Страдание святого мученика Трифона

Saint Tryphon was born in the Phrygian country, in the village of Kampsad, near the city of Apamea in 1088. From a young age, the grace of God rested on him and the Lord gave him the power of miracles 1089 so that not only from the mouth of this baby, but also from his miraculous deeds, he could bring praise to Himself. In the Great Menaions of the Fourth 1090, much is told about the healings from all sorts of illnesses performed by the holy youth Tryphon, and about his expulsion of demons from people who turned to him. We will first tell about one of his many miracles, testifying to the great grace of God that rested on him, and then we will tell about his suffering for the faith of Christ. In the year two hundred and thirty-eight, Emperor Gordian ascended the Roman throne 1091, who, although he was an idolater, did not persecute Christians. This king had an adult daughter named Gordiana, a maiden distinguished by her intelligence and beauty, so that many great and glorious princes wanted to take her as a wife for their sons. But this girl, and with her her entire family, suffered a great misfortune: by God’s permission, the devil entered into her, who cruelly tormented her, throwing her into fire and water; The doctors, known for their wisdom, brought to the sick girl, could not help her. But the unclean spirit that dwelt in the girl himself, at the command of God, proclaimed: “No one can drive me out of here except the youth Tryphon.” The king immediately sent to look for Tryphon everywhere. Many people who bore the same name were brought to the king, but not one of them could cast out the demon from the king’s daughter. Finally, they brought the holy youth Tryphon to the king, who was found in Phrygia, in the village of Kampsade, where he was grazing geese by a lake; – the boy was then seventeen years old. When the saint was approaching Rome, the devil, learning about his arrival and beginning to torment the girl even more, shouted loudly: “I can’t live here anymore, because Tryphon is approaching and will come here on the third day, I can’t stand it anymore.” Having shouted like this, the unclean spirit left the girl. On the third day, Saint Tryphon came to the city and was immediately brought to the royal chambers, where he was very warmly received by the king, for the king recognized him as the Tryphon whom the devil had mentioned when leaving the maiden. But in order to be more convinced that it was Tryphon who healed his daughter, the king begged him to show the devil with his own eyes so that he could be seen with his bodily eyes. The saint agreed to the king’s request and remained in fasting and prayer for six days, and after that he received from above even greater and stronger power over unclean spirits. On the seventh day, at sunrise, the king came to the blessed one with his entire congregation, wanting to see the devil. Then Tryphon, filled with the Holy Spirit and looking with spiritual eyes at the invisible spirit of evil, said to him: “I tell you, unclean spirit, in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ, appear in person before those who are here, and show them your vile and shameless image, and reveal your weakness.” And immediately the devil appeared before everyone in the form of a black dog, which had fiery eyes, and dragged its head along the ground. The saint turned to him with a question: “Who sent you, demon, here to enter into the damsel, and how did you dare to enter into one created in the image of God, being yourself so ugly and weak and filled with every abomination?” “I was sent by my father, Satan, the chief of all evil, who resides in hell, from whom I received the command to torment this young woman. Then the saint asked him again: – Who gave you the power to encroach on God’s creation? The demon, although against his will, but forced by the invisible power of God, had to tell the truth. “We have no power over those,” he said, “who know God and believe in His Only Begotten Son - Christ, for whom Peter and Paul died here - we run away from these people with fear, and only when it is allowed to us, do we inflict on them easy temptations from outside. Those who do not believe in God and the Son of God and, being obedient to their own lusts, do works pleasing to us, over those we receive full power to torment them. The following things are pleasing to us: idolatry, blasphemy, adultery, sorcery, envy, murder, pride; By these and similar deeds, people, as if in nets, become entangled, alienated from God, Their Creator, and arbitrarily become friends with us, and together with us they accept eternal torment. Hearing this, the king and those around him were struck with great fear and were horrified; and many, leaving wickedness, believed in Christ; and the believers received even greater confirmation in their faith and glorified God. The king, having generously gifted the saint, sent him home in peace, but the saint distributed everything that he received from the king along the way to the poor; he himself, having returned to his fatherland, devoted himself to his usual occupations, healing the sick and pleasing God with a holy and blameless life. After Gordian, the Roman throne was occupied by Philip 1092, who reigned briefly, being killed by his soldiers; and after him the fierce Decius reigned 1093, instigating a cruel persecution of Christians; During this persecution, countless Christians were killed, and many of the fearful, fearing terrible torment, turned away from Christ and leaned toward idolatry. This king issued an order to his dioceses and hegemons to persecute Christians everywhere and kill them mercilessly. In the East at this time the eparch was a certain Akilin; It was reported to him that Tryphon professes the faith of Christ and, passing through various countries, heals the sick, like a very knowledgeable doctor, and at the same time teaches everyone to believe in Christ and thereby deceives many; But Tryphon does not listen to the king’s command, mocking all the gods. Soldiers were immediately sent to look for Tryphon, whom they soon found: for the lamp, burning with zeal for God and shining with faith and good deeds, could not be hidden. But the saint himself, having learned that they were looking for him, did not flee into the desert and did not hide in the mountains and abysses of the earth, but, armed with prayer and the sign of the cross, he boldly went out to those who were looking for him and, surrendering into their hands, joyfully went to Eparch Aquilin, who at that time was in Nicaea 1094. When Aquilinus, surrounded by squires, commanders, servants and many people, sat down in court, Pompinianus, a scriniarius of high rank, said to him: - Here is a young man from the city of Apamea, sent to your majesty, who will stand before the bright court of your power. - Let the upcoming one tell us his name, and fatherland, and fortune 1096. “My name is Tryphon, my fatherland is the village of Kampsada, near the city of Apameisk, but we do not recognize fortune, for we believe that everything is done according to God’s providence and His ineffable wisdom, and not by fortune, and does not depend on the course of the star or on chance, as you believe.” In life I am guided by my free will, serving Christ alone. Christ is my faith, Christ is my praise and the crown of my glory. The eparch said to the saint: - Probably, until now, you have not heard at all about the royal command, according to which anyone who calls himself a Christian and does not worship the gods must die an evil death; So, come to your senses and abandon your flattering faith, so as not to be cast into the fire. - Oh, if only I could be granted death through fire and all the torments for the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and God! - Tryphon, I advise you to make a sacrifice to the gods, for I see that, although you are young in body, you have a perfect mind, and I do not want you to die an evil death! “Then I will have a perfect mind,” answered the saint, “when I bring a perfect confession to my God, and if I preserve unchanged, like a valuable treasure, pious faith in Him, and become a sacrifice to the One who sacrificed Himself for me.” Then the eparch, threatening the saint, cried out in anger: “I will consign your body to fire, but I will subdue your soul with the most cruel executions.” “You threaten me with a dying fire,” answered Tryphon, “after which only ashes remain, but I threaten you, unbelievers, with an eternal, unquenchable fire; leave your vain faith and know the true God, so that you do not repent later, when you fall into eternal fire. But Aquilin, inflamed with intense anger, ordered the saint to be beaten, hanging him on a tree. Hearing this order, Tryphon himself immediately took off his clothes and joyfully gave his body to the executioners for torture. The executioners, hanging him on a tree with his hands tied behind him, brutally tortured him for three hours. But the saint bravely endured the torment, not uttering a single cry, not a single groan during the entire time he was beaten. When they finished torturing him, Akilin again turned to him with an admonition: - Come to your senses, Tryphon, leave your madness, promise to worship the gods, for none of those who do not want to obey the royal command can avoid a terrible death. The saint boldly answered: “And I tell you that no one who denies the heavenly King Christ can inherit eternal life, but will be sent into eternal fire, which never quenches.” - There is no other king of heaven except Zeus, the son of Saturn 1097, he is the father of both gods and people, and if anyone does not bow to him, he cannot remain alive; bow to him too if you want to enjoy the sweetness of this life. Then the saint, wanting to enlighten the pagan with the light of truth and expose all the abomination of paganism, said to Aquilin: – Let all those who worship him and hope in him be like your god Zeus; and it is said about him that he was the first lawless sorcerer and pernicious sorcerer, the father of all wickedness and godlessness, after whose death people who wanted to follow his evil deeds arranged for him gold and silver idols, calling him god; and they did this so that they could have an excuse for themselves in their uncleanness and lawlessness, so that no one would reproach them for shameful deeds, because their God was the same; in a similar way, other vile and all-evil people were elevated to the level of gods by their imitators 1098; But you, believing in these ancient wicked traditions and false fables, worship soulless and dumb idols, forgetting about the living God, who established the heavens, founded the earth on the waters and poured out the air; God, who created every creature and gave it a visible image, made man, created after, lord over everything; but man, through the envy of the devil, deceived by the evil serpent (Gen. 3), fell into countless disasters; then God the Word, having mercy on him, according to His will, He deigned to be incarnate, and appeared in human likeness, died on the Cross, was buried, was resurrected on the third day, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father until all creation knows Him; then He will come again with power and great glory and will reward everyone according to their deeds. He is the God of gods, and the King of kings, and the Judge of the living and the dead; and the gods you worship will serve to kindle the eternal fire with all those who worship them. After this, Eparch Aquilin, having gathered for a hunt, ordered the capture of Saint Tryphon, ordering him to be tied to a horse and led along. The saint had to endure great torment: his toes were torn off, because, in the terrible frost, his feet were bare, and the horse stepped on them and crushed them with his feet - and his feet were cracked, but the martyr, fixing his spiritual gaze on God and, flaming with love for Him, did not value these torments and sang the words of David: “Set my steps in Your ways, let not my feet falter” ( Ps.16:5), and others: “Establish my steps in Your word and do not let any iniquity take possession of me” (Ps.119:133). Repeating at the same time the words of the Holy First Martyr Archdeacon Stephen: - “Lord, do not impute this sin to them” 1099 (Acts 7:60). Returning after the hunt, the eparch called the martyr to him and said to him: “Now, unfortunate one, have you not thought wisely of making sacrifices to the gods, or are you remaining in your former madness?” – You yourself, blinded by the devil, are filled with madness and ignorance, because you cannot know the Creator of all and worship Him; and I remain wise, without departing from the truth that saves me. The eparch ordered the saint to be taken to prison; and he himself went to the nearest borders of the country, where he remained for some time. Upon arriving back in Nicaea, the eparch, appearing at the court, again summoned Tryphon and said to him: “Didn’t your long stay in prison teach you to obey the royal command and turn to the gods?” “My God and Lord Jesus Christ,” answered the saint, “Whom I serve with a pure mind, teaching, instructing me and strengthening me, so that I can invariably and unshakably maintain faith in Him: therefore, I obey Him, the only true King and God, and I resort to Him, but I despise your and royal pride, and I turn away from the gods you worship.” The eparch, very angry, cried out to the servants: - Drive sharp nails into his feet and, leading him around the city, beat him. The servants immediately carried out the orders of the tormentor. They began to lead the saint, or, better yet, drag him around the city, subjecting him to torture, and he endured terrible suffering - both from nails driven into his feet and from severe frost, due to the harsh winter. But the great sufferer, having Christ before his spiritual gaze and looking at future rewards, endured everything with great patience and joy; when he was again brought to the eparch, the tormentor, amazed at such patience of the saint, said to him with great annoyance: - How long, Tryphon, will you be insensitive to torment and when will you feel all the terrible pain of torment? - When will you also know the power of Christ that abides in me? when will you stop, you damned one, from tempting the Holy Spirit? Then, burning with intense anger, the tormentor ordered to hang him again on a tree and beat him mercilessly with iron, and scorch his sides with burning candles. The servants performed all this with great diligence; but suddenly the heavenly light shone on the saint, and a beautiful crown descended from heaven on his head; The tormentors, struck by this vision, fell to the ground in fear. Saint Tryphon, sensing the help that came from above, was filled with joy and joy and, praying, said: “I thank You, Lord, that You did not leave me without help in the hands of my enemies, but protected me on the day of battle and gave me salvation, and Your hand supported me.” And now I pray to You, Lord, do not leave me, strengthening and protecting me, and grant me permission to accomplish this feat without stumbling, so that I may be worthy to receive the crown of righteousness with all those who have loved Your holy name, for You alone are glorified forever. Amen. After this, the tormentor, ordering to untie the bound saint and calling him to himself, began to admonish him with affection, saying: - Tryphon, make a sacrifice to the great Zeus and bow to the royal image, and I will let you go. But Tryphon answered with a smile: “If I showed contempt to the king himself and neglected his wicked commands, then will I really bow to his soulless image? This won't happen. About Zeus and other false gods, ask your own wise men, who will tell you what fables are written about these gods to cover up their vile deeds, attaching their names to other things, calling the sky Zeus, the air Hera, the earth Ceres, the sea Poseidon, the sun Apollo, the moon Diana 1100. These same fable-makers also named various bad customs and human passions by the names of your gods, inventing the god of wrath and war - Mars, and calling prodigal passion Venus 1101. And so, you, having abandoned the Creator of all, God, madly filled the entire universe with idols and preferred the creature to the Creator; and not only you yourself, being deprived of common sense and having turned away from the true path, are falling headlong into a soul-destroying abyss, but you are also trying to drag us into the same place in order to make us participants in your destruction, but, flatterers, you will not have any success! For you will never be able to lead astray from the true path and persuade those who trust in the true and living God to your idols. Having heard these words, Akilin was surprised at such a boldness of the saint and, angry, ordered him to be beaten without any mercy; The soldiers, having taken the saint, tortured him for many hours in the most cruel way. Finally, the tormentor, seeing that he could not shake the unshakable pillar of faith and turn him away from Christ, made the following final sentence about him: - Tryphon of Apamea, who resisted the royal command and, after various torments, did not want to make sacrifices to the gods, should be executed by beheading. And immediately the soldiers, taking the martyr, took him out of the city to the place of beheading. Saint Tryphon, facing the east, turned to God with the following prayer: - Lord God, King of kings, most holy above all saints! I thank You for making me worthy to accomplish this feat without stumbling. And now I pray to You: do not allow the trapping hand of the wicked invisible enemy to touch me, so that he does not lead me into the depths of destruction, but lead me into my beloved villages along with Your holy Angels, and make me the heir of Your longed-for kingdom; Receive my soul in peace, and all who will remember the name of Your servant and bring holy sacrifices to You in my memory, hear from the height of Your holiness; and look down upon them from Thy holy habitation, giving them abundant and imperishable gifts, for Thou art the only good and generous Giver forever and ever. This is how the saint prayed. And before the soldiers had time to cut off his head, the Lord took his soul; Tryphon’s honest body remained dead on the ground. The Christians who were in Nicaea wrapped him in clean shrouds and anointed him with aromas, intending to bury him in their place to protect their city. But the saint, appearing to them in a vision, ordered his relics to be transferred to the village of Kampsada, the place of his homeland, and his command was carried out 1102. So Saint Tryphon, dedicated to God from his youth, who brought many people to Christ and healed many of them from illnesses, after great torment, accepted as the truth, was crowned with an incorruptible crown from the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the One God in the Trinity, to whom be glory forever. Amen 1103. Thy martyr, Lord, Tryphon, in his suffering received an imperishable crown from Thee, our God: having Thy strength, overthrow the tormentors, crush the demons of weak insolence. Save his souls with your prayers. With Trinitarian firmness, you destroyed polytheism from the end, all-gloriously, being honest in Christ, and, having defeated the tormentors in Christ the Savior, you received the crown of your martyrdom and the gift of Divine healings, as if you were invincible. Phrygia is one of the large regions of Asia Minor. Apamea is the most significant city in Phrygia, with brisk trade. According to Greek euchologies, once through the prayer of Saint Tryphon the inhabitants of Kampsada were saved from hunger, where harmful reptiles and insects appeared and ate cereals, tree leaves and all kinds of greenery. Saint Tryphon, regretting the disaster, stretched out his hands to the Lord in prayer, asking Him to send His Angel to defeat harmful insects; at the same time St. The martyr himself bound them with an oath so that they would retire to inaccessible places designated for their habitation. The Great Menaion-Chetya was compiled by Moscow Metropolitan Macarius in the 16th century. In addition to the lives of the saints, all the books of Holy Scripture, many teachings and various articles of spiritual content are placed here. On the basis of the Makaryevsky Menaion, the Menaion-Cheti of the saint were compiled. Dimitry of Rostov Gordian reigned from 238 to 244. Philip (Arabian) reigned from 244 to 249. Decius reigned from 249 to 251. Nicaea - in ancient times a rich and prosperous city - Bithynia (in Asia Minor), now very poor and sparsely populated. The I and VII Ecumenical Councils took place in this city. Skriniarius is a court treasurer who had great power under the eparch (the ruler of the region), which is why he was given special royal trust and was entrusted with various responsible positions. Fortuna is the Roman goddess of fate and happiness. Zeus (or Jupiter) is a Greco-Roman god, revered by pagans as the ruler of heaven and earth, the father of all gods and people. In general, the gods of the Greeks and Romans, according to their beliefs, were distinguished by the same passions and criminal inclinations as people. The memory of the holy first martyr Archdeacon Stephen, stoned by the Jews, is celebrated by the church on December 27 Hera (Juno) was revered by the ancient Greeks and Romans as the sister and wife of Zeus, the most revered among the goddesses; was considered the goddess of the earth, the patroness of marriage and childbirth. Ceres (or Demeter) is the Roman and Greek goddess of earth and fertility. Poseidon (Neptune) was revered as the brother of Zeus and the sovereign ruler of the seas, rivers and all sources and reservoirs. Apollo (Phoebus) is one of the most revered pagan gods by the ancient Greeks and Romans, considered the god of the sun and mental enlightenment, as well as the guardian of the law. Diana (Artemis) is a famous pagan goddess among the Greeks and Romans, who enjoyed special worship among them; Diana was considered the goddess of the moon and was depicted as a beautiful, bright maiden-hunter. Mars (or Ares) is the Greco-Roman god of war. Venus is the Greco-Roman goddess of beauty and love. Celebrations in her honor were accompanied by manifestations of extreme licentiousness and debauchery. Part of the relics of Saint Tryphon is kept in Moscow, in the church named after him in Naprudnaya. There is a legend that has a close connection with the history of this church. Once, while hunting with Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible, due to some oversight of the falconer, boyar Trifon Patrikeev, his favorite gyrfalcon flew away; The tsar ordered this falconer to find the gyrfalcon within three days at any cost, otherwise threatening the death penalty. The falconer traveled all over the forest, but the search led to nothing. Exhausted and tired, on the third day he stopped near Maryina Roshcha (in Naprudnaya Sloboda) and, from extreme exhaustion, fell into a deep sleep under a tree. Before this, Patrikeev fervently prayed for help to the holy martyr Tryphon, whom, by his very name, he considered a patron and most reliable leader. And the falconer sees a wondrous dream: a splendid young man appears before him on a white horse and holds the royal gyrfalcon in his hand. “Take,” he says, “your lost bird, go with God to the king and do not be sad.” The falconer woke up and saw that there really was a royal gyrfalcon sitting on his arm, which he took to Grozny, and told him his vision. The former anger of the sovereign and the terrible disaster that threatened the falconer were replaced by royal favors, and the pious boyar Tryphon Patrikeev, in gratitude before God and before the saint of God, the holy martyr Tryphon, for saving his life, immediately first built a chapel on the spot where he found his falcon, and then, as they say, with the assistance of even the sovereign himself, he built a stone church near this chapel in the name of the holy martyr Tryphon, in the very place where the above-described appearance of this holy martyr to him took place. The Great Trebnik (chapter 60) contains “The rite performed in the fields, or grapes, or vertograd, if it happens to be damaged by reptiles or other species.” This “Ordinance” is performed in the event that “harm and vanity appear to the fields, grapes, orchards and heliports caused by” “many species of animals, worms, caterpillars, beetles and locusts, mice, sciatica and crits, and various kinds of flies and moshits” and so on. In the indicated “Rite” it is said: “it is appropriate to have a liturgy and burn the candile of St. Tryphon, or St. Eustathius or St. Julian of Libya, or both,” and after the liturgy, “take the oil from the kandils, and the water of St. Epiphany and sprinkle in a cross pattern “on the fields or grapes or gardens, saying prayers.” In the same “Rite” is the “spell of the holy martyr Tryphon,” composed on behalf of this saint. pleaser. Believing that Saint Tryphon, during his lifetime, drove away “the spirits of wickedness only by his coming” and averted public disasters with his prayers, and in his blessed dormition does not leave the help of those who resort to him, the mentioned “spell” of insects and reptiles harmful to the plant kingdom is pronounced on behalf of Saint Tryphon, as such a saint of God, who has great glory with God and can with great boldness command them in the name of the Lord to “move away from the place and around the borders of the servants of God.” You might be interested in: