Память преподобных Евгения и Макария исповедников

When Julian reigned in the Roman Empire, all Christians were in hiding because, by order of the emperor, sacrifices were made everywhere to the pagan gods, and the pagans, to please their sovereign, desecrating themselves and not fearing the Judgment of God and eternal punishment, forcibly forced confessors of Christ who were firm in the faith to take part in these sacrifices. At this time, two elders of the Antiochian Church, Eugene and Macarius, were captured and brought to trial before Julian. At the trial, they confessed Christ as the true God and Judge of the living and the dead and denounced the apostate emperor as a wicked and murderer, a violator of the commandments of God, a pagan and a servant of idols, and they said to him: - Woe to you, wicked man and heir to the eternal, never-ending fire! Woe to your vanity! How did you decide to gain darkness for yourself instead of light? At these words, Julian became angry and ordered to first tie the saints with thin belts, hang them upside down and fumigate them with poisonous, fetid feces, and then heat an iron sheet very hot and, exposing them, lay them out on it. Subjected to such torment, Saints Eugene and Macarius raised their eyes to heaven and, preserved by the power of God, remained unharmed, and their faces shone with joy and thereby exposed the malice of the tormentor. After this, Julian ordered them to be imprisoned and exiled to Oasim in Arabia in 1492. Going to the place of exile, the saints rejoiced that they were suffering exile for Christ, and sang: “Blessed are those who are blameless in the way, walking in the law of the Lord” (Ps. 119:1). With a joyful spirit they arrived in Oasim, climbed a mountain and began to live on it alone. The rulers of the country told them: “Brothers, leave this place, because not far from here lives a fierce serpent who devours everyone who comes close to him.” - Show us the cave where this snake lives. They were led to the serpent's habitat and from a distance were shown the cave where he was. Then the saints, kneeling down, prayed to God, and suddenly a thunderclap came from heaven and struck the serpent. The killed snake was engulfed in flames and immediately burned, and the sand that was in the cave burned along with it, and dust rose above the cave in a violent, stinking whirlwind. Seeing such a miracle, the leaders of the country, who were pagans, believed in Christ. Meanwhile, Saints Eugene and Macarius entered the cave where the serpent lived and spent thirty days in prayer, having neither food nor drink with them. Finally they heard a voice saying to them: – Servants of the true God and our Savior Jesus Christ, come to the stone that is near you. The saints fulfilled the command and, when they approached the stone, they first saw light in it, and then the stone split into two parts, and water flowed out of it in abundance. Taking this water, they drank to their fill and thereby quenched both their hunger and thirst. While in the cave, the saints prayed that the Lord would grant them to die at the same time and be with Christ together, and the Lord accepted their prayer: they both went to the Lord together, thanking and glorifying Him 1493. On the same day, the memory of the holy martyrs Maximus, Theodotus, Hesychius and the holy martyr Asklipiodota, who suffered under the emperor Maximian Galerius in Adrianople 1494. Arabia is a rocky peninsula in southwest Asia. Oasim was one of the oases of the Arabian desert. The death of the saints dates back to the year 363. The memory of three of them Maxim, Theodotus and Asklipiodota (otherwise the Askliad is celebrated on September 15. You might be interested in: