Страдание святой мученицы Фавсты девицы и с нею Евиласия и Максима

During the reign of the wicked king Maximian, in the city of Cyzicus in 1235, there lived a certain young girl named Favsta. She was the daughter of wealthy Christians who raised her in the spirit of Christian teaching; but at the age of thirteen she was orphaned. After the death of her parents, the girl Favsta spent all her time in fasting, prayer and reading the Holy Scriptures. Strictly observing her virginity, she despised all the delights of this world: wealth, luxury, and all carnal pleasure, and walked the narrow and regrettable path of life - which is why she soon became known to everyone and glorified by everyone; for such a virtuous life could not be hidden from people, according to the word of the Lord: “You are the light of the world. A city that stands on the top of a mountain cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14). The rumor about Favsta reached Tsar Maximian himself. Maximian immediately sent his first priest, named Evilasios, to Cyzicus, so that he would find and capture the bride of Christ. At the same time the king said to him: “If she agrees to make a sacrifice to the gods, then it will be good for her; if not, then throw it into the depths of the water. Evilasius, arriving in Cyzicus, found Favsta young in years, but completely perfect in faith and reason. Having ascended to his judgment seat, he began to force her to sacrifice to the false gods. But the saint answered him: “I will not make sacrifices to those gods who are deaf and blind, and nothing more than the work of human hands.” I have a Father and a Bridegroom in heaven - Jesus Christ, and I cannot leave Him - I cannot leave the inheritance that I have with my Lord. Then Evilasiy told her: “Fausta, make a sacrifice to the gods, so as not to die an evil and painful death.” – Do not consider me an unreasonable woman: although I am young, I have a courageous and perfect heart. Then Evilasius, filled with rage, ordered the hair on the saint’s head to be cut off, to dishonor and desecrate her, and, hanging her on a tree, beat her mercilessly. Fausta, cruelly tormented, raised her eyes to heaven and began to pray to God. While she was praying, lightning suddenly flashed so terrible that many were killed by it. Seeing this, Evilasius was greatly frightened and, calling the saint, said to her: - Girl, tell me, who are you? For I see you doing magical things. “Listen to me, Evilasiy, order the painter to paint my image, and also to depict all these torments that I endure.” When this request was fulfilled, Fausta said to him: “Let it be known to you that just as this image does not suffer and does not undergo the torments that are depicted here, so my body does not feel the suffering that you cause me: my soul is completely strengthened in my Lord; Whatever else you want to do to me, do it quickly. Then Evilasius ordered that Saint Fausta be placed in a wooden box, and, having hammered it with wooden nails, sawed it down. The servants diligently began to do what they were ordered, and the saint in the box sang, praising the Lord. The servants sawed this box for a long time, but were not able to saw through it: the saw could not touch the martyr, like some strong adamant. Finally, from exhaustion, the servants became as if dead. Then, coming to Evilasius, they said: “Our lord, the woman whom you gave us to be tortured, we sawed the prisoner in the box from the first hour to the sixth, but we could not do anything: we changed six saws, but did not even touch her; we set fire to this box to burn her in it, but the fire was not only powerless against her, but did not even burn the box. All this time she sang: “Whether you cross through the waters, I am with you; whether you cross the rivers, they will not drown you; If you walk through fire, you will not be burned, and the flame will not scorch you” (Isaiah 43:2). Having heard this, Evilasius was very embarrassed and, calling the saint to him, said to her: – You really surprise me, performing such miracles! I am already eighty years old, but I have never seen anything like it. I adjure you by your God in whom you believe, tell me the whole truth. Saint Fausta answered him: “I beg you, my lord, listen diligently to what I tell you: it is the power of God that preserves me in the midst of my torment, as you yourself have seen; and if you now listen to me with attention, you will soon turn to my faith. To this Evilasiy said to her: - Speak the truth quickly, I will listen to you. Then the saint said to him: - God is immortal and eternal, and all His deeds are true, His judgment is holy and righteous, and He preserves His servants everywhere, living righteously and holy and fulfilling their valiant deeds; preserves all those who, with their lives, shamed the devil, rejected and despised the idols that you revered as gods, and conquered the evil of this world. The Almighty God protects from all evil, who, despising everything earthly, strive for heavenly things and, living piously, keep the commandments of God blamelessly. And this is because such people came to know Him as the One God and were convinced that there is no other god except the One who descended from heaven to earth and, having inhabited the womb of the Most Holy and Most Pure Virgin, deigned to be ineffably born of Her; and then, having come of age, he did many glorious and wonderful things and, having taught people the truth, voluntarily ascended to the Cross and suffered for us in order to save us; Having been buried, on the third day He rose again and ascended into heaven in glory, so that at the end of the ages He would appear again, judge the living and the dead, and reward each according to his deeds. That is why we follow Christ, giving ourselves for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven to wounds and torment, so that we do not perish forever; We die here on earth, and there we will live an endless life. After listening to this, Evilasius came to know the great power of the Living God. Having touched his heart, he changed for the better. Having removed the bonds from the holy martyr Fausta, he gave her complete freedom. Then one of the slaves of Evilasios, appearing to King Maximian, said to him: “Sir, Evilasiy has insulted your trust in him and now wants to become a Christian; Therefore, while he has not yet accepted Christianity, try to keep him from this error. The king, hearing this, was very sad. Immediately calling his eparch Maximus, who was distinguished by great cruelty and inhumanity, he, after a curse before the gods, sent him to Cyzicus to Evilasius. Arriving in Cyzicus, Maxim began to interrogate Blessed Evilasios with great rage: “Tell me, evil man, how did you dare to leave our great gods and, despising them, believed crazy Christians and entered into communication with them? “I swear on my head that if you listen to the maiden Fausta, you will soon also know the true God and feel blessed.” Then Eparch Maxim, very angry, ordered Evilasiy to be hanged on a tree and severely beaten 1236. And for a long time they tormented the holy martyr here; In the midst of his suffering, he prayed to Christ God like this: “Lord, Almighty God, who helped Thy servant Favsta in all the torments she endured and who showed Thy miracles to my eyes, deliver me, the humble one, from this fierce and cruel eparch, for I have loved Thee, O Lord, for the sake of Thy many and great miracles.” Then the eparch ordered the sides of the holy martyr to be burned with burning candles; being so scorched, the holy sufferer asked Favsta, who was standing here and looking at his suffering, so that she would pray to the Lord for him. The saint, having mercy on him, began to pray like this: - Lord my God, show Thy grace and listen to me, Thy servant: accept Evilasias into the fold of Thy verbal flock and number him among Thy righteous ones, for Thou art blessed forever, amen. Then the eparch ordered Saint Favsta to be brought to his unrighteous court, because she convinced Evilasios to become a Christian. “Wicked woman,” Maxim said to her, “how did you dare to tear our glorious priest Evilasios away from the great gods and turn him to your God?” “I trust in my good and merciful God, who called Evilasios to be the son of light, that He will also call you to worship and knowledge of Himself. “Fausta,” the eparch objected, “do not consider me as crazy as Evilasius, who listened to you.” And he immediately ordered her to be tied up and iron nails driven into her feet. When the servants diligently carried out this order, the saint did not feel any pain at all. Eparch Maximus, seeing that Saint Fausta did not even pay attention to these wounds, called a detachment of soldiers and told them that if anyone could, let him find even greater and more severe torment for her. Then one of the soldiers, named Claudius, said: “My lord, if your lordship wants to kill her quickly, then let her be given to the beasts to be devoured.” The eparch immediately ordered this to be done, and the saint was led naked to the place where Christians were usually given over to be devoured by wild beasts. Here they released a lioness on her, but the lioness, quietly approaching, bowed her head before the saint. Then they released many other animals against Saint Favsta, but all of them, falling at her feet, bowed before her. The eparch, seeing this, was very surprised and ordered her to be dragged along the ground with her legs shackled and tied with a rope. When the saint was so dragged naked, she cried out to the Lord: - Lord Jesus Christ, cover Your creation, so that the eyes of the shameless and wicked do not see the nakedness of the body of Your bride. And immediately a cloud descended from above and covered the saint as if with a beautiful robe. After this, again one of the soldiers, named Eusebius, said to Eparch Maxim: “If your lordship allows, give her into my power.” “Take her and torture her as much as you can and want.” The warrior, seizing the holy martyr, took her to the blacksmith and, ordering him to make many long iron nails, ordered them to be driven into her head, forehead, eyes, chest, legs, and throughout her whole body. At this time the saint prayed like this: – Lord Jesus Christ, I thank You, for You, the Knower of Hearts, are the glory and crown of the righteous! Vouchsafe me, Thy humble and unworthy servant, to follow the path leading to a serene refuge with You, and lead Maxim, the eparch, to the holy faith and Thy love, establish him in Thy fear and lead him along with those who confess You, the True God, so that everyone may know that You are the One God, and that Divine honor and glory is due to You. forever and ever. Amen. Eusebius, seeing that the young maiden, all ulcerated by the nails, was bleeding, and at the same time did not suffer and did not even seem to feel pain, ordered to bring a large cauldron, fill it with tar and sulfur and, having lit it, throw Saint Fausta into it along with Saint Evilasius, and light a large fire under the cauldron. The holy martyrs, standing in the cauldron, as if in a beautiful and cool place, sang and glorified God. And immediately the fire went out and the cauldron cooled down. Then Eparch Maxim, seeing the faith and patience of the saints, said: - Eternal God, who helped Evilasius become an accomplice in suffering for You, together with Your servant Favsta! Accept me too, accursed and sinful, and receive me into communion with the two of them, so that I, the worst and least of them, may fulfill the trinity, in the image of the Most Holy Trinity. Lord God of strength! Show Your goodness to me, Your unworthy servant, and quickly have mercy on me, so that through me You may become even more glorified! As soon as he said this, the heavens opened up and the Son of God was seen in heaven with the faces of the holy Angels and Archangels and with the assembly of all the saints, shining like light. Seeing this terrible and terrible phenomenon, Maxim cried out in a loud voice to God: “Lord, accept me as you accepted Your servant Evilasios, and do not remember my iniquities and untruths, but forgive Your sinful and unworthy servant, and forgive me, as you once did the thief.” Having said this, he immediately ran to the cauldron in which Saints Fausta and Evilasius were located and, raising his eyes to heaven, marked himself with the sign of the cross and said: – In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit – I am with you too! After this, he took off his clothes and, again marking his entire body with the sign of the cross, threw himself into the cauldron. Then the holy and blessed Fausta, filled with great joy and joy that the Lord heard her and led Maxim to the holy faith, exclaimed: – Glory to You, Christ God, that You do not want anyone to perish, but You want everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth! Behold, I am in the midst of Your two servants, like a vine bearing grapes, and like a rope “twisted three times” (Eccl. 4:12), indissoluble from them, for You said: “Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20). While the saint was saying this, a voice was heard from heaven: “Come to Me, all you who labor in labor and are burdened with suffering for My name’s sake, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28) in My Heavenly Kingdom. The saints, hearing this voice, were filled with inexpressible joy and, thanking the Lord, gave up their souls to Him in peace; this was on the sixth day of the month of February 1237. Through their prayers, Lord, forgive us our sins and, having honored us with Your mercy, make us participants in eternal life, for You are blessed with the Father and the Holy Spirit and glorified forever. Amen. Cyzicus is a city on one of the peninsulas of the Propontis (Sea of ​​Marmara). At this time, Evilasius was about 80 years old. Died between 305–311 You might be interested in: