Lives of the Saints
1. VENERABLE DANIEL THE STYLITE
Daniel was born in the village of Bethara near the city of Samosata in Mesopotamia, of Christian parents, Elias and Martha. Prayed for from God by the tearful prayers of his barren mother, and as an only son consecrated to God's service from childhood. In his twelfth year he received the monastic rank, visited Simeon the Stylite and was blessed by him. Desiring solitude, Daniel left the monastery and withdrew to a certain abandoned pagan temple on the shore of the Black Sea. There he endured countless afflictions from demons, but conquered all by patience, prayer and the sign of the cross. After this he ascended a pillar, on which he remained until his death, suffering equally both scorching heat and freezing cold and attacks from people and from demons. Around his pillar gathered many disciples, and he guided them toward eternal life by his example and his words. This devoted servant God rewarded even in this life with great grace, so that he worked many miracles beneficial to people, and prophesied future events. From all sides people flocked under his pillar seeking from God's saint help and counsel. Emperors and patriarchs came to him as did common people. Emperor Leo the Great brought his guests from other lands, princes and magnates, and showed them Saint Daniel on the pillar, saying to them: *Behold a wonder in my kingdom! * Daniel foretold the day of his death, instructed his disciples as a father instructs his sons, and bade them farewell. Before his death the disciples saw above the pillar angels, prophets, apostles and martyrs. Having lived eighty years, this angelic man reposed in the year 489 and passed into Christ's Kingdom.
2. VENERABLE LUKE THE STYLITE
Luke lived in Constantinople in the time of Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus. As a soldier he participated in the war against the Bulgarians, in which he saw the death of many thousands of people, and from which war he emerged alive and unharmed. Seeing in his salvation the finger of God, he despised all the vanity of the world, withdrew to a pillar near Chalcedon, on which he struggled for a full forty-five years, cleansing his soul from every sinful desire and thought. Having pleased God, he reposed between the years 970-980 and passed into the better life.
3. VENERABLE NIKON THE DRY
As a monk in the Kiev caves he was captured by the Tatars. Three years he spent in captivity, fettered, tortured and mocked. When his kinsmen brought money to ransom him from his master, he refused, saying: Had the Lord willed that I be free, He would not have delivered me into the hands of these lawless ones. Once he told his master that Christ would free him in three days. The Tatar thought that the slave would flee, so he cut the tendons under his knees. But on the third day, truly Nikon was instantly transported by an invisible hand to Kiev. After a certain time that Tatar came to Kiev and recognized in Nikon his former slave, repented and was baptized. And the former master became the obedient follower and disciple of his former slave. Nikon, called the Dry because of the great emaciation of his body, was a great clairvoyant. He reposed peacefully in the Lord on December 11, 1101.
4. HOLY MARTYR MIRAX
Mirax was an Egyptian. Deceived by a Muslim emir, he accepted Islam. Afterward he repented, entered the mosque with a cross, declared himself a Christian, and called upon the Muslims to abandon falsehood and accept truth. He was tortured and beheaded about the year 640.
“Behold a wonder in my kingdom!”
Hymn of Praise
When Saint Daniel was about to die,
He taught his disciples thus:
"My dear children, fruit of my labor,
Cleave your hearts to the Living God.
Contemplate in spirit the heavenly Father,
Glorify with praise the wondrous Creator:
Let humility be first of your virtues,
The humble in heaven are God's great ones.
Be obedient, this befits the humble,
These are two adornments for every Orthodox.
Hospitality is kept by the humble and obedient,
Be hospitable and magnanimous.
These are three virtues, and three more I shall tell:
Fasting, vigil, poverty—paths to eternal joy.
In earthly darkness here are six candles for you,
And the seventh is love, greatest of all."
Thus the saint spoke, and gave his blessing,
His holy soul he gave to the Lord.
O holy Daniel, dweller of heaven,
Obtain from Christ what we sinners need.
Reflection
The Lord preserveth all them that love him (Ps. 145:20). The lives of the saints confirm this as clearly as the sun. Certain envious priests accused Saint Daniel to Patriarch Anatolius, slandering him as if he were a sorcerer. In truth, they envied this still quite young ascetic, who surpassed them in all virtues and by his life drew many people to himself. The patriarch summoned Daniel to himself and questioned him, first how he believed, then how he lived. And when Daniel had explained everything, the patriarch rose from his seat, embraced him and, having praised him, dismissed him in peace. After several days Patriarch Anatolius fell ill, so he summoned Daniel and asked him to pray to God for him, that he might recover. Daniel prayed to God, and the patriarch immediately recovered. And when the patriarch wished to reward Daniel with something, the young saint asked him as a reward to forgive his slanderers. To this the patriarch said: *How can I not forgive them, when they are the authors of such blessing, namely, both that I came to know thee, and through thee received healing! Truly, the Lord preserveth all them that love him*, and the evil which people devise for them, He turns to their good. At the time when Saint Nikon the Dry was enslaved by the Tatar, the Tatar fell deathly ill; and seeing that he would soon die, he ordered his sons that after his death they should crucify the slave Nikon above his grave. But Saint Nikon saw into the future and perceived that this cruel master of his would be baptized, so he prayed to God for his recovery. And the Tatar recovered, contrary to all expectation. Thus Nikon saved by prayer both himself from bodily death and his master from spiritual death.
“How can I not forgive them, when they are the authors of such blessing, namely, both that I came to know thee, and through thee received healing!”
Contemplation
Contemplate the covenant which God made with righteous Noah (Gen. 9), namely:
1. How God blessed Noah and his sons after the flood;
2. How He covenanted that there would be no more universal flood;
3. How He placed the rainbow to be the sign of that covenant.
Homily
on Lot
And he (Lot) said unto them, Nay, my brethren, do not so wickedly (Gen. 19:7)
Lot, with his wife and two daughters, lived in Sodom. A righteous man among the unrighteous. *Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? * the faithful Abraham asked God. And God answered faithful Abraham that not only would He not destroy the righteous, but if ten righteous men were found in that city, He would spare the whole city for the sake of those ten. But in Sodom there was found only one righteous man, Lot, and he—a newcomer. Just as before the flood of the world there was one righteous man in the world, Noah, so before the destruction of Sodom there was one righteous man in Sodom, Lot. This Lot was like his uncle Abraham in every virtue, and especially was obedient to God and exceedingly hospitable. But the Sodomites hated him both as a newcomer and, even more, as a righteous man. Brethren, do not so wickedly, Lot taught them. He called the evildoers brethren, that he might tame them, and admonished them not to do evil, that he might save them. But his brotherly word aroused in them even greater fury. And Lot was deemed worthy that God's angels should visit him and lead him out of that corrupt city, whose sins cried out to God. But the evildoers assaulted Lot's house, to defile the sanctity of hospitality. Brethren, do not so wickedly, Lot entreated them. But will monsters who do not fear God listen to a man? Therefore God's angels punished them with blindness, and all went blind, from the least to the greatest. Then the angels led Lot out of the city of the unrighteous, and upon the city they sent a rain of brimstone and fire. Thus perished the evil city, and thus was saved the only righteous man from that city. Better is one that doeth the will of God than a thousand ungodly (Sir. 16:3).
O righteous God, who never forsakest the righteous, correct our injustices and save us. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“He called the evildoers brethren, that he might tame them, and admonished them not to do evil, that he might save them.”