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Holy Martyr Vasily, presbyter of Ancyra Basil the presbyter, at a time when the will of King Julian the Apostate to restore idolatry was announced everywhere, and many Christians for the sake of worldly benefits renounced their faith, convinced everyone to remain faithful to God and openly prayed for the destruction of the plans of the wicked. Then one of the citizens, a zealot of paganism, grabbed him, saying: “Why are you walking around the city, confusing the people, breaking the royal law?” - and introduced it to the mayor. The mayor asked Vasily: “Why are you embarrassing the city and presenting the king as having violated good laws?” Vasily said: “I do not blame your king, but I know that the Most High King, Who is God, is able to destroy your unreasonable, legalized wickedness in a short time.” And the mayor said: “Stop talking empty things and submit to the king.” Vasily: “Until now I obeyed the King of Heaven and now I obey, and I will never deviate from the holy faith in Him, and the king whom you praise is the king of the earth and, like a man, is subject to death.” Then the judge ordered him to be hanged on a tree and tortured with iron; Seeing the confessor’s inflexibility, he threw him into prison and reported him to the king. Julian sent two apostates to convince Basil to abandon his faith in Christ, and a few days later (in January 363) he himself arrived in Ancyra, heading to Antioch. Neither the convictions of the apostates, nor the kindness and threats of the king himself could shake the valiant sufferer. Over the course of several days, the executioners tore off his skin piece by piece, then beat him on the shoulders and belly with a hot iron, in which agony the saint gave up his spirit to God on January 28, 363. After the death of Julian in June of the same year and the restoration of Christianity, the citizens of Ancyra honored the body of the martyr with a celebration and established the celebration of his memory on March 22. Holy Martyr Euthymius the New Through many vicissitudes in life, along a sorrowful path - from great sin to great, all-covering repentance, the much-suffering servant of God Euthymius (in the world Eleutherius) finally reached the one saving haven of eternal blissful tranquility. The son of pious parents who lived in the Peloponnese, in the village of Dimitsami, he received a decent education as a child, first at a rural school, then at the Kurucheslie School of Constantinople. From Constantinople he went to his father, who was at that time in the city of Iasi on trade matters. Here, in the first years of a well-prepared spiritual mood, he rushed with all the ardor of his youth - to devote himself to the service of the One God. - And why didn’t he listen to this first call of a pure, immaculate soul! What a difficult path he had to respond to it later! Having first given himself over to the impulse that carried him to Athos, so that there, among the ascetics who despised worldly vanity and loved the spiritual life - as if to anticipate the satisfactions of the higher world on earth, Eleutherius, leaving his father’s house, undertook a journey to the Holy Mountain. But, due to some circumstances, choosing the path there, through Odessa, and encountering obstacles to his further journey in Odessa, he returned to Bucharest, where he had to stay for a year and a half, during which he indulged to such an extent in the entertainment that surrounded him here that he forgot to remember the Holy Mountain and turned entirely into a “nest of sin and vice”... His vicious life led him into debt, and he was forced into service. - At this time, the Turkish embassy was in Bucharest to negotiate peace with Russia, with which there was then a war, and Eleutherius took a place in the house of one of the members of the embassy, ​​intending to return with him in the most convenient way to Constantinople. But the return was slowed down; on the way back, the embassy remained in Shumla for a long time. Here a new temptation presented itself to the young man... Thinking of softening his master’s cruel treatment of him, and at the same time instigated by one of his recently turned comrades, he reached such depravity of soul that he himself decided to become a Turk... he renounced his faith in Christ and accepted circumcision - a conventional sign of the followers of Mohammed. But “even though the sinner may be saved and live” he did not completely abandon this perishing soul, in which sincere love for Him once glowed... During the unbearable illnesses of circumcision, He visited her with a burning consciousness of his condition and, as a result, with deep tearful repentance. And for Eleutherius the hour came, about which the poet speaks: The soul makes peace with heaven!“ Eleutherius's first move was to flee the home of the hated Mohammedans. But he was unable to escape from the close surveillance of him while the embassy was in Shumla. And only four months later, when it arrived in Adrianople, Eleutherius could leave the house one evening in order to turn to Metropolitan Kirill (who later occupied the patriarchal see). It was on Saturday; The clergy were in the church at that time for the evening service. The heart of the apostate Christian sank with pain when he saw the deacon burning incense: the grace of the sacred fragrance was not for him now... he recognized himself as detached from it. His soul was torn with pain; he could hardly restrain his bitter sobs. However, he failed to reach the metropolitan, and his request even for help, for participation in his situation, which he frankly described, was not accepted in the metropolis: it was an inconvenient time to set in motion the process of turning a Christian into Turkicism, since this could irritate the Turkish authorities in Adrianople, which then included Turkish troops. Eleutherius had to remain among the Reis-effendi servants, who despised and insulted him, since they saw that he was always gloomy, gloomy, and behaved among them like a stranger. - So he spent another three months, experiencing all the languor of a bird, in vain trying to fly out of a locked cage into the freedom of life-giving nature among its native fields and forests... But the bird does not know the languor of sin and repentance... Finally, Eleutherius arrived with his master in Constantinople, but even here for a long time he could not escape the strong, suspicious surveillance of him... All he had left was prayer. She was ardent with all the power of his suffering... Before such a prayer would not the door of God's mercy open? The day of liberation has finally arrived. Eleutherius waited for the moment when, unnoticed by anyone, he could leave the house. He hurried to the palace of the Russian Embassy, ​​where they listened to his sorrowful story with complete sympathy and helped him go to Athos on the first ship leaving there. Arriving at the Holy Mountain, Eleutherius turned to the former Patriarch of Constantinople Gregory, who was there in retirement in the Lavra of St. Afanasia. As the father of the prodigal son, the compassionate saint received the unfortunate young man, kept him with him and assigned him to go every day to the virtuous confessor of the Lavra, Meletius, to listen to propitiatory prayers for the establishment of the Church. After 40 days, Eleutherius was anointed with holy myrrh. Strengthened spiritually and filled with immeasurable holy joy, he went to the monastery of St. Anna, appeared to that priest Vasily, who had already presented several apostates to Christ as martyrs, assisting and accompanying them in the feats of martyrdom - sometimes at the risk of his life and sacrificing his own means for expenses. “This selfless ascetic calmed the young man a lot, both mentally and physically. Having stayed with him for 20 days, Eleutherius, diligently laboring as a hermit, felt an irresistible urge to cover his sin of apostasy - with blessed martyrdom for Christ... But Priest Vasily, wise and cautious in his experience, did not allow him to perform an arbitrary feat; however, leaning towards his convictions, he allowed him to go to Constantinople, but so as not to expose himself to danger before being recognized by any of the Turks, who in this case themselves would probably betray him to martyrdom... The young man spent eight days in Constantinople, but inexplicably was not recognized there by anyone, even from his former acquaintances. It was painful for him to restrain his zeal, not to open up... but, having fulfilled what Priest Vasily commanded him, he appeared to his confessor Meletius and poured out his soul to him, which could no longer contain the impulse for martyrdom. Meletius, although he tried to moderate his zeal and restrain him, but, seeing the uncontrollable desire of the young man, blessed him for the feat. However, apparently, the hour of God’s will has not yet come for the redemptive feat of Eleutherius to be accomplished. Leaving the monastery, he met on the way an old monk named Pancratius, originally from Peloponsos, and, having told his compatriot about his past life and about his intentions at the present time, he was again restrained by an old man wise in spiritual experience and returned, on his advice, to the monastery to further strengthen himself with spiritual exploits... Now again he completely devoted himself to them; it would be difficult to adequately describe all his exploits: immeasurable fasting, patience in labor, endless tears of extreme contrition, all-night vigils, incessant prayer, humility of spirit, composure of thoughts, vigilant attention and friendliness, silence, compassion... And with such strict asceticism, with complete self-denial, the young man was always bright and joyful. With all his labors, he also occupied himself with reading the Gospel and other spiritually beneficial books. Reading about the exploits of the martyrs, Eleutherius became more and more inflamed with the desire to follow in their footsteps, and when the whole difficulty of the feat was presented to him, he always answered the same thing: “I never think about troubles and difficulties and do not measure them; but I only feel great sadness that I do not have a thousand bodies to give them all over to suffer, and a thousand heads to slaughter for the love of Christ." Finally, his ardent desire was satisfied. One of the elders who led him, confessor Akaki, having preceded his decision with a lot of prayer, drew from it the confidence that the hour of God’s will had come - for Eleutherius to enter the path of martyrdom... “You must go to Confess the name of Christ on your own, since by yourself you have renounced the Lord: the opposite is usually cured by the opposite,” the elder said to the young man. The soul, returned to its Creator, was then filled with indescribable joy, and before giving himself up as an atoning sacrifice, Eleutherius wished to prepare for it with the last self-denial, namely, tonsure into monasticism. He then took the name Euthymius. Thus, purified, renewed in his entire being, called by an invincible force, Euthymius left a quiet refuge - the holy mountain, and, accompanied by the prayers and blessings of its inhabitants, set off on the desired path on February 21, 1814, accompanied by one novice Gregory. On Thursday, March 19, in the 6th week of Lent, they arrived in Galata of Constantinople and stayed in the house of a pious Christian. On Saturday of the same week, the blessing of oil was performed on Euthymius, and he received St. Secrets this day and the next. Having thus achieved everything they wanted, after the Divine Liturgy, Euthymius and Gregory set off on a Cephalonian ship, the captain of which received them with respectful greetings. Having completed the move, Euthymius took off his clothes, put on the previously prepared Turkish clothes, said goodbye to his companion and to all the Christians (who surrounded him, standing with their heads uncovered, trembling and marveling at such boldness and courage of their brother), took the cross and yesterday’s consecrated branches (vaiya) in his hands, went ashore and, making the sign of the cross and inspired by prayer, he appeared in the Sublime Porte. Here, unnoticed by anyone, he went into the vizier’s house and, appearing before him, said to him: “Mister! I am a Christian from my ancestors; to certify my words - here is the cross, which our true Christian faith gave us as a true weapon against all enemies, here is the vaya - also a Christian sign; and so that you may be even more convinced of what I have said, then, behold, I trample on the sign of your faith in the deceiver Mohammed, whom you call a prophet." - Why do you allow such people to come to me? - the vizier turned to his servants with amazement and anger, - who is this impudent man? Is he a fool or drunk?.. “My mind is sound,” answered Euthymius, “that’s why I confess Christ the true God and wish to die a Christian out of love for Him... And I’m not drunk, it’s been three days since I haven’t even eaten anything... The vizier ordered Euthymius to be taken to prison, where he was chained and severely beaten. A few hours later, the vizier demanded him to carry out the final test. Having made sure that the interrogated person consciously and firmly supported what he had previously expressed and, despairing of shaking him, the vizier ordered his head to be cut off. The executioner took Euthymius and wanted to tie his hands back, but the martyr objected: “Why do you tie my hands when I came here uninvited? After all, you didn’t bring me in as a criminal?” After some thought, the executioner left him. Extraordinary joy shone on Euthymius’s face as he walked to the place of execution, holding a cross in one hand and a vaiah in the other; Having reached the appointed place, the executioners stopped. Euthymius began to pray and, making the sign of the cross, bowed his knees and head and said: “Lord! I commend my spirit into Your hand!” “Then the executioner struck, but unsuccessfully.” “Be sure to flog,” said the martyr to the executioner. But even with the second blow, only a piece of the body was cut off. After this, the executioner, without delivering a third blow, stabbed the martyr in the throat... His body, to the surprise of those present, remained on its knees even after the slaughter. With great difficulty and for a lot of money, Evoimius's companion Gregory managed to buy the body of the martyr from the executioners, who took him to the island of Prota. Having dressed him in monastic rites, Gregory placed him inside the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord and, after his burial, returned to St. Mount is the messenger of the victory of the new martyr St. Euphemia. His murder took place on March 22, 1814, on Palm Sunday, in the 25th year of his life. There are testimonies of numerous healings from illness - with faith touching parts of the martyr’s bloody clothes, parts of which Gregory distributed to many Christians during his stay in Constantinople.