Lives of the Saints
1. HOLY APOSTLE QUADRATUS
One of the Seventy. A disciple of the great Apostles. He preached the Gospel in Athens and was bishop first in Athens after Saint Publius, and then in the city of Magnesia. He was very learned in worldly wisdom and rich in the grace of the Holy Spirit. His biographer says of him: he was as a morning star amid the clouds (Sirach 8:6); the clouds were the dark Hellenic paganism, without the light of godliness; and the holy Apostle Quadratus through the word of God shone upon the Hellenes as a great light, illumined the darkness, overthrew their foul sacrifices, shattered their idols, and destroyed the temples of the demons by prayer. But the darkness always hates the light; and so the pagans came to hate holy Quadratus, and first stoned him, as the Jews had once stoned Saint Stephen, and then cast him into prison, giving him no bread at all until he gave up his holy soul and departed to the Kingdom of Christ his God. Saint Quadratus wrote an apology for Christianity and presented it to the Emperor Hadrian. That apology so moved the pagan emperor that he ordered Christians not to be persecuted without specific crimes. Saint Quadratus suffered around the year 130. He was buried in Magnesia, where he also suffered.
2. HIEROMARTYR HYPATIUS, BISHOP OF EPHESUS, AND ANDREW THE PRESBYTER
Two friends from childhood, natives of Lycia. When they came of age, both gave themselves wholeheartedly to the service of God: Hypatius as a strict monk and ascetic, and Andrew as a cleric among the people and a preacher of the word of God. On account of his great virtues, Hypatius was made Bishop of Ephesus, and Andrew was ordained presbyter. Both suffered in the time of the iconoclast Emperor Leo the Isaurian. After dreadful torments for holy Orthodoxy they were beheaded in the year 730. And both passed from this transitory life into life eternal.
3. SAINT DEMETRIUS, BISHOP OF ROSTOV
He is celebrated on October 28; and on September 21 is commemorated the event of the discovery of his wonderworking relics in the year 1752.
4. SYNAXIS OF THE SAINTS OF THE KIEV CAVES
The blessed work of asceticism which the laborious and great servant of God Anthony began grew through the centuries like a fruitful olive tree. The many saints who shone like stars in these Caves of Anthony are each celebrated individually on their own day; but on this date they are commemorated all together in synaxis and invoked to the aid of the faithful.
“When they came of age, both gave themselves wholeheartedly to the service of God: Hypatius as a strict monk and ascetic, and Andrew as a cleric among the people and a preacher of the word of God.”
Hymn of Praise
Holy Quadratus, like the morning star,
Poured forth the light of the Holy Gospel,
Poured forth its rays through the thick darkness,
And grace upon desolate hearts.
Quadratus shattered the confusions of the human mind,
And illumined the forebodings of the human heart,
Illumined them with the light of Christ,
Enlightened the world with the wisdom of Christ.
To the Most High God he raised the unbelieving,
And for Christ received cruel wounds,
To Hadrian, persecutor of the Cross,
Quadratus wrote his wondrous Apology
With the eloquence of Hellenic skill
And the simplicity of Christian truth.
Quadratus succeeded in persuading the emperor
And in shielding the Holy Church from evil.
O Quadratus, disciple of Christ,
Wise defender of the Holy Church,
Servant of God in word and deed,
Now you are crowned with unfading glory;
All Christians fervently pray to you:
Help us, O holy Apostle!
Help us to overcome our afflictions
And to endure sufferings for Christ!
“O Quadratus, disciple of Christ, wise defender of the Holy Church, servant of God in word and deed, now you are crowned with unfading glory!”
Reflection
If we have but begun with firm resolve to live by the law of God, we need not fear any violence of unreasonable men, for to him who has truly begun to live by the law of God, all that happens from the hands of men happens for his benefit and to the glory of God. Especially we need not fear forced removal from a place we have come to love to a place we do not care for. Instead of empty fear and shallow lamentation, let us rather examine the intentions of God for us. What harm did the malice of his brothers do to Joseph? Did not his unwilling departure to Egypt bring him glory, save his brothers from famine, and create the conditions for all the wondrous works of God through Moses in Egypt and in the wilderness? Pagans and heretics often drove Orthodox Christians into barbarian regions. What did they accomplish by this? Did they destroy Orthodoxy? No, they strengthened it all the more firmly in the souls of the persecuted and spread it among the barbarian peoples. The wicked heretic Lucius banished from Egypt both the glorious Macarii with a number of Tabennesiote monks to a certain barbarian island, where all the inhabitants were idolaters. But these holy men by their teachings and the example of their lives soon managed to baptize the entire island. That island was afterward called the Island of Repentance.
“If we have but begun with firm resolve to live by the law of God, we need not fear any violence of unreasonable men.”
Contemplation
Contemplate God's miraculous salvation of Jerusalem on account of the righteousness of Jehoshaphat (II Chronicles 20), namely:
1. How a multitude of Moabites and Ammonites marched against Jerusalem;
2. How King Jehoshaphat prayed to God, and it was revealed to him through a prophet: this is not your war but God's;
3. How the Moabites and Ammonites slaughtered one another among themselves and all perished to the last man.
“How the Moabites and Ammonites slaughtered one another among themselves and all perished to the last man.”
Homily
on the divinity of the Son and His essential equality with the Father
Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us, said Philip. To these words the Lord Jesus answered him: Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. Thus the Lord answered His disciple. Philip desired to see God with bodily eyes. For three years he had looked upon Christ, and he had not known Him as God. Why? Because at that time, before the descent of the Holy Spirit, Philip looked with the body upon the body; that is, with bodily eyes he looked upon and saw the Lord Christ as a man. He had not yet seen the Divinity in the incarnate Son of God, and yet he asks to see God the Father! He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. By this the Lord does not mean to say that He is God the Father; no, but that He and the Father are of one essence. Insofar as God could in general show Himself to men, He showed Himself through God the Son, who appeared to men as a man. God the Father was not incarnate; God the Holy Spirit was not incarnate; only God the Son was incarnate. How, then, could He show His Father to the bodily eyes of mortal man? It was precisely for this reason that the Son became incarnate: to reveal to men through Himself both Himself, and the Father, and the Holy Spirit — the one Divinity in essence, threefold in hypostasis. He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. The Lord here speaks of His divine nature. In this He is wholly equal and consubstantial with the Father. And had Philip been able at that time to see the divine nature of Christ, he would not have made that request: show us the Father. Of course, he could not have seen the divine nature, which is spiritual and invisible, but he could have seen, and indeed clearly seen, the great works of Christ as the manifestation of His divine nature. And today, brethren, certain people say: show us God, and we will believe! Say to them: behold, we show you the Lord Christ — believe! Nineteen centuries have I been with you, O people, and you still have not come to know Me? Nineteen centuries filled with His glory, miracles, power, grace, mercy, saints, and martyrs! And still the feeble-minded ask: where is God? O Christ the Lord, our God, open the spiritual eyes of those who do not yet see, that they may behold the majesty of Thy glory. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“Nineteen centuries have I been with you, O people, and you still have not come to know Me?”