The Lives of the Saints
1. ST. EUDOCIMUS
Born in Cappadocia of pious parents, Basil and Eudocia. In the time of Emperor Theophilus (829-842) Eudocimus was a young officer in the army. Yet even as a soldier he put forth every effort to live according to the commandments of the Gospel. He preserved his purity undefiled and avoided conversation with any woman except his mother; he was merciful toward the poor, diligent in reading the sacred books, and still more diligent in prayer to God. He shunned vain amusements and idle talk. "In the midst of the tumult and vanity of the world he was like a lily among thorns and like gold in fire." Because of his extraordinary virtues, the emperor appointed him commander of Cappadocia. In that lofty position Eudocimus strove to be righteous before God and righteous toward men. But by divine Providence he reposed early, in his thirty-third year. His relics proved to be healing. A certain madman touched his grave and was healed; likewise a paralyzed child arose and was made whole. After eighteen months his mother opened the casket and found his body as though alive, without any sign of corruption. And a wondrous fragrance rose from the body of the saint. His relics were later transferred to Constantinople and interred in the new Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, which was built by the parents of this righteous Eudocimus.
2. THE HOLY MARTYR JULITTA
From Caesarea of Cappadocia. She had a dispute with her neighbor concerning property. The neighbor went to court and declared that Julitta was a Christian, which at that time meant the same as being outside the protection of the law. Holy Julitta chose rather to renounce her property than her faith. But the malicious pagans did not leave her in peace even after that, but tortured her and finally burned her in the fire in the year 303. And thus this follower of Christ sacrificed both her property and her body for the eternal salvation of her soul.
3. ST. JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA
The noble Joseph, a wealthy man, a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin and a secret follower of Christ (Matthew 27:57; John 19:38). He took down the body of Christ from the Cross, together with Nicodemus, and laid it in his own tomb. Because of this he was bound in chains by the Jews and cast into prison. But the risen Lord appeared to him and assured him of His Resurrection. After that the Jews released him from prison and banished him from his homeland. He went throughout the world to preach the Gospel of Christ, and he brought that good tidings to England as well, where he also reposed in the Lord.
4. ST. JOHN THE EXARCH
A renowned priest and theologian of Bulgaria from the time of Tsar Simeon (892-896). He translated into the Slavonic language the Hexaemeron of Basil and the Theology of Damascene. He peacefully reposed in the Lord.
“He took down the body of Christ from the Cross, together with Nicodemus, and laid it in his own tomb.”
Hymn of Praise
Joseph, a man wealthy and noble,
At Christ crucified he was not scandalized,
But when the sun darkened and the earth did quake,
To Pilate he went and brought him the news
That the Lord had died, the Lord the Giver of Life.
A secret disciple thus became public.
When those who were public hid, the secret one became manifest,
And thus the wise Joseph became renowned for a day.
Then with Nicodemus he laid out the body of Christ
And in his own garden placed it in a new tomb.
Jewish spies heard of it and reported,
And righteous Joseph they cast into chains.
In the dark dungeon Joseph languished
While his Lord gave light in Hades.
Joseph pondered his memories of Christ,
Recalling His wondrous deeds,
Miracles and words and many prophecies.
Before Him he had stood in the presence of God,
But now -- darkness everywhere, without and within,
Dark days, dark nights, evenings and mornings,
After a brilliant radiance brighter than the sun --
O despairing darkness, darker than Hades!
But behold, suddenly in the dungeon it dawned:
The Risen One appeared to His captive in chains.
O courageous and noble Joseph,
Neither at the Risen One wast thou scandalized.
Of the dead Christ thou didst inform Pilate,
And the Risen One too thou didst recognize and glorify.
Let the land of Britain honor thee duly,
For thou wast the first to sow in it the seed of salvation.
“In the dark dungeon Joseph languished while his Lord gave light in Hades.”
Reflection
The ascetics in the desert strive to cut off their own will and live according to the will of God. Some mistakenly think that the desert-dweller lives in complete solitude. No desert-dweller thinks so. He lives in the company of God, and of the angels of God, and of the departed saints. Where the mind of man is, there also is the life of man. And the mind of the desert-dweller is in the greatest, the purest, and the most numerous company in which a man can be. Once Abba Mark reproached St. Arsenius the desert-dweller: "For what reason dost thou flee from our company and from conversation with us?" Arsenius replied: "God knows that I love you, but I cannot be together both with God and with men. In heaven thousands upon thousands have one will, but among men the wills are many and various. Therefore I cannot leave God in order to be with men."
“I cannot be together both with God and with men. In heaven thousands upon thousands have one will, but among men the wills are many.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the punishment of God which befell Abimelech and the Shechemites (Judges 9), namely:
1. How Abimelech, with the help of the Shechemites, slew seventy of his brethren;
2. How Abimelech himself afterward slaughtered the Shechemites, razed their city, and sowed salt upon it;
3. How Abimelech, after many victories, perished at the hand of a woman who cast a piece of a millstone upon his head from a tower;
4. How both the Shechemites and Abimelech were overtaken by the curse of Jotham, the son of Gideon.
Homily
On the Final Expectation
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless (II Peter 3:14)
What is our final expectation, brethren? In the night we await the day, in the day we await the night, and then again day, and again night. But those are not our final expectation. What is our final expectation, brethren? In joy we tremble in anticipation of sorrow, in sorrow we hopefully await joy, and then again sorrow, and again joy. But neither are those our final expectation. Our final expectation, brethren, is the expectation of the Judgment of God. When the Judgment of God comes, the Dread Day that burns as a furnace, then all that is deserved shall be received: day for some without alternation with night, and night for others without alternation with day; joy for some without alternation with sorrow, and sorrow for others without alternation with joy. That, brethren, is the final expectation of the human race, whether it knows it or not, whether it thinks upon it or not.
But you, O faithful, ought to know this, and you ought to think upon it. Let this knowledge be the summit of all your knowledge; and let this thought guide all your other thoughts. To knowledge and reflection upon this add also that which is most essential: add your diligence to be without spot and blameless (or more precisely translated: undefiled and irreproachable) and in peace. Strive to be pure in mind and heart, upright in conscience, and at peace with God. Only thus shall your final expectation not dismay you by surprise, nor shall it cast you down into night without day and into sorrow without joy. Just as everything in the life of the Lord Jesus was a surprise to men, so also shall His second coming in power and glory be a surprise. His birth of the Most Pure Virgin was a surprise; His poverty was a surprise; His wonder-working was a surprise; and every deed, and every word, and His humiliation, and His voluntary death, and His Resurrection, and His Ascension, and the Church, and the spread of His Faith. A surprise also shall be His second coming -- a surprise more dread than all other surprises.
O Lord, O righteous Judge, how shall we meet Thee unclothed in purity and in blamelessness and in peace? Help us, help us, that we may in some measure prepare ourselves for the dread encounter with Thee. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“Just as everything in the life of the Lord Jesus was a surprise to men, so also shall His second coming be a surprise.”