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The love for God of the Christians of the first centuries was immeasurably deep and effective. Under the living impression of the Divine revelation they had just received, aroused by the examples of countless martyrs, who so clearly and more strikingly than any eloquence with their suffering and death testified to their devotion to the true God they knew, the primitive Christians were completely imbued with faith and love for Christ. Everything earthly acquired its real value in their eyes, that is, it lost it in comparison with the immeasurably more chain benefits of eternal life. No personal or human attachments had the power to distract them from their main attachment: to God and to what in the Gospel is called “the only thing needed.” What could be stronger than the feeling that attracts a young man to the bride he has chosen at that moment when he makes a vow before the Lord of eternal love for her? - Young Eupsychius was influenced by such a feeling when, returning from church after the marriage ceremony, he rejoiced with his beloved amid the wedding feast and the greetings of numerous friends. Such a moment is one of the best in a person’s life. Almost all earthly joys are combined in it. If ever, then even more so at this moment, a person involuntarily becomes chained to earthly life, which has given him so much happiness. But there is and was in the hearts of primitive Christians something even more powerful than all this influx of the most vivid human feelings... It was an ever-present, living, fiery love for the true God Christ... It never faded and always prevailed over all other feelings. And so, in the midst of the honest celebration, the joy was suddenly disrupted by the sight of a crowd of pagans rushing to the temple to sacrifice to their false gods... - O unfortunate ones! far from the truth! - the soul of the young Christian, rejoicing in his joy in the Lord, is indignant - I will go and overthrow their idols! Let them not pray to what is destroyed by human hands! Let them know the Uncreated and Indestructible God! And, forgetting both the feast and the bride, and the fact that, by destroying objects of false veneration, he, in an unequal struggle, destroys his own earthly, just beginning happiness, Eupsychius, together with several Christian friends, rushes into the pagan temple and crushes the idols, and ruins their container to dust... News of this quickly reached the apostate king. Eupsychius knows what awaits him; he is preparing for holy martyrdom: he distributes his property to the poor, says goodbye to his young wife, says goodbye to his earthly happiness... Indeed, Julian, having learned about his act, irritated in general against the zealous residents of the Christian faith of the city of Caesarea, among whom Eupsychius belonged, is irritated with furious anger at this entire city - the city of the great shepherd Basil of Caesarea - deprives it of all the rights and benefits that it enjoyed as the capital of the region, imposes an excessive tax on it, disperses into exile many residents belonging to the church clergy enlists in the troops and persistently demands the restoration of the idolatry... Meanwhile, Eupsychius indulges in terrible torture, imprisonment in prison, and is finally sentenced to beheading by sword (in 362). But is all this suffering and deprivation of the greatest earthly happiness more than a drop in the ocean, in comparison with the bliss of reward in eternity that awaits the champions of the truth? Holy Martyr Vadim, Archimandrite of Persia Having used his property for the benefit of the poor, Vadim (from Viflapata) retired to the countryside, founded a monastery and labored in his beloved monastic life. Deeply concerned with the salvation of his soul, he did not shy away from activities that would save others, and was zealously engaged in spreading the Christian faith among the pagans. For this, by order of the Persian king Sapor II, a persecutor of Christians, Vadim was taken along with his 7 disciples and, having suffered torture for the fact that he was forced along with other Christians to worship the sun and fire, did not want to show even external worship to the sun, and was imprisoned. Here, among others, Nirsan, the Aryan prince, languished. But, lamenting the deprivation of the benefits that he was accustomed to enjoying, and also horrified at the thought of the upcoming torment, he decided to renounce the faith of Christ. How cruelly Nirsan was mistaken in thinking that some kind of joy was available to the heart of an apostate... He experienced with himself that he who betrayed God was condemned to death. And his final death quickly took place. Sapor was not satisfied with Nirsan’s renunciation; in order to return his freedom, he demanded one more condition from him: that Nirsan, as proof of the sincerity of his renunciation, kill the adamant confessor Vadim. Having taken the first criminal step, Nirsan did not retreat on his further path. But when he saw Vadim brought in chains, his conscience awoke in him, and he shuddered in embarrassment... It was the voice of God, calling the unfortunate man to saving consciousness and repentance. Woe to the man who does not respond, does not listen to this voice that warns him to the end... - Nirsan! - the righteous servant of God, doomed to perish at his hand, said to him with great sorrow, - Nirsan! Have you really become so hardened that you have not only renounced Christ, but also want to kill His servants? I truly desire to die for Christ, but I would not want to accept death at your hand... Nirsan became even more confused and trembled, but he overcame this last saving warning impression and began, albeit with trembling hands, to fulfill the condition that freed him temporarily and destroyed him forever... His weapon slid along the neck of the martyr and only after several blows could he cut off his head. Vadim bravely withstood these blows. The pagans marveled at his patience and looked at Nirsan with contempt. Life and freedom, purchased at such a price, became difficult for Nirsan... He could not drown out the torment of his inexorable conscience and, having reached despair - this last degree of irrevocable death - Nirsan, like Judas, committed suicide... The Holy Martyr Vadim suffered in the year 376. (See about him Christ. Read. 1827, part 28). St. torment. Disan the bishop, Mariab the presbyter and 270 others with them. They were taken prisoner by Sapor during the conquest of the city of Bet-Zabda (now Bakerda near the Tigris) from the Romans and sent to settle inside Persia, to the city of Susa. But when choosing a place to settle, they were required to renounce their faith and for disagreement they beat everyone in the year 362.