Память преподобного Емилиана

In Rome there lived a certain man named Victorinus; from a young age he sinned a lot, and then, in his old age, he came to his senses and, remembering his sins, trembled at the Judgment of God. Arriving at one of the holy monasteries and begging the abbot to accept him, he renounced all the attachments of this world and became a monk; He devoted himself entirely to humility and obedience, observing what was commanded to him and exhausting his body day and night. In a monastic image, his name was given: Emilian. Constantly containing the memory of death in his soul and always preparing for the Last Judgment of God and for an answer about his sins on the day of testing, Emilian was always under fear of eternal torment in Gehenna; with this fear he so exhausted and withered his body that all the brethren, who lived in the monastery out of love for God, marveled at such great mortification of the flesh, humility and labor. And everyone tried to imitate his life and compare with his exploits in obedience, in order to cleanse their sins with such difficult repentance; They saw how every day he endures hunger, thirst, prostrates himself on the ground, sleeps little, torments and crushes his body - and they received great benefit from this. The monastery where Emilian labored was built on a high mountain, which had a cave on one of the slopes; and Blessed Emilian had a custom, secretly from everyone, late in the evening, to retire from the monastery to this cave and there to pray with tears all night until Matins. A lot of time has passed; Once the abbot met Emilian, who was leaving the monastery late at night. Not knowing for what purpose this brother was leaving the monastery, the abbot left his cell, followed him secretly and, seeing that he had entered the cave, stood near it and decided to wait until he came out, in order to find out from him why he was entering the cave. A little time later, a heavenly light brighter than the rays of the sun suddenly illuminated that mountain, and the abbot saw the Monk Emilian standing in a cave with his hands outstretched and praying to God; and heavenly light descended on the head of the blessed one. At the sight of this, horror and fear attacked the abbot; on the way back to the monastery, he was already running in trepidation, and could barely move his feet from great horror. When he reached the monastery gates, he heard a voice from heaven saying: - Emilian, your sins are forgiven. The abbot was even more horrified, entered his cell and waited in silence for dawn. Wanting the brethren to benefit from this, the abbot, after Matins, turning to Emilian in front of everyone, asked: -Where were you that night, brother? The monk, bowing to the abbot, answered: - In the monastery, with the brethren, I rested all night. But the abbot rebuked him and forced him not to hide the mercy of God, which is shown to sinners who truly repent. Emilian was forced to tell the secret to all the brethren, how from the throne of mercy a light and a voice came down to him from heaven. Then the abbot began to speak to the brethren: - Listen, my dear brothers. Almighty God could have forgiven this brother his sins in silence, but for our sake, awakening our hearts to repentance, he sent him His mercy in the form of light along with His voice, so that we too might recognize and glorify the mercy and love for mankind of our Creator, Who is close to the truly repentant. Informed in this way that his sin was forgiven, the Monk Emilian spent the rest of his life in spiritual joy and went to the unapproachable Light to listen to the voice of joy and joy of the righteous, rejoicing in the heavenly villages forever. You might be interested in: