where the house and grave of the Russian protomartyrs had stood, he erected a church of the Most Holy Theotokos.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the miraculous punishment and healing of Miriam, the sister of Moses (Numbers 12), namely:
1. How Miriam cried out against Moses, the meekest of all men on earth;
2. How God punished her with sudden leprosy, and how God healed her at the prayer of Moses;
3. How those who cry out against the men of God are even today overtaken by the punishment of God.
Homily
On God's Dealing with the Proud and the Humble
God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble (I Peter 5:5)
Before whom and before what, brethren, can a man be proud? Before the angels? Behold, the angels are immortal, and man is mortal. Or before other men? Behold, he is dependent upon many men and is mortal as are all men. Or before the animals? But how would he live without the service of animals? Or before the sun and the stars? But without their light he would stumble for a few days in darkness and perish. Or before the grass? But grass is his chief food. Or before the black earth? But from the earth his body was fashioned. Or before the dead? But without them he would not have come into life. Or before the living? But there are so many living that he is among them as one thread in a carpet. Before God? But were it not for the will of God, he would exist neither among the living nor among the dead. Before whom and before what, then, brethren, can a man be proud? To the humble and the lowly God gives grace. That is, He gives them all that they need, all that they pray to God for in their humility and lowliness. Who are the humble and the lowly? They are those who feel their own weakness and their complete dependence upon their Creator. They are as full as the sea and as dependent as the sea. What water is fuller than the sea, and what more dependent upon rains and tributaries? But the proud man is like a closed well, closed off from heaven and from earth, self-sufficient while he is full. But being closed and cut off, he must quickly empty out.
Wisely does the wise Solomon say of God: surely He scorneth the scorners, but He giveth grace unto the lowly (Proverbs 3:34). But the scorn of God is not malicious as is human scorn; it is rather grief and wrath. Neither is the mercy of God limited as is human mercy; it is a royal mercy that astonishes by its splendor, beauty, and boundlessness.
O Lord God, our Creator, tame our hearts when they swell with pride, and tame our minds when they swell with pride, and help us in our moments of worthless pride to remember the Cross on Golgotha and Thy Only-Begotten Son in blood and torment for our sake. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“Before whom and before what, brethren, can a man be proud? To the humble and the lowly God gives grace.”