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Holy Martyr Arethas and others with him In the fifth year of the reign of the Christ-loving Justin, Emperor of Rome, Elezboi, a most just ruler, reigned in the country of the Ethiopians, living in Auxum, a city in that country. At the same time, there was a certain Dunaan, a Jew, king of the Gomerites. The Gomerite country is called Sheba in the Holy Scriptures, and by external writers - Happy Arabia. While all over the world they already honored and glorified Christ, our true God, reigning with the Father and the Holy Spirit, only the Gomerite country, called Sheba, was betrayed to the idols and decrees of Judaism; They did not fear God, but worshiped idols. That is why there were frequent wars between the king of Ethiopia and the king of Gomerite, who was a tributary of the Ethiopian. In the kingdom of the Gomerites there is Negran, a populous city; this city honored the consubstantial and Holy Trinity, having accepted this faith and teaching in ancient times from the holy and God-bearing fathers. It happened at that time that the king of the Gomerite Jews, having suffered defeat, fled and took refuge in inaccessible mountainous places, and the Ethiopian king Elezboi returned to his kingdom, leaving a commander with an army to guard the country. But the demon, a hater of good, opposing those who wanted to live piously, again armed the king of the Gomerites against the Ethiopians, abandoned by king Elezboi. He destroyed them and instituted an inhuman persecution against all honorers of the name of Christ, whether they were Greeks, or Persians, or Romans, or Ethiopians, and, as if an incarnate demon, armed himself against Christians in his domains. After this, having gathered all the Christians, he ordered them to be beaten. Finally, he moved his army against the said Christ-loving city of Negran to ruin it. Due to the onset of winter, the king of Ethiopia and his army could not go to war against the Jew, who was fighting an honest and glorious city. The King of the Jews approaches and places on the tree the sign of the honorable cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then he sends out heralds and, having surrounded the city with an army, commands them to proclaim: “Whoever does not blame the Crucified One and does not despise this tree, which is a sign of curse, will perish by fire and sword. And whoever has the same thoughts with me, having renounced the Trinity, as the disciples of the Galilean call it, will receive many honors and great advantages in my kingdom. I have already put to fire and sword all those left by the king in the capital city, both the Christians living in my kingdom, and the so-called monks; and the so-called Christian churches in all my possessions, lying around, were burned and destroyed to the ground, and turned to dust. And now I am coming to you, Negranans, with great strength and high muscle, having gathered one hundred and twenty thousand selected troops for war with you.” Then the citizens answered from the city walls: “King! we are taught to honor and worship God Almighty and His Word, by Whom all things were created, and His Holy Spirit, who gives life to everything, without introducing many gods, nor diminishing the unity of command, but honoring the one God in three hypostases. We worship and honor that one Power, which was honored by our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Samuel and all the prophets.” Then the king of Gomerite, the most lawless among those who adhere to the law of Moses, became irritated, and kept them under siege for many days, using machines and the most terrible weapons of war; but he could not harm the city, which rested on the rock of the faith of Christ (Matt. 7:25), like the castle of Zion in Jerusalem, surrounded by mountains, and the Lord surrounds His people from now on and forever (Ps. 124). This is what the earthly and corruptible (σκιώδης - ghostly) king did, not allowing anyone to leave, but he drove out everyone who lived on the outskirts, city fields and estates and killed some, and distributed others as slaves to his nobles, leaders and chiefs of the tribes. Having learned that he cannot take the city, he imitates the murderous serpent, who is always jealous of those who want to live piously, and begins to swear and testify to the God of heaven and the law and the holy powers: “I will not harm any of the citizens, nor will I force you to leave the faith you honor, but I only want to have you as a citizen, so that the city will be opened to me, and I will enter there to inspect it and collect the next tribute for me for this year, according to custom, collected from every soul living in the city, and which amounts to one elkas.” Elkas is a royal Gomerite coin, cast from gold, weighing twelve kerats; so that the annual tribute from the city of Negran was one hundred and thirty talents in gold. Talent in the country of the Ethiopians and Gomerites is worth thirteen pounds. And the inhabitants of the city, always obeying the holy commandments of our Savior God, said: “King! from the law, the prophets and the holy Apostles we are taught to honor God and obey the kings of the earth in due manner (1 Pet. 2:17; Rom. 13:7); and now, trusting your oath promise, we open the city, and you can go up with whomever you want. But let it be known to you that... if you deceive us, God will help us and turn all your anger on your head and on your kingdom. And if not, then we declare to you in the words of Ananias, Azariah and Mishael that we do not hold the faith according to your unity of command, and we do not agree with your blasphemy, but we consider death and life in Christ, who died for us and rose again, to be gain; and may Christ live in us!” Having said this, they opened the city. And the treacherous serpent, the Gomerite king, entered, vowing that “I will not offend or touch you if you voluntarily betray this city to me.” The next day, having opened the gates, all their elders (ἀρχηγοί), together with Arefa, came out to the king and bowed to him to the ground. He ordered to seize them all and first plunder their property, and then show him Paul, the bishop of the city. All the elders answered that he died two years before. The king did not believe them, but sent them to the place where his honest body lay, and ordered that they dig up the bones, burn them with fire and scatter the ashes with shovels in the wind. The next day he ordered the entire army to collect wood and light a huge fire, occupying the space of one stage, and throw there all the city priests, deacons and other servants of the Church, and those who chose the monastic life, and the so-called canonesses and virgins and singers who sing in the houses of God day and night: he burned all of them found in the city and the surrounding area without investigation, in order to intimidate the rest of the Christians. The number of those burned was four hundred and twenty-seven souls. After this, he orders Aretha, the most noble man, and the other elders of the city to be put in chains; and the herald proclaimed in the Gomerite dialect: “deny the so-called Christ, Judaize, agree with me, and you will live.” The holy martyrs said: “Let us not renounce the faith in which we are baptized.” “And the king said: “After all, the Romans knew that our fathers in Jerusalem, the priests and teachers of the law, crucified a man, and he, as a blasphemer of God, was scourged, dishonored and put to a vile death, as a man, and not God. Why are you mistaken in following that man? You are no better than the Nestorians, who are still among us, and say that they consider him not God, but a prophet of God. Negrayans! I do not require you to deny the God of heaven and earth, or to worship the sun, moon and heavenly bodies, or the creatures found in the earth, sea and rivers; I only want you to renounce the so-called Jesus, who blasphemed and presented himself as God, and that you only say that the crucified man was a man, and not God.” And the holy martyrs of Christ answered: “for ourselves, our whole tribe and our whole city, and all our distant friends, we defend, testify and confess our good confession, by faith in which we were baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and do not deny the incarnation; Jesus, who is maligned by you, one of the Trinity, God the Word, who in the last days became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary for our salvation, taught us that they will lead you to rulers and kings for Me, for testimony before them and the pagans (Matthew 10:18). But we reject you and your rule (πολιτείαν), because you transgress the law of God and slander the truth.” Then he commanded with gentle and courteous speeches to convince them to apostatize from Christ. But they were not deceived and said: “even if you destroy us in fire and torment, we will not deny believing in the Trinity; for us to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Their leader, interpreter and broadcaster of the confession was Saint Arefa, the son of Hanef, who in his early life was the ruler (ἐθνάρχης) of the city and its entire district. Many, knowing the treachery of the lawless and criminal king, sought refuge in the mountains, caves and gorges of the earth, not out of fear of martyrdom, but in the hope that the stricken and oppressed and naked, wandering in the deserts, when they cried out to Him who hears the voice of the raven's chicks and gives them food (Ps. 147:9), and thus will be saved, then they will become the relic and seed of the Lord of hosts (Is. 6:13), and will not be consumed by the wicked, like Sodom and Gomorrah. Men and wives, young men and old men, numbering four thousand two hundred and fifty-two, were gathered from the city and the surrounding area, who one after another, accepting death, left this temporary life, without denying a good confession (1 Tim. 6:12). Including in the first place were the priests and other martyrs, and Aretha the righteous. But let's talk about the inhumanity of the all-pernicious beast. For, having gathered the wives and children of the leading citizens who were in prison and had already begun their martyrdom, he placed them together with their children opposite their husbands and, with insidious admonitions, tried to persuade all the martyrs so that they would submit to him and renounce Christ. But the women and children unanimously exclaimed: “God save us from this; but we renounce our children, our parents, our fatherland, and our estates, and so we accept the cross of Christ and follow the One who testified to the good confession under Pontius Pilate.” “Then he again turned to the martyrs with flattering words: “Do not wander after the so-called Christ, Whom our fathers destroyed through the Roman soldiers, but submit to me and become Judaizers, and you will live together with your children. And if you don’t do this, you will die a cruel death.” Then all the holy wives with their children, sobbing and sobbing, said: “We are ready to die for Christ. Christ our God is the Son of the living God; we belong to Him, we bow to His cross and die for Him. So, king, let it not be that we deny Christ, the eternal King, and live even after the death of our husbands.” The king said: “Oh, stupid women! Do you really want to die for a sorcerer and a deceiver? Of these, ten women, who were canonesses and wore the veil of virgins, said to him: “Let your lips be stopped from speaking lies against the King of heaven and earth!” Then the king, with great rage, orders them all to be brought to a certain pit and beaten with a sword in the same place where the previous martyrs were beheaded. And so the servants of the tormentor dragged them by the hair; and the women were two hundred and twenty-seven in number. The canonesses, when they arrived at the place, asked those who had to suffer with them, saying: “God-fearing women, allow us first to accept the reward of martyrdom, since we, although unworthy, are adorned with the seal of virginity and the sign of angelic purity. We know that during the reception of the Holy Mysteries we are admitted (προεκαλούμεθα) first, according to the established custom of the Church, and then you are laywomen. Therefore, it is fitting for us to first partake of the mortal portion.” And the women said forcefully: “It’s not like that; but since we are the wives and mothers of martyrs, we will die first, so as not to see the death of our husbands and children.” So each one was begged and urged by those who attracted her to quickly inflict death on her! That is why every nation, tribe and tongue from those gathered together with the wicked, at the sight of this, struck themselves in the face, and their bitter weeping ended with the gnashing of teeth. In this way all these holy women were beheaded, calling on the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Then the king said to his nobles with a grin: “You see what delusion that crucified sorcerer has spread throughout the world!” Then the most noble (ή πρωτεύουσα) wife in the whole city was brought. This hellish serpent orders her to be brought in and placed before him with all respect and honor, thinking to convince her with words. And she was of inimitable beauty; and he ordered to guard her along with her two daughters. For the insidious one reasoned with himself: “of course she will spare herself, her daughters and her property, and therefore will agree to blaspheme the Son of God.” She and her daughters were sad and sad that they did not die along with the other wives. And on the third day the king sent a certain dignitary to prison to tell her: “If you submit to me and deny the one called Christ, then your soul and your daughters will live in honor, and you will find mercy from me; and if not, then you will die a bad death.” Hearing this, she said: “Lead me to the king, and I will obey him in his demand.” The royal servants led her, covered with an umbrella (ὑπὸ σκιαδίου), or in a tent; because the sun never saw her except through the window. And she and her daughters stood before the inhuman king. And he said: “wife! do not be deceived by the charms of the Crucified One, and do not be carried away by the madness of your fellow citizens, husbands and wives, who were killed. You are an honorable woman and a senator (συγκλητικὴ). Because of your family, dignity and wealth, I spare you, and especially because of the beauty of your daughters. It has come to our attention that you have never known a husband other than your former legal spouse, although until this day, when you stand before us, you kept in your house more than three hundred men who were engaged in the affairs of your household. Listen to me, and you will be showered with honors in the palace from me and my queen.” And the holy wife answered: “I cannot accept honors from a man who has transgressed the law of his God, and I cannot live in the same house with a slanderer who forces others to slander and call our God, who gave him this kingdom, a deceiver.” Then the king ordered her head to be uncovered and her daughters to be exposed with loose hair in front of the entire army. The saint, turning and seeing many women, crying, sobbing and beating their chests, said: “Honest and free women, like-minded with me, and Jews and pagans living among us! listen to my words. You know that I am a Christian, like all my family, you know my rank and great wealth in gold and silver, slaves and slaves, wealth and herds, so that I do not suffer deprivation in anything; and if I wanted in this temporary life, after the death of my partner, to get married, then no one would ridicule my youth, as if I had violated the law of God; for the teaching of the holy Apostles commands that it is better to marry than to become inflamed (1 Cor. 7:9). And so I tell you that I now have more than ten thousand branded coins in gold and silver. You also know that for a woman there is no greater joy than on the day of her marriage; and from that day onwards there comes unrest, illness, sighing, sorrow, especially when they give birth to children and mourn their death. So, from this day on, I renounce all this and rejoice as on wedding days.” “Here are my virgin daughters, not killed along with the wives who called on the name of Christ, because the lawless king did not order us to be taken, but only the wives and children of the martyrs, who were previously captured and are now in bonds; I, as a widow, and my two virgin daughters are not joined to them. And through martyrdom, we are united with the true Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who prepared His palace for the five wise virgins. And know this, my beloved sisters! This is the second time you have seen my face open: once when I celebrated a perishable and temporary marriage, and now when I follow into the eternal and spiritual bridal chamber. Look at me and my daughters, that we are no worse than you in beauty, and do not think that because of our unsightly face we are superior to you, free women, and all the multitude ahead; but we dare about the beauty of our chastity, under the patronage of our Lord Jesus Christ, and because we have maintained immaculate virginity - both my daughters and I, in addition to cohabitation in Christ with my husband: I bear witness to God and my conscience! And we did not disgrace ourselves by apostasy at the suggestion of a lawbreaker, because man cannot seduce us into leaving Christ, of which you are witnesses today. And my gold and silver will testify about me in the next century that I did not cling to them, but gave to everyone. according to need." The king, having learned from some Christ-hating Jews that that wife and her daughters, standing, made a speech to the people and aroused currents of tears in the men and women listening to her, orders her and her daughters to be brought to him, and says to her: “This is how long I endured, giving you the freedom to speak to the people what you wanted, so that, seeing the tears and sympathy of those who regret you, at least now you would feel sorry for yourself and obey me." - The saint answers him: “King! you advise me to renounce eternal life and prolong temporary life; but I fear eternal fire and the never-ending worm and the shame of apostasy. It is better for us to die than to submit; for if we die in this confession, we will live.” And, turning, she began to cry, saying: “May it not be for us, the Heavenly King, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who sits on the cherubim and is glorified by the seraphim, to renounce Your Kingdom and Divinity!” Then the king angrily said to her: “You are blaspheming, damned woman! But I will touch your flesh and your entrails and see if the charming Nazarene will come and snatch you out of my hands.” And the saint’s youngest daughter, almost twelve years old, approached and filled her mouth with saliva and spat in the face of the criminal. Then the royal bodyguards, drawing their swords, cut off the heads of both daughters of the saint; and the king ordered one of those present to collect the blood with their hand and forcefully apply it to the mother’s lips. Having tasted it, she said: “I thank You, Son of God, that you have blessed Your servant and deigned me to partake of the sacrifice of my humble daughters.” Then the king ordered her to be beheaded, and with an oath he said to his nobles: “My soul was very sad because of the beauty of this wife and her daughters; because I have never seen such a resemblance. I wonder why Christians have such madness that they believe in a murdered man who called himself God.” The next day he orders Saint Arefa to appear with his other prisoners, numbering 340, and says to him: “You, Arefa, are a long-time rogue and villain! Why didn’t I imitate my father, who ruled the city and its entire district, who enjoyed honor from the kings who came before me, but decided to steal power and become sovereign in Negran and its district, trusting in a deceitful and deceitful man, and hoping to escape from my hands? Spare your old age and have pity on your gray hairs, like a man of venerable antiquity, and thus grant life to yourself and to those captured and bound together with you, and deny him who is called Christ; otherwise you will die a cruel death, like these women and those who died before them. Because the son of Mary and Joseph was not able to save those who were destroyed by me, both in my reigning city and in the entire Gomerite country.” Then the glorious Arefa answered, saying: “In truth, I am very sad for the Christians who are in this city; I told them not to open the city gates and not to trust you, but they did not want to listen to me. Again - I advised them to go out against you and fight for the people of Christ; but they didn’t do that either. For I trusted in the Lord Christ, that I would overcome and crush you, as Gideon with three hundred men, according to the word of God, put to flight those who had tens of thousands. But God's will be done! I know that we suffered for our sins and were delivered into your hands. For truth has never passed through your mouth.” Says the nobleman who was sitting next to the king: “Is this how the Christian Scriptures teach you to insult the rulers of the earth? Do you not know that the kings of the Jews are God’s anointed?” The saint answered: “Have you, Mr. Patrician, heeded what was written about the prophet Elijah? For when Achaab, king of Israel, said to him, “Do I see you, troublemaker of Israel?” then he answered him: “It is not I who trouble Israel, but you and your father’s house” (1 Kings 8:17–18). So the one who denounces the king for breaking the law does not sin. For, without blushing, he told us to renounce the Word of God, by whom all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, - Who, seeing his creation in captivity of the devil, did not despise him, but had compassion and gave the law of commandments for the teaching of all people, for admonition and deterrence from evil; and again, having punished Israel for its criminal abominations, he had mercy and called him out of Babylonia. And since that which was created in the image of the Creator was corrupted in the transgression of the commandments, God the Word Himself, by the grace of the Father, descended from heaven, took upon the fallen and in his own body nailed sin to the cross, becoming in the body received from us a sacrifice for our entire human race to God and the Father. And how can we now deny Him? And while, perhaps, I don’t have even one hour left to live, do you want to alienate me from the Kingdom of Heaven?” “And a king who lies is not a strong king. Having sworn to us and given your word, you did not keep it. I saw great kings, who were superior to you, in India, Persia, Ethiopia and in this very country, but they did nothing of the kind, and their word was true. Therefore, peoples and tribes, regions and cities and regiments of warriors called them gods, obeying them as God, who gave them to reign. Let it be known to you that we do not submit to you, who speak evil of the Lord of glory; for my soul is in my power and I do not depart from the faith in Christ, but I strive for His name. And truly I am blessed that in my old age, when I had already crossed the ninety-fifth year, the Lord Christ deigned me to die for Him. Now I know that the Lord loves me; for I lived many days in a vain life, and gave birth to sons, and saw the sons of my sons to the fourth generation, and in various wars I showed valiant courage. And now I rejoice, O king, that my old age ends together with the holy martyrs, and I hope that the memory of me will not disappear in this city. I am convinced that just as grapes, when pruned in due season, produce greater fruit, so in this city and throughout the whole Gomerite country God will multiply the Christian people. For I say to you before God: the Church that you burned will be erected, and another kingdom will be restored in this country, and Christians will prevail. And your kingdom will soon be crushed and your faith will be abolished.” And, turning, he called out with a great voice to the holy martyrs, his companions, saying: “Have you, brothers, heard what I said to the king?” “They unanimously answered: “We heard, honest father, we heard.” And he said again: “How does this martyrdom seem to you? If any of you fears the commandment of this wicked man, let him separate himself.” And the holy martyrs said: “Take courage, father, take courage in this feat; We will all die with you for the name of Christ, and none of us will be separated from you.” Then Saint Arefa said: “Listen to me, Christian men, Jews and Greeks! Whoever of my relatives or loved ones remains firm in the immaculate faith and does not deny, let them be my heirs. But I give my three best estates to the Holy Church.” And again the holy elder said to the tyrant: “For one thing only I praise you, that you have observed the custom that has been handed down by kings and princes since ancient times, that you have endured and have not interrupted my speeches. Now you heard what I wanted to say; don't ask us anymore! for the time of our martyrdom has approached. And anyone who refuses this martyrdom will be rejected by the One who created him. May those who do not readily go to this celebration and do not confess that Christ is the Son of God and the Creator of every creature perish on behalf of the living; Let him who denies the cross of Christ be alienated from the future eternal life. Tsar! May he who is like-minded with you and with all your fellow Jews not inherit future blessings; May it be like Dathan and Abiron, who were devoured by the opening of the earth (Numbers 16). For I say to you: just as when I stood among the brothers, the cup was given to me before others, so now I will be the first to taste the cup of this torment. So, I seal those who are with me with the sign of the cross in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” And each of the martyrs made the sign of himself, bowing his head crosswise, since their hands were tied back. And they exclaimed: “May our souls be accepted as the ointment poured out on the head of the priests of God, and our blood as the sacrifice of praise on the edges of the altar.” And they also exclaimed: “Our honest father, behold, Patriarch Abraham receives you. Let us not live after your death.” The king, seeing this, learned that it was no longer possible to hope to seduce them, and ordered them to be taken to a stream called Wadi, where a hole was dug for the previously killed martyrs, but he ordered their heads to be thrown to the ground and their sacred remains to be left as food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. When the holy martyrs of Christ came to this place, then, raising their eyes to heaven and their thoughts to the Most High God, they prayed and said: “Jesus Christ, come to our aid and prepare us. Jesus Christ, strengthen us to accomplish this martyrdom. Jesus Christ, may the blood of Your servants be a propitiation and relief for Christians who are persecuted and killed by criminals. Jesus Christ, we have confessed You before men; and confess us yourself before your holy angels. Jesus Christ, build up Your church, which was overthrown and burned by the evildoer. Jesus Christ, show mercy to those who remember us and bless all who value our testimony (of Your name), granting them remission of sins. Jesus Christ, raise up the horn of Christians, strengthen the kingdom of the Romans and Ethiopians, and give this kingdom of the wicked Jews to Christians who do Your will. Jesus Christ, strike down this wicked man and his root, like Pharaoh and Amalek, Zion and Og. Jesus Christ, make us worthy to see Your glory, and from Your holy angels to receive the good news about the coming fall of the lawless one and the overthrow of the exaltation of the Jews!” After that, everyone said to each other with tears: “Peace be with you with the holy kiss” (1 Thess. 5:26). And Saint Arefa said to them: “May the peace given by Christ crucified to His holy disciples be with you, brothers. Amen". And he bowed his head, like all the holy martyrs; only four of them supported his chest and muscles, as there were once two Moses on the mountain (Ex. 17:12), and one of the soldiers came out and cut off his head. And the whole multitude of martyrs flocked and anointed their bodies with the blood of Saint Arethas, so that those who were entrusted with killing them marveled and wept a lot. And thus the saints, bowing their heads, all died as martyrs, in the month of the month of the month, which is October, the 24th day, the second indictment. A certain woman, holding her son, about four or five years old, and seeing how those present blessed the saints, and they anointed their faces with the blood of Saint Aretha, ran up and, taking some of his blood, anointed herself and her son and exclaimed: “Let it be with the king of the Jews as with Pharaoh!” They immediately grabbed her and took her to the King of the Jews. And the king ordered to dig a hole, throw firewood, sulfur and resin there and, having lit it, throw the woman there. When the servants tied her up, the child, seeing the king sitting on a high place, ran up to him as far as the great tent (because he did not want to stay in the city, but lived in the booths), and wrapped herself around the king’s feet, kissing him. The king, stretching out his hands, took him on his lap and tenderly said to him: “Tell me, child, what would you prefer - to leave with your mother or to stay with me?” The child answered: “I’d rather be with my mother, for she said: “Let’s go, son, let’s be martyrs like everyone else.” And I said to her: “Mother, what does it mean to be a martyr?” And she answered: “to die and live again.” Then the boy said: “Let me go to my mother; I see people who are attracted to her.” And he cried out: “Mom, Mom!” (ἀμμᾷ, ἀμμᾷ). - The king said to him: “Do you know the One who is called Christ?” He replied: “I know.” And the king said to him: “How do you know Him?” The boy answered: “Truly, I saw Him every day in church, when I went there with my mother; if you want to come with me, I will show Him to you.” Again the king said to him: “Do you love me, or the One whom you call Christ?” And the boy: “I love Christ because we bow to Him.” The king again: “Do you love me, or your mother?” He answered: “His mother; but let me go to her already.” “Why did you leave her,” says the king, “and come to me, kissing my feet? Don’t you know that I am a Jew?” – Boy: “I thought that you were a Christian, and I came up so that you could free my mother.” And the king said to him: “I am a Jew, but if you want to stay with me, then I will give you nuts, almonds and berries, and whatever else you want.” - The boy answered: “Let me go to my mother; I take nothing from you, because you are a Jew.” Then the king said to his nobles: “Do you see this evil root, how it answers intelligently?” And one of the upcoming ones: “Come with me, child; I will take you to the queen." He answered: “no.” And seeing from afar that his mother was brought and thrown into the flames, he began to cry, saying: “I want to go to my mother.” But he was forced to stand, and the king held him back. Then the boy grabbed the king's thigh and bit him; and the king handed him over to one of his officials, saying: “Take him and educate him, and teach him the Jewish law.” He led the boy, holding his hand, and, meeting with other nobles, conveyed to them his answers, and how he bit the king; and at this time, being not far from the fire, the boy escaped from them, ran and threw himself into the flames and suffered along with his mother. Then all the nobles and elders approached the king and asked him to leave the rest of the Christians alone, and, if desired, to resume the persecution of them after some time. The king, having collected all the children from fifteen years of age and below, male and female, from noble parents, townspeople, farmers, artisans and slaves - all Christians, one thousand two hundred and ninety-seven, divided them and distributed them into slavery to all his nobles and his other accomplices in the persecution of Christians. And the slave of sin turns into slavery the children of freedom and promise, about which Christ said: let the children go, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 19:14). The lawbreaker gives into slavery the children of Abraham by faith, whom Christ redeemed from the curse of the law with His honest blood! Truly, great and wonderful are Thy works, O Lord, and who can trace the secrets of Thy discernment! As the prophet speaks (Am. 1:3) about three wickednesses, here too the all-evil king imitates the second and third wickedness, and does what God does not cancel His wrath for. It was in that wickedness that the Lord God struck down the wicked and lawless, as He once did to Pharaoh in the Red Sea. For a year later Dunaan died in a war with King Elezboi, who executed the wicked king and seven of his relatives, crying out: may God rise again, and let His enemies be scattered! And, having erected an altar at the place of victory, he offered prayers to God, and in the city of Negran he restored the most holy Church. And he appointed the son of Saint Aretha as its leader and chief. He gave the church five estates from the royal lands and, according to the behest of Saint Arethas, three estates from his estates. He made the place where the burned and prostrate bodies of the saints lay a revered place with the right of refuge. This is what the blessed one wrote about this saint. Bishop Simon, who knew him personally 301. “There was a Monk Aref, originally from Polotsk, in the Pechersk Monastery. He had a lot of wealth in his cell. But he never gave anything to the poor. One night thieves came and stole all his money. In despair, he almost committed suicide. The spiritual elders persuaded him to cast his sorrow on the Lord. But he did not want to listen to anyone and responded with rudeness to all convictions. From extreme grief over the loss of property, he became ill. But even with his last breath he did not stop grumbling about his fate. The merciful Lord wonderfully enlightened him. One night he lay as if dead and after a long silence began to cry out in a strong voice: “Lord, have mercy! Lord, forgive me! I have sinned, Lord! Everything is yours, and I don’t regret anything.” He got up from his bed and told the assembled brethren about the phenomenon that had happened to him. “I saw,” he said, “how angels and a army of demons came to me. They began to argue among themselves about the wealth that was stolen from me. The demons said that I did not glorify God for the theft, but blasphemed, and therefore should be handed over to them. The angels told me: unhappy man! if you thanked God for the property stolen from you, it would be counted to you as alms, like Job. It is a great deed before God if someone gives alms according to his own will. But if one gratefully endures loss, then the struggle with temptation replaces the work of willing will, when one pleasingly surrenders everything to God. - When the angels told me this, I shouted: Lord, have mercy! It's yours, I don't regret it. Then the demons disappeared, and the angels rejoiced.” - Since then blessed. Arefa has completely changed. He, who could not be restrained by anything from grumbling, now only praised God and repeated with Job: The Lord gave to me, the Lord took away; as the Lord pleased, so it happened; Blessed be the name of the Lord forever." 302 Blazh. Arefa spent his last days in seclusion and here, with tears of contrition, he softened his heart for love for the Lord and his neighbors, to the point of complete renunciation of everything earthly. “His relics rest in the sanctuary.” Since blessed Simon lived with Aretha in the Pechersk monastery much earlier than 1205, in which we see Simon already an archimandrite in Vladimir, then the death of the blessed one. Arefa followed no later than 1190 303. According to the RCP. Saints "Ven. Arefa passed away month. October at 24 days.” “Drowned by streams of tears of the serpent of love of money, glorious Arefa! as one who has boldness before the Lord, pray to the Lord for us” 304. † Repose of the recluse John In the chronicle we read: “October. 24 (1616) Ivan died, having lived in the wall for 22 years; but he ate fish, but did not eat bread, but lived in the city, as in the desert, in great silence” 305. It was in Pskov. – It was a hard time for Pskov, when Blessed. John, by his good will, performed his amazing feats within the city wall. In 1592, Pskov was besieged by the Swedes; from 1608, for seven years in a row, Lyakh Lisovsky prowled around Pskov with his bandits of robbers. Gustav Adolf besieged Pskov with his Swedes, that Gustav who preached imaginary Evangelical Christianity with fire and sword. Blazh. All this time John only prayed and endured an amazing fast; amid the noise of military battles, amid the excitement of a proud mind and cowardly lack of faith, he lived as in the desert, talking with the Lord, and for Him every day he crucified his flesh. What a high state of mind! Has the faith of the supposed evangelists produced even one such ascetic as John? No, she didn’t, and she never can. This is the trouble with Lutheranism, that its faith weakens and extinguishes the high asceticism of the Gospel: deceiving themselves with hopes of faith, they calmly follow the broad path. Blessed Hopes John, the hopes of the Orthodox, sincere Christian piety did not remain in shame. – On October 17, 1616, Gustav Adolf retreated from Pskov. “Then, says a contemporary, the God-loving governor and the citizens of Pskov gave thanks to the life-giving Trinity, held an all-night vigil in all churches and offered praises before the miraculous image of the Most Holy Theotokos, which was brought from the Pechersk monastery to Pskov for the defense of the city. Thus, the Pskovites glorified God and His Most Pure Mother, who delivered Pskov from the godless Germans” 306. Righteous John died 7 days after that 307. Celebration of the Bogorod icon. Joy to all who mourn The Holy Icon of the Mother of God of All Who Sorrow Joy has become known since 1688, when during the reign of Tsars John and Peter Alekseevich it miraculously healed the sister of Patriarch Job, who lived in Moscow on Ordynka, in the name of Euphemia, who had suffered for a long time from an incurable disease. One day, waking up early in the morning, she long and earnestly called on the Savior and the Mother of God for help. After the prayer, the sick woman hears a voice: “Euphemia! in the Church of the Transfiguration there is My image, called Joy of all who mourn. Call a priest to you with this image and pray, and you will receive healing from your illness.” Having come to her senses from the state in which the patient was at the time of the revelation, she learned from relatives that there was indeed an icon of Our Lady of All Sorrows, Joy, in the Church of the Transfiguration on Ordynka in Moscow. She took this icon to her house and received healing. This miraculous healing took place on October 24, and therefore the church festival was established on October 24, that is, on the day of Euphemia’s healing. In 1711, Grand Duchess Natalia Alekseevna, out of reverence for the icon of all who mourn Joy, made a copy of it, took it with her to St. Petersburg and placed it in the home church of the Resurrection of Christ, which was at the princess’s palace. At this palace, an almshouse was built with a special department for receiving infants, which was the first of its kind, before the founding of orphanages in St. Petersburg and Moscow. According to another legend, the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of All Who Sorrow, Joy of All Who Sorrow, was transferred from Moscow to the palace church of Natalia Alekseevna during the reign of Empress Elisaveta Petrovna; then it was placed in a new church, which, according to the Highest command, was erected and consecrated in honor of the Mother of God of all who mourn, Joy of All Who Sorrow, on October 24, 1818. Believers from different places, in great numbers, reverently flock to this church to worship the icon of the Mother of God of All Who Sorrow Joy; Almost all members of the royal family came to her for prayer, starting with Empress Catherine II. Joy to all who mourn in the chapel at the Glass Factory Until recently, the little-known village of Klochki, a few miles from St. Petersburg up the Neva, has now become famous throughout Russia. In 1888, on July 23, a terrible thunderstorm broke out over St. Petersburg and its environs; lightning struck the chapel at the Glass Factory, burned the interior walls and most of the windows, but without touching the icon of the Mother of God Joy of All Who Sorrow, which was located in the corner, with a face greatly darkened by time and soot, it brightened it and, as if renewed, lowered it to the ground. The nun, who was a watchman at the chapel, woke up from a thunderclap and saw that the icon was standing on the floor, completely renewed and with a burnt-out cord with which it was attached to the wall. Nearby lay a collection mug, broken into smithereens; the money from it was scattered on the floor, and twelve coins, which turned out to be half coins from the times of Nicholas I and Alexander II, stuck in different directions to the icon standing on the floor: there were 12 of them in total, but one of them fell away. Soon the news of this event spread throughout the capital, and masses of people flocked to the chapel. The people saw in this event the finger of God, pointing to the squalor of the chapel, and contributed their voluntary contributions for the construction of a church on that site. The origin of this chapel is very ancient. Even during the reign of Catherine II, another wooden chapel stood here. In 1824, on November 7, during a flood, that chapel was washed away, then completely washed away and carried by a strong wind to the village of Klochki, where it was erected. A few years later the chapel fell into disrepair; then they built a new one with voluntary donations and placed the previous images in it, including the icon of the Joy of All Who Sorrow, which was donated by the merchant Sem. Iv. Matveev. Previously, this icon belonged to the merchants Kurakin, from whose family the donor’s mother was. Old-timers say that this icon was washed up by a wave on the shore of the Neva and accepted by the merchant Kurakin. After a lightning strike, the old, darkened icon was transformed and renewed. As you can see, the icon was not painted by a very skilled artist, but the eyes are depicted so beautifully that they seem alive. The Most Holy Theotokos is depicted in full height, measuring no more than half an arshin square, and serves as a copy of the miraculous icon described above, which is on the corner of Resurrection and Shpalernaya streets. The chapel is no more than one square fathom and the same height, covered with iron on four slopes. When examining the chapel from the outside, there are no traces of lightning; when entering inside, burnt walls, ceiling and icons are visible. Many sick and mourning people seek the Mother of the Sorrows with prayers and receive healing. The wondrous destinies of God contribute to the glorification of the miraculous icon. Two years have passed since this event, and miraculous healings do not stop. In 1890, on December 6, the Lord deigned to reveal a new miracle of His mercy: having suffered greatly from birth and declared incurable by the best doctors, 14-year-old orphan Nikolai Grachev had long been lying without arms and legs, in terrible seizures. On December 3, after an unusually severe attack, he had a vision: the room was brightly lit, and he saw the Most Holy Theotokos, St. Nicholas and the monk in a white hood, and heard from the Most Holy Theotokos an order to go to the chapel on December 6 and receive healing there. With great difficulty they took him to a chapel seven miles from the Petersburg side, where he lived with his sister. On the way he had a fit, and when they brought him into the chapel and laid him in front of the icon, the fit repeated. While reading the Gospel, he regained consciousness; while singing: “No other imams help. The imams have no other hope than You, the Lady,” they lifted the sick man and placed him next to the miraculous icon. Suddenly he crossed himself and stood up on his own feet. Since then he has been completely healthy. The rumor about such a wonderful event had not yet subsided when a new sign of God’s mercy appeared. Vera Belonogina, the wife of a clerk at the Thornton factory, suffered for about 6 years with chest diseases, tumors and throat lesions; The doctors who treated her stated that she had incurable consumption and that she had lost her voice forever. She heard about the miraculous icon and went to the chapel to serve a prayer service, but there was no healing: according to her, she did not particularly believe in the possibility of healing. In February, a gray-haired old man in a black cassock, belted with a leather belt, appeared to her in a dream, looking like St. Nicholas, as he is written on the icons. He ordered her to go to the chapel and serve a prayer service. When they sang: Not other imams help, the patient suddenly felt a change in her entire being, she became healthy and her voice returned. This happened on February 17, 1891. All miracles of healing have been verified by the testimony of those healed and by the testimony of people who know them closely and are completely worthy of trust. Simon says: “We all prayed to him... we, having heard this, glorified God.” Description K. Laurels, pp. 108. 289. 292. “The Tale of the Coming of the Swean King Gustav to Pskov” - Joseph: about religious processions in Pskov, pp. 47. 50. 64. St. Petersburg. 1858. The story of the siege of Pskov by Gustav, ed. in V vol. collected. years. East. Prince Pskovsky III. 80. Dictionary of Saints, p. 135.