Страдание святых сорока мучеников, в армянской Севастии

During the reign of the wicked emperor Licinius, a cruel persecution of Christians was launched in 1779, and all the faithful were forced to make sacrifices to idols. In the Armenian city of Sebaste in 1780, the military commander was then Agricolaus, a man of fierce disposition and a zealous champion of idolatry. And since at that time there were already many Christians in the ranks of the imperial regiments, a command was issued that they too should offer sacrifices to demons. In the regiment of the governor Agricolaus there were forty soldiers from the Cappadocia region in 1781, who formed a particularly honorable squad that piously believed in Christ God and were distinguished by unshakable courage, always invincible in military affairs: among them were Kirion, Candide and Domnus, knowledgeable in the Divine Scripture. When it became known to the governor Agricolaus that the soldiers of this squad were Christians, he decided to force them to idolatry. Having called them to him, the governor addressed them with the following speech: “Just as in battles with enemies you have always been in agreement and unanimously with each other and showed courage, so now, with the same unanimity, show unanimous obedience to the royal decree - make a sacrifice to the gods of your own free will, so as not to be subjected to torture.” To this the saints boldly answered: “If we, fighting courageously for the king of the earth, always remained victorious,” as you, damned one, yourself testify, “then all the more, fighting for the immortal King, we will overcome your malice and defeat your wickedness.” “One of two things awaits you: either make sacrifices to the gods and receive great honors, or, in case of disobedience, lose your military rank and be dishonored; think about it and choose for yourself what you find more useful. “What is good for us,” said the soldiers, “the Lord cares about.” “Don’t talk too much,” said the governor, “and leave your false speech, and in the morning be ready to make sacrifices to the gods.” And having said this, Agricolaus ordered them to be imprisoned. The holy warriors brought there, kneeling in prayer, cried out to God: - Deliver us, Lord, from temptations and from the temptations of lawless people. In the evening they began to sing a psalm: – “He who dwells under the shelter of the Most High rests in the shadow of the Almighty” (Ps. 90:1–16). Having sung the psalm to the end, the holy warriors offered up prayer to the Lord; After prayer, they again took up psalmody and remained without sleep until midnight. The leader in the singing was Saint Kirion: he proclaimed the verses, and Saints Candide and Domnus and the others repeated after him. At midnight the holy warriors heard the voice of the Lord who appeared to them: – Good is the firstfruits of your purpose, but he who endures to the end will be saved (Matthew 10:22). They all heard this voice of the Lord and were overwhelmed with horror, but their fear was dissolved by unearthly joy. And they did not sleep until the morning. The next morning, Agricolaus, having gathered his friends and advisers, ordered the holy forty-strong squad of warriors to be brought from prison and addressed them with such an insidious speech: “What I tell you, I will say not flatteringly or falsely, but in the very truth: our king has many warriors, but all of them cannot equal you in wisdom, courage, or beauty, and they do not enjoy my favor as much as you; So don’t let my love for you turn into hatred; in your hands and it depends on you either to preserve my love for you, or to incur my hatred. Saint Candide responded to this: “You cruel flatterer, Agricolaus!” – Your name 1782 is consistent with your character. “Didn’t I tell you what is in your power: either to preserve my love or to arouse my hatred towards you?” - Since your love or hatred for us depends, as you yourself say, on us, we choose hatred, for we also hate you and seek mercy only from our God; But you, a fierce and cruel man and the enemy of our God, do not love us, being lawless and envious, enveloped in the darkness of delusion and justifying your cruel name with a bestial disposition. Enraged by such a daring answer from the saint, the governor, gnashing his teeth like a lion, ordered to put shackles on the holy warriors and imprison them; but Saint Kirion said to him: - You do not have the power from the king to torment us, but you can only interrogate us 1783. Frightened by such admonition made by the holy warrior, Agricolaus ordered them to be taken away without brutal violence and put in prison and not to put shackles on them; He only ordered the prison guard to guard them closely. At that time, the governor was awaiting the arrival of Lysias, a prince with great powers. While in prison, the holy warriors spent their days and nights in prayer and singing psalms and listening to the instructions of Saint Kirion. “According to God’s dispensation,” he said casually, “we, brothers, became friends in temporary and vain military service, but we will try not to be separated forever; just as we have lived unanimously and with one mind, so we will accomplish the feat of martyrdom inseparably: just as we were pleasing to the mortal king, so we will try to be pleasing to the immortal King, Christ our God. After seven days, during which the holy warriors were kept in prison, the Fox Prince arrived in that country and, upon arriving in Sebastia, immediately drew attention to the valiant warriors: the next day, appearing together with the commander Agricolaus at the court, he ordered the holy Pentecostal warriors to be brought to torture. On the way to this unjust judgment, blessed Kirion admonished his fellow soldiers: - We will not be afraid, brothers! Didn't God help us in battles when we called on Him and defeated our enemies? Remember: how we once happened to take part in a great battle, when all the comrades-in-arms of our regiments fled and only we were left among the enemies - forty; We then offered up a tearful prayer to God and with His help we beat some, drove away others—the wounded—and despite all the multitude of opponents and despite all the cruelty of the battle, not one of us was wounded. Now three enemies have taken up arms against us - Satan, Lysias and Agricolaus the commander, or better to say: one enemy is raising up a fight against us - an invisible enemy; and will he really defeat our forty-strong squad? May this not happen!.. We need now to do the same as we have always done: let us turn to God with warm prayer! - and He will help us, - and neither bonds nor torment will harm us. It has always been our rule, when entering battle, to sing a psalm: "God! Save me in Your name, and judge me in Your power, O God! Hear my prayer, listen to the words of my mouth” (Ps. 53:3), let us do the same thing now, fellow brothers-in-arms, and God will hear us and help us. And the holy warriors sang this psalm all the way from the prison to the place of judgment. The people of the whole city gathered for such a spectacle. A forty-strong squad appeared for trial before Lysias and Agricolaus. The Fox Prince, looking at the holy warriors, said: “I think these men want and deserve the highest ranks.” Then he addressed them with the following speech: “And you will receive honors and gifts, more than others, from me, just obey the royal command - make sacrifices to the gods.” You are given the freedom to choose one of two things: either worship the gods and receive great rewards and honors, or, if you refuse to do so, immediately lose your military rank and be subjected to torture. To this Saint Candide replied: “Take from us not only our military rank, but also our very bodies, for for us there is nothing more precious and nothing more honorable than Christ our God.” Then the arrogant prince ordered the saints to be struck on the mouth with stones; Saint Candide remarked: - Prince of darkness and promoter of iniquity! Start doing this yourself, and you will see vengeance. Seething with anger and gnashing his teeth, the governor said: - Evil servants! Why are you so slow to carry out the prince’s orders? The servants took up the stones, but when they began to throw them, they struck not the saints, but each other - they hit each other. Seeing this, the holy martyrs became even more strengthened in boldness in the Lord. The irritated Prince Lysy himself grabbed a stone and threw it at one of the saints, but this stone hit Agricolaus in the face and crushed his mouth. Then Saint Kirion said: “Our enemies fighting us are exhausted and put to shame; truly, “their sword will enter their own heart, and their bows will be broken” (Ps. 36:15). The governor said with contrite lips: “I swear to the gods, some magical power is helping them!” Saint Domnus answered this: “And I certify in the name of Christ that it is not magic, but God who helps us, and His power has covered your shameless faces, who spoke lies against His Son, with shame.” Aren't you ashamed, madman, alien to the truth, filled with the darkness of the devil, sower of temptations! “You, Agricolaus, are the head of the devil’s anger, and the prince who is with you is the tail of his rage; both of you are servants of Satan. But if you are not yet convinced of the inherent power of God at the beginning of the torment to which you subjected us, then begin other torments. Among the servants there were those who wanted to support their disgraced bosses: “Mad enemies of our gods,” they said to the holy martyrs, “why don’t you want to sacrifice to them?” Saint Kirion answered them: “We honor the One God and Jesus Christ, His Son and the Holy Spirit, and we strive to boldly accomplish our feat so that, having overcome your flattery, we may receive the crowns of immortal life.” And Prince Lysy ordered to again take the holy warriors to prison in order to think about how to deal with them. The holy warriors imprisoned in prison began to sing psalms. “I lift up my eyes to You,” they sang, “O You who live in heaven!” Behold, as the eyes of servants are turned to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a servant are turned to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes are turned to the Lord our God, until He has mercy on us” (Psalm 122:1-2). And after prayer, they received encouragement from above for the second time: at six o’clock at night they heard the voice of the Lord appearing: - “He who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live” (John 11:25). Be bold and do not be afraid of short-lived torments, they will soon pass away; endure a little, suffer rightfully, and receive crowns. Strengthened by such consolation from Christ God, the holy warriors spent that night rejoicing in spirit. The next day, the holy warriors were again brought before the wicked judges and again, without hesitation, announced: – Do with us what you want; We are Christians and do not agree to worship idols. At this time, next to Agricolaus, the devil was seen, in the form of a man holding a sword in his right hand and a snake in his left, whispering to the commander: The torturers ordered to tie up forty holy warriors and drag them to a high-water lake, which was located near the city of Sebastia. It was winter then and a strong wind was blowing with bitter frost; It was already late in the evening. The naked holy warriors were stationed in the middle of the lake for the whole night, and a guard headed by the warden was assigned to watch over them. To seduce the holy warriors, a warm bathhouse was built near the lake, attracting those condemned to endure the bitter cold and promising quick help to those from the forty-strong squad who, exhausted from the frost, would be inclined to idolatry and would want to run out of the water to warm up. In the first hour of the night, when the cold reached extreme severity, so that the bodies of the saints froze, one of the forty could not stand the feat and, separating from the face of the saints, ran to the bathhouse; but as soon as he stepped on the threshold of the bathhouse, as soon as he felt the warmth, he melted and fell dead. At the sight of such a shameful flight, the holy warriors unanimously cried out to God: “Has Thy wrath kindled upon the rivers, O Lord? Is Your indignation on the rivers, or Your wrath on the sea” (Habakk 3:8). – The one who separated from us was poured out like water, and his bones were scattered (Ps. 21:15). We will not retreat from You; quicken us, and we will call on Your name (Ps. 79:19). – You, Whom all creation praises, Whom the great fish and all the deeps, fire and hail, snow and fog and stormy winds glorify (Ps. 149:7-8), and Who walked on the sea as on dry land (Matt. 14:25), and tamed the fierce waves with a wave of the hand (Luke 8:24)! You, Lord, are the same today; You, who heeded the pleas of Jacob, who fled from the threats of his brother Esau (Gen. 27:1–46, 28:1–22); who showed help to Joseph and delivered him from misfortune (Gen. 39:1–23); who heard Moses and gave him the power to perform signs and wonders in Egypt before Pharaoh and his officials (Ex. 7:1–25, 11:1–10); who divided the sea and led His people into the wilderness (Ex. 14:1–31); who stretched out Your hand through the prayer of Your holy Apostles to heal and to do signs and wonders in the name of Your Holy Son Jesus (Acts 4:24-31, 16:25-26), - You, Lord, hear us too: let not the depths of the water destroy us, and let not the depths swallow us up, for we have become very poor; help us, O God our Savior, for here we stand in the water and our feet are stained with our blood; Lighten the burden of our burden and tame the fierceness of the air, O Lord our God! We trust in You, and let us not be ashamed, but let everyone understand that we, having called to You, were saved. At the third hour of the night, the holy martyrs were illuminated by the light of the summer sun during the harvest, which dispelled the cold, melted the ice and warmed the water. Meanwhile, the soldiers who were entrusted with the supervision of the saints were engulfed in sleep, and only one prison guard did not sleep. He, hearing that the martyrs were praying to God, thought: “What does it mean that the one who resorted to the bathhouse immediately, like wax, melted from the heat, while others, even in such a great frost, remain alive and unharmed?” Struck by the light that illuminated the holy martyrs, and wanting to see where this wonderful light came from, he looked up and saw bright crowns, thirty-nine in number, descending on the heads of the saints; reflecting on why there was no fortieth crown according to the number of forty people devoted to suffering, he realized that the one who fled to the bathhouse was rejected from the saints and therefore lacked the fortieth crown. He immediately woke up the sleeping soldiers, threw off his clothes and ran naked into the lake in front of everyone, exclaiming: “And I am a Christian.” Having joined the host of holy martyrs, he cried out to God: - Lord God! In You I believe, in Whom these also believe; count me among them and make me worthy to suffer with these Your servants; may I, having passed the feat of testing, be worthy of You! - And thus the number of holy martyrs again became perfect - forty 1784; the place of the fallen one was taken by the prison guard, who became the holy replenishment of the fourth ten 1785. His name was Aglaius. At such a wondrous replenishment of the forty-numbered face of the holy martyrs, the devil, seeing himself defeated and disgraced, taking on the form of a man, wept, crying out loudly: - Woe to me! I am defeated by these men, for everyone now I am laughter and reproach! I had neither friends nor servants of one mind to defend my victory! What, finally, remains for me to do? Nothing more than to win the hearts of the prince and governor devoted to me - to inspire them to burn the bodies of the saints and throw their ashes into the river, so that nothing, no remains, will remain after them. Meanwhile, Saint Kirion exclaimed: – “Who is God as great as [our] God! You are God who works miracles” (Ps. 77:14–15), You, Master, made those who were against us stand with us and for us; You made up for the depreciation of the fourth ten and put Satan to shame! And all the martyrs began to sing the psalm: “Save [me], Lord, for the righteous is no more” (Ps. 11:2). Morning has come; the wicked tormentors came to the lake and, seeing the holy martyrs standing in the water, alive and not affected by the winter cold, they were surprised, but explained this wonderful phenomenon by the magical cunning of the passion-bearers. Their surprise increased even more when they saw the prison guard standing among the martyrs. They interrogated the soldiers assigned to supervise why and how this happened. The warriors responded: “We fell asleep soundly at night, and he, the prison guard, did not sleep all night and suddenly woke us up; Having woken up, we saw a great light that illuminated those standing in the water, and this one quickly took off his clothes and, throwing them, quickly entered the water and joined those standing there, loudly declaring: “I am a Christian too.” Then the hearts of the tormentors were inflamed with rage; Having ordered the bound saints to be pulled ashore and from there taken to the city to be tortured, the judges sentenced the holy martyrs to be subjected to a new torture - to break their legs with hammers. When this inhuman torture of the saints was carried out, the pious mother of one of the youngest of them, Melitona, approaching the place of torture and standing next to the sufferers, encouraged them with words to valiantly complete the feat; Most of all, fearing that her young son would be afraid and exhausted in torment, looking lovingly at him and stretching out her hands to him, she encouraged and consoled him, saying: - My sweetest son! Suffer a little longer and you will be perfect; Do not be afraid, child, behold, Christ is standing by, helping you! The holy martyrs, enduring, like despicable villains, terrible torment from the breaking of their legs (John 19:31) and not weakening in zeal, in their dying moments they cried out with spiritual joy: “Our soul has escaped, like a bird, from the net of those who catch it: the net is broken, and we are delivered. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who created heaven and earth” (Ps. 124:7-8). And, saying amen, they all gave up their souls to God, and only one, comforted by his mother, Meliton, remained alive, barely breathing. After that, the tormentors ordered their servants to place the bodies of the dead saints on chariots and take them to be burned, leaving only young Meliton, in the hope that he would live. But the pious mother, seeing only her son left at the place of torment, rejecting her characteristic feminine weakness and inspired by courage, took her son on her shoulders and fearlessly followed the chariots on which, like sheaves of ripe wheat, the bodies of the holy martyrs were carried. When the martyr, carried by his mother, gave up his spirit, rejoicing in the Lord, then with her mother’s hands his body was thrown onto a chariot to the bodies of his companions 1786. When the bodies of the holy martyrs were brought to the burning place near the river, the soldiers, by order of the wicked judges, having collected a lot of wood and brushwood, prepared a very large bonfire and, placing the bodies of the saints on it, set it on fire. The fire burned down, leaving only the bones of the martyrs. But the anger of the tormentors did not calm down! “If we leave these bones like this,” they reasoned among themselves, “then Christians will take them and fill the whole world with them, crushing them and preserving them for remembrance; So let us throw them into the river, so that not even their ashes remain. And the remains of the holy relics were thrown into the river for the ultimate destruction of the memory of the valiant passion-bearers. But the Lord, “who guards all the bones of His saints” (Ps. 33:21), did not allow a single particle of them to perish in the water, but they were all preserved intact. After three days, the holy martyrs appeared to the bishop of the city of Sebastia, Blessed Peter, and said to him: “Come at night and carry us out of the river.” The blessed bishop invited reverent men from his clergy and on a dark night went with them to the river bank. And then a wondrous sight presented itself to their eyes: the bones of the saints shone in the water like stars, and the places in the river where their smallest particles lay were also bright. Having collected every single bone of the saints, the bishop placed them in an honest place. Thus those who suffered for Christ and were crowned by Him, like luminaries, shine in the world 1787. They believed in God, confessed Christ, did not resist the Holy Spirit, and were glorified by the holy Life-Giving Trinity, leaving the memory of their feat for the edification of salvation for all who believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The names of the holy forty martyrs are: Kirion (Kyriy), Candide, Domnus, Hesychius, Heraclius, Smaragd, Eunoikos (Evnik), Valens (Ual), Vivian, Claudius, Priscus, Theodulus, Eutyches, John, Xanthius, Ilian, Sisinius, Haggius, Afthios, Flavius, Acacius, Ekdikius (Ekditus), Lysimachus, Alexander, Elijah, Gorgonius, Theophilus, Domitian, Gaius, Leontius, Athanasius, Cyril, Sakerdon, Nicholas, Valerius, Philoctimon, Severian, Hudion, Melito and Aglaius. The holy forty martyrs were taken to suffer for Christ on the 26th day of the month of February, and they gave up their souls to the Lord on the ninth day of the month of March 1788, when the pagan Licinius still ruled the empire, but better to say, our Lord Jesus Christ was already reigning. To him be glory, honor and worship with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen. Passion-bearers of all honor, fourty warriors of Christ, firmaments of armor, through fire and water, fellow citizens were quick and fast through fire and water, with them pray to Christ for those who praise you with faith. Glory to Him who gave you strength, glory to Him who crowned you, glory to Him who gives you healing to all. Licinius, son-in-law of Constantine the Great, emperor of the western half of the Roman Empire, was emperor of the eastern half - from 307 to 323. In 313, both emperors issued a decree by which the Christian religion was declared the state religion - equalized with the ancient pagan one. But Licinius, a pagan, enmitying Constantine, who had become a decisive patron of Christianity, and preparing for war with him, through the seduction of an oracle that promised him victory, decided to destroy Christianity within the boundaries of his empire, especially, for fear of treason, among his troops. Armenia with the city of Sebastia - the northeastern part of Asia Minor - was part of the eastern Roman Empire. Cappadocia region - eastern part of Asia Minor; its main city, Caesarea, was famous for its education. "Agrios" - wild, ferocious; "kolaks" - flatterer. So is St. Ap. Paul, suffering for Christ, demanded from the judges that, showing their malice, they should not trample upon human and state laws, and should not subject him, a Roman citizen, to torture at their own discretion. (Acts 16:37; Acts 22:26–30). The number 40 has always been revered as significant, sacred: it rained for 40 days and nights under Noah and the earth was cleared of antediluvian human flesh - Gen. 7:12; The Jews wandered in the desert for 40 years and only then did they enter the Promised Land - Nav. 5:6; Moses spent 40 days and nights on Sinai and received the tablets of the law - Ex. 34:28 ; on the 40th day from birth, the firstborn Jewish children were dedicated to God - Lev. 12:2–4; The prophet Elijah walked for 40 days and nights to Mount Horeb and was rewarded with a vision of the Lord in the breath of a quiet wind - 1 Kings. 19:8; The Lord Jesus Christ Himself fasted for 40 days and nights in the desert - Matt. 4:2; He remained on earth for 40 days after His resurrection, appearing to His disciples and speaking about the Kingdom of God - Acts. 1:3. The same thing happened here that happened with the Apostles: “Judas went away, and Matthias was brought in in his place” - Acts. 1:25–26; - the new Paul appeared, yesterday breathing anger and rebuke against the disciples of Christ, and now preaching the gospel. And this one, like that one, had the title of Galatians, neither man nor man. 1 - believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, baptized into Him not by anyone else, but by his own faith, not in water, but in his own blood.” (Basily the Great. “Conversation on the St. 40 Martyrs.”) St. Ephraim the Syrian (“Laudatory to the 40 Martyrs”) puts into the mouth of the blessed mother of the martyr the following touching speech: “Calm down, my son, not for long on the chariot; mix your blood with the venerable bloods; I lay down with them for a moment, so that together with them I could reach the heavenly abode. Go with them into the sensual fire, so that with them you may be clothed in the true light; enter with them into the furnace, so that you may enter with them refined gold. I know what storm you escaped from and what harbor you are heading to. I know that you are going to the Heavenly Father..., hurry to occupy the country from which sickness, sadness and sighing have fled, where there is no sorrow, no corruption, no gnawing envy, no evil enemy. Why didn’t I, my son, die with you? Why am I not included in this bright celebration of yours and cannot enjoy it? - Is it really because I am a sinner and worthy of tears and extreme regret!.. No, it is not for this reason that I am not going with you, but because you do not demand replenishment - you have become one forty for God, ten and ten are called to the Gospel feast (Matthew 25: 1-13)... So, my son, since you have been awarded such glory, then pray for me to the Savior Christ when He says to you: “Come, inherit My kingdom, which I have prepared for you” (Matthew 25:34). Remember me together with those who are equal to you and ask me for a reward from the Father of lights, so that, as your flesh gave up its breath on me, so the bounties of Christ would breathe upon me, and, as your blood stained my rags, so the mercy of the Lord would water me, and just as I went through this one race with you, so with you I would reach the monastery of saints, so that I too can sing and sing with you. say: “There is none so holy as the Lord; for there is no other besides You; and there is no stronghold like our God” (1 Samuel 2:2). He lifted up the horn of His faithful servants and put His enemies to shame. To him be glory forever." Memory of St. 40 martyrs in all the most ancient monthly books in the East and West were included in the circle of holidays and commemorations of the most revered saints (see Complete Month of the East by Arch. Sergius, vol. 1, pp. 17–19; vol. 2, part 2, p. 75); According to the Charter, their service includes two canons; on the day of their remembrance, the severity of fasting is eased - it is allowed to taste wine and even oil, and it is prescribed to certainly and invariably perform a service in the order of the service of the Forerunner with the liturgy of the presanctified gifts. St. suffered martyrs in 320, and in 323 Emperor Constantine became sole sovereign of the entire Roman Empire. The celebration of the memory of 40 martyrs takes place on March 9, but it is sometimes postponed according to the Charter to other days, namely: if it happens on any day of the first week of Great Lent, then the service to the martyrs is held on Saturday; if it happens on Wednesday of the week of the veneration of the cross, then the service is celebrated on Tuesday of the same week, and if it happens on Thursday of the Great Canon, then the service is celebrated on Tuesday of the same fifth week; if the akathist happens on Saturday, it is transferred to Sunday of the fifth week of fasting. You might be interested in: