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Holy Martyr Theodotus of Ancyra St. Theodotus died as a martyr on this day. About him, see May 18. Holy Martyr Marcellinus, Pope of Rome, and with him Claudius, Cyrinus (Kirik) and Antoninus, martyrs At the very height of the persecution of Christians from Diocletian, when in the course of one month 17,000 confessors of the faith of Christ were tortured in Rome, Pope Marcellinus, who then occupied the episcopal throne after St. Gaius (who suffered in 296, his memory is on August 11). And then an unexpected phenomenon happened... the one who confirmed many others in the faith of Christ, the one who supported the strength of many to accomplish martyrdom, he himself wavered in view of the martyrdom and burned incense in front of the idol altar in the church of Vesta and Isis... Exalted by the pagans for this concession, Markellinus, instead of the joyful satisfaction of honor from people, alien to his Christian soul, indulged in the deepest sorrow, cried and sobbed, and repented like the Apostle Peter, who in the most unfortunate, ever-memorable hour denied his Lord Jesus Christ... In mental exhaustion from the consciousness of his shameful and criminal apostasy, wearing a hair shirt, Marcellinus appeared at the local council that was then in Campania, where up to 180 bishops and presbyters were present. With a contrite heart, he confessed his great sin to them and asked for condemnation for himself... - Judge for yourself! - the fathers answered him, - sin came out of your mouth: let condemnation also come out of your own mouth! Let us remember St. The Apostle Peter, who, although he rejected Christ for fear, wept bitterly and received mercy from the Lord... - I deprive myself of the sacred rank, of which I am no longer worthy... And after my death, let my body be deprived of its usual burial... let it be thrown out to be devoured by dogs... and let the one who dares to bury it be cursed!.. Returning to Rome, Marcellinus appeared before the emperor, threw to the ground the precious clothes he had donated, exposed the lies of paganism, confessed his instant apostasy from the faith of Christ as a great sin and gave free rein to copious tears... For this he was given over to torture and condemned to death. When, to carry out the execution of him and three other Christians: Claudius, Cyrinus and Antoninus, they were taken out of the city, then Presbyter Marcellus, who was to take the papal throne after Marcellinus, also followed them. Marcellinus exhorted him to be firm in the faith and bequeathed him to throw away his body without burial; then, having reached the place of execution, he prayed fervently and willingly bowed his head under the sword, joyfully accepting death for Christ. At the same time (304) other Christians were executed; their bodies were thrown on the road, deprived of burial; a few days later, however, the Christians managed to bury the remains of Claudius, Cyrinus, Antoninus; but no one dared to take and bury the body of the former pope, and it lay on the road for thirty-six days. Then St. The Apostle Peter appeared in a dream to Pope Marcellus and asked him: – Why hasn’t Marcellin’s body been buried yet? “Because we are under pain of damning him to the one who gives him burial...” answered Marcellus. – Don’t you remember the words of Scripture: “he who humbles himself will be exalted”... Go and give Marcellinus an honest burial... Pope Marcellus fulfilled what he was told and buried St. the remains of Marcellinus, pardoned and glorified for the sake of his humble repentance, in one of the tombs built for the burial of the bodies of martyrs by the noble Roman Priscilla along the Salori way. Holy Hieromartyr Marcellus, Pope of Rome, and with him: Sisinius and Cyriacus deacons, Apronian Commentaris, Papias and Maurus warriors, Smaragda, Largia, Saturninus and Criscentianus; holy women: Priscilla, Lukina and the holy martyr Artemia princess Marcellus, a Roman by birth, took the throne after Pope Marcellinus and ruled the Church for 5½ years. Despite the persecution that was raging at that time, he fearlessly supported Christians and spread the faith of Christ. - Why are you killing the servants of God who pray for your kingdom? - Marcellus once turned to the Emperor Diocletian himself, having met him riding in a chariot, behind which the Christian Cyriacus was walking in chains - for the sake of intimidating other confessors. For these words, the Christian bishop was tortured and condemned to herding cattle. Freed by Christians, he secretly continued to govern the Church and, having consecrated the church, into which the luxurious house in the middle of Rome of one rich and noble Roman woman, the widow of Lucina, a Christian, was converted, he performed divine services in this house, which became the cathedral church in Rome. - Having learned about this, Emperor Maxentius ordered to turn the consecrated house into a stall for animals and keep cattle there, and condemned the saint for life to follow these cattle under the supervision of guards. The saint languished here for nine months, enduring all sorts of insults, having no consolation, deprived of all peace and even the necessary food and clothing. Finally, exhausted from suffering, he died (about 310). Prester John and the clergy carried the body of the saint to Priscilla’s tomb and gave him burial. Saints Sisinius, Apronian, Papias, Maurus and Saturninus suffered martyrdom in Rome during the reign of Diocletian and Maximian, around 305; Saint Artemia, daughter of Diocletian, Cyriacus, Smaragd, Largius and Criscentian 59 suffered under Maximian Galerius around 306. Their relics rest in Rome. Venerable Daniel, Abbot of Skitsky Daniel, a disciple of Arseny the Great (May 8), labored for 40 years in a community, then, from the year 420, lived as a hermit in the Skete desert. At this time, during one raid by armed men, he was captured, where he remained for two years until he was freed by one pious man, who ransomed him from slavery. A year later, Daniel was again captured, from where he managed to escape six months later. Finally, when they captured him for the third time and began to subject him to various tortures, he, in self-defense, killed one of his tormentors with a stone and left captivity. “This involuntary murder haunted the peaceful, philanthropic soul of the hermit. The sin of murder was crying out for redemption... Daniel decided to confess it and submit to the condemnation of an experienced spiritual ruler; he went to the Patriarch of Alexandria and poured out to him all the anxiety and torment of his troubled heart. – Twice the Lord delivered you from the hands of your enemies; “You could calm yourself with the hope that He will save you a third time,” the patriarch noted, “and therefore you should restrain your hand from killing... However,” he added, you killed not a man, but an animal... This answer did not satisfy the refined and sensitive conscience of one who is zealous for spiritual salvation; Daniel came to Rome and told the Bishop of Rome both his grief and the words of the patriarch. He approved the patriarch's opinion. Then Daniel set out on a journey to Constantinople, and Ephesus, and to Jerusalem, and to Antioch, in order to address his painful bewilderment to the patriarchs there, but they all expressed the same condemnation as the Patriarch of Alexandria... But it is not so easy for a humble zealot of the truth to believe a decision that was soothing for himself... Daniel decided, out of his own conviction, that it is fitting for the one who committed murder to accept death from someone else's hand... Therefore, he returned to Alexandria and, appearing in court, announced that he had committed a murder and demanded punishment for his crime... By order of the court, Daniel was imprisoned until his case was resolved. However, having learned the circumstances of this case, the court decided not to find the killer guilty, even if on such occasion he turned out to be the killer of even several villains... Released from prison, Daniel admitted that if the human court awarded him pardon, then the merciful God would not refuse forgiveness... but in order to finally make peace with his conscience, he decided to atone for the involuntary murder, devoting the rest of his life to serving the suffering... And so, he accepted the leper and served him. He did not reveal to anyone this, perhaps one of his most difficult feats... But by chance he became famous. One of the disciples, coming to the elder, saw the sick man, since Daniel once forgot to lock the door to the cell where the leper was. This unfortunate man was covered, as it were, with a continuous wound, the bones peeked out from under his almost rotten body; for lack of hands, the patient swallowed the food put into his mouth by the old man; the same thing he couldn't swallow, oh. Daniel ate it himself. The monk marveled at the patience and love of the Christian elder and glorified God, marvelous in His saints... 60. Abba Daniel lived in the 5th century; under him, the murder of Saint Thomaida took place by her father-in-law (about which see April 13), whom the Monk Daniel buried in the Octodecat monastery with his fathers - and then he sent one monk to her tomb, who was exhausted in the struggle with unclean thoughts and was healed by the prayers of Saint Thomaida, who suffered for her chastity, to which he resorted according to the teachings of Elder Daniel. Holy Martyr Theodotus of Ancyra (see about him - May 18). To the question of these martyrs: why they do not want to make sacrifices to the immortal gods, they answered: “We sacrifice ourselves to the God who lives forever - Jesus Christ”...