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St. Thomas Malein and Akakios, mentioned in the Ladder Ave. Thomas was formerly a warrior, famous for his strength and courage; then he left the world and everything in it and retired to the mountainous cape Maleya (the eastern part of Athos), where he led an ascetic life, shining with virtues and miracles. Died in the 10th century. Rev. Akakios, mentioned in the “Ladder” of John, was a disciple of a certain Sinai elder, very rude and malicious, who often inflicted wounds and grief on him. Having lived with the elder for nine years in patience and obedience, he died young around 550. When that beastly elder informed a certain great ascetic about the death of Akaki, he did not believe it and, coming to the grave (five days after the burial), he exclaimed: “Brother Akaki! are you dead? And the answer was heard: “I did not die, father; it is impossible for the obedient to die.” Then that elder repented of his cruelty and, secluded near Akakiev’s tomb, spent the rest of his life there in tears (see Ladder, p. 4). † Suffering of St. Evangel, Bishop of Tomsk, Epictetus the Presbyter and Astion Blessed Epictetus the presbyter labored as an ascetic and diligently taught others the ways of salvation. The senator's young son Astion accidentally came to him and was so captivated by his instructions that he received baptism from him, but in order to leave his country. The teacher and student came to the Slavs in Lesser Scythia and began to live in a secluded hut near the city of Almiris 92. - A strict life, charitable love, gentle conversations began to attract listeners to them. A rich woman brings to Epictetus her son, fifteen years old, mute, deaf, withered. “The Nazarenes, I heard, heal the sick in the name of Christ Jesus, heal my son,” the wife said. “If you believe,” answered Epictetus, “in one God and Christ Jesus, your son will be healthy.” Then, having healed the boy, he asked him: “Who do you believe in?” “You must believe in Christ Jesus: He does so much good to people,” answered the youth. The inhabitants of Almiris, seeing such a miracle, were baptized, up to 1000 people of both sexes in total. - Blazh. Astion, going out to the Danube to fetch water, met the demoniac and, having prayed for him, healed him. He was healed and his parents were also baptized. The governor of Scythia Latronian (this was under Diocletian, 284-306) demanded Epictetus and Astion to trial. "Who are you?" asked the governor. “Christians,” answered the blessed ones. “From what country?” - “From the kingdom of Christ, where soulless idols are not worshiped.” By order of the governor, they beat the confessors for a long time, burned them with fire, and then threw them into prison. One of the servants who carried out the inhuman will of the governor over the sufferers believed in Christ Jesus, having listened to the instructions in prison from the confessors, and was baptized here. Various tortures of the martyrs continued for 30 days, and finally they were deprived of their heads. Astion's parents, who learned about him from an eyewitness to the suffering, arrived in Almyris after the death of the sufferers. - Blazh. Evangel, Bishop of Tomsk, baptized them. At the beginning of the persecution, he hid from the persecutors for the benefit of his flock. Finally the Lord called him to the end of martyrdom. An ancient epigram says about him: Recognize the Gospel as an angel, He goes to heaven, cut off by the sword 93. In one Western martyrology it is noted that St. Epictetus and Astion suffered in 290. According to the martyrologies, it is clear that during St. The Gospel in Volumes showed many martyrs who shed their blood for the teachings of Christ. In the martyrology of Jerome and Rab for July 5th, “in Tomes the martyrdom and (dies natalis) of Strato, Marinus, Theodore, Rodefia, Secundus, Thomas, Macrinus”; July 9 “in the Volumes - saints Zeno, Mena, Vitaly, Rufina, Evangel, Uris (Uros), Agnes”; July 10th “in the city of Tomakh the suffering of Martial, Domnus, Tromed, John, Sesin, Emilian and others 36.” In all Western martyrologies, at the 20th hour of June, it is written: “in the city of Tomakh” “saints Paul and Cyriacus, Thomas and Felix, Martyria and Feliciana, Vitaly and Crispinus” died as martyrs; On August 27, Marcellinus the tribune and his wife Manneus, his son John, the cleric Serapion and the warrior Peter suffered “in the city of Tomakh”. In some lists the following information is added about the latter: “they, under the Preses Kulchian, after taming fierce animals, after extinguishing the fire, are cut with a sword, and their bodies are burned.” The tribune Marcellinus and his wife were of course exiled from Rome to Tomi; but of the other sufferers, most, if not all, belonged to Scythia and were Slavs by birth. † Presentation of blessings. Evdokia - Euphrosyne, Grand Duchess of Moscow Vl. Evdokia, daughter of Dimitri Konstantinovich, Prince. Suzdal, in 1367 became the wife of V. Prince Dimitry Ioannovich 94. “The Russian Land was happy about this marriage,” says the ancient narrator 95, and there was something to rejoice about. Union of the Prince's daughter Demetrius of Suzdal with Prince Dimitri Ioannovich served as a guarantee of ending the struggle of the Suzdal prince with the Prince of Moscow, which shed a lot of Russian blood. And the young prince, who entered into marriage, delighted everyone: “while still young,” says the same narrator, he was devoted to spiritual matters, did not like empty talk, did not tolerate shameful words, avoided bad people, but loved to talk with good people, listened to the priest with reverence. Scripture, he was caring for the churches of God, he stood courageously on guard for the Russian land, he was a child with malice, but a full man with intelligence” 96. The princess was happy when she found such a husband. And with her life she showed that she was worthy of him. She was a gentle, meek, pious wife. “Both spouses,” the narrator continues, lived purely in marriage, not indulging in the aspirations of sensuality and were attentive to their salvation.” There was someone to support such dispositions of the young spouses. Saint Alexei was their father and guardian in everything. St. Theodore, abbot of Simonov and nephew of St. Sergius, was their confessor. The princess gave birth and raised children in the fear of God. The successor of one of the sons was a teacher. Sergius. The princess supported her husband in his struggle with various sorrows, supported her with her prayer and her love. When in. Prince Dimitri decided to go against the formidable hordes of Mamai, the prince-husband, completely ready for a campaign, prayed in the church of Archangel Michael, calling upon himself the prayers of the celestials; – his wife prayed with him here; Here, in bitter tears, she said goodbye to him 97. Throughout the entire terrible time of the war, “Grand Duchess Evdokia, says the chronicle, gave out a lot of alms to the poor and she herself constantly went to church, prayed day and night” 98. Christian hopes did not remain in shame. Prince Dimitri won such a victory over the Tatars on September 8 that from that time on, it was no longer Russia that trembled at the horde, but the horde that began to fear the forces of Russia. Dimitri thanked the Lord, Moscow triumphantly greeted the winner of Kulikovsky; – the princess met her husband at the Spassky Gate and prayed with him in the cathedrals. The pious prince perpetuated the memory of the Battle of Kulikovo by establishing a memorial Saturday for Dimitrieva. V. Princess decided at the first opportunity to capture with a monument her gratitude to the Mother of God for the great deed of September 8. 99. “There was joy in Rus',” says the chronicle, but there was also pity: the land was depleted of commanders and troops.” The exhaustion of Russia gave the Tatars an easy opportunity to gain temporary success over Russia. Two years after the Battle of Kulikovo, Tokhtamysh, strengthened by the destruction of Mamai, quickly approached Moscow with a huge number of troops; Dimitri went to Kostroma to gather regiments, while the princes of Ryazan, Suzdal and Tver hurried to seek mercy from Tokhtamysh with silent submission. - In the frightened Kremlin, excitement began, disputes arose and from disputes they led to fights; some wanted to fight, others were in a hurry to rob and cowardly flee, but no one wanted to obey. “They didn’t let either M. Cyprian or the Grand Duchess leave the Kremlin, and they barely finally let them out. The Tatars almost captured the city. Princess in Pereyaslavl - she retired through Rostov to Kostroma. The Tatars burst into the Kremlin and filled it with corpses and ashes, then scattered to plunder the surrounding cities; but as soon as they heard that Prince Vladimir was standing at Volok, and in. The prince leads the regiments from Kostroma, they hastened to get out of Russia. The prince and princess shed many tears when they returned to Moscow devastated; to the account in. The prince was buried up to 24,000 people 100. The pious princess, more than before, turned the secret thoughts of her soul towards the afterlife. In 1383, her eldest son Vasily was detained in the horde, and in the same year her father died: one grief increased another. Her pious deed - the founding of the Ascension Convent - dates back to this mournful time. “Reward the monastery with honor,” the sedate book says about it; “Inside the reigning city of Moscow, a most honorable maiden monastery has been erected, in the name of the Ascension of Christ our God,” says the prologue. – According to the chronicle, we see this monastery already in 1387 101. In 1389 she visited the city. the princess's most severe sorrow. V. book. Demetrius was 39 years old; but he was so exhausted that he no longer hoped to live and prepared a spiritual testament. The princess has just given birth to her last son. The prince-husband, feeling the end was near, ordered her and the children to be called to him. “Here I go to my God,” said the prince; You, my dear princess, be both a father and a mother to my children, instruct and strengthen them in piety, so that they are obedient to the commandments of God, fear the Lord and honor you throughout their lives” 102. In his spiritual testament, the prince fully expressed how highly he respected his wife, what hopes he had for her intelligence and virtues. Having divided the volosts to his children, he said: “You, my children, live for one thing, and obey your mother in everything. If one of my sons dies, then my princess will give him the inheritance of the rest of my sons; to whomever she gives what, that is it; my children will not leave her will. If one of my sons’ fatherland decreases, contrary to what I blessed him with, then my princess will allocate some of the inheritance to my sons; and you, my children, obey your mother. If God takes my son, Prince Vasily, to himself, then his inheritance will go to the son who follows him, and the princess will share the inheritance of the last one with my sons; and you, my children, obey your mother - whatever she gives to whomever she gives, that is... Whichever son does not obey his mother will not have my blessing.” This is how the smart Dimitri Ioannovich understands his wife. He gives her the unaccountable power to distribute paternal lands to sons in certain cases. The prince himself appointed several volosts from the inheritances of each son, so that after her death these volosts would return to the appanages to which they belonged; but those volosts that Demetrius himself acquired and gave to his wife or that his wife herself acquired, she has full power to dispose of at her own discretion - “whether to give to any of her sons, or to give to prayers for her soul” 103. Having buried her beloved husband, the princess decided to fulfill his will in all accuracy - to replace, as much as she could, the father of the children, to protect both their physical and spiritual life. That is why, without a doubt, having remained a widow, she did not, following the example of other widow princesses, enter the monastery, although she wished to do so. Her penultimate son Ivan soon died, but in addition to Vasily, the Grand Duke, Yuri, Andrei, Peter and the baby Konstantin remained. In 1390, together with all her sons, she respectfully greeted the saint outside Moscow in the Cauldron. Cyprian 104. Having received rich estates from her husband’s will, she decided to fulfill in the best possible way the debt of gratitude to the Mother of God for September 8 in memory of her dear husband: she built a stone church in her yard in honor of the Nativity of the Mother of God and decorated it with the best icons, books, expensive vessels and other utensils. Holy. Cyprian (February 11, 1393) consecrated it in the presence of the whole family c. princesses. At the request of the Rev. The princess was supposed to celebrate September 8 in Moscow with special solemnity, in gratitude for the Kulikovo victory. No matter how richly decorated the consecrated church was, the pious princess wanted to do more for the house of the Mother of God. Two years later it was painted by the best icon painters - Theophan the Greek and Simon the Black with their students 105. The princess generously squandered her funds on the restoration and decoration of churches, so many of which were destroyed and devastated during the invasion of Tokhtamysh. At her expense, the Goritsky Monastery was built in Pereyaslavl 106. In 1395, the terrible Tamerlane was ready to do the same thing to Moscow, if not more, than Tokhtamysh did. The general horror could not help but disturb the pious princess, as a tender mother of children; together with everyone else, she poured out prayers to the Mother of God, and the Mother of God saved Moscow 107. There is no need to say that the princess was the mother of all beggars; she did good to the poor of the desert, including the blessed one. Kirill Belozersky in his northern, wild desert 108. Princess Evdokia led an ascetic life; but this was known only to the Lord, and before people she appeared as a magnificent princess, wore rich clothes, adorned herself with pearls, and appeared everywhere with a cheerful face. Such a life as a widow princess gave rise to bad rumors. People always and everywhere love to judge others poorly. The bad rumor about the mother that reached the children offended them, and Yuri Dmitrievich could not hide his concern from his mother. The love for secret asceticism now came into conflict with the love for children. The princess mother decided to satisfy both of them as much as she could. She called the children to her prayer room, took off some of her clothes - the sons were frightened when they saw the thinness of her body, exhausted by fasting and worn out by chains. She asked the children not to reveal to others what they had learned, and advised them not to pay attention to people's rumors about her. An angel who appeared told her about her imminent death. She was speechless after this vision and made signs to let her know that an angel would be written to her; two angelic faces were presented to her, and she was not pleased; when the image of the Archangel Michael was presented, she rejoiced and began to speak. He, the archangel, appeared to me exactly in this form, said the blessed one. princess. This image, says the ancient narrator, still stands in the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God. The time has come for the princess to be confined in the monastery to which her soul has long strived. On the way from the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God, the blind man shouted to her: “God-loving princess, nurse of us beggars! you promised me in a dream: tomorrow I will give you sight; fulfill your promise." The princess, not paying attention to the blind man, as if by accident, lowered the sleeve of her shirt, and the blind man, feeling it in his hand, wiped his eyes with it and received his sight. She took on the monastic image with the name Euphrosyne and doubled her exploits. At her expense, a stone church was founded in the monastery. But she is already ripe for the joyful contemplation of heavenly dwellings. In the same year, 1407, in which the stone church was founded, she died peacefully on July 7th. Her holy relics rest hidden in the church she founded. He who glorifies His saints glorified the blessed princess-nun after her death. More than once candles 109 lit up spontaneously over her coffin. St. Kyriacia suffered in Nicomedia in 289, along with other five virgins, for confessing the name of Christ. Celebration of the Blachernae Icon of the Mother of God This icon, made of wax, was brought from Jerusalem to Constantinople and Empress Pulcheria placed it in the Church of Blachernae (Blachernae is part of Constantinople); Emperor Heraclius had her with him on his campaign against the Persians. Subsequently, they kept it on Mount Athos and in 1653 sent it as a gift to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Now located in the Moscow Assumption Cathedral, in the chapel of the Apostles Peter and Paul. Hierocles, recognized as a contemporary of the emperor. Justinian († 562) shows the following cities in Lesser Scythia: “in the Scythian region, subject to the voivode, there are 15 cities: Tomis, Dionysopolis, Acres, Callatis, Istor (Dunaec), Constantina, Zeldepa, Tropea, Axioupolis, Capidava, Kars, Trosmis, Noviodun (New Dunajec), Egisson, Almiris." The same with Constantine in Mysia. Ponphyrog. ed. Niebur. t. 3, p. 391.47.292.293.409. 410. Jornand (about 552): “The Slavs (Sclavini) live from the city of Novietunense and the lake called Musianus to the Dniester and north along the Vistula.” Safarik (appendix to the ancient, p. 35) adds that Lake Musianus is the same as Lake Miris, near the city of Almiris, now Ramzin, on the southern branch of the Danube; and the city of Novitunsky is otherwise called Noviotun, now Isakchi. So, the inhabitants of Almiris are Slavs. Chet-Minea July 8; Acta sant. iulii. II, 538–561. The life and suffering of St. Epictetus and Astion are imprinted. in Vitis sanctorum, Patrol. Lat. tom. 73, but the publisher notices that the description is spoiled by late insertions. Letop. at Karamz. 5, pr. 4. Letop. at Karamz. 5, pr. 67. Letop. at Karamz. 5, pr. 85. Nikon. l. 4, 132–138. Collection l. IV, add. 100–103. Prologue July 7. Collection l. VI, 134. VIII, 81. Karamz. V, pr. 137. Collection gram. 1, No. 34. Nikon. l. 4, 188–191. Collection l. 6, 123. Nikon. l. 4, 254. Prologue July 7. Snegirev monuments, p. 221. M. 1845 Karamz. 5, pr. 254. A. Archaeogr. ex. 1, 474. 475. Step. book 1, 510–514. Prologue July 7; Russian times 1, 220. Rkp. her life in Tolstoy 3, No. 69. Monthly 1856.