Житие и страдание святого священномученика Власия, епископа Севастийского, и других, пострадавших с ним

In those ancient times, when the wicked served idols and many people worshiped the creation and work of their own hands, then the faith of many saints shone forth, and among them the piety of the holy glorious martyr Blasius flourished. This saint, moving away from every evil deed, lived his entire life meekly and righteously, pleasing to God and blameless. His fellow citizens - residents of the city of Sebastia, located in Cappadocia 1304 - pious people, wanted Blasius to be installed as their bishop, and their desire was fulfilled. The new shepherd zealously shepherded the flock of Christ at a time when frequent persecutions were inflicted on the Church of Christ, and many, having endured suffering, were awarded the crown of martyrdom. At that time, during the reign of Diocletian 1305, the holy Great Martyr Eustratius, one of the fifth martyrs, fought a good deed, along with his comrades 1306; He stood for the faith of Christ until he bled to death, and for this he was imprisoned. Here Saint Blaise visited him at night, bribing the prison guards with a large amount of gold. Blasius pleased the martyr of Christ, who so courageously endured suffering. Evstratiy gave Blasius his will, drawn up before his death, making in it orders about his body and estate, which is narrated in his life. Saint Blaise hid from the hands of his tormentors, as many other saints did at that time, not exposing themselves to torture without special permission from God; few Christians lived in the city at that time, and even then they were secret admirers of Christ; the majority, out of fear of torment, fled to deserts, mountains and dens; some, not being able to endure the torment, worshiped idols for a while. So Saint Blaise, not only during the reign of Diocletian, but also during the reign of Licinius 1307 (under this emperor he suffered) hid from fierce persecution in one desert mountain, which was called Argeos 1308; here he lived in a cave and labored in silence and fasting, sending up unceasing prayers to God. Wild animals came to him, and if they found the saint talking with God in silent prayer, then they, as if intelligent beings, did not interrupt his thoughts of God, but stood in front of the cave, waiting until the saint, having finished his prayer, came out to them, and did not leave until the saint, coming out and laying his hands on them, blessed them; if any animal felt sick, it came to the saint and through the laying on of his holy hand received healing. At this time, hegemon Agricolaus tried in every possible way to destroy as many Christians as possible, betraying them to various terrible torments, he put some to the sword, ordered others to be burned in the fire, others to be drowned in rivers, and others to be devoured by wild animals. For the last purpose, he ordered his hunters to catch as many predatory animals as possible. Fulfilling this command, the fishermen went out to fish and, bypassing the mountains and deserts, also came to Mount Argeos, where the holy Bishop Blasius was hiding; approaching the saint’s cave and seeing many frolicking animals in front of it, they said to each other: “Let’s go and see what’s happening there.” As they approached, they saw that Saint Blaise was sitting in his cave, as if in some kind of palace, and sending up fervent prayers to God. Without saying anything to the holy bishop, they returned home and told everything they saw to Hegemon Agricolaus; he ordered a large number of soldiers to go along with the hunters, seize the Christians hiding there and bring them to him. Arriving at that mountain and entering the cave, the sent soldiers found only Saint Blaise there, who offered prayers to God and glorified His holy name. “Get out of here,” they said to Blasius, “and go with us to the city: the hegemon is calling you.” Hearing this, the saint rejoiced and said: - Okay, my children, let's go together; The Lord remembered me: He appeared to me three times that night, saying: “Rise and offer Me a sacrifice, as befits you by your title of bishop.” So, at the right time, my children, you have come here today, my Lord, Jesus Christ, be with you.” On the way, the pagans, seeing the meekness of the saint and listening to his teaching, as well as being amazed by his miracles, turned to the true God; for through his prayers healings were given from the Lord to many sick people, and not only to people, but also to animals; when the sick were brought or brought to him, he laid his hands on them, offered a prayer for them and sent them away completely healthy. One woman had an only son; while eating, a fish bone lodged in his throat, so that he could not utter a word and was already dying; the mother, taking him half-dead, carried him to the saint and laid him at his feet, weeping bitterly and crying: “Have mercy on my son, servant of our Savior Jesus Christ, he is the only one I have.” At the same time, she told Vlasiy what happened to her son. The saint of God, putting his hand into the youth’s throat and raising his eyes to heaven, began to pray to the Lord like this: “My Savior! You help everyone who calls on You with faith: hear my prayer, and remove the bone lodged in the throat of this youth by Your invisible power and heal him. And the rest of the time, if something happens to a person or an animal and they begin to remember my name, saying: “God, help through the prayers of your servant Blasius,” then You, Lord, are quick to help, help them and grant healing to the glory and honor of Your holy name.” Praying like this, he healed the boy and returned him to his mother, who, in great joy, silently sent praises to God. As a result of such miracles, the name of Blaise became famous not only in Sebaste, but even in Nikopol 1309. When the saint was still on the road, not far from Sebastia, the following happened. One poor widow had nothing but one pig; the wolf crept up and grabbed him. The poor woman began to cry bitterly; Seeing that the saint was coming, she rushed to him and with tears began to tell him about her grief. The saint, smiling, told her: “Do not indulge in grief, woman, do not cry: your pig will be returned to you safe and sound.” Having said this, the saint continued on his way, and that wolf came running to the poor widow, carrying a piglet in her teeth; he let it pass in front of her without any damage and ran back into the desert; The widow took her pig, rejoicing and praising God. When Saint Blaise reached Sebastia, hegemon Agricolaus, having learned about this, immediately ordered him to be imprisoned. The next day, having sat down at the judgment seat, Agricolaus ordered the saint of God to be brought to him; Seeing him, the hegemon first addressed him with such flattering words: “Rejoice, Blasius, beloved friend of our gods and ours!” To this the saint answered him: “Rejoice, you too, sovereign hegemon, but do not call demons gods, who will be consigned to eternal fire along with those who worship them.” In anger, the hegemon ordered to beat the saint mercilessly; after a long torture, the saint again said to the hegemon: “Crazy seducer of human souls, do you really think with your torment to turn me away from the true God? No, this is impossible, for I trust in Jesus Christ, who strengthens me; however, do as you wish.” Seeing the saint’s unshakable faith, the hegemon ordered him to be taken to prison again. Then that poor widow, struck by the courageous suffering that Saint Blaise endured for Christ, and by his firm constancy in the holy faith, killed her little pig, which she received unharmed from the teeth of a wolf, boiled the head and legs, and put it on a dish; here she added more seeds, earthly fruits and garden vegetables, as much as she could due to her poverty; having hidden all this in a basket and lit a candle, she brought this basket to the saint in prison; falling at the feet of the martyr, she began to beg him to take this food and taste it. Having given praise to God, the saint tasted the food brought; then, having blessed the widow, he said to her: “Woman, in this way commemorate my memory every year, then nothing necessary in your house will become scarce; if someone else becomes like you and performs my memory, he will receive the gifts of God in abundance and the blessing of the Lord will remain on him throughout his life.” The pious widow, having received such instruction from the saint, returned to her home, glorifying God; and the Gospel saying is applicable to her: “The whole world will tell in her memory what she did” (Matthew 26:13). Meanwhile, the wicked tormentor, having sat down at the judgment seat for the second time, ordered Saint Blaise to be brought to torture. “Blasiy,” he said to the martyr, “will you make a sacrifice to the gods?” Then you will remain alive. Or do you want to expose yourself to a painful death? - “The gods who did not create heaven and earth will disappear from the earth and from under the heavens” (Jer. 10:11), and the death that you threaten will grant me eternal life. Seeing such steadfastness of the saint in faith, the hegemon ordered him to be naked, hanged on a tree and severely whittled with iron tools. After long torment, the holy martyr said to the hegemon: “You wicked and full of filth, do you really want to frighten me with wounds when Jesus Christ helps me?” I am not afraid of your visible torment, for I look to the future invisible blessings promised to those who love God. After this, the torturer ordered him to be removed from the tree and taken back to prison. When Saint Blaise was led to prison, he was followed by seven pious and God-fearing women, who, collecting the blood dripping onto the ground from the saint’s body, were anointed with it. The servants accompanying the saint, seeing this, took them and brought them to the hegemon, saying: “And these women are followers of Christ.” Then the hegemon turned to the women and said: - Come to your senses, make sacrifices to the gods, and receive great honors from me. The honest and holy women answered him: “If you, hegemon, want us to worship your gods and make sacrifices to them, then first of all we should cleanse ourselves; So, let's go to the nearest lake and wash our faces and whole body in it according to custom: command us to bring your gods there too; Having washed ourselves, we will worship them on the shore of that lake. Rejoicing, the hegemon ordered his idols to be brought; putting them in bags and sealing them with tin, the hegemon gave them to the women; then he ordered the soldiers to accompany the women with the idols to the shore of the lake and from there again bring them back with honor. Taking the bags with idols on their shoulders, the women carried them to the shore of the lake; Having arrived where the lake was very deep, they began to ask the soldiers to move away from them, as if ashamed to undress in front of them, and to wait a little until they performed ablution. When they departed, each of the women threw the idol she was carrying into the lake, and the vile idols quickly sank into the water like tin. Seeing this, the soldiers angrily grabbed them and, taking them to the hegemon, told him about the drowning of the idols. The hegemon's face changed with rage and roared at the warriors like a lion: “Evil servants, why didn’t you restrain the gods, why didn’t you stop the women from throwing them into the depths of the lake?” In response to this, the warriors said: “Most Serene Hegemon, these women deceived you and took your gods with cunning intent; not knowing their cunning, we did not hold them.” Then the holy women said to the hegemon: “The True God does not know human flattery, and your gods, made of soulless stone and wood, gold and silver, were taken by us and drowned by flattery; They were neither able to deliver themselves from our hands, nor to save themselves from drowning: how can they save others and save others from troubles? Filled with rage, the hegemon ordered to light the furnace, melt the tin, bring iron combs and tridents and seven red-hot copper boards made like clothes; He ordered all this to be placed on one side, and on the other he put soft robes and various women’s jewelry and said to those holy women: “Choose one of two: either worship the gods and make sacrifices to them, then save your life, you will walk in those light clothes and precious jewelry; if you do not do this, then you will endure all these torments prepared for you.” One of those women, who had two sons - boys, grabbed light clothes and threw them into the oven, where they burned; and the youths began to ask their mother, saying: “Our dear mother, do not leave us to perish on this earth, but just as you raised us with your sweet milk on earth, so help us to achieve the Kingdom of Heaven.” After that, the hegemon ordered them to be hanged naked and their bodies to be planed with iron combs. Then the soldiers saw that instead of blood, milk was flowing from their ulcers, and their bodies became white as snow; The angels of God, descending from heaven, strengthened the holy women in the midst of torment and consoled them like this: “Do not be afraid, but continue your feat, like a good farmer who, having begun the harvest, finishes it; Having completed the task, he receives gratitude and reward from his master and returns joyfully to his home. In the same way, strive to receive eternal blessed life from our Savior Jesus Christ.” Then the hegemon ordered them to be taken down from that tree and thrown into a fiery furnace. When they were thrown there, the fire immediately went out there, and they came out of the oven without any harm. Then the hegemon said to them: - Leave your magic and make a sacrifice to our gods. The holy women unanimously answered him: - It will not be good for you, son of the devil, we will not leave our Lord Jesus Christ, we will not bow to stone and wood, idols, like you, deaf and insensitive, for we are called to the Kingdom of Heaven. Hearing this, the hegemon ordered to cut off their heads with a sword. When they were brought to the place where death awaited them, they asked the soldiers: - Wait a little while we pray to God. Having bowed their knees, they began to pray like this: “Glory to You, our great and glorified God, glory to You, Christ, who reigns forever and called us to the path of salvation, for who is as great as You, who inspired us to renounce darkness and approach Your true light! We pray to You, Lord, number us among Your First Martyr Thekla, accept prayer for us from our Holy Father and Shepherd Blasius, who guided us on the true path.” Having prayed like this and rising from the ground, they stretched out their hands to heaven and, lifting up their eyes, with a pure heart unanimously cried out to God: “Glory to Thee, Christ our God, who hast made us worthy to stand in this place, like sheep to be slaughtered, for Thy holy name: we desire to be sacrifices to Thee, accept our souls upon Thy heavenly altar.” The two mentioned youths approached their mother and said to her: “Mother, crowns from the Lord in heaven are ready for you, and entrust us to the good passion-bearer, His Holiness Bishop Blasius.” Then the executioner came and cut off the holy seven wives' heads; such was their end. After this, the hegemon, ordering Saint Blaise to be brought from prison, asked him: “Will you make sacrifices to the gods now or not?” “You damned blind man,” answered the saint, “you do not see the true light: which of those who have come to know the Living God will make sacrifices or worship soulless idols?” Know you, darkened and wicked man, that you have abandoned the Living God and worship an insensitive stone; I am not afraid of your threats, torment me as you wish - behold, I hand over my body to you for my Christ, God alone has power over my soul. Then the hegemon said to the saint: - If I order you to be thrown into the lake, how can your Christ, Whom you worship, then help you? “Blind and foolish,” answered the saint, “you, by worshiping idols, consider yourself saved; and I, honoring Christ, will I not show you on the waters the power of my God? Then the hegemon ordered him to be taken to the lake and thrown into the depths; The saint, having come to the shore, marked the water with the sign of the cross, walked on the water as if on dry land, and, reaching the middle of the lake, sat down on the water as if on land, and addressed the following speech to the soldiers and servants of the tormentor standing on the shore: - If you have gods, then show their power: walk on the water. Then sixty-eight men, calling on the names of their gods, entered the lake, wanting to walk on the water, and all of a sudden they sank into the water, like tin, and died. The angel of the Lord, descending from heaven to the saint, said to him: “Bishop filled with God’s grace, come down from the water and receive the crown prepared for you from God.” Having descended to earth, the saint, with a face shining like bright snow, came to the hegemon and began to reproach him. Then the hegemon issued a death decree for Vlasiy with the following content: “Vlasiy does not obey me, despises the king, blasphemes our gods, killed sixty-eight men in the water with his magic - for all this he should be beheaded with the sword along with two youths.” Together with the youths, Vlasiy was taken away from the hegemon. Arriving at the place of execution, he prayed for his sins, for the whole world, especially for those who would commit his memory; and for such he prayed that no illness would touch them, that their homes would be filled with all good things, and that their prayers would be heard. At that time, a bright cloud descended on him from above, which overshadowed him, and from the cloud the voice of Christ was heard: “I will fulfill all your requests, my beloved ascetic.” Then the executioner beheaded his honest head, and after him the two aforementioned youths on one cliff outside the city wall in Sebastia; this happened on the eleventh day of the month of February 1310. One pious woman named Elissa, taking the holy bodies of the martyrs, buried them with honor in the same place; healings were given to the sick from the tombs of the saints. Having learned about the suffering death of Saint Blaise of Christ, that aforementioned woman, who had one pig, honored the memory of the saint, gathering neighbors and acquaintances, and God blessed her house with all contentment. Imitating her, other pious people also began to annually commemorate Saint Blaise, bringing candles and incense to the church, gathering in the houses of their fellow believers and giving alms to the poor and needy. From then on, that pious custom began, which some still adhere to to this day, namely: to commemorate the holy hieromartyr Blasius following the example of that widow who was the first to make such a remembrance, and this remembrance occurs to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, glorified and worshiped with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen. Divine vegetation, unfading flower, the long-suffering vines of Christ, God-Bearing Blaise, who by faith honors your memory, fulfill your joy, praying unceasingly for all of us. You have been adorned with the anointing of sanctification and the torment of blood, O glorious Blasie, and you are shining everywhere in the highest, rejoicing and gazing at us, having come to your church and in it constantly calling to you: keep us all. Cappadocia is a large region in the eastern half of Asia Minor. Sevastia is a city in Cappadocia on the border with Lesser Armenia, in the northeastern part of the region. Reigned from 284 to 305. Their memory is celebrated by the Church on December 3. Reigned from 307 to 324. Argeos - otherwise Argei - is a large mountain of Asia Minor, part of Antitaurus, in northwestern Cappadocia, covered at the very top with eternal snow, and at its foot with a beautiful forest. Nikopol is a city in Lesser Armenia, on the border almost at the Lycus River, now Enderes. The holy martyr Blasius suffered and died around 316. His relics were transferred to the West during the Crusades; parts of them are located in many European countries. You might be interested in: