Страдание святых мучеников Павла и сестры его Иулиании и прочих с ними

The Roman Emperor Aurelian in 1721 issued a decree throughout the empire that all Christians make sacrifices to the gods. Those who resisted this command were ordered to be put to death in cruel torture. The king himself, having passed through Isauria, arrived in the Phoenician city of Ptolemais in 1722 in order to force all Christians there to make an idol sacrifice. When the king entered the city, Blessed Paul and his sister Juliania were present. Paul, seeing the king entering, made the sign of the cross on his face and said to Juliana: - Be bold, my sister, and do not be afraid, for a great disaster is coming to Christians. Aurelian, seeing that Paul had crossed himself, ordered him to be taken and kept in chains until the morning. In the morning, having ordered that his throne be placed in a prominent place, the king sat down in the presence of all the people and ordered that blessed Paul be brought to torture. When they brought him, the king said: - Impudent man, how did you dare, during my entry into the city, to make a Christian sign on your face? Haven't you heard about our royal decree issued against Christians? Blessed Paul answered the king: “I heard your decree, but no one can ever frighten us Christians so much that for the sake of fear we decide to renounce the true God and stop professing faith in Christ the Son of God. The torment you inflict on us is short-lived, while the torment appointed by the unhypocritical judgment of God will be eternal, just as the glorification that God gives to Christians is also eternal. Who among us will be so crazy as to leave the living God and worship deaf and dumb idols? Our Savior Jesus Christ Himself says in the Gospel: “Whoever denies Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:33). “I see that I have endured your impudent words for a long time, come and make a sacrifice to the gods, so that I do not put you to a cruel death.” Blessed Paul said again: “I know no other God than our Lord Jesus Christ, Whom I have served since childhood in purity of heart.” Then King Aurelian said to the soldiers: “Hang him and torture him cruelly until Christ comes and frees him from your hands.” The soldiers immediately carried out the royal command: hanging Blessed Paul naked on a tree, they tortured him. And the saint prayed to God in a loud voice: - Lord Jesus Christ, True God the Father, True Son, whose birth no one can understand, neither Angels, nor Archangels, nor thrones, nor dominions, nor principalities, nor powers, nor strength, nor Cherubim, nor Seraphim 1723, but only God the Father - help me, your humble and outcast servant, and deliver me from the hands of Aurelian. Through his prayer, the Lord Jesus Christ eased his cruel torment, so that the saint did not feel pain from the wounds inflicted on him. At this time, the holy bride of Christ Juliana, seeing that her brother was being tortured, came to the trial and loudly said to the tormentor: “Tormentor Aurelian, why are you torturing my innocent brother so cruelly?” Angered by her words, Aurelian said to the servants: “Open the head of this woman and hit her in the face so that she does not speak to us so impudently, and torture the wicked husband even more severely, and we will see whether Christ will protect and help him.” Blessed Juliana, laughing at the king’s words, said: “I am surprised how you, O Tsar, are crazy and do not understand the power of Christ, who alleviates the torment of those who call on Him with faith.” Aurelian, turning to those standing around him, said: “My meekness with which I speak to this woman infuriates her.” And looking furiously at the saint, he said to her: - Approach the gods and bow to them, for you will not escape my hands. But Saint Juliana answered firmly: “I am not afraid of your torment and do not pay attention to your threats, for there is a God in heaven who can deliver us from your wicked hands.” Give me over to all the torments, and you will see the help provided to me among them by my Lord Jesus Christ. Then Aurelian cunningly began to say to the saint: “I see your beauty and for her sake I want to spare you; I beg you to obey my admonitions and make a sacrifice to the gods; I will make you my lawful wife, and you will reign with me throughout our life. I will give your brother a great reward for his suffering and honor him with the highest rank. In response to the crafty words, Saint Juliana, raising her eyes to heaven and making the sign of the cross on her face, laughed. “With your laughter,” said Aurelian, “you insult my great condescension towards you.” - No, I’m not insulting you, but I laughed joyfully because I am now contemplating with my spiritual eyes the Divine beauty of my Heavenly Bridegroom, sitting on His holy throne and desiring the salvation of all people. He told me to voluntarily perform the feat of suffering, and to despise you, a crafty and empty-mouthed person, since, although you are called a king, you worship wood and stone. Such an answer from the martyr infuriated Aurelian, and he said to the soldiers: “Hang this woman and cruelly torture her so that she understands that she is on the royal court.” When the soldiers began to torture the saint, her brother, Saint Paul, looked at her and said to her: – Do not be afraid, my sister, of torment imposed by the tormentor, and do not be afraid of his threats, for, having suffered a little here, we will receive an eternal reward from Christ our God. Meanwhile, Aurelian spoke to the soldiers who were torturing the saint: – Torment her more severely, convincing her to leave her pride and madness. Saint Juliana, tormented without mercy, hearing the royal words, laughed again and said: - Aurelian the torturer! You think that you are torturing me, but with the help of my Christ I do not feel torment. To this Aurelian said to her: “Although you lie and say you don’t feel torment, I will overcome your stubbornness and continue to torment you.” – My Lord Jesus Christ will not leave me and will not allow me to be defeated by you, for He is my helper now and always and will help me to the end, so that you know His power and my Christian patience. My God will command you to be tormented by eternal unquenchable fire and will demand from you those human souls that you destroyed with your insidious seductions. The words of the saint brought Aurelian into great rage. He ordered a cauldron of tar to be brought and a strong fire to be lit under it. When the resin in the cauldron began to boil, so that it was impossible to approach it, the torturer ordered that the holy martyrs Paul and Juliana be thrown into the cauldron. Thrown there, they raised their eyes to the sky, as if praying with their lips alone: – Lord God of our father, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who descended into the fiery cave of Babylon to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and did not allow them to be damaged by fire (Dan. 3), You are the Lord Jesus Christ, the incomprehensible light, the Father’s mystery and glorification, the vigilante of the Most High God, incarnated for the sake of our sins and living with people, wanting to save souls who our enemy the devil boldly deceived, squandered and brought down to the underworld, similar to what his disciple Aurelian is now doing - You, Lord, deliver us from this grave torment. During this prayer of the sufferers, the bubbling tar turned into cold water, and all those present marveled at the power of God and glorified Him. Aurelian, mad with anger, did not glorify God, but, thinking that this was magic, he ordered the saints to be taken out of the cauldron, in which there was no smell of resin left, but only cold water. When the martyrs were taken out Aurelian said to them: “Do you think that the people who were present here and saw everything that happened, deceived by you, will believe that God remembered you - and it wasn’t you who cooled the cauldron by the power of magic?” I swear by my gods, I will make sure that your witchcraft will not help you, and you, from many and long-term torments - scorched by fire, wounded and exhausted, against your will, will sacrifice to the gods. Saint Paul responded to these bold words: – We will never leave the living God, who created heaven and earth, freed us from darkness and delivered us from your hands; Never, tormentor Aurelian, will you be able to convince us to bow to your silent, soulless and insensitive idols. Give us over to whatever torment you know, and in it you will recognize the power of our God. Then Aurelian ordered to bring two iron beds, take a lot of coals from the people's baths and heat the beds with them, then lay the holy martyrs naked on the hot beds and at the same time pour melted lard over them. During this torment, Aurelian said to the martyrs: “Now I have defeated your magical power, and you will know who Aurelian is—may your Christ come and help you.” “Our Christ,” Saint Juliana answered the tormentor, “is already here with us and helps us and does not allow the fire to harm us, but you do not see Him, for you are not worthy.” I advise you to leave your madness and turn to Christ. If you wish to believe in Him, then He will accept you repentant, for He lovingly and mercifully forgives human sins; and if you do not turn to Him, you will be consigned to eternal fire. At this time, two warriors, seeing that the saints, scorched on their beds, remained undamaged by the fire, cried out in a loud voice: – There is no other God except the heavenly God, who helps Paul and Juliana. The king, angry with the soldiers for this, ordered to immediately behead both of them with a sword. He thought that they were bribed and took a lot of gold from Christians, so as not to cruelly torture the saints. When these soldiers were led to execution, Saint Paul gave them the following instruction: “Do not be afraid,” he said, “you will never die, but you will be together with the holy heirs of the Heavenly Kingdom.” Hearing his words, the soldiers stopped and began to pray: - Master Lord Jesus Christ! True God, whom Paul and Juliana preach, be with us, for we die without having committed any crime. After these words they were beheaded with a sword. Their names are Kvadrat and Akakiy. After the death of these warriors, others were assigned to scorch the saints lying on their red-hot beds. They sprinkled salt to make the fire burn hotter; but the saints did not feel the torment and continued to reproach the tormentor. Shamed by his powerlessness against the martyrs, Aurelian ordered them to be put in prison, heavy wooden stocks placed on their necks, shackles on their feet, and iron hoops placed on their hands. In prison, the tormentor ordered that sharp nails be thrown on the floor, like thorns and thistles in a field, and the martyrs be placed on them, so that they would not only have no relief from their suffering, but would suffer even more from the nails tearing their bodies. At the same time, the tormentor ordered to strictly observe that none of the Christians came to them and did not serve them food or drink. At midnight, when the saints lay on sharp nails and prayed, suddenly a light shone in the prison, the Angel of the Lord appeared and said to the martyrs: – Paul and Juliana, servants of the Most High Lord, arise and glorify God! Having said this, the Angel approached and touched the chains and shackles of the martyrs, and immediately the bonds broke and fell from their bodies, their ulcers were healed, and they became healthy again. And then they saw two tables covered with a clean cloth and a meal prepared in front of them, full of all kinds of dishes. The angel said to the saints: – Take the food that Jesus Christ sent you. The holy martyrs Paul and Juliana sat down to a meal and, taking bread in their hands, raised their eyes to heaven and thanked God; Then they ate and drank what the Lord had sent and were strengthened. The prisoners in prison saw how the light shone, how the saints, freed from their shackles, sat down at the places prepared for them for a meal, ate and had fun. They, in amazement, approached them and were honored to be participants in this meal, prepared by an invisible hand. Having glorified God, who shows such mercy to His servants, and, having believed in Him, they all became Christians. On the third day, Emperor Aurelian again sat down at the judgment seat and, ordering the holy martyrs Paul and Juliana to be brought to him, said to them: “I hope that the torment has had an effect on you and that you, having abandoned your madness, will now approach the gods and make a sacrifice to them.” Saint Paul answered him: – This madness - not to renounce Christ, may it remain forever with me and with all who love God: “for the foolish things of God are wiser than men, and the weak things of God are stronger than men” (1 Cor. 1:25). “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God, as it is written: It catches the wise in their craftiness” (1 Cor. 3:19). And I would really go mad if, having departed from the True God, I bowed to your demons. Aurelian again became enraged and ordered both martyrs to be hanged on a tree naked and their ribs to be whittled with iron claws. They, given over to torment, prayed to God: – Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, Light of Christianity, unshakable faith, appear to us and help us and do not leave us, for the sake of Your Holy Name. Through prayer, their Savior, being invisibly near them, eased their suffering, and the saints did not feel the torment. One of the soldiers, named Stratonicus, placed on the left side of Saint Juliana to plan her ribs, took pity on her beauty and refrained from planing. The saint, realizing his thoughts, pushed him with her left foot and said to him: “Stratonicus, fulfill the order of the tormentor and do not spare me, for my King Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal God, helps me, He protects my soul and eases my bodily torment. Stratonik, throwing away the weapon that was in his hands, ran to the place of the royal court and cried out: - Aurelian, wicked tormentor! Why do you so unfairly hand over Christians to be tortured? What evil have these people done who worship the True God? Why do they suffer so much? Is it really just because they honor Christ, the Lord of all? Hearing his words, the king fell into a terrible anger and could not speak for a whole hour. Finally he said: “And you, Stratonicus, became a participant in the same madness!” What deceived you? Is Juliana beautiful, or were you defeated by her womanly speech? Stratonik, raising his eyes to heaven, saw that the faces of the holy martyrs hanging in torment were as bright as the faces of the Angels of God. Immediately, protecting himself with the sign of the cross, he ran to the wicked idol altar built there, overturned it and, trampling it with his feet, cried out: - And I am a Christian! Do with me, torturer, what you want. Aurelian became very angry and ordered his head to be cut off. When Stratonicus was brought to the place of execution, he prayed to God like this: - Lord Jesus Christ, preaching Whom Paul and Juliana remain invincible, preserved by Your Divinity, and put the tormentor to shame, I pray to You - accept my soul into Your Heavenly Kingdom, do not reject me, who only confessed Your holy Name for a short time before the tormentor Aurelian. After this prayer, he was beheaded with a sword, and the Christians, who took his body, hid it. Saints Paul and Juliana were tormented all that day and were not at all exhausted from their torment. Aurelian, turning to Juliana, said to her: - Nasty and wicked woman! How were you able to seduce this warrior during his torment? You are responsible for his death. “I did not seduce him, and I am innocent of his death; Christ, who chose me to be His bride, called this warrior to Himself as worthy, for if he had not been worthy, he could never have received the crown of martyrdom. You yourself will suffer in the flames of Gehenna, and you will see him in the Kingdom of Heaven. Then you will begin to beat yourself in the wicked chest, seeing that once your subordinate, an insignificant person and rejected by you, has been placed above you and crowned by Christ with the glory of the Heavenly Kingdom. You will then be filled with great sorrow and cry out, asking for mercy, but you will never receive it. After this, Aurelian ordered the torment of the saints to stop and the saints to be imprisoned again. In the evening of the same day, Aurelian ordered them to be transferred from the dungeon to the public bath. Then, calling on sorcerers, wizards and spellcasters of reptiles, he ordered them to bring all the most evil reptiles they had: vipers, asps and snakes and let them into the bathhouse where the martyrs were imprisoned. The sorcerers, fulfilling the royal command, gathered many reptiles and let them into the bathhouse of the saints. But the reptiles crawled at the feet of the holy martyrs and did not harm them, and the saints fearlessly sang and praised God. In such confinement in the bathhouse, together with the reptiles, the saints remained for three days and three nights; On the fourth night, Aurelian sent to find out whether Paul and Juliana had been eaten by reptiles. When the messengers approached the doors of the bathhouse, they heard the saints singing psalms and praising God. Wanting to know better what was going on inside, the messengers climbed onto the roof of the bathhouse and began to look out the window from above. They saw a bright light and Saint Paul sitting with his sister, Saint Juliana. An Angel of God stood near them and did not allow the reptiles to touch the saints. Having seen this, the messengers went to King Aurelian and told him what they had seen. The next morning he sat down again at the judgment seat and ordered the sorcerers and exorcists to take the reptiles from the bathhouse and bring the martyrs to him for trial. The sorcerers, approaching the doors of the bathhouse, began to call the reptiles to themselves through spells, but the reptiles did not listen to them. When the doors of the bathhouse were opened, all the reptiles immediately rushed at their spellcasters and at the other people who came with them; Having stung them fatally, the reptiles disappeared. After the reptiles fled, those sent by the tormentor came and, taking the holy martyrs, brought them to him for judgment. The torturer looked at them and smiled and said: “I am glad to talk with you again, because I hope to learn something great from you.” I swear by the gods, if you tell me the truth, you will receive many and great gifts from me and you will be noble persons in my kingdom. Tell me, is it true what I heard from those looking through the window in your bathhouse, that our lord Apollo came to you and helped you, protecting you from reptiles, and you saw his face with your own eyes. Saint Paul answered the king: – We do not know Apollo and have never seen him, for we serve the True God, who has prepared salvation for His servants. Your soul perished mortally, because you do not want to know the truth and repent. Strong rage from the tortures you imagine has brought you to the point that you dare to blaspheme the incorporeal servant of God, the holy Angel, whom our Lord Jesus Christ sent to us in order to stop the mouth of reptiles, and you boldly call him Apollo. The words of the martyr brought Aurelian into great anger, and he ordered to beat Saint Paul in the face with tin rods and at the same time say to him: - How dare you answer so proudly and impudently - know that you are standing before the king. After this torment, Aurelian ordered Saint Paul to be taken away and Saint Juliana brought closer to him. The torturer told her: - Mistress of my heart, Juliana! I beg you, do not follow your brother's madness; I see that you are a sensible girl with a great mind, so listen to my advice, and you will be a queen with me, for I will take you as my wife and place your golden statues in all the cities of the empire. “You will not deceive me in any way, wicked tormentor, you will not ensnare the servant of the Most High God with your cunning and you will not make me guilty of eternal death. Although you wish, you cannot deprive me of the glory of Christ and the Heavenly Kingdom. Then Aurelian ordered the saint to be taken away from the judgment seat and again to bring Saint Paul to him, to whom he began to say this: “Here, Paul, your sister Juliana gave us a promise to make a sacrifice to the gods, for this reason I want to take her as my wife, and she will be the mistress of my entire kingdom.” Make sure you too and fulfill my command to make a sacrifice to the gods: you will be my friend and will receive a high position as a reward. But Saint Paul answered these crafty words: “Truly, you lied, as if my sister abandoned her most pure and immortal Bridegroom, Christ, and became a friend of you, the foul and corruptible one, and your demons.” But it is not surprising that you lied, for you have as your father the devil, of whom the father of lies is (John 8:44); Having learned from him to lie, you do the same as he, and cannot deceive anyone except with a lie. But you work in vain, for you will not deceive us with your deceitful cunning, even if you promised us the kingdom of the whole world. Angered by this answer from the martyr, Aurelian said to him: - How long will you speak to us so impudently, senseless man? I swear by the gods that I will torture you with all sorts of torments, and no one will be able to free you from my hands. Having said this, the king ordered to build a large fire, bring fourteen iron sticks and heat them on the fire; then he ordered to tie Saint Paul’s hands and feet, insert a red-hot stick between his hands and feet, dig him into the ground and beat him with red-hot sticks to two soldiers alternately. The command was carried out. The tormentor ordered Juliana to be taken to a house of fornication and there to be desecrated. Hearing such a command, many of the people hurried there, chasing each other, in order to go forward to her, excited like horses by her beauty. When the saint was brought to the house of fornication, the Angel of the Lord appeared to her and said: “Do not be afraid, Juliana, for the Lord Jesus Christ, Whom you serve, sent me to protect you, so that His holy name may be glorified among those who fear Him.” And the Angel began to strike with blindness the libertines who wanted to touch the saint, shaking them like dust from the feet of the bride of Christ, so that they could not approach her, they groped and ran into walls. Seeing this miracle, the people, as if with their lips alone, cried out loudly: – Great is the God of Paul and Julian, who saves and protects those who fear Him everywhere! The blinded libertines, bending their knees, cried out to the saint: “Juliania, servant of the Most High God, we have sinned against you, wanting to defile you, but you, as a servant of the good God, forgive us and pray to Thy Christ for us, that He may grant us insight.” The saint had mercy on them, took some water and, raising her eyes to heaven, began to pray to God like this: - Jesus Christ, True God, Savior of all people, hear me, Your servant, and now show the signs and wonders that You are doing to people, grant them insight, so that they glorify Your holy Name. Having prayed, the saint sprinkled water on all those who were blind, and they immediately received their sight; those healed fell to the ground, thanked God and, coming to the Christian church, repented of their sins and were honored with holy baptism. Meanwhile, the soldiers, by order of the king, continued to torment Saint Paul, striking him without mercy with iron sticks heated in the fire, and both the servants and the sticks often changed. Amid these sufferings, the saint appealed to the king: - Aurelian, wicked tormentor, what evil have I done that you torture me so cruelly and godlessly? But truly, my Lord Jesus Christ eases my suffering, and eternal fire awaits you, prepared for you and the devil, who teaches you against us. Aurelian, wanting to sadden the saint, said: – Pavel, where is your sister Juliana? You think she's a girl; and today she was given over to the house of fornication for reproach. Saint Paul responded to this blasphemy: “I believe that my God, who alleviates my suffering and delivers me from your evil intentions, will protect my sister and keep her immaculate from all defilement, and will send his Angel from heaven to guard her.” After some time, Paul said again: “Here my sister returns, immaculate, having preserved her virginity, and comes to see my suffering and my wounds. The saint spoke this way because with perspicacious eyes he saw everything that happened to Saint Juliana. The torturer ordered the saint to be returned. When Saint Juliana was again brought to the judgment seat and Saint Paul saw her, he was filled with great joy and met his sister with a bright smile. Aurelian asked the saint: - Juliana, have the adulterers enjoyed your beauty? – My joy, beauty and all my adornment is Christ, Who sent His Angel and preserved me, His humble servant: I have placed my trust in Him and glorify His Most Holy Name, for He is the True God, who performs miracles, and there is no other God but Him alone. Having ordered to stop the torment of Saint Paul, the king ordered that they dig a hole three fathoms deep, fill it with firewood and light it. When the wood was completely burned out and many hot coals remained in the pit, the tormentor ordered the holy martyrs, Paul and Juliana, to be thrown there. But they themselves went to the fiery pit, blessing God and calling on Christ the Savior, their Helper. Arriving at the pit, the martyrs made the sign of the cross and threw themselves into the fire. While on fire, they sang and glorified the Lord, for the Angel of the Lord came down from heaven, weakened the power of the fire and scattered the coals, and kept the martyrs whole and undamaged. The saints stood in the pit and chanted: – Blessed be God, the King of the ages, that He remembered our humility and Himself extinguished the fiery flame, forgiving our sins, according to His great goodness; You kept us unworthy safe and sound from the fury of Aurelian the tormentor. The whole people heard the singing of the saints, and many pagans, seeing the glory of God, were touched in their hearts and, rejecting idols, believed in Christ. The king ordered the saints in the pit to be stoned. But suddenly lightning appeared and strong thunder was heard, a fiery cloud appeared, from which fire came out onto the earth, and a voice was heard from the sky: – Aurelian, you will go to the fiery Gehenna prepared for you and your father, the devil. Aurelian and all the people fell into fear, and the tormentor ordered the saints to be taken out of the pit and put in prison. They glorified God for all the miracles that God performed for them. Seven days later, Aurelian again sat down at the judgment seat and ordered the priests to bring all the idols they had - gold, silver, decorated with expensive stones - and to lay his royal purple under their feet. Then, calling the holy martyrs Paul and Juliana, he said to them with great rage: “Come now and worship the gods, for you will not escape my hands.” Saint Paul, laughing at his words, said to him: “We will never, tormentor, leave God, who created heaven and earth, without hoping to ever incline us to idolatry.” Then Aurelian said to the martyr: - Worthy of cruel death, you think that these are idols. Do you not understand the power that is in them? “Zeus, whom you call god, was a wizard, full of passion, and the most intemperate fornicator. He, seeing beautiful women and maidens, seduced them with magic in various ways, sometimes turning into a bull, sometimes into a bird, into an eagle or a swan, sometimes into gold, and having thus deceived and desecrated many faces, he is called god by them and is revered. But I will not list in order all his prodigal, shameless and lawless deeds, for I see that you are angry when listening to my words - nevertheless, I am not afraid of your anger, but in order not to tempt those who hear this, I will keep silent about the rest. Your other god is Apollo. Was he not born of adultery by a woman named Latona, who gave birth to him between two trees? This Apollo also created a lot of indecency, imitating his father Zeus. Likewise, was not your famous god Dionysus born of adultery by Semele, daughter of Cadmus? 1724 - You're lying, impudent one! - Aurelian cried, - Dionysus was born from Juno, the mother of the gods. Saint Paul laughed and said: - Maybe God was born of a wife? Can someone become a god without being one before? Does God have a wife and can he give birth to children from his wife? Aurelian, angry at this answer, said to the saint: - A wicked and impudent man! How long will you condemn and blaspheme our gods with crafty words? Was not your Christ, whom you call the God of Heaven, born of a woman? Saint Paul answered the detractor: – Although you are unworthy to know the secret of Divine Revelation, so that those around you are not seduced by your words, it is necessary to at least briefly talk about what you are asking about. God in the beginning created the heavens and the earth and everything that is in them, the seas and everything that is in them; He also created man, in His image and likeness, pure, without any sin, righteous, pious, and settled him in paradise full of every good, creating from his rib a helper for him. But your father the devil, jealous of such bliss of people, seduced Eve and through her brought Adam to a crime against the commandment of God. Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise, gave birth to sons and daughters, from whom the whole world was filled with people - and the entire human race was subject to death through sin that entered the world, so that all our forefathers and the righteous were brought down to hell along with sinners: “death reigned from Adam to Moses and over those who did not sin, like the crime of Adam, who is the image of the future” (Rom. 5:14), as Christ says Apostle Paul. For this reason, the Heavenly Father, Almighty God, having mercy on the human race and wanting to help it, sent His Son to take human flesh, to save Adam and those imprisoned with him in the shackles of hell. This Son of God is the Father's Word, born of the Father before all ages, His Wisdom and Strength and Right Hand, whose incarnation the Archangel Gabriel announced to the Blessed Virgin, who came from a prophetic and royal family; God Himself, that is, the Father’s Word, invisibly moved into Her most pure and sanctified womb, taking upon Himself flesh, when the Angel spoke to Her: “Rejoice, Full of Grace!” The Lord is with You; Blessed are You among women. The Holy Spirit will come upon You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You; therefore the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:28, 35). And the Son of God, the Word of the Father, was born from the immaculate Virgin, clothed in flesh, as if in a robe, for the salvation of people. No one can see the True God, for God is like Fire, destroying everything; A person living on earth cannot see the Face of God and remain alive. Therefore, our God, having become incarnate, was born and, like a baby, fed on milk, being perfect in Divinity. He was a youth, a young man, who grew in flesh into a perfect man, who lived with people for thirty-three years, going around cities, countries and villages, showing benefits to everyone and delivering us, defeated and captured by the devil. Then He was voluntarily crucified on the Cross in order to grant salvation to the world, which was perishing from the devil’s wickedness, and died in the flesh, descended into hell along with his holy soul and crushed the copper gates, broke the iron locks and brought the souls of the saints out of the darkness and snares of the devil and led them to the highlands. On the third day, He rose from the dead along with His flesh, appeared to the disciples, His Apostles, and many others who truly believed in Him, ate and drank with the Apostles for forty days, then ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God His Father with His flesh. Now the devil is in agony, lamenting, for Christ God has cast him under the feet of Christians, so that those entering the Kingdom of Heaven, to which you are a stranger, will trample underfoot, and you will be in the eternal fire of Gehenna, the inheritance of your father the devil. Having listened to all this, Aurelian’s face changed with rage, gnashed his teeth and shouted: - Impudent and nasty man! I patiently listened to your crafty words that insult us and blaspheme the gods. For the last time I tell you: if you do not make sacrifices to the gods, I will put you to a cruel death. Saints Paul and Juliana exclaimed loudly: - We are Christians and have hope in Christ, we will not worship your gods and we will not serve your demons, but we are not afraid of your torments, no matter how much you invent them for us. For we believe in God and hope that you will be defeated by us, just as the devil was defeated by Christ, who strengthens us and destroys your evil devices. Then Aurelian ordered Saint Paul to be tied to a tree and his face to be scorched with fire, and the herald to proclaim: - Do not speak impudent words to the king and do not blame the gods. Seeing the torture of her brother, Saint Juliana cried out: - Unholy tormentor! What evil did my brother do that you subjected him to such cruel torture? Aurelian also ordered Saint Juliana to be tied and tormented, her face being scorched with fire; at the same time he said to Juliana: When they were brought outside the city, to the place of beheading, Saint Paul began to ask the soldier to cut off the head of Saint Juliana first, for he was afraid that she would be afraid, looking at the truncation of his head. Saint Juliana, making the sign of the cross and rejoicing, stretched out her neck and was beheaded with a sword. Saint Paul, seeing that his sister died a martyr's death, raised his eyes to heaven and thanked God - then he himself, protecting himself with the sign of the cross, stretched out his neck and was beheaded with a sword. The holy bodies of the martyrs remained outside the city unburied, for, by order of the king, soldiers were stationed nearby to guard so that the Christians would not take them. Dogs came running to the place of execution, but did not touch the bodies of the martyrs; wolves also came running and also did not touch the bodies, but even guarded them, constantly being with them; Birds of prey flew in, but did not land on the honest bodies, they flew over them, guarding them and not allowing flies to land on them. This continued for seven days and nights, after which the soldiers informed Aurelian about this. After listening to them, he said: – How powerful is the magic of Christians! We could not defeat them even in death. And Aurelian ordered the soldiers to leave the guard, but not during the day, but at night, so as not to be ridiculed by Christians. When day came, the Christians, seeing that there were no guards, took the long-suffering bodies of the holy martyrs Paul and Juliana and buried them with honor. To our Lord Jesus Christ, who reigns together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be glory and honor, always, now and forever. Amen. Reigned from 270 to 275. Ptolemais is a city in Phenicia, south of Tyre, north of Mount Karusla. Here is Ap. Paul stopped during his last journey to Jerusalem and spent the whole day among Christians (Acts 21:7). Holy Scripture distinguishes in the Angels various ranks or degrees, which are indicated by nine (Gen. 3:24; Is. 6:2; Coloss. 1:16; Eph. 1:20–21; Rom. 8:38; 1 Thess. 4:16; Jude 1:6). In the "Heavenly Hierarchy" of St. Dionysius the Areopagite, the first place among the ranks of Angels is occupied by the Seraphim. Zeus, or Jupiter, is a Greco-Roman god, revered by pagans as the ruler of heaven and earth, the father of all gods and people. According to the legends of pagan writers, Zeus, to seduce any woman, resorted to similar transformations: so he descended to Danos in the form of a golden shower, seduced Leda, taking the form of a swan, and kidnapped Europa, turning into a white bull. Apollo, the god of the ancient Greeks and Romans, was revered as the god of light, especially the sun, also of mental enlightenment, poetry and music, the god of the diviner, the healer of diseases and the guardian of all civil order. Latona - according to the legend of mythology before Hera, the wife of Zeus, with whom she married Apollo and Artemis (or among the Romans Diana - the goddess of childbirth, hunting and the moon); She is loved by Zeus even at the time when he was married to Hera and is pursued by the jealous Hera throughout the earth until she gives birth to Apollo on Delis near Mount Kintha. Dionysus, or Bacchus, is the god of grapes and winemaking. His mother is Semele, daughter of Cadmus, father 3evs; The saint calls the birth of Dionysus adultery, since, according to mythology, Zeus begat him from Semele when he had a wife, Hera. Juno is the Roman name for the Greek Hera, the wife of Zeus. These kind of pagan legends about Zeus show how much pagan religious thought has deviated from the true path of knowledge of God, reaching the point of idolizing actions in the person of their gods, which condemns a healthy, natural moral sense even in man. You might be interested in: