Lives of the Saints
1. HOLY GREAT MARTYR EUPHEMIA
By birth from Chalcedon. Her father was the senator Philophron, and her mother Theodosia — both devout Christians. Euphemia was a beautiful maiden both in body and in soul. When the proconsul Priscus organized a feast with sacrifices to Ares in Chalcedon, forty-nine Christians withdrew from that foul sacrifice and hid themselves. But they were discovered and brought before Priscus. Among them was the holy Euphemia. When the proud Priscus asked them why they did not obey the imperial command, they replied: "Both the emperor's command and yours should be obeyed if it is not contrary to the God of heaven; but if it is contrary to God, not only must one not obey it, one must also resist it." Then Priscus subjected them to various tortures over the course of nineteen days, from day to day. On the twentieth day he separated Euphemia from the others and began to flatter her because of her beauty, hoping to win her over to idolatry. But when all his flattery proved fruitless, he ordered the maiden to be tortured. First they tortured her on the wheel, but an angel of God appeared and shattered the wheel. Then they cast her into a fiery furnace, but by the power of God she was preserved. Seeing this, two soldiers, Victor and Sosthenes, believed in Christ, for which they were thrown to wild beasts; and thus they gloriously ended their earthly life. Then Euphemia was cast into a pit filled with water and every poisonous creature; but she made the sign of the Cross over the water when she entered the pit, and remained unharmed. Finally, brought before wild beasts, she prayed to God with thanksgiving and surrendered her spirit. Her parents honorably buried her body. She suffered in the year 304 and passed over into eternal joy. She is also commemorated on July 11.
2. VENERABLE DOROTHEUS
An Egyptian desert-dweller from the fourth century. He practiced asceticism for a full sixty years in one cell in the Thebaid. He distinguished himself by extraordinary industriousness and wonderworking. By day he built cells for new monks, and by night he wove mats, never ceasing from prayer and psalmody.
3. SAINT CYPRIAN, METROPOLITAN OF KIEV
By origin from Tarnovo, but educated among the Serbs on Mount Athos. He was especially occupied with translating and copying books. His patron was Patriarch Philotheus of Constantinople, who upon meeting him on the Holy Mountain took him under his wing and then sent him as metropolitan to Kiev. He endured great sorrows and hardships as metropolitan, but he bore everything with equanimity, and by his fruitful labors he greatly benefited the Russian Church. He spent nearly thirty years in the office of metropolitan. Before his death he wrote a farewell letter, which was read at his grave. He reposed on September 16, 1406. His wonderworking relics rest in the Dormition Cathedral in Moscow.
4. HOLY MARTYR LUDMILA
Grandmother of the holy King Wenceslas of Bohemia. She was married to the Bohemian Prince Borivoj. She greatly labored for the faith of Christ and won many over to the Church from paganism. Her daughter-in-law hated her, and she sent men who strangled the aged Ludmila. Wenceslas buried the body of Ludmila in the Church of Saint George in Prague. Many miracles took place from her relics. She suffered martyrdom in Tetin in the year 927. The holy Wenceslas, a great zealot of the Orthodox faith, was killed by his brother Boleslav.
“And still to this very day many miracles have taken place from her relics.”
Hymn of Praise
All-blessed Euphemia,
Holy virgin,
She gave herself as a sacrifice to God,
A lamb of God;
She neither gasped nor cried out
Nor did she grieve,
But on her torments
She warmly gave thanks to God.
Angels appeared to her
In the flames,
And with heavenly cool dew
They quenched the fire;
O such is our faith —
Unconquerable!
O such is love for God —
Unquenchable!
O Euphemia, wise virgin,
Virgin of Christ,
For thy sufferings, Christ the Lord
Bestowed kingdoms upon thee.
Thou hast access to the Mother of God
And to Christ God,
And thy holy prayers
Have power to help.
O pray, Euphemia,
For all sinners,
Convert them, O saint,
Into penitents.
“O such is our faith — unconquerable! O such is love for God — unquenchable!”
Reflection
Calamities often befall us unexpectedly, and we ask ourselves in vain: why? Only the Church of Christ knows how to explain the cause of every calamity. All calamities the Church classifies principally into two groups: those which befall the sinner on account of old unrepented sins, and those which assail the righteous and serve, in the words of Chrysostom, "as a cause for gaining crowns, as in the case of Lazarus and Job." Empress Eudocia secretly sympathized with the heresy of Eutyches, following in this the advice of the cunning eunuch Chrysaphius. But a calamity befell her unexpectedly. One day her husband, Emperor Theodosius, brought the empress an apple of extraordinary size. The empress sent the apple to the ailing senator Paulinus; and he, out of love for the emperor, sent that very same apple to Emperor Theodosius. This gave the emperor grounds for suspecting an illicit relationship between his wife and the senator. Then the emperor asked the empress where that apple was. The empress lied and said: "I ate it!" This further increased the emperor's suspicion, and he banished Eudocia to Palestine. In time, Eudocia was healed of heresy and, on the counsel of the great spiritual fathers of Palestine, returned completely to Orthodoxy. The empress's misfortune did not come because of any illicit relationship with Paulinus — in that the empress was completely innocent — but because of her heretical disposition. Another and different case: Emperor Marcian, while still a general, was traveling near Philippopolis and saw the corpse of a murdered man on the road, and out of pure compassion he dismounted from his horse and began to bury the corpse. Just then someone came by and saw him, and reported the general to the court as a murderer. Marcian would have been sentenced to death had not the true murderer been soon revealed through a divine disclosure. This misfortune belongs to that second group — "the gaining of crowns." General Marcian was soon after elected emperor.
“Empress Eudocia, having in time been healed of heresy and, on the counsel of the great spiritual fathers of Palestine, returned completely to Orthodoxy.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the wondrous judgments of God concerning men (I Kings 14), namely:
1. How the son of Jeroboam fell ill and died as punishment for his apostate father and for his own salvation;
2. How the rest of Jeroboam's household perished and were devoured by dogs in the city or by birds in the field.
Homily
on the Lord who has authority
The divine power of our Lord Jesus Christ has been shown also in His complete authority over Himself. If divine power could be separated from divine love, then it could be said of Christ: He could have become incarnate, and He could have chosen not to become incarnate; likewise: He could have died, and He could have chosen not to die. But He became incarnate out of His divine love for mankind; and by that same inexpressible love He gave Himself over to death, as the Good Shepherd for His flock. Man, who kills himself, has no authority over his own soul, and does not kill himself by his own authority but by the authority of sin, or of the devil, or by the force of some terrible circumstances. Likewise a man whom others kill has no authority over his own soul, nor can he say of his soul before his murderers: I have power to lay it down, for he must lay it down even against his will. Only the Lord Jesus could say this in the presence of the Jews, His murderers: *I have power to lay it down. * Having that authority, He could by a single miracle, easy for Himself, have caused all the Jews to perish before they crucified Him. But He looked ahead and saw the salvific fruits of His death, and therefore He willingly gave Himself up to be killed. *And I have power to take it again. * By these words He foretells His resurrection. By His divine authority, therefore, the Lord both died and rose again.
O Almighty and man-loving Lord, how wondrously Thou hast arranged the salvation of men by Thy divine power and love. Help us, O help us only to appropriate that salvation. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“He who has divine power had authority to lay down His life and authority to take it again.”