Страдание святых мучеников Евтропия, Клеоника и Василиска

After the suffering and martyrdom of the holy Great Martyr Theodore Tiron, his comrades-in-arms and close friends Eutropius, Kleonikos and his nephew Basilisk remained in prison, imprisoned for Christ. The ruler of the city, Publius, who tortured Saint Theodore, had already died, struck by God’s wrath. Another was appointed in his place, named Asklipiodotus, a native of Phrygia, a cruel and godless man. He caused a lot of evil to Christians, for he received from Emperor Maximian in 1711 the power to force Christians to make sacrifices to idols, and to destroy those who do not obey in cruel torments. One day, sitting at the court with his advisers, he called the bookkeeper Evlasius and ordered him to read the previous court cases. When Evlasius read about the suffering of Theodore Tyrone, everyone marveled at the patience of the holy martyr, and the ruler asked: – Where are Theodore’s friends mentioned in the book? “They are kept in a dungeon with other prisoners.” Seeing the church of their nasty goddess Juno, called the mother of the gods, burned by Tyrone, the ruler roared like a lion and immediately ordered soldiers to be sent to prison to bring to him the holy martyrs Eutropius, Cleonicus and Basiliscus. Eutropius and Cleonikos were brothers, originally from Cappadocia, and Basiliscus, the nephew of Saint Theodore, was born in Amasia, but all three, due to mutual love, called each other brothers. Arriving at the prison, the soldiers said to the prison guard: - Give us Theodore's friends. Then the watchman entered the saints and said: - Get up! The time has come for which you have been eagerly awaiting day and night; the ruler is calling you. But I beg you, remember me in your prayers. This is what the prison guard said, because he saw them day and night in prayer and the miracles that happened to them: an extraordinary light shone among them, the prison opened by itself many times. Therefore, he believed that the Lord was with them. The saints responded to the ruler’s call with joy, but the remaining prisoners were sad that they were deprived of friendly communication with the holy martyrs. Then Saint Eutropius said to them: – Do not cry, friends, for we will see each other again, but pray to our Lord Jesus Christ that He will grant us suffering and death for Him and that demonic paganism will cease, and the universe will be filled with God’s grace. Having consoled the prisoners with such words, the saints went out with the soldiers. Saint Eutropius sang: “How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together!” (Ps.133:1) And then a voice came from heaven: “I will not separate you from your brethren until you all come to Theodore and rest in the bosom of the patriarchs living in the Divine light.” Eutropius was very handsome and wise. When the saints were brought and stood before the ruler, he asked them: - Why are your faces not gloomy from a long stay in prison, but joyful, as if from constant joy? Blessed Eutropius replied: – Truly, ruler, our Christ always gives us joy, visiting us with His grace, and the words of Scripture come true for us: “A cheerful heart makes a cheerful face” (Prov. 15:13) “My first name,” answered the saint, “is Christian, and my parents named me Eutropius.” Then the ruler said with affection: “I see that you are as well-behaved as you are handsome; I think it’s been a long time since you became such a sage. – I learned spiritual wisdom from my Lord Jesus Christ, and I place my hope in Him that He will help me wisely answer your questions. “Listen to me, Eutropius, and convince your brethren to obey the royal command and make sacrifices to the gods.” For this I will write about you to the kings, and they will appoint you as a commander in this country, honor you as a prince and shower you with great riches. Then you will actually see how good it is to obey kings and obey their orders. And if you are not convinced by my words, then I will cut your body into pieces and throw you to be devoured by dogs and beasts. Whatever is left of your bones, I will burn it all on fire and throw the ashes into the river. Don’t hope that Christians will collect your remains and anoint them with myrrh as a shrine. So, submit, make sacrifices to the gods, or just say in front of the people that you submit and want to make a sacrifice: everyone is looking at you, waiting for your decision. Do not turn away from the gods those who want to make sacrifices to them, so as not to tarnish their name by being subjected to shameful and cruel torment. To this Eutropius answered the ruler: - Stop talking idle, son of the devil, heir of Gehenna! Stop deceiving the servants of God, enemy of God, rejected from incorruptible blessings and heavenly bliss, eternal prisoner of the underworld! Stop speaking inappropriate speeches, you who block the path to good deeds, teacher and leader of wickedness! I don’t know what else to tell you, crafty seducer! You promise me temporary honor and wealth left here on earth. What good does it benefit me from something that causes harmful passions, leads to boasting, fornication, robbery, murder and other crimes? What benefit did the former prince Publius, who tortured Saint Theodore, receive from temporary fame and wealth? Now he is buried in the ground, eaten by worms and tormented in hell, in unquenchable fire. And the wrath of God will soon overtake you, and you will perish, you wicked wicked one. You threaten me with cruel torment, sword, fire and beasts, but do not hope to frighten me with such threats and torment to force me to atheism: to suffer for Christ my God is my first desire, since He is our wealth, honor, strength and glory. No, neither I nor my brothers will depart from Him, but we will suffer for our Savior: our life is in His hands, He is an invincible commander, delivering those who call on Him from troubles; He can deliver us from your hands too. Hearing this, the ruler was filled with anger and ordered to beat the saint in the face, saying: - Worthless! You are called here to make a sacrifice to the gods, and not to reproach us! But when they began to beat the saint severely, the hands of those beating them dried up. By order of the ruler, everything that was done and said at the trial was recorded in detail. And when the scribes saw that the hands of the torturers had dried up, they stopped writing in horror. However, one Christian standing among the people recorded what happened. The ruler addressed the martyr with these words: “Will you finally bow to the gods to save your life, or do you want me to put you to death?” “No,” answered Saint Eutropius, “I will not worship insensitive gods.” You yourself are insensitive if you act like that. But I will worship my God and sacrifice my song of praise to Him. This is what blessed David says, and Christ Himself speaks through him: “And their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have lips, but they do not speak; They have eyes, but they do not see” (Ps. 113:12–13). And he adds to this: “Let those who make them and all who trust in them be like them” (Ps. 113:16) You are deaf and blind, and don’t you want to make me the same? But I will not depart from my Lord Jesus Christ. Then the ruler turned to Saints Kleonikos and Basiliscus: – What do you say: will you make sacrifices to the gods in order to save your life, or, like Eutropius, will you persist and then be subjected to the same torment? Saints Cleonicus and Basilisk answered: – Just as our brother and master Eutropius believes in Jesus Christ, so we believe in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Just as Eutropius suffers for Christ, so we want to suffer, and the devil cannot separate us, united by holy faith in Christ and mutual love. Just as a rope woven three times will not break, so the three of us will be strong, and just as the Most Holy Trinity is inseparable, so we are united by faith and love. So torture us even more cruelly, we will go to this torment for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose enemy you are. When they said this, the ruler ordered four soldiers to stretch each one out and beat them with strong sinews without any mercy. The saints were beaten so hard that pieces of their bodies, stained with blood, fell to the ground. But they bravely endured and prayed to God. The torment was cruel, but with the help of God the passion-bearers did not seem to suffer at all. Saint Eutropius prayed with these words: - God Almighty, good and merciful! Do not despise us, Master, You who save the righteous, admonish the wicked, correct the obstinate, protect the wise and instruct the foolish. You bound the devil and set man free. You are the helper of those imprisoned, the intercessor of the tormented, the source of goodness, the Savior of our souls. You send suffering and give courage to endure torment. Let us also endure suffering for the sake of the crown of martyrdom. Come to our aid, as you helped Your servant Theodore. Show people the malice of the devil, Your mercy and with Your omnipotent help, show everyone that we honor You alone as our king Jesus Christ, glorifying You with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Saints Cleonicus and Basilisk said: Suddenly there was a terrible earthquake, so that the entire court was shaken, the tired and frightened executioners left, but the saints, freed by an invisible force, remained safe. And so the Lord appeared to them with the Angels and with Saint Theodore. Saint Eutropius turned to the Lord: - Glory to Thee, my Lord Christ, that you heard me so quickly, and who am I that my Lord Himself came to me? And to Saints Kleonikos and Basiliscus Saint Eutropius said: – Do you see, here is our King Jesus Christ standing with Theodore in all his glory? Saint Theodore, who appeared with the Lord, said: - Brother Eutropius! Your prayer has been heard, and the Savior has come to your aid with the announcement of eternal bliss. - When you were tormented, I stood in front of you, looking at your patience. Since you bravely endured the first suffering, I will be your helper until you complete your feat and your names are written in the book of life. After these words, the Lord became invisible with Saint Theodore. The soldiers who were torturing the saints began to ask the ruler: “We beg you, sir, free us from this matter, we cannot torture these people.” Pointing to the saints, the ruler said: “These magicians cast spells and thus frighten the warriors. Many of the people, who were privileged to see the Divine appearance, exclaimed: - No, not spells or sorcery, but the Christian God helps His servants: now we have seen their King Christ and heard the voice of an Angel. “I didn’t see anything,” said the ruler, “I didn’t hear any voice.” Saint Eutropius addressed him with these words: – You are correct in saying that you have not seen the Divine appearance and have not heard the heavenly voice: you do not see with the eyes of your soul, because the devil has blinded you, and Isaiah’s prophecy is coming true on you: “You have difficulty hearing with your ears and have closed your eyes” (Is. 6:10). Hearing this and seeing that the people were worried, the ruler ordered the saints to be tied up and taken to prison. When the saints entered there, the prisoners rejoiced greatly, and Christ’s sufferers sang the song: “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Ps. 123:8). Dining late that day with his advisers, the ruler spoke to them like this: “I don’t know what to do with these people: the whole city is worried about them.” How do you think? One of the advisors said: “I beg you, kill them quickly.” If you delay in executing them, then the whole city will retreat from the gods and follow these people. Especially don’t let the long-winded Eutropius talk so much. “I exhorted him to worship the gods,” said the ruler, “with requests and threats, but he blasphemed both the gods and the king, and annoyed me with his reproaches.” But let’s call him alone and convince him with requests. If he listens to us, then there will be glory to the merciful gods, and if not, then I will put them to death. Having said this, he sent soldiers to bring Eutropius to him from prison. Eutropius entered, and the governor, sitting at dinner, addressed him: “Do you want me to honorably lead you into the church of our gods, and you will make sacrifices to them?” - The Lord my God lives! I have no thought of departing from the faith of Christ, established on an unshakable rock. The ruler invited the martyr to sit down to dinner with them, but he refused. And the others sitting convinced him: - Sit down with us, Eutropius, eat and drink, obey your boss! - No, I, a servant of Christ, will not sit with the wicked, as the blessed prophet David says: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked and does not sit in the assembly of the corrupt” (Ps. 1:1). And in another place: “I have not sat with deceitful people, and I will not go with deceitful people” (Ps. 25:4). Another prophet proclaims: “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord, and touch not their uncleanness, and I will receive you” (Is. 52:11). “Before you were good-natured, Eutropius, but now you seem malicious.” “I am not evil,” answered the saint, “but I keep the commandments of God.” If you try to fulfill the orders of the kings of the earth, then I try even more to fulfill the commands of the Heavenly and immortal King, Whom I serve. The ruler continued to convince the saint: “You alone, without your brethren, bring sacrifices to the gods tomorrow, so that the people, seeing this, will be convinced not to retreat from the gods, but to honor them as sacrifices.” Saint Eutropius refused: - Wicked man! Do you want to make me a seducer of the flock of Christ? No, this will not happen, for my Lord says: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea” (Matthew 18:6). And in another place he says: “You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24) and “What does light have in common with darkness? What is the relationship between the church of God and idols? (2 Cor. 6:14, 16). Hearing this, the ruler ordered to bring gold, various expensive clothes and 150 liters of 1712 silver and said: “I will give you all this and even more, just tell the people tomorrow that you have submitted to the ruler, and then pray to your God as much as you want.” “Cunning seducer,” exclaimed Saint Eutropius. - No, you will not tempt the servant of God! I firmly remember the words of Scripture: “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what ransom will a man give for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). Just as your brother Judas, who loved silver, destroyed his soul, so you will perish with him. But why are you delaying to kill us? Know that nothing will turn us away from our love for Christ. The ruler argued with him for a long time, but the martyr not only did not obey him, but increasingly reproached him and dishonored the gods. It was already midnight, it was time to go to bed, and the ruler said to the servants: - Take Eutropius to prison and tie him and his friends there. Apparently, evil will never change and one cannot expect good from it. When leaving, the saint said to the ruler: “You, garden of wickedness, who does not bear the fruit of righteousness, will soon perish and be cast into the fire.” You are a worthless land that grows not wheat, but weeds! Satan took possession of your soul and sowed it with the seeds of evil. So saying, he left. When he came to prison, he found Saints Cleonikos and Basiliscus fervently praying: they prayed for him all night. The next morning, the ruler wished to publicly offer a sacrifice to the gods and ordered the heralds to shout in the streets so that everyone would gather with the victims in the church of Artemis. When the people gathered there and the governor came, then, at his command, the holy martyrs Eutropius, Kleonikos and Basiliscus were brought. Everyone worshiped idols and sacrificed some incense and some animals. “Eutropius,” said the ruler, “you and your brothers go and make a sacrifice to the gods, otherwise you will die an evil death.” Saint Eutropius and his friends began to say this: - Lord, God Almighty, eternal, undefiled, most pure, unchanging, living in heaven, glorified on earth! You established the sky, placed the earth on its foundations, built the mountains, counted the countless stars and gave names to them all, wonderfully shedding Your light on us. You once delivered three holy youths from the furnace of Babylon, saved Saint Daniel from the mouth of a lion, freed Your servant Susanna from death, saved Saint Thekla from fire and beasts, and was with Saint Theodore during his suffering. Be with us and, having come to this place, show Your power and destroy all pagan demons. Grant that in this place Christians will offer bloodless sacrifices to You, the True God, for You are the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Glory to Thee, Thy only begotten Son and Thy Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. When the saints uttered these words, thunder roared and the earth shook, so that the church shook, and the ruler and all those present ran out of the church, afraid not to die. The idol of Artemis fell and broke into small pieces. Among the noise of the earthquake, a voice was heard from above: “Your prayer has been heard, and in this place there will be a house of prayer for Christians.” The saints rejoiced in the Lord. When the earthquake stopped and everyone gradually recovered from their fear, the ruler sat down at the judgment seat and, gnashing his teeth with rage at the saints, ordered sulfur and tar to be brought, melted in three cauldrons and poured on the bodies of the saints. The ruler also ordered strong stakes to be driven into the ground, the saints to be placed naked between them, and their hands to be crucified, tied to different stakes. When this was done and the resin in the cauldrons began to boil violently, Saint Kleonikos turned to Saint Eutropius: “Brother, let us pray to the Lord, great suffering awaits us.” - Lord Jesus Christ, come to our aid and show us Your power: we are weak, strengthen us to endure torment. Servants brought cauldrons boiling with sulfur and resin, holding them with iron tongs. Blessed Eutropius said to the servants: - May the Lord turn your case against yourself. Suddenly, with the help of the power of God, the martyrs untied their hands from the stakes, took the boiling cauldrons with their hands and poured the tar on each other’s backs. Dripping from their bodies, the resin flowed like water across the marble floor, overtook the servants and burned them to the bones. Seeing this, the ruler was horrified, but attributed it to Christian sorcery. He ordered other servants to peel the bodies of the saints with iron claws, and to pour mustard and salt diluted in vinegar on the wounds. The saints endured all this valiantly. In the midst of his torment, Saint Eutropius said to the ruler: - A wicked man, hated by the glory of God! Invent even greater torments, so that for greater suffering we may receive the crown of martyrdom with greater glory. Annoyed by these words, the torturer ordered his servants to torture the saints more, and they said: “Try, you wicked one, to get rid of us as soon as possible: we strive, having gotten rid of you, to see the face of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The saints were tortured for a long time, and only at sunset the ruler ordered them to be thrown into prison again and put in chains. The saints prayed like this in prison: - Lord God! Do not leave us until we endure all the suffering and, freed from our tormentor, reach a quiet haven where there is no illness, no sorrow, no sadness, no sighing. While they were praying like this, the Lord appeared at midnight and said to them: “Truly I say to you, since you are going to die for Me, you will receive from Me eternal life with the saints.” Comforted by the visit of the Lord, the martyrs became even stronger in their faith. In the morning the ruler again sat down at the judgment seat and, calling the saints, said: - Well, what? Have you decided to worship the gods and make sacrifices to them or do you want to die an evil death? “Didn’t you, darkened, blinded and insensitive destroyer, hear from us that we will not worship your gods - deaf and dumb demons, and will not make sacrifices to them?! Hearing this, the governor condemned Saints Eutropius and Cleonikos to crucifixion, issuing the following decree: - The teacher of the Magi, Eutropius, and the other Magi, Kleonikos, who did not listen to the commands of the eternal kings, but professed the Christian faith, by the verdict of the most honorable court, may they be crucified. Let the basilisk be imprisoned with other prisoners. Hearing this, Saint Basilisk cried out to the ruler: - Condemn me to death too; I do not want to lag behind my friends, but I strive to stand with them before Christ our God. “No,” said the ruler, “the gods inspired me this way: you made a vow not to leave each other; but I will not destroy you all together, so that the vow is broken and your desire is not fulfilled. “Truly,” exclaimed Eutropius, “you are fiercer than all animals, the most fierce of all animals!” You share a squad, inseparable in faith and love. But soon God will take revenge on you, the flowers of God’s grace will bloom and give fruit to the churches of God. After these words, Saint Eutropius was led out of the city with Saint Cleonikos, where the crosses stood. The whole city followed them: not only Christians, but also pagans. Seeing their crosses, the holy martyrs said: - Lord our God, Jesus Christ! We praise and thank You for making us worthy of death on the cross, like Your free suffering. Grant us the crown of righteousness, so that, suffering with You, we may be glorified in Your Kingdom. We pray to You for the holy Church; subdue those who rise up against Your servants and grant peace to the Christian race. During this prayer, the soldiers nailed the martyrs to the crosses. And then a voice was heard from heaven, calling the saints to eternal rest. Saints Eutropius and Cleonikos gave up their souls to the Lord with the prayer: “Into your hands, Master, we commend our souls.” So they died on the 3rd day of March. Two pious men, citizens of the city of Amasia, Coint and Velonik, asked the governor to allow them to take the bodies of the martyrs. The ruler did not refuse the request. Then Velonicus took the body of Saint Eutropius and, anointing him with myrrh, buried him with honor in his village, located 18 stadia 1713 from the city. Koint took the body of Cleonik and laid it with the same honor in the village of Kime. In these places, at the tombs of the martyrs, numerous healings were performed for the glory of God. Saint Basilisk, who remained in prison, was kept in bonds for a long time. The ruler Asklipiodotus died; under his successor Agrippa, Saint Basilisk was beheaded on the 22nd day of May. On this day his memory is honored for the glory of Christ our God, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen. On the same day, the memory of Saints Zenon and Zoilus, who died in the world. On the same day, the memory of the Venerable Piama the Virgin, who lived in the country of Egypt and had the gift of insight; died in 337. Roman emperor in 285–310, co-ruler of Emperor Diocletian. A liter (Greek λιτρα, Latin libra) is equal to 2/3 of a Russian pound. Therefore, 150 liters of silver equals 100 pounds of silver, or at the current price of silver about 2,200 rubles. (150 liter 49 kg 117.5 g – Editorial “ABC of Faith”) A stade (στάδιον), a Greek measure of length, is equal to approximately 74 fathoms. Consequently, 18 stadia - slightly more than 2.5 versts. (Attic stade 177.6 m, Olympic stade 192.27 m. – Editorial “ABC of Faith”) You might be interested in: