Lives of the Saints
1. HOLY MARTYRS CARPUS AND PAPYLUS
Carpus was Bishop of Thyatira and Papylus was a deacon. They were by origin from Pergamum, where at last they suffered for the faith of Christ at the hands of the wicked governor Valerius, during the reign of Decius. Valerius bound them to horses and drove them to Sardis, where he subjected them to cruel tortures, but an angel of God appeared to them, healed their wounds, and strengthened them. Carpus's servant Agathodorus followed his master with great sorrow, until they seized him too for torture. Then Valerius bound them again to horses and dragged them from Sardis to Pergamum. When holy Carpus was tied to a tree and flogged so severely that his whole body was turned into wounds and his blood flowed like a stream upon the earth, Saint Carpus laughed in the midst of those terrible torments. When they asked him why he was laughing, the holy martyr answered that he beheld the heavens opened and the Lord seated upon His throne, with the Cherubim and Seraphim all around. During the torture of Papylus, this holy martyr healed a man who was blind in one eye through his prayer. And many, seeing this, believed in Christ the Lord. When the martyrs were thrown before wild beasts, they remained unharmed. When they were thrown into a fiery furnace, Agathonice, the sister of Papylus, saw this and she too leaped into the fire. But the fire did not burn them. At last they were all beheaded by the sword, in 251. And so, after good struggles, they received the crown of glory in the Kingdom of Christ.
2. HIEROMARTYR BENJAMIN THE DEACON
This warrior of Christ was a Persian, and by his zealous preaching of the Gospel he converted many pagan Persians and Greeks to the faith of Christ. He suffered in the time of the Persian king Isdegerdes, son of Gororan, around 412. When he was cast into prison, a certain courtier of the king interceded for him before the king. The king released him, but on condition that he keep silent and no longer speak to people about Christ. To this Benjamin answered: "That I can in no way abandon. For he who hides the talent given to him will be subjected to great torment." And he continued to spread the faith of Christ. The king ordered that thorns be driven under his nails, and they tortured him until he surrendered his spirit to God.
3. HOLY GREAT MARTYR ZLATA OF MEGLEN
Born in the village of Slatina in the region of Meglen, of poor village parents who had three other daughters besides her. Holy Zlata was a meek and pious maiden, wise with the wisdom of Christ, and golden not only by name but also by her God-fearing heart. When Zlata once went out to fetch water, some shameless Turks seized her and dragged her to their house. When one of them offered her that she become a Muslim and be his wife, Zlata fearlessly answered: "I believe in Christ, and I know Him alone as my Bridegroom; I shall never deny Him, even if you subject me to a thousand torments and cut me to pieces." Then her parents came to her with her sisters. And her parents said to her: "Our daughter, have pity on yourself and on us, your parents and sisters; deny Christ outwardly, so that you and we may be happy, and Christ is merciful — He will forgive you the sin committed under compulsion of life." And the poor parents and sisters and kinsmen wept bitterly. But the valiant soul of holy Zlata would not be conquered by the devil's snares. She answered her parents: "Since you counsel me to deny Christ, the true God, you are no longer my parents nor my sisters; I have a Father — the Lord Jesus Christ, and a Mother — the Theotokos, and brothers and sisters — the saints, both men and women." Then the Turks cast her into prison, where she lay for three months; and they brought her out every day and flogged her until her blood soaked the earth. Finally they hanged her upside down and set a fire beneath her, so that she might be suffocated by the smoke. But the Lord was with Zlata and gave her strength in her suffering. At last they hanged her from a tree and cut her whole body into small pieces. And so this valiant maiden surrendered her spirit to God and departed to the dwellings of Paradise, in the year 1796. Christians carried away pieces of her relics to their homes for a blessing.
“I believe in Christ, and I know Him alone as my Bridegroom; I shall never deny Him, even if you subject me to a thousand torments and cut me to pieces.”
Hymn of Praise
HOLY GREAT MARTYR ZLATA OF MEGLEN
Holy Zlata, golden-hearted,
The Turks tormented,
For the sake of Christ, the living God,
They wore her down with suffering.
Golden Zlata did not weep,
Nor did she waver,
But with her whole heart she surrendered
To the Lord of heaven.
In vain the tears of parents,
In vain the tears of sisters,
Zlata sought sweetness through suffering,
Sweetness that is true,
Sweetness that Christ has prepared
For the wise virgins,
Sweetness that the Bridegroom gives
To the faithful virgins.
Razed was the cage of the body
Of golden Zlata.
Her soul was set free
From a crumbling prison,
And to Paradise Zlata rose,
Her soul rejoicing,
She took her place among the rulers —
The holy angels.
Once a poor village girl,
Holy Zlata
In Paradise is now glorified
As a queen.
“Razed was the cage of the body of golden Zlata. Her soul was set free from a crumbling prison.”
Reflection
Nothing is more pitiable than a man who in the hour of misfortune abandons hope in God and resorts to means of salvation contrary to the law of God. Not only does such a man fail to save and repair his outward situation, but he even loses his soul. Such was the case with Emperor Michael Palaeologus. In order to save his empire, threatened by the Bulgarians and the Serbs, he sought help from the Pope and agreed to the union. What did he gain by this? He did not save the empire, and he committed innumerable crimes, and soon ended his life wretchedly during a military campaign against Prince John Ducas of Epirus. The Orthodox people were so incensed against him that his son Andronicus did not dare bury him publicly, but interred him by night without a funeral service or prayer. Excommunicated by the Orthodox Church and not accepted by the Roman, Michael ended his life outside the Church of God. His wife the empress, after his death, issued this decree: "My Majesty abhors and considers abominable that deed (the union) which recently occurred in the Church and troubled it... And since the holy Church of God has determined not to grant the prescribed commemorations to my deceased husband, lord, and emperor, on account of the aforementioned deed and disturbance, my Majesty, preferring the fear of God and obedience to the holy Church above all things, approves and accepts that determination, and shall never presume to make commemoration of the soul of my lord and husband."
“Nothing is more pitiable than a man who in the hour of misfortune abandons hope in God and resorts to means of salvation contrary to the law of God.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the miraculous punishment with which the Apostle Peter punished Ananias (Acts 5), namely:
1. How Ananias, and then his wife Sapphira, lied and concealed some of the money;
2. How the Apostle Peter exposed them, and they fell down one after the other and died.
“How Ananias, and then his wife Sapphira, lied and concealed some of the money.”
Homily
on the burden of sin and deliverance
From sin is born fear, and confusion, and weakness, and feebleness, and darkening of the mind. By sin a man provokes men against himself, disturbs his own conscience, gathers demons around himself, and gives them weapons against himself. By sin a man separates himself from God, distances himself from his guardian angel, and walls himself off from the source of every good. A committed sin signifies a declaration of war against God and all good powers. This is more absurd than for a withered autumn leaf to declare war on the wind. But even this most absurd thing happens, namely: man declares war on God! That very declaration means defeat and destruction in advance, unless the man quickly comes to himself, repents, and flees to God for mercy. The terrible position of a sinner was well felt and tested upon himself by the great King David. He felt indescribable fear, and confusion, and feebleness, and loneliness; he felt the arrows of men and the arrows of demons. But seeing his dreadful position, David acknowledged his sin, fell in ashes before God, flooded the earth with tears of repentance and words of pain that burn like fire, and implored the merciful God to forgive him. And when all was forgiven him, he then felt indescribable blessedness. That blessedness of a forgiven soul he cannot show in words: he only proclaims and affirms and assures, on the basis of his experience of both states — that is, both the state of sinfulness and the state of forgiveness from God: blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered! What is this blessedness? Freedom, and courage, and unspeakable joy, and power, and strength, and clarity of thought, and peace of conscience, and hope in God, and a song to God, and love for one's neighbors, and the meaning of life! In a word: light, joy, strength — these are those blessings. These are the blessings that one forgiven of sin feels here on earth; but what blessings await him in heaven — that eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man (1 Corinthians 2:9).
O Lord our God, by Thy boundless mercy, forgive us our iniquities and cover our sins! To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered!”