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Saint Nicephorus the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople Nicephorus, the son of a noble and pious man named Theodore, who suffered torture and exile for the veneration of St. icons, received from his parents a real Christian education, supported by the example of their own life, since his mother, the pious Evdokia, was a participant in all the trials of her husband and followed him into exile - (to Pimolina, a fortification in Cappadocia, on the Galis River). After his death, she moved to Constantinople, where young Nikifor received a brilliant scientific education, and, according to the information acquired and natural talents, subsequently proved himself to be “an adornment of the century and the department.” With the rank of secretary at the court of the Greek Empress Irene and as an authorized representative of the emperor, Nikephoros was present at the 7th Ecumenical Council. – Weary of court life, he left the court and settled in solitude near the Bosphorus, spending his life in scientific works, fasting and prayer; at this time he built a church and founded a monastery. – In 806 (in the 48th year of his life), after the death of Tarasius, Nicephorus was elected patriarch, first accepted monasticism, then the priesthood and was elevated to the patriarchal throne on the very day of Easter, April 12th. During the initiation, he held his confession of faith in his hand and then placed it in the altar, as a sign of his spiritual vow to keep the truth. Having assumed control of the Church, he first of all paid attention to the behavior of the clergy and took measures against debauchery. He entered into a consistent and unremitting struggle with the heretics. Soon he declared himself a confessor - putting up strong resistance to Emperor Leo the Armenian. To all the efforts of the emperor with affection and threats to win over the people of the patriarch, who were strong in respect for him, Nikifor answered: “Your labors are in vain, Sovereign! We cannot change the ancient tradition; we honor the images of saints, like the Cross and the Gospel.” And then, seeking reinforcement in prayer, he urged the Orthodox to beware of heretics and not to fear persecution for their right confession. In the church of St. Sophia he performed a conciliar all-night vigil, praying to God for the peace of the Church and for deliverance from heresy. Having learned about this, and fearing a popular rebellion, the emperor sent to the church to tell the patriarch: “Why is he confusing the people and restoring them against the royal power?” “We have gathered in the house of God not for advice against the king, but for the praise of God and in order to pray that the Lord would destroy heresy and establish everyone in a like-minded faith!” After a conversation with the people, the patriarch went to the palace to calm and convince the king. - “Don’t bring it into St. “The Church of wicked wisdom,” he told him, “one should not argue about what has long been rejected by the holy fathers and anathematized.” The emperor angrily expelled the patriarch and everyone with him from the palace. The bishops were exiled to various places for imprisonment; clergy and many monks were persuaded to heresy by hunger, bonds, and various torments, but the patriarch was left in his place for the time being, since there was fear of rebellion among the people. In 814, the emperor convened a council of bishops almost like-minded with him, who called the patriarch to the council; but Nicephorus ordered them to say that they had no right to be judges in his area. Then the bishops declared him defrocked, and the emperor sent him into captivity, first to the monastery of the Good (Good - Christ); this monastery was founded by the patriarch himself; then St. was transferred. Nikifor to another monastery - St. Great Martyr Theodore, founded by him on the island of Prokonis near Constantinople, where he died on June 8, 818. Relics of St. Nikephoros were transferred to Constantinople in 846. St. Patriarch Nicephorus left behind many wonderful works. In his writings, “Apology” and four anti-rhetics for Orthodoxy, “we discovered,” as Bandurius says, who prepared these works for publication, “all the wicked thoughts of the iconoclasts, all their secret plans, which are pursued here by the most attentive criticism; Nothing similar has been written in this regard so far. About the Second Council of Nicaea, information is offered that is not found in any collection of conciliar acts, and that is offered by a contemporary. A lot of places from the fathers and teachers of the Church are given, places unknown until that time; Moreover, the evidence is not presented indiscriminately; on the contrary, the patriarch examines the authenticity of the writings with attention and brings it into clarity 23. “Tradition,” says St. patriarch, which the holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of God and all Christians have preserved from ancient times and preserve, they (the iconoclasts) rejected and overthrew. And it is clear to everyone that the ancient tradition of the Church is very important, more obvious and stronger than any evidence. This is what our holy fathers teach, following the Apostolic sayings. For the great Apostle commands us to preserve the traditions which, as he says, you received in writing and without writing, and if anyone preaches to you contrary to this, let him be anathema.” Holy Great Martyr John of Sochava It is called Sochavsky because his relics rest in Sochav; He was originally from Trebizond, and suffered in Akkerman (Belgorod on the Dniester). Sailing on trade affairs on the ship of a papist, he had a contest with him about faith and exposed his wrongdoing; and this evil man, wanting to take revenge on him, upon arrival in Akkerman, told the Turkish mayor that a certain John from Trebizond, who was sailing with him, was ready to accept Mohammedanism, and advised him to immediately call him and take advantage of the desire that had not yet cooled down. The mayor, having called John and seated him, said to him: “We know from many that you are a worthy man and excellent among those like you, and we are very glad to hear that you are captivated by our beautiful and true faith. Our faith really has the ability to attract noble people and contribute to long life. And since you love her voluntarily, do not hesitate to be our friend; reject the ridiculous and shameful faith of Christians, loudly disgrace their law before the people now gathered, praise our faith and, as promised, do it immediately! For this you will be honored by the king and will begin to live in contentment, like our brother.” But the saint, filled with Divine jealousy, looked menacingly at the Turk and said to him: “You are clearly lying; It never even occurred to me to deny Christ in word or deed! All this is your invention and the trick of Satan! It’s better that you, unfortunate one, learn the truth and be baptized in order to be worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven.” After this he loudly confessed his faith in one God, glorified in the Trinity. Then the mayor ordered him to be stripped and, as one who condemned the true faith, to be beaten with sticks until he fulfilled his promise (that is, a fictitious one). The whole body was beaten and torn to pieces; pieces of it stuck to sticks and scattered on the ground; the entire place where the martyr was tormented was stained with blood. John prayed to God, and his tormentors scourged him even more, so that he no longer raised his voice. Since it was already evening, the beaten man was thrown into prison. The next day, the tormentor again ordered the confessor to be presented and said to him: “This is what your unbelief has brought you to! But listen to me, and you will immediately recover; because there are excellent doctors here from India and Persia who will cure you.” The confessor glorified Christ and denounced the madness of Mohammedanism. Then the judge again ordered to beat him and, noticing the murmur of the people at his bloodthirstiness, to hasten his death, tie the martyr’s legs to the tail of a wild horse and drag him through the streets. At the same time, the Jews shouted, spat and threw all sorts of things at him, and one of them ran home and, grabbing a knife, cut off his head. The executioners untied the body and left it with its head in the same place in an indecent position. An extraordinary light illuminated the relics of the saint at night, so that the Jews also testified to this; Therefore, the next day the mayor allowed the Christians to take the relics, and they buried them at the Greek Church, not far from the fortress. The saint's martyrdom followed on June 2, 1492. The relics of the saint were in Akkerman for seventy years and constantly performed miracles. Finally, the Moldavian ruler Alexander II, having sought permission from the Akkerman authorities, moved them to his capital city of Sochava. St. new Demetrius of Philadelphia, who suffered on June 2, 1657. Demetrius, the son of a priest from Asian Philadelphia, after the death of his father, was brought up until the age of thirteen under the influence of his Christian mother and was distinguished by such good abilities and at the same time attractive appearance that he attracted the attention of the Turks, who kidnapped him from his mother and managed, partly by threats, partly by flattering treatment, to seduce him into Islamism. Taken into the home of one of the most honorable citizens, he served conscientiously to strangers and over time achieved honor and wealth; For the courage and strength he showed in battles, he was elected a military leader and at that time became engaged to a girl from a noble family. Meanwhile, the seed of truth, planted in the heart of the son by Christian matter, was not completely extinguished, and his soul began to recognize what had been lost... The young man felt the inadequacy of the faith that had been forcibly accepted, and remembered a different faith, the one that his mother had instilled in him in his childhood. Gradually, all the incomparable beauty of Christian piety became clear to him, and burning repentance began to take possession of his soul. He, perhaps, would have reached fatal despondency if he had not remembered the examples of people who made amends for their martyrdom and atoned, for the most part, for the violent renunciation of Christ, and Demetrius was inflamed with the desire to follow in their footsteps. Acting under the influence of this feeling and calling on the help of the power of the Holy Spirit, “interceding for man with unspeakable groanings,” Demetrius decided to openly confess his conversion, he went to the mayor and there, in the presence of the city authorities gathered at his place, he fearlessly expressed his feelings: “for twelve years I was blind... now the Holy Spirit has illuminated my mind... I realize that there is no salvation in the false and criminal Mohammedan confession. Therefore, I renounce him and become a Christian again, returning to the veneration of the true God - Jesus Christ, for whose name I am ready to sacrifice my very life." Demetrius's unexpected statement aroused the general furious indignation of the Turks; they subjected him to more than 300 blows with sticks; he, calmly enduring terrible pain, joyfully sang: “Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee! Holy Martyrs George and Demetrius, help me! Help me, Saint Nicholas!” After the beating, Dmitry was thrown into prison. At night, lawyers were sent to him to dissuade him from converting to Christianity, and although he firmly stood his ground, he was released from prison in the morning, in the hope that he would come to his senses. But Dimitri, not wanting to delay the moments of his redemptive feat, went to the coffee shop, where there were always a lot of people, and there in front of everyone he began to blaspheme the Mohammedan faith, to convince the Mohammedans of their error, and finally, tearing off his white turban from his head and throwing off his green clothes, he began to trample them with the words: “As I now trample these symbols of your religion, so exactly I trample your faith itself and your law! The fanatics furiously rushed at the detractor of their faith and beat him with sticks and stones, so that he seemed to fall dead, then they sentenced him to burn his dead body. But Demetrius, strengthened by an invisible force, quickly rose to his feet and said to the killers: “Do not consider me dead, marvel at the power of my God that strengthens me... - here is the money, buy firewood with it and burn me alive”... In response to this, one of the frenzied men struck the martyr three times with a dagger and pierced him through his chest, but the sufferer was still alive. Then they dragged him to be burned. Passing by a Christian church, Demetrius, crouching in front of it, began to pray, but the executioners interrupted his prayer, cutting both his shoulders with a scimitar, and thus the life of the martyr was cut short by a feat of purification. Even his dead body was not left alone: he was chopped into small pieces 24... St. torment. Constantine, from Hagaryan (Muslims) Constantine, born of Muslim parents living on the island of Mytilene, having lost his father in his youth and suffering cruel treatment from his stepfather, left his parental home with his three brothers, with whom he moved to Smyrna. The brothers opened a shop there, and Konstantin took up factoring - mainly in the metropolis (bishop's house). Often visiting the metropolis, he had the opportunity to hear soulful conversations there, from which he could learn what true piety consists of, and at the same time he learned the Greek language; One day he asked an elder to read, and this reading sank deeply into his soul and aroused Christian aspirations in him, the maintenance and development of which was further facilitated by his rapprochement with two young Christians. On this saving path of spiritual insight, however, the young man was visited by great temptations: due to his inexperience, he was drawn into the pool of voluptuousness and unclean thoughts. But by the mercy of God this future chosen vessel of God’s grace did not perish... Constantine managed to restrain himself in time from the final fall and realized with horror into what abyss his unbridled passions could plunge him, to whom the comprehension of the beauty of chastity was no longer alien... Tormented by remorse, trying to open his soul to someone, Constantine decided to seek salvation in flight to St. Mount Athos... In the Lavra of St. Athanasius, famous for the fact that most of the Athonite ascetics shone within its borders, the pious monks, who did not pay attention to the danger to which they were exposed, accepting the Turks who were seeking salvation in the bowels of the Christian Church, favorably accepted Constantine under their roof. Living on Mount Athos, he soon became imbued with a decisive intention to accept the Christian faith. Cautious monks tested him for a long time, and finally, convinced of his sincerity and his wonderful spiritual qualities, they allowed him to be received by St. baptism... The newly baptized person was filled with great grace and joy and fulfilled the obediences assigned to him with extraordinary love and zeal. He surprised everyone with his jealousy; his abstinence and spirituality seemed to belong to an ethereal being... After some time, Constantine wished to go to the Iveron Monastery and venerate St. icon of the Mother of God Goalkeeper; Having received the blessing of his elder, on his way he entered the monastery of John the Baptist. Several remains of new martyrs were recently brought here. Constantine looked at him with reverence, kissed him and went deep into thought about St. relics, this wonderful glorification of the confessors of his newly adopted faith... and from that moment the thought of martyrdom sank into his soul. Once, upon returning to his elder in Kavsokalivy, to the elder’s question about the reason for the thoughtfulness and, as it were, sad concern that he began to notice in his student, Konstantin answered: “I have no sadness, but my whole soul is absorbed in one thought. When I kissed St. for the first time. relics of the new martyrs, since then my soul has become attached to them, my whole mind is captivated by their exploits, and I strive to do the same: that’s the whole reason!” The elder thanked God for such a zealous desire for the feat of his disciple and entrusted the Lord Himself to arrange his path. A confessor was invited to Constantine to instruct him on how to prepare for what his soul thirsted for. By fasting and prayer in complete solitude the soul of the future martyr was now nourished and admonished and matured. Meanwhile, a new desire arose in his heart: he decided to go to the city of Magnesia, in Anatolia, where his sister lived, in order to enlighten her with St. baptism. Having received the blessing of his confessor for this, Constantine went on a ship departing for Cydonia, and, equipped with charters and letters from the Athonite monks, upon arriving there, he met the mentor leader (didaskal) Gregory and many local Christians. His further journey was, however, slowed down by the fact that there was not a single ship in the port departing for the Anatolian shores. Therefore, while waiting for an opportunity to continue his journey, Konstantin decided to open a shop and sell raisins and other petty items. One day, one of the officials of the local aga passed by his shop and recognized Constantine, whom he had known back in Smyrna, when he was a Muslim. The Turk followed Constantine and warned the aga about him; he called the newly appeared merchant and asked him: was he a Muslim? Constantine, having in mind, probably, to achieve the fulfillment of his intentions regarding his sister, on the other hand, not yet daring to believe such joy that the hour of longed-for suffering for Christ had come for him, answered evasively that he was a Christian... “You’re lying,” the aga objected to him, “what if there is a person who proves that you are a Turk?” what do you say? – And at that moment an evil pursuer appeared and said: “Don’t I know that you are the brother of the venerable Turk, the one who was engaged in brokerage in Smyrna... Why are you so shamelessly deceiving us? Then Constantine realized that the hour of his martyrdom had come, and in a fit of holy inspiration he said: “I was once a Turk, like you, but the Lord enlightened me, and I realized that the Mohammedan faith is a lie; the truth is only in the Christian faith; Therefore, I became a Christian in order to find true bliss in the future eternal life... Prison, beatings, incredible torture began from that moment for the new confessor of Christ and lasted for forty days. Local Christians learned with horror about the brutal cruelties to which Constantine was subjected. All of them, and especially mentor Gregory, feared whether he would endure all the torment. They decided to imprison one disciple named John, originally an Athenian, as if for debts and under this pretext to give John the opportunity to console and strengthen Constantine, while at that time they themselves tirelessly prayed for him, sang prayers, and held all-night vigils in all the Cydonia churches. The Mother of God herself appeared to the martyr in a dream vision and promised to grant him the strength to endure the feat to the end... And he stood firm in his confession, and no cruel measures could persuade him to deviate from his ardently beloved Christ. Then the mayor decided to send him to Constantinople, reporting everything in detail to the captain pasha. And in the capital, the martyr fearlessly made his confession in the presence of the Istanbul Efendi (governor), who ordered him to be subjected to severe corporal punishment and imprisoned in the baths where those sentenced to hard labor live. Although physically exhausted, the martyr did not weaken in spirit. When, a few days later, they demanded him again for interrogation and, either by flattery or torment, extorted from him a deviation from the faith of Christ, Constantine with a deep sigh said to the dignitary “it would be good if you took care of the benefit of your soul and became a Christian”... The answer to these words was the signing of a death warrant... The guards took the martyr and after new cruel tortures, the villains strangled him in unbridled anger a martyr who repeated “I am a Christian” until the last minute... To prevent Christians from reverently venerating his remains, the Turks buried him in the nearest Muslim cemetery. – It was June 2, 1819. Some of the martyr's clothes, which they managed to purchase with money from Muslims, were delivered to the Kavsokalivsky monastery and from them miraculous healings occurred for those who called with faith to the help of the martyr Constantine 26. “Uch. about the Father Church" Archbishop. Phil. Chernig. Part III, pp. 213–214. “Christ. martyrs in the East,” St. Solovyov (p. 93). So eg. they put an iron cap on the sufferer’s head, heating it red-hot over the fire; strong belts with lead bullets tied to them squeezed the martyr's churches so much that his eyes rolled out... Extracted from the book. “Christ. martyrs in the East" by Solovyov.