Lives of the Saints
1. DISCOVERY AND TRANSLATION OF THE RELICS OF SAINT STEPHEN THE ARCHDEACON AND PROTOMARTYR
When the malicious Jews stoned Saint Stephen to death, they left his body for the dogs to devour. But the Providence of God willed otherwise. The body of the martyr lay in an open place outside the city for a night and two days, and on the second night Gamaliel, the teacher of Paul and a secret disciple of Christ, came, took the body, carried it to Caphargamala on his estate, and there honorably buried it in a cave. In that same cave Gamaliel buried his friend Nicodemus, who died weeping over Stephen's grave. There too Gamaliel buried his own baptized son Abibus. And according to his own testament, Gamaliel himself was also buried there. From that time centuries passed, and no one among the living knew where the body of Saint Stephen was buried. But in the year 415, during the time of the Patriarch John of Jerusalem, Gamaliel appeared three times in a dream to the priest of Caphargamala, Lucian, and told him in detail all about the burial of all those mentioned, pointing out the exact location of their forgotten graves. Stirred by this dream, Lucian informed the patriarch, and with the patriarch's blessing went with men and uncovered the four graves. Gamaliel had already told him in the dream which grave was whose. A powerful fragrance of sweet incense filled the entire cave from the relics of the saints. Then the relics of Saint Stephen were solemnly translated to Zion and there honorably buried, and the relics of the others were brought out to a hill above the cave and laid there in a church. Many healings of the sick took place that day from the relics of Saint Stephen. Later those relics were translated to Constantinople. Thus the Lord crowned with great glory the one who first shed his blood for His name.
2. HIEROMARTYR STEPHEN, POPE OF ROME, AND OTHERS WITH HIM
He was Pope of Rome from 253 to 257. He fought against the heretic Novatian. Having healed Lucilla, daughter of the tribune Nemesius, he baptized them both. He suffered in the time of Valerian together with twelve of his clergy. He was beheaded while celebrating the Divine Liturgy.
3. BLESSED BASIL, FOOL-FOR-CHRIST OF MOSCOW
His father was named Jacob and his mother Anna. At the age of sixteen he gave himself to the ascetic labor of holy foolishness, and endured this difficult struggle for seventy-two years. He lived in all eighty-eight years. He went barefoot, bareheaded, and in rags. He had no fixed dwelling. He corrected sinners, rebuked the powerful, prophesied truthfully, and possessed clairvoyance. Having endured sufficiently from hunger, cold, and human insults, Blessed Basil committed his holy soul to God. Tsar Ivan and the Metropolitan were present at his funeral. He was buried in the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos in Moscow, which was later named after him.
“A powerful fragrance of sweet incense filled the entire cave from the relics of the saints.”
Hymn of Praise
In the midst of dark night Gamaliel appeared,
To Lucian he revealed a wondrous mystery;
Gamaliel appeared, an elder dignified,
Upon his radiant face a mysterious smile.
A long gray beard, and gray his locks,
His garment white, adorned with a red cross.
Then Gamaliel set four baskets down
Within a cave beside four sepulchers.
Three were golden, and the fourth of silver,
Each one filled with beautiful flowers.
The first was full of crimson blossoms,
The other three of white, from Paradise's spring.
"That golden basket," said Gamaliel,
"With the crimson flowers, whence fragrance flows,
That one stands before the grave of holy Stephen,
Who shed his blood for Christ the Living."
"And the other two golden ones with whitest flowers,
With holy Nicodemus I, Gamaliel, share —
There lies his body, and there lies mine;
And the fourth one — purest silver white,
With white blossoms — there Abibus rests,
My only son, whom I behold alive.
His basket white and his flowers white,
For pure he had both soul and body.
Young and baptized, he died like an early blossom;
Beside holy Stephen I buried my son,
That the saint might help my Abibus
As he once helped every Christian."
“Young and baptized, he died like an early blossom; Beside holy Stephen I buried my son, That the saint might help my Abibus As he once helped every Christian."”
Reflection
We must be patient and merciful toward the sinner, if we desire that the long-suffering God be merciful toward us. The great mercifulness of Blessed Alexander, Patriarch of Antioch, had become proverbial. A certain scribe of his stole several gold coins from him and fled to the Thebaid. But in the wilderness robbers seized him and carried him off. Learning of this, Alexander sent eighty-five gold coins to the robbers as a ransom. Therefore it was said: "The mercy of Alexander cannot be conquered by any sin." And Saint John the Merciful writes: "The long-suffering of God is immovable, and His mercy is without malice. How many evildoers, who go forth to kill and steal, does He conceal, so that they not be caught and put to torture. Pirates of the sea sail upon the sea, and He does not command the sea to drown them. How many swear falsely by Holy Communion, and He endures it, not repaying them with evil here. Robbers on the highway plunder, and He does not give them over to wild beasts to be torn apart. Fornicators walk with harlots, and He endures it. Why all this? Because He awaits repentance and conversion. Truly God does not desire the destruction of the sinner. Therefore, brethren, let us be ashamed before the most gracious Lord God."
“The long-suffering of God is immovable, and His mercy is without malice.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the wondrous help of God given to the penitent Israelites (Judges 11), namely:
1. How the penitent ones cried out to God: "Do with us as Thou wilt, only deliver us now" (Judges 10);
2. How the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he defeated the Ammonites and delivered Israel;
3. How even today the repentance of men brings peace with God and draws down God's help in time of temptation.
Homily
on God's complaint against a faithless people
Wrath, the wrath of God! In wrath God turns away from the chosen people and complains of them to the rest of His creatures, complains to the heavens and the earth. Hear, My holy and rational angels, and hear, all ye irrational creatures of the earth! I desired to make this people holy and rational, but they debased themselves below the irrational creatures in their impurity and ingratitude. I called them My sons and exalted them, yet they turned their backs on Me and went after vile idols! Wrath, the wrath of God, the wrath of a love that even for the thousandth time does good to the leper, yet even for the thousandth time is spat upon by the leper. If all the dead elements could speak, they could, together with all living creatures, testify to the exceedingly great wonders that the one living God worked in Egypt and in the wilderness for the people of Israel, only so that this people might turn away from idolatry and believe in the one living and almighty God. This could be testified to by water and blood, by stone and wood, by darkness and fire, by frogs and flies, by birds and serpents, by disease and death, by cloud and smoke, by wind and manna, by bronze and iron — together with Pharaoh and the numerous peoples who were wondrously vanquished by the hand of God and removed from the path of the people of Israel. And yet that people turned away from God and went after idols! This is the fearful vision of Isaiah, the son of Amos, the prophet of God. O my brethren, think what kind of vision the Prophet Isaiah would have of us, were he to appear today among our people! O Lord, the only Living One and the only Almighty, nail our minds and hearts to Thee, the true God, and preserve us, preserve us from falling away from Thee. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“O brethren, think what kind of vision the Prophet Isaiah would have of us, were he to appear today among our people!”