Lives of the Saints
1. THE HOLY APOSTLES SILAS, SILVANUS, CRESCENS, EPAENETUS, AND ANDRONICUS
All from the Seventy Apostles. St. Silas was sent from Jerusalem to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas to resolve the dispute among the faithful concerning circumcision, namely, that it was not necessary to circumcise Gentiles when they convert to Christianity (Acts 15:22). After that, Silas traveled with Paul through Asia and Macedonia, and was appointed Bishop of Corinth, where he peacefully reposed. Silvanus assisted both chief Apostles (I Peter 5:12; II Corinthians 1:19). As Bishop of Thessalonica he labored greatly and suffered much before exchanging his earthly life for the heavenly one. Crescens was a fellow laborer of the Apostle Paul (II Timothy 4:10), then Bishop of Galatia, and afterward a missionary in Gaul, where he ended his life as a martyr for Christ in the time of Trajan. Holy Epaenetus, mentioned by the Apostle Paul (Romans 16:5), was a bishop in Carthage. Andronicus (Romans 16:7), Bishop of Pannonia, is commemorated separately on May 17.
2. THE HIEROMARTYR VALENTINE
He was a bishop in the Italian city of Interamna. He healed the brother of the Roman tribune Fronto from illness. When the son of the renowned philosopher Crato, Cherimon, fell ill, Crato, on the advice of Fronto, summoned Bishop Valentine to Rome. Cherimon was entirely contorted, so that his head was bent down between his knees. Valentine shut himself in a room with the sick man and spent the entire night in prayer. The next day he brought Cherimon out completely healed and presented him to his father. Then Crato was baptized with his entire household and with three of his students. Cherimon left his father's house and departed with Valentine. At that time the son of the Roman eparch, Abundius, was also baptized. Enraged by this, the eparch seized Valentine, and after torturing him had him beheaded with the sword. Beheaded also were those three students of Crato: Proculus, Ephibus, and Apollonius. Their bodies were taken by Abundius and honorably buried. All suffered in the year 273 and became citizens of the heavenly Kingdom.
3. THE HIEROMARTYR POLYCHRONIUS, BISHOP OF BABYLON
When Emperor Decius conquered Babylon, he seized Polychronius together with three presbyters, two deacons, and two baptized princes: Abdon and Sennes. Polychronius would answer nothing before the emperor but only kept silent, while St. Parmenius the presbyter answered for all. The emperor led the bishop and priests to Persia, to the city of Cordova, and beheaded them with axes. The princes, Abdon and Sennes, he took with him to Rome, where he first cast them before wild beasts and afterward put them to death by the sword. All suffered honorably in the year 251.
4. ST. JOHN THE SOLDIER
A secret Christian. Sent by Emperor Julian the Apostate to kill Christians, he did not kill them but helped them to hide. Julian cast him into a prison in Constantinople. When the wicked emperor perished, John devoted himself to asceticism, living in purity and holiness. He peacefully reposed in old age. After his death he appeared to some who needed his help. Prayers to him help in the recovery of stolen goods.
5. THE VENERABLE MOTHER ANGELINA, SERBIAN DESPOTESS
Her relics rest in the Monastery of Krushedol (see her life under December 12).
“Sent by Emperor Julian to kill Christians, he did not kill them but helped them to hide.”
Hymn of Praise
The pagan ruler, the dread Emperor Decius,
In fury cried out: "O Polychronius,
Why dost thou not honor the Roman gods, old man?
Why wilt thou not heed the imperial commands?"
But the saint is silent, he speaks not a word.
Again the emperor questions him, but the saint does not speak.
"This man is mute!" concluded Decius.
"Our father is not mute," said Parmenius,
"But he will not speak; he keeps his lips pure,
He keeps his lips pure by the command of Christ:
Cast not your pearls before swine,
Give not what is holy unto dogs!
The saint guards his pearl, he keeps it within,
That he defile not his lips by speaking to thee."
Decius, enraged as never before,
Commanded that Parmenius's tongue be cut out.
They cut out his tongue. But what does that matter --
The speech of the saint became more wondrous and stronger!
For the Lord fights for His zealous servants,
He guards them from shame and human reproach.
“The saint guards his pearl, he keeps it within, that he defile not his lips by speaking to thee.”
Reflection
One must distinguish between a sinner and a penitent. If thou hast taken upon thyself the role of exposing a sinner, take great care lest thou also expose the penitent. How dear to God is a repentant sinner -- remember this from the parable of the Prodigal Son. Let him also be dear to thee who has become dear to God. It happened in those times that a certain monk fell into sin, and for this he was expelled from the monastery. That monk went to St. Anthony, confessed his sin, repented, and remained with Anthony for some time. Then Anthony sent him back to the monastery, but there they would not receive him, and expelled him again. Again the penitent came to Anthony. Again Anthony sent him back to the monastery with the following message to the fathers of the monastery: a certain ship suffered a shipwreck and lost its entire cargo; with great difficulty the ship reached the harbor, and you wish to sink even that which was saved from the wreck! Hearing this wise message, the fathers joyfully received the penitent brother into the monastery.
Contemplation
Contemplate the miraculous victory of Gideon over the Midianites (Judges 7), namely:
1. How Gideon gathered thirty-two thousand soldiers and set out against the Midianites;
2. How God commanded him to reduce that number, lest the Israelites boast that they themselves had won the victory and not God;
3. How Gideon chose only three hundred soldiers and defeated the Midianites, who were as numerous as locusts.
Homily
on the Coming of the Dread Day of the Lord
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up (II Peter 3:10)
Dread is the Day of the Lord -- O how unspeakably dread! Dread both because of its inexorable justice and because of its suddenness. The Lord Himself has commanded: watch, for ye know neither the day nor the hour (Matthew 25:13), and the Apostle, who heard these words with his own ears, merely repeats them. He who fears a thief keeps watch every night, lest the thief surprise him. He who fears the Day of the Lord keeps watch every day and every hour, lest that day and hour suddenly catch him in sin. We are all too accustomed to the regular turning of the wheel of time and to the regular succession of day and night, so that we do not suspect the approach of the roar of that day which shall overshadow all days and halt the wheel of time and break its fine spokes. As when the sun bends its fiery face over millions of wax candles and dims their light and melts their wax. Dread, dread, dread is the Day of the Lord! When that day bends its fiery face over the candles of the present days, these shall be extinguished and darkened, the heavens shall pass away with a great noise -- the heavens by which present ordinary days are reckoned -- and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the material elements shall dissolve: earth, water, air, and fire. And they shall be no more. All things shall be new. And our earthly dwelling place and all works upon it shall burn up. And they shall be no more. All things shall be new. And all our works shall burn up: when God does not spare His own works, shall He spare ours? God shall not seek works but workers. All the workers shall appear before Him for judgment, and their works shall be consumed by fire. And all things shall be new. He who is condemned, is condemned; he who is rewarded, is rewarded -- for all eternity. Dread it is, brethren, truly dread is the Day of the Lord! Dread because of its suddenness, and dread because of the inexorable justice of God.
O righteous Lord, make us sober and watchful! Command Thy holy angels to keep us in sobriety and wakefulness, that sin may neither intoxicate us nor lull us to sleep. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“He who fears the Day of the Lord keeps watch every day and every hour, lest that day and hour suddenly catch him in sin.”