Lives of the Saints
1. HOLY MARTYR MYRON THE PRESBYTER
He was a priest in a certain place in Achaia, of a wealthy and distinguished family, gentle and meek by nature, a lover of God and of mankind. In the time of Emperor Decius, on the very day of the Nativity of Christ, the pagans burst into the church, dragged Myron from the service and put him to tortures. During the torture by fire, an angel appeared to him and strengthened him. After that they began to cut strips from his skin, from head to foot. The martyr seized one such strip of his skin and struck the torturer — the judge — in the face with it. The judge Antipater, as if beside himself, took a sword and slew himself. Finally they led Myron to the city of Cyzicus, and there they beheaded him with a sword in the year 250.
2. HOLY MARTYR PATROCLUS
A citizen of the city of Tricassinum, the present-day Troyes in Gaul. He had inherited a great estate from his parents, and as a true Christian he gave alms from it to the poor daily, while he himself lived ascetically, taking food only once a day, and that after sunset. Because of the holiness of his life the Lord gave him the power of healing, and as a wonderworking healer he became known everywhere. When Emperor Aurelian came to Gaul, he ordered that Patroclus be brought before him. Holy Patroclus professed his faith in Christ before the emperor, and concealed nothing. "If you desire, O emperor, something of my goods, I will give it to you, for I see you are poor," said Saint Patroclus to the emperor. To this the emperor replied: "How can you call me, the emperor, poor, when I have countless riches?" Holy Patroclus said: "You have only earthly, passing riches, but you are poor, for you do not even possess yourself, nor the faith of Christ in your heart." He was condemned to death and handed over to soldiers to lead him to a swamp beside the river and behead him there, and leave his body in the swamp. But the saint prayed to God that his body not remain in that swamp, and by God's power he suddenly became invisible to the soldiers and was transported to the other side of the river. After a long search the soldiers found him and beheaded him on dry ground. Two beggars to whom Patroclus had often given alms came along that road, recognized the body of their benefactor, and honorably buried him.
3. VENERABLE ELIAS OF CALABRIA
A Greek by origin, and abbot of the Monastery of Melikuka in Calabria, in southern Italy. In the time of iconoclasm in the East, many Eastern monks fled with their icons to Calabria. In time, monastic life spread greatly in Calabria. The Calabrian monks were distinguished both by great learning and by great strictness of life. For a time there were so many Orthodox monasteries and monks in Calabria that it was compared to ancient Egypt. Orthodox Calabria later through the centuries came under the authority of the Archbishops of Ohrid. Venerable Elias reposed in the Lord in Thessalonica in the year 903.
4. VENERABLE ALYPIUS THE ICONOGRAPHER OF THE CAVES
While depicting the faces of the saints on wood, he also depicted their virtues in his own soul. He healed a man of leprosy, beheld an angel of God, and in old age peacefully ended his life in the Lord in the year 1114.
“Holy Patroclus professed his faith in Christ before the emperor, and concealed nothing. "If you desire, O emperor, something of my goods, I will give it to you, for I see you are poor," said Saint Patroclus to the emperor.”
Hymn of Praise
Patroclus stood upright before the emperor,
And glorified Christ God without fear;
The emperor questioned him, and Patroclus said:
"The rich man ought to give to the destitute.
I am rich, and you, O emperor, are destitute;
I have riches — you need only ask."
"Am I destitute, I who rule the world,
And you rich with that accursed faith?"
"I am rich," Patroclus repeated,
"My treasure does not burn in fire,
My treasure endures from age to age,
My treasure awaits me in heaven."
"What treasure! You are in my hands!"
The emperor cried out. "I shall deliver you to torment."
"Deliver me, O emperor," Patroclus replied,
"God will repay me for my torments.
Torment the body — the body is for torments;
My spirit I commit into the hands of the Lord.
Free is the spirit in a Christian,
As in every soldier of Christ;
Glory and victory await me,
But you, O emperor, shame and misery.
Hasten to heap torments upon me,
Lest my crown, O emperor, should wither."
“Torment the body — the body is for torments; my spirit I commit into the hands of the Lord.”
Reflection
The Lord does not allow His faithful servants to be put to shame. It often happened that the martyrs of Christ, mocked and ridiculed at their trials, would suddenly work some miracle that struck fear into the unbelievers. Either idols would fall, or thunderbolts would demolish pagan temples, or a sudden downpour would quench the fire prepared for their burning, or the torturers themselves would beat themselves with stones and staves, and so forth. Thus Antipater, the torturer of Saint Myron, during the torture of this man of God suddenly lost his mind and slew himself. Saint Alypius the iconographer was already near the end of his life when he received a commission from a certain man to paint an icon of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. As the feast was approaching, that man came by several times to see whether the icon was finished. But the icon had not even been begun by the very eve of the feast of the Dormition, when it was to be placed in the church. When the man went home in utter despair, suddenly there appeared in Alypius's cell a certain young man, who sat down at once and began to paint the icon. He worked very swiftly and very skillfully. When the icon was finished, it shone like the sun. Having shown it to the astonished Alypius, the young man took the icon and carried it to the very church for which it had been commissioned. The next day the man went to the church and to his great amazement saw the icon in its place. Then the man came to the monastery and with the abbot entered Alypius's cell. "How and who painted the icon for this man?" asked the abbot. And the ailing Alypius replied: "The angel painted it, and behold, he now stands here to take me." With that he breathed his last.
“The angel painted it, and behold, he now stands here to take me.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the punishment of God upon Saul for disobedience (I Samuel 15), namely:
1. How God commanded Saul not to spare the Amalekites nor to take of their livestock;
2. How Saul spared the Amalekite king Agag and permitted the taking of all that was best of the enemy's livestock;
3. How Samuel declared to Saul that God had rejected him because of disobedience and because of his self-willed offering of sacrifice to God without a priest.
Homily
on the Spirit-bearing divine Child
The Holy Spirit of God is not separated from the Father, nor is He separated from the Son, nor is the Father separated from the Son and the Spirit, nor is the Son separated from the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit prophesied about the Son through the prophets; the Holy Spirit overshadowed the Most Holy Virgin and prepared her for the birth of the Son of God; the Holy Spirit inseparably rested upon the Son throughout His sojourn in the world in the flesh. The spirit of wisdom is the spirit of seeing the mysteries of heaven; the spirit of understanding is the spirit of comprehending the connection between the visible and invisible worlds; the spirit of counsel is the spirit of discerning good from evil; the spirit of might is the spirit of authority over created nature; the spirit of knowledge is the spirit of knowing the essence of created beings; the spirit of the fear of the Lord is the spirit of acknowledging the divine authority over both worlds and of submission to the will of God. Who among men ever bore upon himself this fullness of the riches of the gifts of the Holy Spirit? Never anyone. Only the Lord Jesus Christ. Otherwise the Holy Spirit distributes His gifts and bestows them upon men — to one this, to another that. But the whole undivided fullness of His gifts shines upon the Son of God. Why did the Lord Jesus have to have the fear of God, since He Himself is God? He did not as God fear God, but rather as man, for our example. Just as He fasted, and kept vigil, and labored, as a man for the instruction of men, so also He feared God as a man for the instruction of men. What is more healing for men, leprous with sin, than the fear of God? As a healthy man He had to take the medicines against sin into Himself, in order to encourage us, the sick, to take those medicines. Does not a parent do the same with sick children who are afraid to take the prescribed medicine?
O Triune and Eternal God, before whom all the heavenly hosts bow down singing the wondrous hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Sabaoth — receive also our worship, and save us. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“Does not a parent do the same with sick children who are afraid to take the prescribed medicine?”