Страдание святого преподобномученика Конона и сына его Конона, в Иконии пострадавших

During the reign of the wicked Aurelian 1741 in the city of Iconium 1742 there lived a man named Conon. He was handsome in face and fearing God. Konon's wife also had firm faith in the Lord. Both spouses burned with love for their heavenly fatherland and sought more heavenly honors and glory than earthly ones. For a long time they prayed to God that He would give them a son. The Lord heard their prayers and sent them a son, whom they also named Konon. On the very day the baby was born, the mother went to the Lord, having firm hope of salvation, according to the words of the Apostle: “But he will be saved through childbearing” (1 Tim. 2:15). Blessed Konon himself spent all his days and nights in prayer. When his son was seven years old, Konon gave everything he had to the poor and, taking the boy, went to the monastery, where he spent his monastic life. The Lord gave him grace, so that he gave sight to the blind, cleansed lepers, cast out demons and healed various diseases and performed many glorious miracles. The river that flowed in Iconium was very deep in the spring, overflowed its banks and caused many disasters to the inhabitants of that country, flooding their fields, gardens and houses. During one of these floods, the river flooded many more villages than usual. The Iconian inhabitants came to the man of God Konon and, falling at his feet, prayed to him: - Help us, servant of God, for the flood is greater than usual and has drowned us and all our goods and property; many people remain on the other side of the river and cannot come here. “I, brothers,” answered Blessed Konon, “a sinful and unworthy man, what can I do?” But all the people began to cry out to him loudly: - Saint Konon, servant of God, help us! Then Saint Conon went to the river bank and, raising his eyes to heaven, began to pray: “Lord Jesus Christ, as You once heard Your servant Moses on the shore of the Red Sea and led the children of Israel through the dry land, hear also now, O Lord, hear me, for the sake of this people, so that they may see Your miracles and glorify Your blessed Name forever and ever.” Immediately the river divided into two parts: one part suddenly flowed back, and the other went its own way. All those present, men and women, cried out with one voice, praising God, who saves all those who trust in Him. People and animals returned to their villages, from where they were driven away by water. But the waters, returning back, flooded the villages located at the top of the river, and not only filled the valleys and forests, but even covered elevated places. Then all the people again came to the man of God and told what had happened. Saint Conon approached the river and, making the sign of the cross over it, said: - Listen to the commands of the Almighty God, collect all your waters into your channel, do not overflow your banks and do not flood human settlements. Immediately the river, like a slave obedient to his master, flowed along its bed, without overflowing from its banks, although before that the water in it stood like a mountain. Thus the word of the Lord was fulfilled: “If you have faith as a mustard seed and say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move” (Matthew 17:20). Saint Conon, caring for the salvation of human souls, destroyed many idol churches and converted unbelievers to Christ. This was the case not only in Iconium, but also in the surrounding countries. It happened that the news of Saint Conon reached the ruler Domitian. This wicked lawless man arrived in Iconium and created such fear and confusion in this city that no one dared to openly admit that he was a Christian. Many retired to the mountains and deserts, where they lived together with animals, not wanting to give up the profession of the Christian faith out of fear. Governor Domitian, at the instigation of the devil, ordered the man of God Konon to be taken and brought to himself. When the saint was brought to torture, Domitian looked at him with a friendly smile and said to him: - Hello, noble old man. “Hello, you too,” answered the saint. “I see,” continued Domitian, “that what I heard about you is true, for your appearance is bright and inspires respect, your eyes shine like stars, and your old age cannot be blamed.” We have received news that you are stricken with the deadly poison of Christianity, and you are not only deluding yourself, but also seducing many others into the same delusion. Nevertheless, we did not believe this rumor, for we knew that you were a noble man and devoted to our faith. To the words of Domitian, Saint Conon answered: – It is written that you should follow useful advice, not harmful advice. Why did you reject our Lord, who was taken and condemned to death, who died on the Cross and was laid in the tomb? Why didn’t you marvel at His birth from the Most Pure Virgin, Who, although she gave birth, remained a Virgin? Why wasn’t he surprised at Christmas, which the Angels announced, rejoicing and singing: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14). Why are you not amazed at the power of Him who fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fishes? Who could have performed such a miracle if not the One who opened the eyes of the man born blind, gave life to the dead Lazarus, who was in the tomb for four days, and finally, according to His will, suffered for the salvation of the whole world, at whose death the stones were broken, the tombs were opened and many saints who had died were resurrected? “But if your story were true,” Domitian objected to the saint, “the whole world would believe in your Christ and the power of Zeus would be destroyed.” - So it will be - this Zeus and all your gods will be destroyed by the invincible power of our Lord Jesus Christ, who commanded me to preach the truth, to which I will remain faithful to the end, for it is written in the law of Christ: “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:2). It is fitting for us believers to enter the Kingdom of God through many calamities, but the children of this age, living luxuriously in worldly blessings, will be cast out and go into utter darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. These words of the martyr brought Domitian into great anger, and he ordered Saint Conon to be beaten and subjected to various torments. The saint fearlessly said: “I am not afraid of your torment; rather, do what you have in mind; I beg you to give me over to the most severe torments, so that I may be worthy of a greater reward from my Christ. “I will give you useful advice: listen to us, and you will become worthy of enjoying with us.” – I want to save my soul, not my body, and I want to enjoy spiritual joys, not physical ones. And you, wicked one, will be given over to torment together with your father the devil in hell, where there will be no end to your torment. After this, Domitian asked the saint: “What rank do you have in your faith, wicked old man?” Are you a priest? “No,” answered the martyr, “I am a simple man and am not worthy of this sacred dignity, those who are worthy of it rejoice together with Christ and His holy Angels with spiritual joy.” Nevertheless, I also live for my Lord Jesus Christ, I bow to Him and rejoice in His name. - Did you have a wife? – Domitian continued to ask. “He had,” answered the saint, “but he did not live long with her, for she went to Christ our God.” – Do you have children? – Domitian asked again. “I have one son,” answered the saint, “he stayed in my house, but I want him to appear before you.” “Doesn’t he even worship our gods?” – asked Domitian. “Like the tree,” answered the saint, “so are the branches, but I ask you, order to bring my son here, so that we may receive the crown of martyrdom together.” Immediately, by order of Domitian, soldiers were sent for young Conon. When he was brought and placed before the tormentor, he asked the elder Konon: - How old is your son? “When I was seven years old, I sent him to a monastery for education, and there he learned to read and write. When he was twelve years old, he was made a church reader. And now he is seventeen years old, and, by the grace of Christ, he has the rank of deacon and is among the sacred servants of God. From childhood I taught him to live chastely, and he is worthy of the crown of martyrdom. I ask you: do not hesitate long, but lead us to be given over to torture, so that together we may be crowned by Christ our God, for we are Christians and desire to die for Christ. – What is your son’s name? – asked Domitian. The martyr answered: – He has the same name as his father. Domitian turned to young Conon and began to say to him: “You heard, young man, your father lived for many years, was married, gave birth to a son and enjoyed life for quite a long time, and now he is an old man; it is not surprising, therefore, that he wishes to die. And you are still young and have just begun to experience all the charm of life, do you really want to listen to your father? To the crafty words of the tormentor the young man answered: “My father taught me to honor the One True God, the Creator of all visible and invisible creation, to live holy and pious, showed me the way of salvation and told me that this life is not life, but death, and all lovers of temporary life die for eternity, and our Lord Jesus Christ has endless life, which He gives to those who love Him. In addition, I was taught by my father that the wicked idolaters are destined for eternal torment in the fire of Gehenna, which never goes out, but the righteous servants of Christ are destined for incorruptible crowns in Heavenly glory, in the endless Kingdom of Christ our God, for whose sake we have left the world, and the world has forsaken us. Taught this way by my father, I have the same thoughts with him, I want to go to God the same way that he goes, and I surrender myself to the same torment to which he surrendered himself. For this is what my Lord Christ said: “My Father works hitherto, and I work”, “The Son can do nothing of Himself, unless He sees the Father doing: for whatever He does, the Son also does likewise” (John 5:17, 19). “And if I destroy your father in cruel tortures, will you want to die in the same way?” – asked Domitian. “Yes, I wish,” answered the blessed young man Konon, “I wish to die with my father, so that we may come to life together in the Kingdom of our Lord, for to die for Christ is not death, but to receive eternal life.” Then Domitian, turning to Elder Conon, said to him: “Truly, this young man is wiser than you, and there is only one thing he lacks, and that is, having learned the truth, to worship our gods.” Elder Konon answered the tormentor: “The young man knows the truth well, for he worships with me the One who said: “I am the Truth” (John 14:6), but neither he nor I will worship demonic idols, your lying gods, forever. “For the last time I tell you: listen to me and worship the gods,” said Domitian, “in order to get rid of cruel torment and death and receive rich gifts from us.” The elder Konon answered him: - O lawless man rejected from God, insatiable tormentor with human blood and the most wicked of all people, didn’t I tell you from the very beginning that I am a Christian and want to die for Christ together with my son, and you, intoxicated with malice and insane, do not remember my words? Then Domitian ordered to bring an iron bed and, having made it very hot, lay the holy martyrs naked on this bed and scorch them. Fulfilling the orders of the tormentor, some of the servants lit burning coals, others poured boiling oil on the holy martyrs, but the saints remained unharmed. The elder Konon said to the tormentor: “Don’t you remember, Domitian, that I asked you to betray me to cruel torture?” But you didn’t even try to do this, because this torment is insignificant for us and we don’t feel the scorching. Seeing that this did not harm the martyrs at all, the tormentor ordered to prepare a copper cauldron and, filling it with tin, sulfur and resin, light it and throw it into the cauldron of the holy martyrs. At the same time he said: “If they are cool on a hot bed, then I will warm them in a boiling cauldron and see if their God can free them from the fiery flames.” The saints, thrown into the cauldron, raised their eyes to heaven and prayed: - Creator of everything, Lord! Hear us praying to You, send Your holy Angel to us, so that he cools this very hot cauldron, as he once cooled the fiery Babylonian furnace for the three youths; Hear us, Master, and hasten to our aid, so that everyone may understand that You are the Son of the living God, who came into the world. Immediately, through their prayer, the Lord sent His Angel, who cooled the cauldron with heavenly dew and said to them: – Peace be with you, good warriors, faithful ascetics! Do not fear or be dismayed, for Christ is with you; He will make you conquerors and partakers of everlasting joy. After this, Domitian ordered the holy martyrs to be hanged upside down and smoked with stinking smoke. Saint Conon the Elder, smiling at this order, said: - Crazy! The fire didn’t harm us; are we really afraid of the smoke? When the saints continued to be tormented by stinking smoke, they laughed at the tormentor and said: “Aren’t you ashamed, accursed one, that two warriors of Christ defeated all your proud strength, shamed your father the devil and crushed and overcame all his evil tricks?” Domitian was filled with great rage and, ashamed, not knowing what else to do, he ordered, ending this torment, to cut the martyrs in half with a wooden saw. When the servants set them down and wanted to saw, the saints asked the servants to give them time for prayer, and thus they prayed to God: - Master, Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, King of kings and Lord of lords, we thank You for making us worthy to suffer for Your holy Name, strengthening us in torment and not allowing Your enemies to mock us, and making us conquerors of the devil. We glorify You - Christ God, the All-Powerful and All-Good Lover of Mankind - and we pray to You: give peace to Your holy Church existing in the universe, disgrace and defeat those who persecute her, quickly overthrow and destroy the vile idol churches, erect Your power and spread the praise of Your holy Name, preserve and increase the Christian race, glorifying the right You until the end of my life. We also ask You, Master, accept our souls in peace, may the command of the tormentor not be fulfilled and we may not be sawn apart, so that this does not give joy to our enemy, who wants to boast that he has destroyed us. May Your mercy always be with us and take us to Yourself, and let Domitian know that we are Your servants, and You have done what You wanted with us, and when anyone hears this, He will glorify Your Most Holy Name forever. When the saints said “Amen,” a voice was heard from heaven calling them to the heavenly villages; The holy martyrs, protecting themselves with the sign of the cross, gave up their holy souls into the hands of God. Immediately a strong earthquake occurred, the idolatrous churches fell and all the idols in the city were broken, and Domitian fled and hid in his house. The brethren who were in the monastery, hearing what happened to the holy martyrs, came and took their honorable bodies and, bringing them to the monastery, gave them over to burial with honor, glorifying the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the One God in the Trinity, glorified from all creation forever. Amen. Aurelian, Roman emperor, reigned from 270 to 275. Iconium is a city in Asia Minor, now Konia. You might be interested in: