Житие и страдание святой преподобной мученицы Евдокии

During the reign of Trajan 1679 in the city of Iliopolis 1680, which is in Kelesyria 1681, in the region of Lebanese Phenicia 1682, adjacent to the Judean country, there lived a girl named Eudokia. By origin and by faith she was a Samaritan 1683. Seducing with her great beauty, she mercilessly led many to destruction, collecting through carnal impurity, this easy way of acquiring, her shameful wealth from the wealth of those countries. Her face was so beautiful that even an artist would have found it difficult to depict this beauty. Rumors spread about her everywhere, and many noble young men and even representatives of the authorities from other countries and cities flocked to Iliopol, as if for another need, but in fact only to see and enjoy the beauty of Evdokia, who through sinful deeds had amassed wealth almost equal to the royal treasury. And through this prolonged collection of treasures, Evdokia became so deadened in soul in her unclean life and petrified in heartfelt bitterness that no power other than the Divine would have healed the hopeless mental illness of this desperate sinner. However, the time came when the hand of the good shepherd, liberating from destruction, looking for the lost sheep, hurried to her: the Creator looked at His creation, corrupted by the malice of the devil, and wanted to renew it. The true Householder took care of the fruits of His vineyard, which were subject to enemy plunder. The Lord of the heavenly treasures hastened to accept into the eternal treasury the drachma lying on the ground in the mud and dying. The Guardian of the blessings expected by the righteous called this desperate Samaritan woman to His perfect hope, and left the devil in shame. He made the woman who was once lying in the swamp like cattle become unclean like a lamb; the former vessel of uncleanness was filled with purity; the dung ditch became a pure, undisturbed source; the dirty stream was transformed into a fragrant lake; the stench of a rotten and frozen well turned out to be the alabaster of a valuable world; the one that for many people was spiritual death, the same one for many turned out to be the cause of salvation. This is how this great sinner began to turn to God. One monk, named Herman, was returning through Iliopol from a trip to his monastery. He came to the city in the evening and stayed with a Christian acquaintance who lived near the city gates, and his room was adjacent to the wall of the house of the girl in question. The monk, having fallen asleep a little, got up at night as usual to sing psalms and, at the end of the prescribed rule, sat down and, taking the book that he carried with him in his bosom, delved into reading for a long time. In the book it was written about the Last Judgment of God and that the righteous will be enlightened, like the sun, in the Kingdom of Heaven, and the sinners will go into the unquenchable fire, where they will be betrayed forever to fierce torment. On this very night, Evdokia, according to Divine vision, was alone. The bedroom in which she locked herself adjoined the wall behind which the monk labored in prayer and reading. When the monk began his psalmody, Evdokia immediately woke up and, lying on the bed, listened to everything until the very end of the reading. She could hear everything that the monk was reading, for only one wall, and not a thick one, separated them, especially since the monk was reading loudly. Listening to the reading, the sinner came into great tenderness and did not sleep until dawn, with trembling hearts thinking about the multitude of her sins, about the Last Judgment and the unbearable torment of sinners. As soon as day came, she (under the influence of Divine grace, which aroused her to repentance) ordered to call to her the one who was reading the book at night, and when he came, she asked him: – What kind of person are you and where are you from? How do you live and what is your faith? I beg you, tell me the whole truth. Hearing what you read at night, I was confused, and my soul was exhausted, for I heard something terrible and amazing, hitherto unknown to me. And if it is true that sinners are consigned to fire, then who can be saved? Blessed Herman told her: - Madam! What kind of faith are you if you have never heard of the Last Judgment of God and do not understand the meaning of the words I read? “By my fatherland and by faith,” said Evdokia, “I am a Samaritan; My wealth is immeasurable, and I am especially embarrassed and frightened by that grief and that eternal and unquenchable fire with which the book you read threatens the rich. I had never seen such words in the books of our faith, and therefore I was quite alarmed when I heard something new and unexpected. Blessed Herman asked: – Do you have a husband, madam? And where do you get your boundless wealth, as you say? “I don’t have a legitimate husband,” she answered, “and my wealth is collected from many husbands.” And if the rich are condemned after death to such heavy and eternal torment, then what benefit does my wealth have to me? - Tell me the true truth (for my Christ, Whom I serve, is false and true), do you want to be saved without wealth and live safely, in joy and in joy, for endless centuries? Or do you want to suffer cruelly with your wealth in eternal fire? “It is much better for me to receive eternal life without wealth,” answered Evdokia, “than to perish forever with wealth one day.” But I wonder why a rich man would be executed like this after death? Does your God really have such cruel and implacable hatred for the rich? “No,” said Herman, “God does not turn away from the rich and does not forbid them to be rich, but he hates the unrighteous acquisition of wealth and the use of wealth to live in sinful pleasures and lusts; therefore, if anyone acquires wealth through legal means and spends what he has acquired on good deeds, he is sinless and righteous before God, but whoever accumulates wealth by theft, robbery and untruth, or in general by any sinful deed, who hoards wealth in his treasuries, without mercy for the poor, without giving to those who ask, without clothing the naked, without satisfying the hungry, will suffer torment without mercy. – Doesn’t my wealth seem unjust to you? “Truly it is unrighteous and more disgusting to God than any sin.” - Why is that so? After all, I have clothed many naked, fed many hungry people to their fill, and helped some with a little gold. Why do you call wealth evil? “Madam,” said Herman, “listen to me with attention: after all, no one, going to the bathhouse to wash, wants to immerse his body in unclean, muddy, disgusting and stinking water, but he washes himself where there is clean water.” How can you be cleansed from the stinking and vile filth of sin by some deeds of mercy alone, when you wallow in it voluntarily and at the same time despise the pure water of God’s mercy? In any case, this swamp of sinful filth, like a flood, with great force will plunge you into the sulfur and tar abyss, burning with the eternal flame of God’s wrath. For the wealth that you have is so great is contrary to the great Lord and eternal Judge and has already been condemned before the Last Judgment as acquired in delusion and fornication. And it will not help you at all that you sometimes gave a small portion of this large, but bad and sinful wealth to a few wretched ones - for the reward for this small virtue destroys an immeasurable multitude of evil deeds, just as a subtle fragrance is drowned out by a strong stench. No, you will never receive any grace as long as you voluntarily remain in uncleanness, and you will not be worthy of God’s mercy in any other way than by rejecting your immeasurable sinful stench, washing yourself with tears of repentance and adorning yourself with righteous deeds. Like someone who walks barefoot on thorns, there are many sharp splinters, so that even if some are pulled out, many of them will remain in the body and will cause torment; So, even if you have ever given a small alms to a beggar, even if it helps you to destroy some small sin, then the biggest sinful thorn remains on your conscience and will lead you to the most severe torment. Terrible and righteous is the giver of bribes - God, who is angry with you and threatens you with eternal and unbearable torment prepared for unrepentant sinners. But if you want to listen to me, you can be saved from the torment that awaits you and receive eternal joy. – Servant of the living God, I beg you, stay with me for a while, tell me in detail about those deeds by which you can be worthy of God’s mercy, so that I, following this example, can receive salvation. I am ready to use my wealth for good deeds. You said that God loves a fair and virtuous distribution of wealth: nothing prevents me, even with some reduction in household property, from freeing myself from the torment that, according to you, those hated by God must endure on the day of judgment. Here, honest father, I have many slaves. Under your leadership, I will lead them, loaded with gold, silver and precious things, to your God, if only He, through your intercession, deigns to accept my offering and grant me salvation. “Don’t judge God,” Herman told her, “by human morals, don’t think that He needs those insignificant things that are precious to people; for He, being incomparably richer than all the kings of the earth, by His will became poor for us, so that through this sorrowful poverty he could buy us eternal salvation. My daughter, give your wealth to the sick and poor, for they are dear to God: He considers what is given to them by someone to be given to Himself, and for the temporary property distributed to the poor, He rewards with heavenly, never-fading treasures. Do this and then proceed to the holy and saving baptismal font, and, having been washed from the filth of all your sins, you will be pure and blameless, you will be reborn by the grace of the Holy Spirit and receive a blessed destiny, where you will enjoy the incorruptible eternal light, where there is no sorrow, no illness, no atrocity. You will be a holy lamb, fed in heavenly pastures by Jesus Christ, our Savior. In a word: if you want to be saved, my daughter, do as I advise you, and you will be blessed forever. “If the words you read, which I heard so clearly last night, were not imprinted in my mind, I would not have called you here.” Take from me, father, as much gold as you want and stay here for a few days, teaching me your Christian faith and instructing me in virtue, so that I, having distributed my wealth and property and arranged everything properly, can follow you wherever you go. Blessed Herman said to this: “I don’t need gold: the hope of your salvation is enough for me, and this is a good reason for me to slow down here for a few days if I find the lost sheep and bring it to the fence of Christ.” Therefore, although I was in a hurry to my monastery, however, I will stay here for a few days for the sake of your appeal to God. You do everything I say - call one of the Christian elders who live in this city, and let him, having taught you, baptize you according to the church rite, for this is the beginning and foundation of salvation, and then all other godly activities will go in their order. Hearing this from the blessed elder, Evdokia called one of the servants of her house and ordered him to immediately go to the Christian church and ask the presbyter to immediately come to the one who required him; At the same time, she forbade saying who exactly is demanding and why. The presbyter arrived soon. Seeing him, Evdokia bowed to the ground, kissed his feet and said: “I beg you, my lord, tell me about your faith: I also want to become a Christian.” The presbyter, surprised by such a speech, asked Evdokia: – What is your faith that you want to convert to Christian faith? “I am a Samaritan, both by birth and by faith, and I was the wife of the whole world. I confess to you in one word the whole truth. I am a sea of ​​many evils, but when I heard that sinners, if they do not repent and become Christians, will suffer in eternal fire after death, then I decided in my mind to become a Christian. – If you were a sea of ​​sins, now be a haven of salvation; if you have been tossed by many winds, enter now into a quiet haven; and if you have been subjected to strong excitement, now look for the morning dew falling from the sky; if you were drowned by a long flood, look from now on for a good helmsman, may he guide you safely to his quiet haven, where are the treasures of all truth; make an effort to become the heir of the blessings there. Distribute your earthly wealth to those in need and free yourself from sinful sorrow, and at the same time from darkness and from the unquenchable fire that awaits you if you do not repent. Evdokia, hearing this, shed tears and, hitting herself in the chest, said: – Is it true that your God has no mercy for sinners? – To repentant sinners, upon their acceptance of the sign of faith, i.e. Holy baptism, the Lord forgives all the sins of the previous life, the life of unbelief, but there is no forgiveness for those who remain in sins and do not think about repentance, and such without mercy will be tormented. “Tell me, presbyter,” asked Evdokia, “do you think that in heaven there is something greater and better than what is on earth?” After all, we truly have many treasures of gold, silver and expensive stones, all kinds of pleasures and pleasures, in addition there is an abundance of fish and birds and an immeasurable amount of all kinds of food and drinks. What more than all this will be found there in heaven? “If you do not distract your mind from the charms of this world,” the presbyter told her, “and are not imbued with contempt for temporary pleasures, then you will not be able to direct your gaze to eternal life and know those inexpressible pleasures and untold riches that are there.” But if you want to receive them, forget the pride and joys of this life, do not remember the sweets of this world. “Let it not happen, my lord, that I will love something temporary and soon perishing more than an immortal and blissful life, but this is what I want to be sure of, father: can it really be that, having accepted the Christian faith, I can have a firm and undoubted hope that I will come to that immortal life that you are talking about? And what proof will you give me to convince me of the truth of your words? How will I finally know that your God has forgiven my many sins? For if the wealth I have, which is abundantly enough for all sorts of pleasures and pleasures for many years of my life, I distribute to those in need, as you advise me, and then I do not receive what you promised; then what could be more regrettable and difficult than this last calamity, from which I will no longer have any way out? After all, the people whom I offended by my bad attitude towards them, if I had decided to ask them for help in my misfortune, would have turned away from me with contempt. That’s why I’m sad and embarrassed because I’m not confident enough in the future. I would like more knowledge and confidence in what you promise with such generosity, referring to the mercy of your God, who easily forgives the sins of the repentant. If I am fully convinced of this, then I will calmly begin to give away all my property and will go where you call me, and I will serve the One God all the days of my life and, as before I served as an example of lawlessness for many, so now I will be the best example of repentance. And do not be surprised, father, at my doubts: for the first time I hear all this, new and unexpected, which in our books and the Samaritan faith in which I was raised, I not only never heard, but did not even find a trace of such teaching. - Don’t be embarrassed, don’t waver in your thoughts, Evdokia! Do not let your mind be distracted: what confuses you is the trick of the chief of evil and the envious person of your salvation, the devil. This evil spirit, as soon as he saw that you were awakening to serve Christ, immediately, in order to destroy this good intention, raised such doubts in your heart. He hopes through fear to turn you away from the right path and again strengthen you in your former sinful life in order to shamefully bind you with addiction to worldly pleasures and lusts and completely enslave you to himself, drag you to death and destruction. For his insidious plan, his only and zealous effort is to distract people from the good path, lead them to corruption and thereby make them accomplices of his eternal torment in unquenchable fire. Our Lord God, in whose goodness, ineffable mercy and love for mankind you want to be convinced, is ready, as you have already heard from afar, to receive those who repent in a fatherly manner, with open arms, and, having forgiven their sins, to grant them eternal life. You will be sure of this if you direct your mind away from earth and grief, if, leaving behind temporary worries, you reflect on eternal life. But this requires concentrated and humble prayer, for only in this way is God reconciled with the soul, the Divine light is noticed in the soul, revealing the whole truth, and a person clearly sees the insignificance of this short-term world and what the future age is, how destructive the pleasures of this life are and how good the Lord is and how immeasurably His mercy is. So, if you just want to be saved, listen to me, throw away your precious clothes, put on bad ones and, shutting yourself up in the secluded room of your house, stay there for seven days, remembering your sins and confessing them with tears before God, your Creator. Fast and pray to our Lord Jesus Christ to enlighten you and instruct you in what you must do to please Him. Believe me, it will not be in vain that you will do everything that I advise you: our Master is merciful and immensely kind, and from afar he greets with His grace those who care about turning to Him, for He always rejoices at the repentance of a sinner. Seeing that Evdokia agreed to his advice, the presbyter got up and went, saying to her at parting, as if prophetically, these comforting words: - May Christ God, who justified the publican and had mercy on the sinner who cried at His feet, justify and have mercy on you, and make your name famous throughout the whole earth. Amen. As soon as the presbyter left, blessed Evdokia immediately called the slave and said to her: “If anyone wishes to see me and comes here with the intention of entering me, take care that he does not know that I am at home; let no one tell him about me under any circumstances; tell me that I went to a distant village on some business and will stay there for a considerable time; Strictly order the gatekeeper not to let anyone in here; let all ordinary work and activities in my house cease, and those who prepare food for me every day for dinner, from now on, let them not bring them here; also close the large gates at the house until I order you to open them again, and generally do everything as if I were not at home. Having given the slave such orders, she said to Blessed Herman: “I beg you, father, explain to me what I’m asking you: why do you, monks, live in deserted places, shying away from the pleasures of public life?” Do you really find more pleasure in deserts? “No, my child,” answered blessed Herman, “we don’t find anything that you consider pleasure in the deserts; We leave cities and worldly pleasures and retire to the desert solely in order to avoid vain pride and mortify carnal lusts with hunger, thirst, labor, thin rags and lack of everything necessary, in general - to be away from all places that provide convenience for sin. Anyone living in a city very easily falls into sin, either overcome by the weakness of nature, or seduced by the devil, or tempted by the sight of beautiful faces and hearing lewd speeches: this is where unclean thoughts arise and defile the soul. And for a defiled soul the entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven is already closed until it is cleansed by repentance, for in heaven there is a throne of only eternal light, true joy and undeceiving pleasures, a throne that has no darkness, sorrows and sorrows, no evil deeds. You see why we leave for the desert: we want to be preserved from sin in the coming days of our life, and to cleanse our previous sins by the severity of our stay in the desert and thus ease our path to the indicated bliss. All our efforts and concerns are aimed at keeping our bodies undefiled and our minds undamaged by evil thoughts and alien to all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, murmuring and slander, envy, rage and anger. And in this way we will become like the Angels, as Christ told us through His holy lips in the Gospel. Wealth, no matter how committed a person is to it and no matter how insatiably he collects it, will not help in the least in obtaining the Kingdom of Heaven: it, like a dead man lying in a coffin, will not provide assistance. Therefore, if we want to receive forgiveness of our sins, then during the rest of our life we ​​will try to follow the path of the Lord’s commandments, along the paths of righteousness and truth, we will tear our hearts like clothing with contrition for sins and we will constantly cry out to God; in this way we will cleanse the sinful dirt about which David speaks: “My wounds stink and fester because of my madness” (Ps. 37:6). And so that we always sing the words of the Lord in prayer, the same David remembers: “How sweet are your words to my throat! Better than honey to my lips” (Ps. 119:103). So sweet are the words of the Lord that they surpass all sweetness of all the sweetest foods and the most expensive drinks and strengthen the soul much more than food does the body. That is why the Divine Scripture says about them: “Wine makes glad the heart of a man, and bread strengthens the heart of a man” (Ps. 103:15), denoting by that wine and bread the commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ. They truly are like bread and wine for the human soul, for if a person diligently and tirelessly studies in them, then they, giving strength and joy to the heart, free the sinner from all bad deeds and justify him before the Lord. Therefore, having taken off your beautiful clothes and dressed in the most modest ones, strive with all your thoughts to repentance through good deeds, sow abundant tears on earth in order to reap joy and eternal joy in heaven; extinguish the flame of your sins with your tears, and you will be rewarded with consolation from the Lord and enter into the joy of the righteous. Cry over your iniquities, which the devil has made sweet for your heart, and for the sake of your tears, let the Angel, the intercessor for salvation, approach you; Dry up the stinking mud of decay in which you have been wallowing for a long time, the mud that has sucked you in and kept you in the power of the creator of all evil, so that from now on you can become a participant in heavenly pleasure; repay and burden with despondency the one who, tempting you with lusts, burdened you with sins. Work hard for God so that you may be the heir of unfading light and, like a bee, be a good worker, collecting truth from many holy deeds and constantly caring about pleasing God. This speech of Herman sank deeply into Evdokia’s heart, already prepared by what he had told her before. Grieving over her sins, she prostrated herself before his feet in tenderness, saying: “I beg you, man of God, complete the work that you began for me with due honor and present me pure to your God, so that I do not become a laughing stock for those who want to deceive me, but having completed the work I started, I will be worthy of bliss through your saving teaching.” Do not take your skillful hand away from the prepared board until you have completely depicted Christ in me. “Abide, my child, in the fear of the Lord and, shutting yourself up in your upper room, pray to Him tirelessly with tears until He destroys and cleanses all your sins and gives you undoubted confidence in His mercy: our Lord Jesus Christ is good and merciful, He will soon show you His mercy and will not hesitate to console you with His grace.” Having said this, blessed Herman prayed to God, made the sign of the cross over Evdokia and locked her in her bedroom, promising to stay in Iliopolis for her for seven days. When Evdokia spent seven days in fasting and prayer, blessed Herman came to her and, opening the door, ordered her to leave the bedroom. Seeing that she had become pale in face, thin in body, had a humble look, and in general her appearance was far different from her previous one, he took her hand and ordered her to sit down. Then, having prayed to God, he sat down with her and began to ask her: “Tell me, my child, what did you think about during these seven days, what did you learn, what did you see, what was revealed to you?” - I’ll tell you everything, holy father. I prayed earnestly all seven days, as you taught me. Last night, when I was also lying prostrate in a cross on the ground, praying and crying about my sins, a great light shone around me, surpassing the light of the rays of the sun. I thought it was the sun rising, got up from the ground and suddenly saw a bright and scary young man, whose clothes were whiter than snow. He took me by the right hand, lifted me into the air and, placing me on a cloud, led me to the sky. And there was a great and wonderful light there, and I saw countless numbers of Belarusians rejoicing and smiling at each other and having unspeakable fun. When they saw that I was heading towards them, they greeted me with glee and joyfully greeted me like a sister. When I, surrounded and accompanied by them, wanted to enter this bright area, incomparably superior in light to the rays of the sun, suddenly someone appeared in the air, terrible in appearance, black as soot, coal and tar. It was a monster that surpassed all blackness and darkness. Fixing a most terrible and furious gaze on me, gnashing his teeth and shamelessly attacking, he tried to snatch me from the hands of my guide; at the same time he shouted loudly, so that his voice spread throughout the air: “Do you really,” he shouted, “want to bring her into the Kingdom of Heaven?” Why am I, diligently engaged in catching people on earth, wasting my labor in vain? This one, for example, desecrated the entire earth with fornication and corrupted all people with the abomination of her adultery. All that I had, cunning and strength, I spent on her alone: ​​I got her lovers from the noblest and richest people, and, moreover, countless numbers, and from the wealth wasted on her love, she collected such an abundance of gold and silver, which can hardly be found in the royal treasuries. I proudly thought that I had it in my hands, as my victorious banner and invincible weapon, through which I could triumph over people who fall away from God and fall into my snares. And now what, have you really reached such a rage against me, archangel of God’s powers, that you are throwing me under the feet of this harlot? Has your anger against me not yet been satisfied by the fact that you take revenge on me more and more mercilessly every day? Do you really want to take away even this true slave of mine, bought by me at such a dear price? There must be nothing left on earth that is truly and inalienably mine! I am afraid that you and all sinners who are still living will be plucked from my hands and presented to God as worthy to be heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven! My worries are in vain! My work is in vain! Why are you attacking me so fiercely? Leave your rage and loosen a little the bonds with which I am bound, and you will see how in the blink of an eye I will destroy the human race from the earth and will not even leave it with heirs. I was cast out of heaven for disobedience alone, and you bring the worst sinners, who dared to laugh at God and have grievously angered Him for many years, into the Kingdom of Heaven! If it pleases you so much, then better gather in one hour from all corners of the earth all the people who lead not a human, but a bestial, bestial life, and bring them all to God, and I will hide in the darkness and completely plunge into the abyss of the eternal torment prepared for me. When he angrily and with great rage spoke such and similar speeches, the driver who was leading me looked at him menacingly, and turning to me, he smiled encouragingly. And a voice was heard from that light, saying: “It is so pleasing to God, who has mercy on the sons of men, that sinners, if they repent, be accepted into Abraham’s bosom.” And again there was a voice to the one leading me: “I tell you, Michael, keeper of My Covenant, take this wife to where you took her from, and let her accomplish her feat: for I Myself will be with her all the days of her life.” And he immediately put me in my bedroom and said to me: – Peace be with you, servant of God Evdokia! Take heart and be strong, the grace of God is now with you and will always be in every place. Encouraged by these words, I asked: - My lord, who are you? Tell me so that I know how to believe in the true God and how can I receive true life? “I,” he answered, “am the chief of the Angels of God, and I am obliged to take care of repentant sinners, to accept them and lead them into a blissful and endless life.” And there is great joy in heaven in the angelic face every time some sinner turns to the pure light of repentance, for God, the Father of all, does not want the human soul to perish, which He created from ancient times with His most pure hands in the likeness of His image. Therefore, the Angels all rejoice when they see a human soul, adorned with truth, worshiping the eternal Father, and everyone greets her as their sister, for, having rejected sinful darkness, she turns to the living God, the common Father of all sons of light, and irrevocably joins Him. Having said this, he made the sign of the cross over me; I bowed to him to the ground, and when I bowed, he went to heaven. - Be sure from now on, my daughter, and no longer doubt that there is a true God in heaven, ready to accept those who repent of their sins and introduce them into His eternal light, where He reigns, surrounded by the servants of His kingdom - the holy Angels. You saw these Angels in that heavenly light, where you contemplated the royal and immortal glory of our Lord Jesus Christ and became convinced of how helpful He is in mercy and forgiveness of sins, how quickly He gives His grace to those who wish to be reconciled with Him; you knew His Divine glory and saw His heavenly court, full of indescribable beauty, where He dwells; You realized how small and insignificant the light of this world is against the heavenly radiance. What else are you thinking, what are you thinking about, tell me! Blessed Evdokia, having an unyielding intention to serve with all her heart the One God, the King of Glory, answered: “I believed and believe that there is no other God who saves sinful people except Him, whose heavenly gates, shining with an indescribable light, I saw. “Get ready, my daughter, for diligent service to God, take careful care so that the fruits of your repentance, placed on the scales, outweigh the sins of your previous life, and offer yourself to the immortal and eternal God as a favorable gift; cry and sob until you completely wash away all your filth with tears and thus become worthy of becoming the pure bride of Christ. Forget about your former pride, about the harmful and cruel lusts of your youth, so that Christ may mutually forget your sins; Free your neck from under the heavy yoke of shameful work that the devil has placed on you through your sins, take upon yourself the good and light burden of life-giving repentance and be henceforth free from sin and known to all the righteous and holy Angels. So, strengthen yourself for true faith and chastity and, now having a clear conscience, boldly say to the devil’s face: “Now I no longer have anything in common with you, nor you with me, for I have found my true Master and to Him I have given myself into eternal possession; I have finally left and cast aside my former molester - carnal love and put on a new, imperishable and bright robe of truth. In these clothes I will find the grace of God, saving me forever; I no longer have a single earthly passion, no attraction to worldly pleasures, the insignificance and shortcomings of which I have learned; I now wish and strive diligently to acquire heavenly blessings. Therefore, possess, O devil, what you have, and from me, alien seducer, thief and slave of eternal darkness, move on.” Evdokia, strengthened even more by these words, said to the monk: - Honest Father, what will you tell me to do now? “I want,” he answered, “first of all, I want you to accept the sign of faith - holy baptism, which will keep you unharmed all the days of your life, and I, with God’s help, will go to my monastery and return to you again, if the Lord wills.” She began to beg him with tears: “Do not leave me, my lord, do not leave me until I am able to completely turn to God and receive His grace that I expected, so that the original seducer, seeing me abandoned and helpless, does not somehow distract me again wherever he wants and return me to my former prodigal life.” And blessed Herman said to her: - This persistent desire for a better life, which God Himself awakened in you, and your good hope will save you from the enemy’s networks, of which you are afraid. Stay for some time in humble prayer to God and confession of your sins and take care to receive holy baptism. I will soon return to you, seeking, with the help of the Holy Spirit, what is useful for your life. Having entrusted it to God, blessed Herman went his own way. After Herman left, blessed Evdokia remained for several more days in fasting, having nothing for her meal except bread, butter and water; day and night she prayed and cried. Then, going to the bishop of that city, she received baptism from him in the name of the Holy Trinity. A few days after her enlightenment, she wrote a prayer letter to the same bishop; she informed him of her wealth, listing it in detail, and asked the bishop to take it to Christ. The bishop, having read the letter sent, called blessed Evdokia to him and asked: “Did you, my daughter, write this letter to me, a sinner?” “I wrote,” answered Evdokia, “and now I again beg your holiness: order the church steward to accept my gift, distribute it to the poor and needy, orphans and widows, as you yourself know, for I am convinced that these riches of mine are unrighteous, as acquired through iniquity.” Then the bishop, whose name was Theodotus, seeing her good intentions, as well as faith and love for God, looking at her and seeing in her spirit her future life, said: - Pray for me, my sister in the Lord, who was worthy to be called the bride of Christ, you who hated the unclean love of the flesh, who loved purity and rejected the life of immorality; you, who began to imitate virgin chastity and sold the insignificant world in order to buy yourself a single heavenly pearl; you, who lived a short time in sinful delusion and through repentance interceded for yourself endless centuries of heavenly life, already had death before your eyes and acquired immortality; You, who formerly drew many to destruction, and now through Christ you will bring many to life! Having clothed yourself with the light of faith out of gloomy darkness, you are worthy to be called the lamb of Christ. Truly, you are Evdokia, which means favor: the Lord was pleased with you, who treated voluptuous people with contempt and loved the face of the Angel. Pray for me, I beg you again, servant and friend of God, and remember me in the Kingdom of Heaven. After talking with her about many things with tears, the bishop said to his deacon: - Call the head of the church hospice to me as soon as possible. When he appeared, the bishop addressed him with the following words: “I know you as a pious and God-fearing man who has care for many souls. Therefore, I entrust to you this servant of God, who strives for the best, so that you take care of her salvation, and everything that she gives, you pass on to God through the hands of the poor. This husband had the rank of presbyter; From his very youth, he maintained pure virginity, gave all his property left after his parents to the holy Church of God and dedicated himself to serving the Lord. Taking Evdokia with him, he went to her house, and when they got there, Evdokia called the managers of her house and told them: - Bring me each of you everything that has been entrusted to you. They immediately brought two thousand tons of gold to her, i.e. twenty thousand, all kinds of good utensils countless, precious stones and royal pearls without number, chests with silk clothes two hundred and seventy-five, white linen clothes four hundred and ten chests, clothes woven with gold, sixty chests, other clothes decorated with expensive stones and gold embroidery, one hundred and fifty-two chests, chased gold twenty-five themes, i.e. two hundred fifty thousand, fragrant aromatic substances twenty boxes, real Indian colors thirty-three arks, silver in various vessels eight thousand liters 1684, silk embroidered with gold, fabrics one hundred thirty-two liters, simply silk fabrics seventy liters, other clothes and things of less value were countless. In addition to these movable wealth, Evdokia also had immovable wealth: lands, villages, entire volosts, from which up to eight hundred two thousand were collected annually. Having laid all these riches at the feet of the presbyter, who was the head of the church hospice, Blessed Eudokia called all her slaves and slaves and distributed to them two thousand coins taken from the chest, as well as vessels, curtains, valuable beds, gilded furniture, and everything beautiful in the house that was outside the chests, she gave them and divided. Finally, she said the last greeting: “I am freeing you,” said Evdokia, “from this short-term work, but you, if you want, hasten to free yourself from the work of demons.” Free yourself if you listen to me and come to Christ, the true God, and He will grant you the eternal freedom that the sons of God have, and will enroll you in His armies. Then, turning to the presbyter, Evdokia said: “Now, my lord, you should take care of everything that is offered to you and dispose of it as you want, for I am looking for the Lord who is looking for me. The presbyter, amazed at such a quick and unexpected change in her, repentance and such great love for God, said to her: - Blessed are you, Evdokia, that you have become worthy to be recorded as one of the maidens of the palace of Christ: the hour of the coming of the Bridegroom is not unknown to you, and you are not in the dark about which way you should enter the wedding court. Truly, you took great care not to remain outside the palace: you filled the lamp with oil, and the darkness will not overpower you. Succeed in this virtuous power, and God will help you, and pray for me, a sinner, for you are worthy to be among the saints. At this time, honest Herman also came, enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and, seeing that Evdokia had given her property to God, freed her slaves and slaves, and became poor both spiritually and materially for Christ’s sake, he took her and led her to a nunnery, which he had in his country not far from his monastery, and there he tonsured her as a nun; and she remained in the labors and exploits of monastic life, serving God day and night. Blessed Herman had seventy monks in his monastery in 1686, and in a deserted convent there were thirty nuns, among whom was Saint Eudokia. After thirteen months, the abbess of this monastery, named Kharitina, who led a holy life, died. Under her leadership, Evdokia significantly succeeded in her exploits, memorized the Psalter, and, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, having read all the Holy Scriptures once with attention, she understood well. Since she surpassed all the sisters in her feat of fasting, she was unanimously elected abbess. And God was not slow to testify to her dignity and confirm her election through a miracle. One of the young men who had previously loved her, named Philostratus, a rich man, remembered his former love for Evdokia and, inflamed by demonic instigation, with lust, began to think about how to return her to her former fornication. Having thought about this for a long time and day by day inflamed with greater love for her, he finally came up with such a trick. Dressed in monastic attire and taking as much gold as he could carry, he set off on foot to the monastery of Evdokia in the firm hope of fulfilling his intention. When he knocked on the gate of the monastery, the gatekeeper, looking out the window, asked: -What are you looking for here, man? “I, a sinner, came so that you would pray for me and bless me.” “Men are not allowed to enter this place, brother, but not far from here you will find the monastery of Mr. Herman: there you will receive prayer and blessing, but here don’t bother us by knocking: anyway, you won’t enter.” Having said this, the girl closed the window. Full of shame and regret, burning with love for Evdokia, Philostratus went to the monastery of Herman and arrived there at a convenient time. Having met blessed Herman, sitting at the gates of the monastery and reading a book, he bowed to him to the ground. The holy elder, according to monastic custom, said a prayer, and Philostratus accepted his blessing. Reverend Herman said: - Sit down, brother, and tell me: what country are you from and what monastery? – I am the only son of parents who recently died; I did not want to get married, but I wanted to serve God in the monastic rite and immediately put on the sign of the monastic image - these clothes - and I intend to find a place and a mentor who would teach me monastic life. Hearing about your holiness, honest father, I walked here for a long time, wanting to fall at your feet and beg to accept me, who wanted to repent of my previous sins, into your monastery. During this speech, Blessed Herman looked at him intently and, noticing his voluptuous disposition, said: “You want to begin great work, child; I don't know if you can do it. We, the elders, can barely resist the devil’s temptations that lead to uncleanness; What will happen to you, a blossoming youth, in the years of burning fiery passion? - Father! Are there no examples of the virtuous life of young men like me who courageously overcame temptation? Your Evdokia, about whom I have heard so much, because the glory of her virtuous life spreads everywhere, was she not young and did not live in luxury? But she heeded your instruction and now constantly and unshakably remains in monasticism, having conquered her flesh. I don’t want to hide, father, I am especially excited by her example and want to imitate her. I remember her, how beautiful she was, how rich, how she spent her time in pleasure, and then instantly changed and began to serve Christ in a difficult and regrettable way. If she could neglect all this and mortify her lusts for the sake of love for Christ, then why, Father, do you not trust in me, a man stronger than a woman? If I saw her one day, then, I hope, from her conversation and instruction I would draw so much ardent zeal for God and strength for feat that this would be enough for me for the rest of my life to defeat and repel all the devil’s temptations. The servant of God Herman, hearing such speeches, accepted the lie as the truth and, thinking that he truly wanted to work for God, said to him: “We will not prevent you, child, from seeing Evdokia and hearing useful instruction from her, since you, following her example, want to follow the path of virtue.” After this, Abbot German called the venerable elder monk, who carried incense to the nunnery and was often sent there to correct necessary matters. Herman told him: - When you go to the nunnery, take this brother with you: let him see Evdokia, because he wants to receive spiritual benefit from her and imitate her godly life. After some time, that monk needed to go to a nunnery, and he, by order of the abbot, took his young brother with him. Philostratus, dressed in monastic clothing, like a wolf in sheep's clothing, entered the nunnery and, seeing the bride of Christ, Saint Eudokia, was amazed at her humble appearance, poverty and exhausted body. Her face was pale, her eyes were downcast, there was silence on her lips, her clothes were thin, her bed was matting on the ground, and on it was a prickly hair shirt. Finding a convenient time, he began to speak to her in a quiet voice (other nuns were standing at a distance): - What does this mean, Evdokia? Who seduced you, who lived in palace-like chambers, abounding in wealth and every luxury, constantly in joy and joy, and brought you to these miserable places? Who deprived you of the great city where you walked adorned with the most beautiful clothes and everyone revered you, marveled at your beauty and glorified you with all kinds of praise? What deceiver led you from such bliss into extreme poverty and squalor, into this poor and vile life? And now the whole Iliopolis is looking for you, everyone wants to see you, the very walls of your beautiful chambers are crying for you. I express the people’s desire, I was sent to you on behalf of everyone to beg you to return to the city and end the people’s grief with your arrival. Listen to me, lady, follow me, leave this pitiful monastery, leave the hunger, the stinking clothes, the hard hair shirt bed, and return again to your chambers, to your former amusements, to your former pleasures, which you had in abundance. Even if you squandered your wealth, needlessly distributing it to strangers, then everyone is ready to enrich you again. Why do you hesitate and hesitate? Why, when everyone loves you and wishes you well, do you become your own enemy and tormentor? Isn’t it in vain, isn’t it a shame to hide such a beautiful face in this darkness of monasticism? Is it not in vain to spoil such eyes, like the rays of the sun, with unnecessary crying and tears? What is the use of exhausting this beautiful young body with hunger and thirst and other suffering? Where is now your incense, with which you filled the air in the city and seemed like a goddess to everyone? 1687 And you voluntarily preferred the stench of a beggarly and despicable life to these incense! Who led you into this delusion? What false hope distracts you from such great riches that could still increase? Which rich person rejects his wealth or gives it away in vain, as you did? But we know where the wealth you rejected is located, and we can easily return it to you - just return to our city, Madam Evdokia! I brought enough gold for the road, and the rest, which you wasted, we will return when you come to Iliopol. When he uttered these crazy speeches, Evdokia looked at him angrily and, no longer able to listen to his crafty and flattering words, said to him with anger: - May the God of vengeance forbid you! Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Righteous Judge, whose servant I am, although unworthy, will not allow you, who came here with evil intent, to return to yourself, because you are the son of the devil. Having said this, she blew in his face, and immediately the imaginary monk and accursed seducer fell dead to the ground. The sisters, who saw them talking and did not hear their conversation, were greatly horrified when they saw that Evdokia’s interlocutor fell to the ground from her breath and lay dead at her feet. At first they were surprised at such a supernatural event and understood in it a Divine action, but then they began to fear that the worldly people and judges would find out about this case and investigate it as a murder, and burn the monastery, because the idolaters of the Hellenes hated Christians and monasteries. Not daring to ask Evdokia, they talked among themselves about what had happened. And one of them said: - Let’s wait for now: night is already beginning, let’s pray at night, maybe the Lord will reveal to us the reason for the death of this monk and instruct us what to do. It's midnight. Before the start of the usual midnight singing, the Lord appeared in Evdokia’s dream and said: - Get up, Evdokia, glorify your God. Pray on your knees near the dead body of the tempter sent to you by the devil, and I will command him to stand up; and he will arise and know who I am, in whom you believe, and My grace will be abundant upon you. Having awakened, Evdokia said a prayer to her Master and resurrected the deceased. Philostratus, having risen from death as from a dream, came to know the true God, who had mercy on him, fell at the feet of the blessed one and said: “I beg you, blessed Evdokia, true servant of the True God, accept me, the repentant one, forgive me, who has upset you with crafty and unclean words.” Now I understand how Great and Merciful the Lord you serve. And blessed Evdokia said to him: - Go home in peace, do not forget the blessings of God shown to you, do not deviate from the true path of the holy faith that you have learned, which you promise to accept. Then the country was ruled by King Avrilian (not the Roman Caesar, but another of the same name, who was under the rule of the Roman Caesars), and Evdokia was slandered before him. Her former admirers gathered and, after consulting with each other, wrote a letter to the king, reporting that Evdokia had taken with her to the desert a lot of gold equal to the royal treasury. They asked the king to give them a detachment of soldiers so that, having found the escaped woman, they would return her to the city and take the gold into the royal treasury, because she accepted the Galilean faith in a certain Christ and rejected the gods whom kings also worship. Hearing about the abundance of gold, Avrilian easily agreed to their request and, calling on one committee, ordered him to take soldiers, capture Eudokia along with her gold and bring him to him. Taking three hundred soldiers, the committee headed into the desert, to the nunnery where Evdokia lived. As they walked, the Lord appeared at night to Evdokia and said: “The king is angry with you, but do not be afraid: I am always with you.” When the committee with a detachment of soldiers saw the monastery walls, he paused in anticipation of darkness, for the day was leaning towards evening, and divided his detachment into parts in order to attack the monastery from all sides at night. And when they already wanted to attack, the almighty power of the invisible hand of God prevented them, and all night they could not take a single step closer to the monastery. The day has come. They saw the monastery walls, but could not approach them, and for three days and three nights their attempts remained unsuccessful, and they wondered what to do next. And then a terrible huge serpent suddenly attacked them, and they, throwing down their weapons, fled in horror. But although they escaped the teeth of the serpent, they did not escape its poison. Struck by the deadly breath of the serpent, some of them suddenly fell dead, others lay barely alive on the road, and only with three warriors did the committee return to the king. The angry king said to his nobles: “What should we do with this sorceress who has killed so many warriors with her spells?” What do you recommend? Such an atrocity cannot be left unpunished. After the meeting, the king's son said: “I will go with a large army, raze this abode of harlots to the ground and bring Evdokia here.” The king and everyone agreed, and the next day the king's son and soldiers set out to destroy the desert monastery and capture Evdokia. On the way, he approached a village that belonged to his father and, as night fell, he wanted to stop for the night in this convenient place for rest. Due to his youthful liveliness, he quickly jumped off his horse, hit a stone and severely broke his leg, so that he was carried to bed in the arms of soldiers. At night his illness intensified and he died; and the soldiers returned to the king, taking with them his dead son. At the sight of his suddenly dead son, the king fell dead. The whole city gathered, and the people wept, pitying the king’s son and the king himself, who was dying of grief. Philostratus was also among the people. Approaching the royal entourage, he told them that Evdokia is a servant of God, and no one can harm her, for she is protected by heavenly power. But if the king wants to see his son alive, then let him send her a respectful request so that she begs God to revive the dead man. “I myself,” said Philostratus, “experienced the power of her prayer and God’s mercy.” Hearing this, the king came to his senses a little and, more precisely, having learned from Philostratus about what had happened to him, he believed his words and immediately sent the tribune 1689 Babyla to Eudokia with a respectful, humble and pleading letter. When he arrived at the monastery, Saint Eudokia, bowing humbly, accepted the royal letter and said: - Why does the king send his letter to me, a wretched and unworthy sinner? While waiting for the saint to read the royal letter, the tribune entered one of the monastery rooms and, seeing an open book there, leaned over and read: “Blessed are those who keep His revelations, those who seek Him with all their hearts” (Ps. 119:2) and, having read to the end of the psalm, dozed off and, resting his head on the book, fell asleep. In a dream, a certain bright young man appeared to him and, pushing him in the side with the rod that was in his hand, said: - Vavila, get up! The dead are waiting for you. Having awakened, Vavila was horrified by the appearance of the Angel and told Blessed Evdokia about this, asking to quickly let him go. She called all the sisters and told them: - How do you advise me to act regarding what the king writes to my insignificance? The sisters unanimously answered: – The grace of the Holy Spirit instructs you: write to the king whatever pleases God. After a contented prayer, the saint sat down and wrote to the king like this: “I, an insignificant woman, do not know on what occasion your Majesty deigned to send me a message. I, an unworthy woman full of sins, convicted by my conscience of many and terrible iniquities, I do not have the boldness to beg Christ my God to have mercy on you and return your son alive. But I hope for the well-known goodness and power of my Lord, that He will show His great mercy on you and your son, if you believe with all your heart in the true God who raises the dead, and trust in Him. It is impossible to call on His holy and terrible name and pray to Him for anything if you do not first believe in Him with all your soul. So, if you believe with all your soul, you will see the great glory of the immortal God, you will be worthy of His mercy and enjoy His benefits.” Having written and sealed the letter three times with the sign of the cross, she gave it to the messenger and sent him away. Returning to the king, the tribune did not give him the message of Saint Eudoxia, but placed it on the chest of the deceased, loudly calling on the name of Christ. Immediately the dead man came to life, opened his eyes, spoke and stood up, as if after a dream, alive and well. Everyone was amazed and horrified by such an extraordinary sight. And the king exclaimed loudly: – Great is the God of the Christian Evdokia! The true and righteous God is the Christian God! It is right that many resort to You and act piously, those who believe in You, Christ the Lord! Accept me too, coming to You, for I believe in Your holy name and acknowledge that there is One True God, holy and blessed forever! Having believed in Christ God, the king was baptized by the city bishop, together with his wife and son, who had risen from the dead, and with his daughter Gelasia. After this, having distributed generous alms to the poor and needy, he sent a lot of gold to Saint Eudokia for the construction of the holy church. In addition, he ordered the construction of a city on the place where Evdokia lived, and often wrote to her, asking for her holy prayers. Soon the king, having succeeded in holy faith and good deeds, fell asleep in the Lord, and his wife died after him. The son was made a deacon, and then, when the bishop died, he was consecrated bishop. And his sister Gelasia, despising the vanity of the world and avoiding married life, but wanting to serve the Lord, secretly withdrew to the monastery of St. Eudokia and lived there until her death, diligently serving and pleasing the Lord. At this time, pagan wickedness reigned and many who secretly served the Lord were discovered to be haters of God and forced to the same destruction. Then in the city of Iliopolis there was Diogenes, a zealot of the bad gods, their most zealous servant and persecutor of those who refused to worship idols. He wanted to marry the aforementioned royal daughter Gelasia, to which her father, Avrilian, agreed while he was in unbelief. When he was enlightened by holy baptism, he did not want to give her to an unfaithful husband, unless he accepted the Christian faith. Soon Avrilian died, and Gelasia, fearing that she would be forcibly taken by Diogenes, fled, as was said, to the monastery of St. Eudoxia, but no one knew exactly where she hid. There was only a rumor that Evdokia was hiding somewhere. The governor Diogenes sent fifty soldiers to take Evdokia, as a Christian, for investigation. When the soldiers followed her, the Lord appeared at night to Evdokia and said: - Daughter Evdokia! Stay awake and stand strong in the faith. The time has come for you to confess My name and praise My glory. The feat you will accomplish is approaching. Now people will attack you, terrible as animals, but do not be embarrassed and do not be horrified, because I will be with you as a close companion and a strong assistant in all your exploits and labors. When the vision ended, the soldiers climbed over the monastery wall at night. The monk, having learned about this in spirit, came out to them and asked: -What do you want here? Who are you looking for? The soldiers grabbed her and asked about Evdokia. She promised to betray Evdokia to them if only they would free her for a short time. And, having arrived at the church, she went up to the holy altar, opened the reliquary with the Most Pure Life-Giving Mysteries of Christ and, taking part of this great shrine, hid it on her chest. After this she came out and said to the soldiers: - I am Evdokia, take me and lead me to the one who sent you. They took her and took her with them. It was a moonless and dark night, and then a bright and beautiful young man appeared, carrying a candle in front of her and illuminating the way. It was the Angel of the Lord, visible only to Evdokia, and the soldiers saw neither him nor the light. The soldiers wanted to put Evdokia on a donkey, but she did not want to and said: - “Some with chariots, others with horses” (Ps. 19:8), but I, trusting in Christ, will go on foot. Upon arrival in the city, the governor ordered Evdokia to be imprisoned for two days, and on the third day he called the prison guard and asked him: “Did anyone give that sorceress food or drink?” “I swear by your mercy, my lord, that no one gave her food or drink, and no matter how many times I looked at her, I always saw her prostrate on the ground and praying (as I think) to her God. “Tomorrow I will conduct an investigation and trial about her, but now I am busy with other matters.” On the fourth day, the governor Diogenes sat down at the trial seat and ordered Eudokia to be brought. Seeing her, humble in appearance, in poor clothes, with her head bowed, he ordered the servants to open her face, and it immediately shone like lightning. Diogenes was amazed and was silent for a long time, marveling at the indescribable nobility and beauty of her face, shining with Divine grace. After contemplating her beauty for a long time, he became troubled in spirit and, turning to the judges, said: - I swear by my god the sun! Such beauty, like the sun, cannot be put to death. I don't know what to do! “Doesn’t Your Majesty think that such beauty is natural!” No, it's a magical ghost. Don't you know what power sorcerers have! And when the magical charm is destroyed, its natural ugliness will immediately appear. The governor turned to the blessed one: – First of all, tell us your name, origin and life. Having protected herself with the sign of the cross, the saint said: “My name is Evdokia, and there is no need to ask me about my origin and way of life, so I ask you, governor, not to waste time on idle speech, but do with me what you usually do with Christians.” Judge me, torture me as you please, put me to death, and I hope in Christ, my true God, that He will not despise me and will not abandon me. “You answer a short question so much, how much will you say when we start tormenting you?” Tell us: why, having left the city and rejecting the gods, did you go into the desert, taking with you the people's property, cunningly emptying the city treasury? – Why I left the city – I’ll say it in one word: I was free and I did what I wanted. What law prohibits a free man from going wherever he wants? As for the accusation of stealing gold, I wish that the slanderer would stand before me, and then the slander will be exposed and the lie will disappear before the truth. Did I really leave, stealing someone else's? After a long argument, the saint remained undefeated in her word and unyielding in her faith. Then the governor ordered her to be hanged on a tree and severely scourged by four soldiers. The soldiers took her, stripped her to the waist and hanged her. When she was undressed, a part of the Most Pure and Life-Giving Body of the Lord, which she had taken when leaving the monastery, fell from her chest. The servants, not knowing what it was, picked it up and brought it to the governor. Stretching out his hand, he wanted to take it, and immediately part of the Most Pure Body of the Lord turned into fire, and a great flame burned the servants of the tormentor and injured the left shoulder of the governor himself. He fell to the ground in pain and cried out to the sun, which he considered to be God: - Lord sun! Heal me, and I will immediately burn this sorceress. I know that you are punishing me for not destroying her until now! At these words, fire fell on him like lightning and killed him, scorching his body like a brand. Fear and horror fell on everyone. And one warrior saw that the bright Angel of God stood near the saint, spoke into her ear and consoled her, covering her body with a linen whiter than snow. Seeing this, the warrior approached the saint and said: “I also believe in your God; accept me, the repentant, servant of the Living God.” – May the grace of sincere conversion come to you, child. I see that you are starting a new life, like someone born again - if you want to be saved, avoid your previous unbelief. “I beg you, servant of the Lord, have mercy on the governor, ask your God for his return to life, so that many will know the True God and believe in Him. After these words, he, going up to the tree, freed the holy martyr, and she, bending her knees, prayed for a long time. Then she stood up and exclaimed loudly: - Lord Jesus Christ, who knows the secrets of man, who established the heavens with words and created everything with wisdom! Command that, according to Your omnipotent and omnipotent will, all those burned by the fire sent down from You will come to life, so that many faithful will be confirmed in the holy faith, and the unfaithful will turn to You, the Eternal God, and thus Your most holy name will be glorified forever and ever! After that, she approached the dead and, taking each one by the hand, said: – In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, rise up and be healthy as before. And so she revived everyone one by one, raising and awakening them, as if from sleep. When everyone looked in amazement and horror at the wondrous miracles taking place, suddenly a cry and cry were heard: the commander Diodorus, who was there with the soldiers, received news of the sudden death of his wife Firmina, who had been burned in the bathhouse. Struck by the unexpected news, Diodorus tore his clothes and, overwhelmed with pity, rushed with tears to where his wife died. Many of the people ran after him, and the governor Diogenes, who had risen from the dead, also went there. Seeing that the committee's wife had indeed died, he returned to Saint Eudokia and said to her: “I truly believe that your God is immeasurably higher and more powerful than our gods, but if you want to strengthen and strengthen my beginning and still weak faith, then, I beg you, come with me to the deceased Firmina.” If you resurrect her, then without delay or doubt I will finally believe in your God. Saint Eudokia told him: – Not only for your sake, God will reveal His will in immeasurable mercy, but also for the sake of everyone who wants to enter His Kingdom. So, let's go, with God's help, where you call me. As they walked along with the people, they met them carrying a dead body. The saint ordered the stretcher to stop, shed tears, prayed for a while and, taking the deceased by the hand, said in a loud voice: – Great and Eternal God, Lord Jesus Christ, the True Word of the Father, Who Raises the Dead! We pray to You: in order to assure those who are to come, deign to perform a great miracle, command Firmina to come to life and grant her the spirit of repentance, so that she may turn to you, the always Living and Eternal God. After this prayer, Firmina immediately rose from the stretcher, and all the people with a loud voice unanimously exclaimed: – Great is the God of Evdokia, True and Righteous is the Christian God! We beg you, servant of the Living God, save us, because we also believe in your God. And Diodorus, seeing his wife alive, was extremely happy and, falling at the feet of the saint, said: “I beg you, servant of Christ, make me a Christian, because now I truly know who the Almighty God is, Whom you serve.” And Diodorus with his wife and with his whole house was baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit - and many people, also Diogenes the governor, and his house were baptized and remained in the holy faith until death. After this, Saint Eudokia, at the request of Diodorus, lived in his house, teaching the Divine word to the newly enlightened Christians. One youth Zinon, working in a nearby garden, was killed by the deadly breath of a serpent, and his mother, a widow, wept inconsolably for him. Having learned about this, the lamb of Christ Evdokia said to Diodorus: “Let’s go comfort the weeping widow, and you will see the wondrous mercy of our God.” When they arrived, they saw that the boy was swollen, bloated and blackened from snake venom. The saint said to Diodorus: “The time has come to show how great faith you have in God.” So, pray, raising your soul’s eyes to heaven, and resurrect the deceased. - My lady, servant of Christ! I only recently became a believer; I cannot strengthen the eyes of my heart in God with the thought of God. – I undoubtedly believe that God listens to repentant sinners and soon fulfills their requests. So, call upon the Almighty Lord with all your heart, and He will show us His mercy. Then Diodorus, bowing his neck and striking himself on the chest, began to pray aloud with tears: - Lord God, who was pleased to call me, an unworthy sinner and infidel, to the holy faith, who sent this honest servant for the salvation of our souls! Knowing my unchanging and unshakable faith, hear my sinful and unworthy prayer and command the youth killed by the serpent to come to life for Thy glory, so that both he and every soul may glorify Thy Most Holy Name forever. After the prayer, Diodorus said to the dead man: - Zinon! In the name of Jesus Christ, crucified under Pontius Pilate, arise! And immediately the dead man stood up, wiped away the blackness, his body became healthy as before, and everyone believed and glorified God, the Creator of heaven and earth. When the people began to disperse, the blessed lamb of Christ Evdokia said: - Brothers! Wait a moment. Once again Christ our Savior will be glorified. The people stopped. The saint prayed, and then the serpent, which had killed the boy, crawled with a terrible whistle, driven by a miraculous fire, and began to rush and wriggle before everyone’s eyes, disintegrated and died. Then everyone who saw this, together with their wives and children, went to the bishop of Iliopolis and received holy baptism. And the Monk Evdokia returned to her monastery and spent her life in ordinary monastic labors. Sometimes she came to the city, confirming the faithful and leading the unfaithful to faith in Christ God. After her baptism she lived fifty-six years and died a martyr's death in the following manner. After the death of the governor Diogenes, who died in the Christian faith, his position was taken by Vincent, a cruel man and an enemy of Christians. Having heard about the Monk Eudokia, he sent soldiers to cut off her honest head. So, the holy martyr Evdokia, on the first day of the month of March, died by the sword in Christ Jesus our Lord, to Him be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. With righteousness, you have bound your soul into the love of Christ, corruptible and red, and temporary oblivion, as a disciple of the Word: by fasting the first passion, having put to death, you have put to shame the second enemy through suffering. Therefore, Christ grants you a deep crown, O glorious Evdokia, reverend passion-bearer, pray to Christ God to save our souls. In your suffering you labored well, and after your death you sanctified us with an outpouring of all-praised miracles, running by faith into your Divine Church. And triumphantly, we pray to you, Venerable Martyr Evdokie, that we may be delivered from spiritual ailments and may receive miracles of grace. The Roman Emperor Trajan reigned from 98 to 117 A.D. Iliopolis – Iliopolis – the city of the sun. Kelesyria - "deep Syria" - is a low-lying strip of land in the Lebanese Mountains in northern Palestine. Phenicia of Lebanon is the eastern part of Phenicia, adjacent to the Lebanese Mountains, and Phenicia itself occupies the northwestern part of Palestine, adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea. Its main cities - Tire, Sidon, Zarephath - are mentioned in the Gospel. Samaria is the middle part of Palestine, bordering on the north with Galilee and Phenicia, on the south with Judea and adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea. Its population consisted of ten tribes of Israel, besides the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Samaritan faith - Samaritan schism. Initially, the inhabitants of Samaria were no different from the Jews, following the same Mosaic law. Then, as a result of relations with pagan foreigners, they lost the purity of the Jewish religion and little by little diverged from the Jews, so that around 335 BC they even built a temple separate from the Jews on Mount Garizin and established a special worship service in it, which had something in common with the worship of the Jerusalem temple. From that time on, the main point of doctrine that separated Jews and Samaritans was the doctrine of the place of true worship (John 4:19–20). In addition, of all the books of the Old Testament, they recognized as sacred only one Pentateuch of Moses, which, moreover, was changed in places from the original. They rejected all the other books of the Old Testament, although they had some kind of their own chronicle called “the book of Jesus” - a reworking of the book of Joshua. A liter is a unit of weight equal to 72 spools. In silver it cost up to 42 rubles, in gold – up to 506 rubles. Let the reader and listener, - says the Menaion-Cheti, - not find it surprising or incredible that a sinful wife acquired such great wealth through fornication, as described, because among the Greeks, who had not yet known the true God and bowed to idols, harlots were not only not despised, but were even highly revered, such as, for example, Aphrodite, whom they even ranked among their vain gods. We find the following about the wealth of Hellenic harlots from ancient historians. Phryne, the Athenian harlot, after Alexander the Great destroyed the stone walls of the famous Hellenic city of Phoebe or Thebes, offered to rebuild these walls at her own expense and build the city better than before, only so that on these walls it would be written: “Alexander destroyed, and Phryne the harlot built.” Laisa, the harlot of Corinth, was so rich and famous that, according to some, at one time the entire Greek land lay at her door. Fais, another Athenian harlot, was so beautiful, famous and rich that Ptolemy, the first king of Egypt after Alexander the Great, was not ashamed to make her his legal wife. Radone from Thrace, the Egyptian harlot, had such wealth that, imitating the glory of the kings of Egypt, she herself erected a pyramid for her own glorification, no worse than the royal pyramids. And Evdokia was like them in life and in wealth, but when she left this, became poor in spirit and body and pleased God with repentance, she became like the holy virgins, entered into communion with the Angels and became the heir to eternal riches, which even the eye had not seen. Kinovia is a monastery with a communal charter, where everyone lives together, having a common maintenance from the monastery. The pagans endowed their gods and goddesses with all human qualities, and even shortcomings, only to the superlative degree. Therefore, they brought them as a gift what was considered the most valuable and best in human life: exquisite dishes, expensive drinks, fragrant substances, etc. Hence, Evdokia, drowning in luxury, beautiful, always richly dressed and fragrant, could indeed seem to her contemporaries something like a goddess. A comite was a special official in charge of collecting royal tribute. City governors were generally called by the same name. A tribune is a representative of military authority, the commander of a small detachment, like a modern colonel. You might be interested in: