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St. torment. Codratus of Nicomedia and with him Satorin, Rufinus and others During the reign of the Roman Emperor Decius, a new persecution arose against Christians, which differed from all others in that at that time there were especially many Christians who wavered before the fear of torment and, in order to save their lives, did not retreat even from participating, albeit only externally, in pagan sacrifices. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that in the period of time between the last and previous persecution, Christians used the world for quite a long time; in their carelessness they managed to become too attached to earthly goods, which weakened their beneficial, wakeful tension and holy zeal for faith. But the Lord did not abandon those who weakened and raised them up on the path of their fall through His chosen instruments. Such, by the way, was St., who was honored today. Church of St. Martyr Kodrat. When, during the persecution that began under Decius in the middle of the 3rd century, fear gripped the Nicomedia Christians, and they fled to the mountains and deserts, there were among them those who calmly awaited the decision of their fate, not fearing either torture or death. Among them was one young Christian, respected by everyone, rich and noble - Kodrat. He cared for his fellow believers, visited those of them whom the judges had already imprisoned, encouraged them, prayed with them and with all his might persuaded them to stand firmly for the faith of Christ. Once, when the judge Perennius, sent to Nicomedia by the emperor, ordered the prisoners to be presented to him and asked them about their name, rank and patronymic, Codratus, fearing that they would not have the firmness to openly confess faith in Christ, hastened to stand among the prisoners and answered for all the judge: “Our name is Christians; rank and nobility - to be slaves of Christ; our fatherland is heaven, where God will dwell in those who hope in Him... I myself freely appear before you to testify on behalf of all my brothers. Do quickly what you came for and make sure that we are courageous warriors of Christ. - But say your name first, madman! – asked Perenny, amazed at the confessor’s courage. – I already told you that we are Christians; “This is our name, title and dignity,” answered Kodrat. Having learned, however, from the inhabitants that Codratus was one of the noblest citizens of Nicomedia, Perennius, who had already given the order to torture the daring Christian for resisting the sacrifice, became alarmed and began to persuade him with mild measures to renounce Christ. “Many Christians,” he said casually to Kodrat, “agreed to make sacrifices to the gods; Do you consider yourself better than them? “Of course, I am better than those who retreated from God, if I remain faithful to Him,” answered Kodrat, “but where are those you are talking about?” Unfortunately, the judge’s words turned out to be fair... Indeed, many of the Christians agreed to perform the pagan sacrifice; Some of them purchased written evidence of their participation in sacrifices for money... Meanwhile, the judge, seeing that no convictions could shake the firmness of Kodrat, renewed the order to put him to torture, and at the same time sent for the renounced Christians. When, in the hope that they would convince the martyr to save his life like them - at the cost of renouncing Christ, they were led to the place where Kodrat was tortured, then, seeing them, he exclaimed with horror and contrition of heart for them: - Unhappy ones! What have you done? Do you not believe in the resurrection of the dead and in eternal life that you gave up the Kingdom of Heaven for a short earthly life? “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” ... (Matt. 10:18.) And, forgetting his own suffering, the martyr with all his soul turned to the unfortunate apostates, begged, convinced them and managed to awaken repentance in them. “Don’t despair, brothers,” he consoled them then, “God is merciful, pray to Him with tears of repentance, firmly confess His holy name, wash away your sin with blood and draw closer to Him!” Christians responded to the confessor with tears and fiery prayer to God. Having learned about what had happened, the judge ordered to intensify Kodrat’s torment, to scorch his wounds with fire... But this pain was nothing in comparison with the bliss of the soul, which loved God and its neighbor more than itself... - Lord! - exclaimed the sufferer, - take my soul for their souls and have mercy on them! Encouraged, inspired by the love of a brother in Christ, the Christians who had previously renounced it fearlessly confessed their faith, and all were condemned to death. Perennius took Codratus with him as he toured different cities 115 and often subjected him to cruel torture; but nothing could defeat the faith of the righteous, and his supernatural firmness and patience amazed the unbelievers and attracted their souls to the true God... In Caesarea, in a village near the River Rindaka, where the suffering of Codratus was renewed, many Christians began to loudly confess the name of the Lord with him, and two of them, Satorin and Rufinus, accepted martyrdom. Finally, St. Kodrat and many others with him were beheaded. The memory of the martyr Codratus was celebrated in Constantinople, near Xerocircus. St. Anastasia 116 and by birth was from the highest noble family of the Tsaregrad court and was married to the first dignitary of the empire. That's why they called her a patrician. After the death of her husband, she lived in the fear of God and diligently fulfilled the commandments of God. She was universally respected for her virtues and rare beauty. Emperor Justinian paid special attention to the young widow. This alone was the reason for the obvious persecution raised by the empress against the God-fearing widow. Anastasia, more noble in soul than even good people thought of her, said to herself: here is the opportunity to save her soul; you must save the empress from jealousy; go into the desert, there you can earn a heavenly crown; They are driving you away from the yard, why not leave? Taking the money and jewelry that she could collect, Anastasia, without saying a word at court, set off on a ship to Egypt. Not far from Alexandria, she built a monastery and began to strive in prayer with zeal. For a long time, even after Anastasia, this monastery was called the monastery of a patrician. Anastasia humbly engaged in simple women's needlework, read edifying books, sang psalms in church and was at peace. The Empress died. Emperor Justinian, retaining respect for Anastasia’s high qualities, ordered to look for her everywhere, with an invitation to return to court. When rumors of this reached Alexandria and Anastasia, Anastasia became greatly alarmed by the king’s order. She fell in love with solitude; love for the Lord grew in her, and the royal court now seemed to her only a dwelling of turmoil, intrigue, anxiety, sometimes completely useless, sometimes completely harmful to the soul; at least for herself, she now considered court life unbearable. Fear of being forced to return to court forced her to flee into the deep desert. At night she left her monastery. Having found Abba Daniel, the head of the hermitages, she threw herself at his feet, told him everything and asked him to help her. Abba, having prayed, gave her the clothes of a novice and with the name of the eunuch Anastasia, locked her in a cave; he gave her rules by which she must live. The most important rule was never to leave the cave, under any pretext, and not to accept anyone with you. One of the companions was ordered to deliver bread and a vessel with water to the eunuch Anastasia once a week, place it near the cave and leave without uttering a word. Anastasia, who had previously lived in luxury and honor, in the bliss and noise of the court, now lived in severe fasting, with extreme deprivation, in deep solitude. The strong soul followed the Abba’s rules with all precision. Only God knows, and He the Good appreciated the sorrows and struggles that the recluse had to endure. So she lived for 17 years 117 - and became a vessel of the Holy Spirit. The Lord revealed to His servant the day of her death. She inscribed the words on the shard: “Honest father, take with you the student who brought me bread and water; bring tools to bury your child, eunuch Anastasia.” Then God revealed to the Abba the proximity of Anastasia’s death; he sent a novice to the cave, and he found a shard with an inscription. The Abba and the disciple who came after them found the eunuch sick. Abba said with tears: “Blessed are you, brother Anastasius; Remembering death, you neglected earthly glory; pray to the Lord for us.” “I need your prayers,” answered the eunuch. “We must fulfill our request as the first,” said the elder. Sitting on the mat, the saint hugged the elder’s head and quietly prayed. The elder, taking the student, bent him down at her feet, saying: “Bless my student, your child.” - “God is my father,” said the saint, ready to separate me from the earth, may the spirit of the father rest on his son, as the spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha.” Then the eunuch said: “For the Lord’s sake, do not take off my clothes from me.” The elder communed the saint with the Holy Mysteries. Her face shone like fire. Having protected herself with the sign of the cross, she said: Lord! I commend my spirit into Your hands, and I passed away. Abba and the disciple dug a grave in front of the cave; the elder took off his cassock; dress your brother, he told the student. As he dressed, he saw that it was his wife - her breasts were dry like leaves. On the road, the disciple said to the elder: “Do you know, Abba, that this is a wife?” “Yes, I know,” the Abba answered and said that he dressed her in the clothes of a eunuch out of necessity - they demanded her to the court, where she could not be. Then others learned the story of the marvelous Anastasia. The saint reposed in 565, the same year as the blessed emperor. Nicomedia, Nicaea, Apamea, Caesarea in Bithynia. Her life is in the collective Patericon, in the Prologue - and in Chetya-Minea March. 10. Act. Sanet. 10 Mar. According to the Slavic manuscript, the life of St. Anastasia was placed under December 21. Tsarskogo No. 264, l. 628; No. 614, l. 774. The biography writer says that Anastasia’s monastery exists to this day, that is, to this day. This makes it clear that he lived before the conquest and devastation of Egypt by the Mohammedan Arabs, at the end of the 6th century. The prologue speaks of the 28 years of desert life of St. Anastasia, but this number must be counted from the time Anastasia left the court. Queen Theodora died in 548, after which Justinian lived for 17 years; and St. Anastasia died in the same year as the blessed king.