Lives of the Saints
1. HOLY MARTYR EUSIGNIUS
He was a soldier under Emperor Maximian, under Emperor Constantine the Great, and under his sons. He was present at the suffering of the holy Martyr Basiliscus (May 22), and saw a multitude of angels and the Lord Jesus Himself receiving the soul of this holy martyr from the angels. He served as a soldier under Emperor Constantine and beheld the cross that appeared to Constantine. Having served in the army a full sixty years, he retired from military service in the time of Constantine's sons and settled in Antioch, his native city. There he led a God-pleasing life in fasting, prayer, and good works. In the time of Julian the Apostate, two quarreling men on the street took him for a judge. He rendered justice to the righteous one, for which the guilty party became enraged, went to the emperor, and accused Eusignius of being a Christian. The emperor summoned Eusignius to trial, but Eusignius exposed the emperor terribly for his apostasy from the faith, and rebuked him by the shining example of the great Constantine. The embittered Julian ordered that his head be cut off. Eusignius suffered in deep old age in the year 362 and moved to the heavenly Kingdom.
2. HIEROMARTYR FABIUS (FABIAN), POPE OF ROME
A Roman by birth. At first Fabian was a village priest, but then, when at the election of the pope a white dove descended upon him, he was chosen as pope. Meek and guileless. With great diligence he gathered the bodies of the holy martyrs, buried them honorably, and raised churches over their graves. He likewise built chapels and side-chapels in the caves where the martyrs hid during the fierce persecutions. He baptized Emperor Philip and his son, the prince Philip, and with the help of the baptized senator Pontius, destroyed many idols and idol temples. But when the wicked Decius came to power, a terrible persecution of Christians began, in which Saint Fabian also suffered, beheaded by the sword in the year 250. This holy Fabian established the practice of consecrating the Holy Chrism on Great Thursday.
3. HOLY MARTYR PONTIUS THE SENATOR
The son of Senator Marcus and his wife Julia. The barren Julia conceived only after twenty-two years of married life and bore Pontius. Baptized by Pope Pontian together with his friend Valerius (the author of his biography), he succeeded in bringing to the Faith of Christ his own father Marcus, Emperor Philip and his son, and many other prominent Romans. As a senator he greatly protected and helped the Church, and was a great friend of Pope Fabian. When the persecution of Decius began, Pontius fled from Rome and hid beneath the Alps. But in the time of Valerian and Gallienus he was captured and subjected to terrible torments, during which many miracles of God were manifested and many were converted to Christ. There too were many Jews who cried out to the judge: "Kill, kill at once this sorcerer!" At this, Saint Pontius raised his hands to heaven and said: "I thank Thee, O my God, that the Jews too cry out against me, even as their fathers of old cried out against Christ: 'Crucify Him, crucify Him!'" He was beheaded by the sword in the year 257 and buried by his friend Valerius.
4. SAINT NONNA
The mother of Saint Gregory the Theologian. As a Christian she had a powerful and wonder-working prayer. Thus by her prayer to God she converted her husband from pagan foolishness to the Christian faith. Her husband Gregory was later made bishop of the city of Nazianzus. By her prayer Saint Nonna saved her son Gregory the Theologian from a storm at sea. She reposed peacefully as a deaconess in the year 374.
Hymn of Praise
Pontius walked with his friend Valerius,
But his heart was seized with sorrow.
A senator his father, his mother a senator's wife,
Yet a bitter riddle tormented his soul.
All the wisdom of the world seemed a fairy tale to him —
O where is the truth? He sought the truth.
Deep in thought, the two of them walked
Past a Christian church in the evening hour.
Into the church they entered, and beheld a radiance,
Beheld a radiance and heard the chanting:
"The gods of the nations are silver and gold,
They have eyes — yet are blind as mud,
And they have ears — yet are deaf as stone,
And they have mouths — yet their mouths are mute.
The feeble have fashioned things feebler than themselves;
Therefore their makers shall become like them,
And all who in their ranks bow down before them
And mindlessly place their hope in dead things."
Two sorrowful youths, two slaves of idols,
Hearing these words, both of them trembled.
Then they drew nearer to the image of Christ,
And entrusted their hearts to the honorable priest.
The priest told them what is the true faith,
And what is idol-worship: dull and bloody.
Into the church the two young noblemen entered,
Known and honored throughout the city of Rome;
Into the church they entered sorrowful,
And from the church they departed radiant and joyful.
“Into the church the two entered sorrowful, and from the church they departed radiant and joyful.”
Reflection
Thus begins Valerius's biography of his friend, Saint Pontius: "Who can believe, if God does not grant it? Who can go forth to a struggle, if the Lord does not help? Who can receive a crown of martyrdom, if Christ does not bestow it?" All things God can do and all things God wills that are salvific for men, only if men pray to Him. By prayer Saint Nonna converted her husband Gregory to Christianity and also her son Gregory the Theologian. By prayer Monica brought Augustine back from a dissolute life to the path of virtue and faith. By prayer Saint Basil converted his teacher Evulus to Christ. By prayer King Hezekiah prolonged his life by fifteen years. By prayer Saint Simeon the Stylite turned back the Persians and Scythians from launching an already prepared army against the Greek land. Indeed, sooner will the stars of heaven be numbered than all the miracles wrought in the world by prayer.
“Sooner will the stars of heaven be numbered than all the miracles wrought in the world by prayer.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the wondrous strength of Samson (Judges 14), namely:
1. How the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, so that he tore a lion apart with his hands, and broke the ropes with which he was bound, and slew many Philistines;
2. How the Spirit of the Lord departed from him when he entrusted the secret of his strength to a pagan woman, and he was slain.
“How the Spirit of the Lord departed from him when he entrusted the secret of his strength to a pagan woman, and he was slain.”
Homily
on how God whitens repentant sinners
If your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; if they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Isaiah 1:18)
O boundless mercy of God! In His greatest wrath against a faithless and ungrateful people, against a people steeped in lawlessness — "a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters," against rulers who had become like the rulers of Sodom and a people that had become like the people of Gomorrah — in such wrath the Lord still does not abandon mercy, but calls to repentance. As when after fearsome thunderclaps a gentle rain falls. Such is the Lord, long-suffering and very merciful, and He is not angry unto the end. Only if sinners cease to do evil and learn to do good and approach the Lord with humility and repentance, they shall become white as snow. The Lord is mighty and willing. No one outside of Him can cleanse a sinful human soul from sin and whiten it with purity. No matter how much cloth is washed in water with ashes and soap, no matter how much it is scrubbed and rinsed, it cannot obtain whiteness until it is spread out under the light of the sun. So too our soul cannot be whitened, no matter how much we cleanse it by our own labor and effort with the aid of all the means of the law, until we bring it before the feet of God, spread open, that the light of God may illumine and whiten it. The Lord approves and recommends all our labor and effort: namely, He desires that we wash our soul with tears, compress it with repentance, press it with the pangs of conscience, and clothe it with good deeds. But in the end He calls us to come to Him: "Come now, saith the Lord, and let us reason together." That is: I will look into you and see whether I am in you, and you will look into Me as into a mirror and see what you are. O Lord, slow to anger, have mercy upon us before the final wrath on that Dread Day. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“If your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; if they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”