Страдание святого мученика Маврикия и сына его Фотина и с ними 70 воинов

The lawless and wicked king Maximian of 1568 believed that by serving his false gods he would receive help and exaltation of his kingdom, so he commanded that all his subjects make sacrifices to wicked idols. He himself tried to set an example of zealous and diligent service to demons, forcing others to make vile sacrifices. It was not enough for him, like the previous kings, to limit himself to sending decrees to the heads of the regions where they were ordered to take care of the veneration of idols: he himself, without any laziness, went around his possessions, performing services before demonic altars; the godless king hoped that, thanks to his arrival, all those who had rejected pagan error and were worthy to know the truth of Christ would again return to their former evil faith. With this intention, he left Rome and headed through the eastern regions; By the way, he arrived in the Syrian city of Apamia. Here the idolatrous priests approached him and began to slander the Christians, saying: “Most powerful king, since the gods have given us the opportunity to speak freely with you, we proclaim to you that each of us with fear and zeal honors the great gods of our fathers, especially Zeus 1569 and the wonderful Apollo 1570, our most important gods, the defenders and patrons of your power. But Mauritius and with him seventy other of your warriors, puffed up with honors and enriched by your great gifts, despise our gods, oppose your great and invincible power - they were seduced by Christian delusion. Hearing about this, King Maximian became very angry; rage gripped him stronger than the flames blazing in the furnace; he was especially indignant that such warriors were found in his regiments. On one of the solemn days, he ordered the court to be prepared in a place for spectacles called Amaxika; it was between the northern city gates. Maximian chose this place so that all the people could see the trial; He ordered the holy martyrs to be brought here. On the appointed day, when many people had gathered at the indicated place, even the virgins did not stay at home, King Maximian sat down on the high court. Then seventy holy soldiers of Christ were brought here by the armor-bearers, together with their commander, Saint Mauritius. Looking at them, the king said to Mauritius: “We hoped, Mauritius, that you, as people who were not abandoned by our royal mercy, who were fed by our salary and who received the highest honors from us, would follow our pious example and with your courageous deeds and wise instruction you would enlighten those who reject our law pleasing to the gods, you would heal the opinions of those who are mistaken, you would change for the better those in need of correction, taming those who stir up discord - in a word we were confident that you would correct everything that was not done at our command, against us and against our wishes. But we hear that you are doing just the opposite - not only do you not pacify those who rebel against our law, but you yourself are opponents of our all-powerful gods; you neglect them, do not honor them, do not make sacrifices and offerings; Moreover, you have even become leaders for others and are dragging them into a pernicious abyss, if there is truth in what we have been told about you. To this Saint Mauritius replied: - King, the insult that we inflict on your insensitive gods is preparing for us a glorious crown of victory from our true God. We do not humiliate, we do not despise, as you believe in your madness, God who created us, but we glorify Him who is the only true God, Who created heaven and earth, the sea and everything that is in them. And it is not proper to call the nasty and unclean demons that lead people to destruction, and their deaf, blind and insensitive idols, gods. “Is this how you, Mauritius, give thanks to the gods who honored you and gave you first place in the army?” Saint Maurice answered: “I have never accepted any honor from your gods and I do not want to honor them.” For which of the people who know about God would want to pay veneration to insensible things except those who have no understanding and are like senseless cattle (Ps. 48:13); Only such people deify stones and trees, believing that they have intelligence, and reverence them as gods. – You received first place among our employees; That’s why you speak to us so boldly and without any fear. Having said this, the king ordered Saint Mauritius to be separated from seventy soldiers and addressed the latter with an affectionate speech: – Who, brethren, deceived you and instilled in you the idea of ​​deviating from the saviors - our gods - and sharing the delusion of people who worship the Crucified Man, some kind of villain? Then blessed Theodoret, together with Philip, answered on behalf of all the holy martyrs: - Godless tormentor, not only are we not mistaken ourselves, but we also want to free you from the delusion from which we got rid of by worshiping the One true God - the Almighty Father and Only Begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ - the true God, and God's Wisdom and His holy Spirit, Who breathed into us knowledge and understanding, so that we could confess the Consubstantial Trinity. We abhor your wicked faith, we leave the rank of temporary warrior, so that we may be worthy to be warriors of God, the King of Powers. “I see, Philip, that you have already reached a respectable old age, but in intelligence you are far inferior to the young; It’s better to turn to our gods and thereby set a good example for your other comrades in service, so that they do the same; then you will receive great honor and gifts from us. Saint Philip answered: - Know, king, that I will not instruct those who voluntarily know the fear of God to do evil, for it is written: “Woe to that man through whom temptation comes” (Matthew 18:7). “You are bold, Philip, thanks to our patience and meekness.” Better leave your malice, so as not to arouse anger and rage in us; you will be subjected to severe torment if you dare to confess the Man Whom you consider one of the gods. Then the holy seventy martyrs answered the tormentor: “Your vain and vain threat, godless king, gives us strength and strength; we are not afraid of any torment, for there is no fear in the soul of one who loves the Lord. Maximian was angry at this answer and ordered the belts and military robes to be removed from them and said: “You see what glory and honor you have lost and what dishonor you have brought upon yourself for your disobedience.” “You, having taken off our clothes and belts, deprived us of our military rank, but there is a God in heaven, whom we worship: He will clothe us in clothes and belts of incorruptibility and will make us worthy of His eternal glory, which you are completely unworthy to see, since your father, Satan, speaks and works in you. Then the king, becoming even more angry, said to the saints: “Cursed and unworthy of the gifts of our gods, you yourself have earned dishonor: we have honored you with great honor, but you have dishonored the great gods, despised our mercy, now accept according to your merits.” “Tsar, being a warrior for you is a vain and transitory matter, but your honor is dishonor, for you have forgotten God, who gave you royal power, and in your madness you consider vain and soulless idols as gods, although they do not bring you any benefit and do not understand whether someone honors them or dishonors them.” - Wishing, by my royal mercy, to save your life, I still give you time. After this, he ordered them to be imprisoned for three days, so that they, having considered, could choose for themselves what they wished. The saints, imprisoned and shackled, said this: - Beloved brethren, let us direct our souls to prayer and begin to diligently pray to our good and merciful God, that He would send down to us through His Holy Spirit wisdom and understanding: let us ask Him to put into our mouths what we should answer to the king, so that the tormentor will be surprised at the truth of our faith. After this they began to pray, calling with one accord: - Lord Jesus Christ, Almighty God, whose power is eternal and whose kingdom is endless, send down upon us Your Holy Spirit - may He instruct us and fill us with joy and gladness; May He give us victory over evil error, and we will be strengthened in faith by Your Holy Spirit, who speaks to us according to Your true and unfaithful promise (Matthew 10:19-20). For taking away worldly honor from us, grant us to be warriors in Your heavenly city and to be among the citizens on high with all Your saints, who have pleased You from the ages. You are One God, and to You be glory and power forever, amen. Three days later, King Maximian again sat down at the same judgment seat at the Amaxikian Gate and ordered the holy martyrs to be brought; All the inhabitants of that city also came here to watch the trial. The torturer, holding back his anger, affectionately addressed the saints: - Husbands, choose for yourself what is useful for you: come and make sacrifices to the gods, then you will receive life and avoid a bitter death. “We, king, have thought through everything properly: listen to us carefully and do not force us to make sacrifices to your gods anymore; for we have firmly decided to hate this temporary life and prefer the death that lies before us because of the love of Christ, from whom we hope to receive eternal life. Therefore, do with us as you please: we will not deviate from our God and will never worship your demons; being condemned to temporary death, we are thereby delivered from eternal condemnation. This was the answer of the saints. The tormentor, noticing a young man among them, asked him: - Tell me, young man, what is your name and where are you from? - My name is Photin, I received this name from the true light, I am a warrior of my Christ, who shamed your father the devil. I am a Roman by birth, the son - not only in flesh, but also in soul - of the most illustrious Mauritius; for from him I was born and received the knowledge of God; he raised me in the holy faith in the Lord Christ, whom you, king, rejecting, became like senseless animals. “You are unreasonable, young man, and your words expose your age; but it’s time for you to know what is good for you - go ahead and make a sacrifice to the great Zeus, have pity on your youth. “You call me foolish only because I do not do your will and do not worship idols.” No, I am more intelligent than all of you, for I believe in my Lord Jesus Christ, in whom you do not believe and do not want to know. Then the tormentor again said to the saints: - How long must we endure your madness, wretched ones? How long will we, yielding to our excessive pity, delay your torment? Make a sacrifice to the gods, do not bring our righteous judgment upon yourself, do not incite us to unmercifulness and cruelty. “Filthy and wicked servant of demons, if you have any sense at all, then you have already learned about our faith and power from Photinus; Although he is young in years, he has disgraced your wickedness with his right faith and confession of Christ; all the more do we strive to endure torment in order to shame your father the devil and please Christ our God. Then the tormentor, filled with anger, ordered the saints to be naked and beaten with ox sinews. The servants began to do what they were ordered: they spread out each of the soldiers of Christ and, without any mercy, struck them all over their bodies. So the saints were tortured until their holy bodies were crushed and the whole place was stained with a lot of shed blood. The saints, in the midst of their torment, cried out to Christ the Lord, asking Him for help. The Lord did not abandon them with His invisible power, eased their suffering and strengthened their hearts in patience and Divine love. When the servants were completely exhausted, the king turned to the saints: “Have you, impudent and unreasonable ones, realized how easily we can take your life?” So make sacrifices to the gods so as not to incur even stronger punishments on yourself! - Know, wicked and ignorant king of our God, that just as you are far from the love of Christ and the true light, being darkened by the darkness of demonic delusion, so we do not feel the torment that you inflict on us, for our mind is enlightened by the faith and love of Christ our God. Think, O tormentor and servant of demons, to what new and most severe torments you will betray us to; our soul thirsts and the love of Christ in us desires, through suffering, to be freed from the body and to see the living God, reigning forever. Hearing this, the tormentor flared up with even greater rage and ordered a large fire to be lit in order to throw the holy martyrs into it. Then a large fire was built; The saints did not wait for the tormentor’s servants to throw them into the fire, but they themselves approached it like water, and entering the middle of the fire, they walked unharmed in the fire, reproaching the tormentor and shaming his gods. All those present marveled at such a glorious miracle. But the tormentor, as a vessel of destruction, did not want to know that the saints are helped by the power of God, with which they defeat the power of fire, but with even greater fury he tried to destroy the saints. He ordered that the holy sufferers, who were not harmed by the strong flame, be taken out of the fire, and tied to those trees on which criminals were usually tortured, and the bodies of the saints were mercilessly whittled with iron claws. The saints courageously endured this fierce torment, without fear of bodily suffering. Even the people were amazed at the rage and madness of the king. Saint Mauritius, turning to the king, said to him: - Unholy and nasty tormentor, don’t you see your weakness, don’t you realize your insignificance; after all, Photin, a small youth, could endure so much fierce torment; with this he crushed and broke the power of your lawless kingdom. How can you defeat us all, having yourself been defeated and put to shame by a young youth? Maximian looked at the saint with rage and, gnashing his teeth, ordered the young man Photinus to be immediately beheaded with the sword of the saint before the eyes of his father; with this he wanted to take revenge on Mauritius; he thought that he would be greatly saddened by the death of his father’s son, Saint Mauritius; but the holy man was filled with joy and gladness, looking at the martyrdom of his son and his death for Christ God. When Saint Photinus, beheaded by the sword, gave up his soul to the Lord, Mauritius said to Maximian: - You fulfilled our desire, lawless tormentor, by sending Photinus to Christ God; Now our departure to heaven is undoubtedly not far away: who among us will not imitate the warrior of Christ Photinus, who has already moved into the heavenly abodes and put Satan to shame, your father? Invent even greater and more severe torments and try in every possible way to test whether our faith in Christ is strong. When Maximian saw that the holy martyrs were uncomplainingly and courageously enduring all the torments, without deviating from their faith, he called together all his wicked and godless advisers and began to think with them of the most cruel death to destroy the martyrs to frighten all Christians, no matter where they lived. Some advised him one thing, others another; Finally, one of them, the most fierce and wicked, the most inhuman and evil, said to Maximian: - Now, king, it’s summer - the month of July is coming; outside our city there is one place to the west, between two rivers and a lake, swampy and overgrown with grass; there are now a lot of mosquitoes, gadflies, wasps and hornets, so that it is difficult for a person to pass through this place, and it is completely impossible to stay for an hour; order the husbands to be brought here, order them to be naked and tied to the trees; in addition, they should be coated with honey; then mosquitoes, hornets and all kinds of flies will cruelly torment them; this is the most powerful and terrible torment that can be imagined; then they will understand that they cannot blaspheme our invincible and eternal gods. This advice greatly pleased the wicked king and all his bad advisers, and the holy passion-bearers of Christ were condemned to this torment. Then the soldiers took them, tied them up and led them to the above-mentioned place; here they tightly tied the saints to the trees that grew above the spring and near the swamp, smeared their naked bodies with honey from head to toe; in addition, they cast down the body of blessed Photinus before the eyes of his father. After that they left. All kinds of flies, mosquitoes, gadflies, wasps, hornets rushed towards the saints; like a thick cloud they surrounded the passion-bearers, mercilessly hurting them. The saints endured such unbearable torment for ten days and ten nights. Raising their gaze to heaven, they prayed, saying: “Lord our God, You created us in Your image and likeness, You have made us worthy to know Your truth, You have deigned to reveal to us Your Divinity, Your Only Begotten Son and the Most Holy and Life-giving Spirit. We entrust our souls to You and pray to You, to rank us with all Your saints, who have pleased You from all eternity. For we loved You and strived for You with all our souls; For your sake we are betrayed to this torment. You are the only good and merciful God, and glory is due to You forever, amen. After this, they gave up their holy souls to the Lord and were awarded crowns of eternal glory. The lawless tormentor Maximian burned with rage at the saints even after their death, when they were already enjoying immortal life (for those who died in God are alive before God, although they have left this world). Hearing that the saints had already died, Maximian ordered their honest heads to be cut off and left without burial. Then their holy bodies and heads were scattered throughout the meadow and oak grove that was there, to be devoured by birds and animals. Some of the believers, coming at night, with fear and trembling, collected the scattered relics of the holy martyrs and buried them in that place, glorifying our Lord Jesus Christ, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever, amen. Maximian Galerius, Roman Emperor - from 306 to 311. Zeus or Jupiter is a Greco-Roman god, revered as the ruler of heaven and earth, the father of all gods and people. Apollo was revered as the god of the sun and mental enlightenment, as well as public welfare and order, the guardian of the law, and the deity of predicting the future. You might be interested in: