Lives of the Saints
1. THE HOLY MARTYR CALLINICUS
By origin from Cilicia. Raised from childhood in Christian piety. Having left all things, he went forth to preach the Gospel. In Ancyra he was seized by a certain pagan prince, Sacerdon. When the prince terribly threatened him with torments if he would not bow down to the idols, St. Callinicus replied: "Every torment for my God is as welcome to me as bread is to a hungry man." After terrible tortures and beatings, the prince shod him in iron sandals with nails inside and ordered that he be driven to the city of Gangra, for he dared neither to torment him further nor to put him to death in Ancyra, since many, beholding the heroic endurance of the man of God, converted to the faith of Christ. Along the way the soldiers grew thirsty, and there was no water. St. Callinicus prayed to God and drew water from a rock. When they arrived at the city of Gangra, the tormentors cast St. Callinicus into a blazing furnace. The saint prayed to God, saying: "I thank Thee, O Heavenly Father, that Thou hast made me worthy of this hour, in which I die for Thy holy name." Then he entered the fire. When the fire was extinguished, they found his body dead but whole and unharmed by the flames. He suffered honorably and was crowned with the wreath of eternal glory around the year 250.
2. THE HOLY VIRGIN MARTYR SERAPHIMA
A maiden from Antioch. She lived in the home of a certain Savina, a woman of senatorial rank, whom she brought to the faith of Christ. Having heard of her, a certain Viril, a persecutor of Christians, ordered that she be brought before him. Since Seraphima remained steadfast in her faith, the persecutor ordered that she be cast into prison and sent certain youths to spend the night with her and defile her. Seraphima was praying to God in the prison when the youths arrived before the prison doors. There an angel of God suddenly blazed before them with a sword in his hand, and they fell as though dead, utterly senseless and paralyzed. The next day the persecutor entreated Seraphima, and by her prayer she restored the youths to consciousness. Ascribing all this to sorcery, Viril ordered that this holy virgin first be burned with candles and then beaten with rods. But as they were beating her, a piece of a rod broke off, flew up, and struck Viril in the eyes, from which he was blinded. Finally they cut off the head of this handmaid of Christ with a sword, and she surrendered her spirit to God. The pious Savina honorably buried her body, from which healing began to flow to many. St. Seraphima suffered in the time of Emperor Hadrian (117-138).
3. THE HOLY MARTYR THEODOTIA
A young widow with three children. In Thessalonica, together with St. Anastasia (December 22), Theodotia labored in the work of God, wholly devoted to the pious life. In the time of the persecution of Diocletian she was condemned to death and, together with her children, was cast into a fiery furnace. Their holy souls soared to their heavenly homeland.
4. THE HOLY MARTYR EUSTATHIUS OF MTSKHETA
A Persian by origin, from a village called Arbuketi. In his thirtieth year he came to the city of Mtskheta, and there, seeing how Christians lived and believed, he received baptism. He was tortured for Christ and beheaded in Tiflis in the year 589. His relics repose in the cathedral church in Mtskheta and grant healing to the faithful.
“Every torment for my God is as welcome to me as bread is to a hungry man.”
Hymn of Praise
Seraphima, beloved of the angels,
All innocent in both soul and body,
Guileless in all her thoughts,
Many days was she tortured
For the Lord Christ the Immortal.
The godless prince drives her to the temple
To offer sacrifice to the idols.
Holy Seraphima answers:
"I am the handmaid of the one God,
My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
In virginity I have preserved my body
To offer it as a sacrifice to God,
The bodily temple as an offering to the Lord.
Torment the body as much as thou wilt,
But my soul thou shalt not see dead.
The soul lives before and after death,
By fire, by sword, thou canst not destroy it.
For the sake of the soul the body was built,
And by the soul the body was sanctified.
From God the soul appears in the world,
That in the body it may glorify the Lord.
Glory to God, the God of the Trinity!
Glory to God, my Creator!"
“The soul lives before and after death, by fire, by sword, thou canst not destroy it.”
Reflection
By true repentance, tears, prayer, and good deeds, even the most defiled soul can be completely cleansed and transformed. Therefore be careful not to maliciously recall the sins of a repentant sinner, but rather give thanks to God and marvel at how from darkness light was made and from mud clear water. The Egyptian king Amasis was of lowly birth, and when he became king, people showed him little respect, remembering his origins. To overcome this and win their respect, he took a metal basin in which, by custom, the feet of visitors to the court were washed, had it melted down, and from it made the image of a certain idol. Then the king placed that idol on the street. Seeing the idol, people began to bow before it and render it divine honor. Then the king proclaimed from what the idol had been made. The people understood that the king wished thereby to show that they ought not to think about what he had been before, but what he is now. And the people began to render the king his royal due.
Contemplation
Contemplate the miraculous sign that God showed to Gideon (Judges 6), namely:
1. How one night only the fleece was covered with dew while all the rest of the ground was dry; and how another night all the ground was covered with dew while the fleece was dry;
2. How this signified first the people of Israel in the midst of the pagan world (before the coming of Christ), and then the pagan world under grace and graceless Israel (after the coming of Christ).
Homily
on the Delay of the Dread Day by the Mercy of God
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (II Peter 3:9)
The mercy of God, brethren, delays that day which burns as a furnace, according to the prophetic words (Malachi 4:1). Let the scoffers then be ashamed, who scoff at the promise of God and say: where is the promise of His coming? God has not forgotten His promise; rather, sinners have forgotten themselves. And God, in His immeasurable mercy, waits for sinners to come to themselves, and to repent, and to prepare for that day which does not repeat itself. Behold, that day is not like the many days that are given to men for repentance and preparation for the encounter with God. That day is one, and it differs from all other days, for it comes not for repentance but for judgment. Just as the Dread Judgment is one and unrepeatable, so also is that day one and unrepeatable.
God does not desire that any man should perish. He did not create men for destruction but for salvation. Is there a gardener who, sowing vegetables, desires that his vegetables should wither and perish? Yet God is wiser and more compassionate than all men. God has one desire, namely: that all men should repent and turn away from evil. How the vinedresser rejoices when his withered vineyard recovers and turns green again and bears fruit! How great, then, is the joy of God and the angels of God when human souls, withered from sin, recover and are renewed by the tears of repentance and bring forth the fruit of repentance.
O Lord, merciful and man-loving, help sinners to feel Thy mercy and Thy compassion toward them -- to feel it and to repent -- to repent and to turn from their wicked ways. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“God does not desire that any man should perish. He did not create men for destruction but for salvation.”