Страдание святого мученика Кодрата Никомидийского и с ним святых мучеников Саторина и Руфина и прочих

During the time of the wicked Roman emperor Decius 1795 and his successor Valerian 1796 (when Saint Codratus of Corinth also suffered with his retinue), Christians were captured from various cities and villages and brought to the Bithynian city of Nicomedia 1797, where they were kept in prison. Great fear then spread among the Christians living in Nicomedia itself, especially due to the fact that King Decius himself, who was already in Caesarea in 1798, was approaching those areas. Therefore, many of the Christians, hiding from the hands of their tormentors, fled to the mountains and deserts, while others boldly remained in their homes, waiting for the hour in which they could be honored to glorify the Lord with some kind of torment. One of these was Saint Kodrat, whom we are talking about. He was distinguished by his beauty, was of noble birth, rich, pious and possessed the gift of speech. By distributing money to prison guards and soldiers, he had unrestricted access to the prison; Here Saint Kodrat pleased the brothers of the same faith held in prison, bringing to each what he needed. With prayers, he exhorted them to be courageous, not to pay attention to the torment that arose out of love for Christ God, who was preparing eternal reward for them in His Heavenly Kingdom. The day of judgment has arrived. Proconsul 1799 Perennius, who came to Nicomedia by order of the king, sat down in the presence of the people at the trial seat and ordered all the prisoners to be brought in for questioning. When the latter were brought in, the governor of the prison (commentary) said to the proconsul: - My lord! By the command of your authority, a crowd of lawless Christians, until this day kept in prison, now stands before you for judgment! Then the proconsul said to the servants of God: – Let each of you state his name, rank, family and place of origin. Blessed Kodrat also came to the spectacle of the interrogation of Christians; noticing that some of the Christians had lost heart and turned pale with fear, he was afraid that one of them, unable to bear even the very thought of torment, would deny Christ; therefore, standing behind everyone, Saint Kodrat said in a loud voice: – We are called Christians; by rank and position we are servants of the invisible God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and our city and fatherland are heaven, where God dwells in those who trust in Him. Do you hear this, proconsul? The proconsul was almost horrified at the courage of Saint Codratus and said to the servants: - Grab this fool and bring him closer to me. Hearing the words of the proconsul, blessed Codratus, pushing through the crowd, hastily approached and stood in front of the proconsul, while everyone turned their gaze to him. Having made the sign of the cross, Saint Codratus said to the proconsul: “So I myself voluntarily, and not under compulsion, came to you in order to keep my word for my brothers and stand against the devil. So, quickly carry out what you wish and, having tested our courage, make sure that we are invincible warriors of Christ! - Crazy! - said the proconsul. - First of all, tell me your name and family. “I already told you,” answered the saint, “that I am a Christian, and my brothers are servants of Christ; our name and nobility consists in being called and being servants of Christ. “Listen to me, friend,” the proconsul continued, “I will report you to the emperor, and he will appoint you as a commander, of course, if you make a sacrifice to our gods.” “Proconsul,” answered the saint, “do not be mistaken in claiming that there are many gods: “But we have one God the Father, from whom are all things” (1 Cor. 8:6). “There are many gods,” continued the proconsul, but, however, the king has now ordered that sacrifices be made only to the twelve gods of 1800, whom you must worship. “There should not be many rulers,” Saint Kodrat cried in a loud voice, “there is One Lord, One King and God, our Lord Jesus Christ!” “Have you not heard,” continued the proconsul, “what Homer 1801 says about Poseidon 1802 (Neptune): “the father of the gods brought down the clouds, disturbed the winds, covered the sky, thundered terribly, because Poseidon rose to take away the earth,” and so on. So, have you heard about the power of Poseidon? – Do Homer and other poets like him tell the truth about your gods or not? – asked blessed Kodrat. “They speak the truth,” answered the proconsul. “If they speak the truth,” continued the saint, “then don’t they tell you that your gods are adulterers, insatiable and shameless voluptuous people who committed unnatural abominations?” I am truly ashamed of you that you worship such gods, for whose evil deeds you yourself judge the people convicted of them! So, you judge those guilty of shameful acts and at the same time consider as gods those who commit incomparably greater lawlessness. Shouldn't you rather have condemned and punished the gods for so numerous and so great their outrages? You do not spare people who break the law, but you honor and praise the gods who act lawlessly; such gods of yours are not gods in justice, but frantic dead libertines! To these words of the saint, the proconsul said: - Since you began to condemn the gods, I am afraid that the king might be angry with me, because I, out of patience, allowed you to blaspheme in the language of the gods. Therefore, quickly change your way of thinking so that you are not immediately seized by the hands of your tormentors! “My resolve,” continued Saint Kodrat, “no one can take away from me: neither you, nor your king, nor even your father Satan himself.” The enraged proconsul ordered the saint to be stripped of his clothes, laid naked on the ground and beaten with sinews with the words: “tell me your name.” But the saint remained silent, not answering a word. Then the proconsul began to ask those around him about the holy martyr: who was he and what was his name? Those who knew the saint answered the proconsul that the martyr was of a noble family and his name was Kodrat. Then the proconsul said to the executioners: - Spare him and free him! When the saint was thus freed from torment and dressed, the tormentor called him closer and asked: “What have you done to yourself and to us, without informing us about your high family?” After all, out of ignorance of your noble origin, we caused you dishonor, and you brought reproach upon yourself and your family. And why, considering your noble family as nothing, did you join the reckless Christian faith? “I would rather be at the threshold of the house of God than to live in the tents of wickedness” (Ps. 83:11), answered the saint. “Submit to me,” continued the tormentor-proconsul, “and make a sacrifice to the gods so that you do not die as a villain!” Have you really not heard about the order of the king and all his advisers, to whom they determined that not a single Christian should live on earth, and freed many good and amazing men from Christian error? – “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, and does not stand in the way of sinners, and does not sit in the seat of the wicked” (Ps. 1:1), not being deceived by the deception of this vain world; those who were tempted and listened to you will perish like dust swept away by the wind from the face of the earth (Ps. 1:4), and have already perished! Seducing Saint Codratus, the proconsul spoke to him seductive speeches with tears and sighs; at the end he said: – Kodrat, by voluntarily choosing death, do not lose this dear light to man, do not lose this sweet life. At these words, the seducer wiped his face with a handkerchief. - Predatory dog! - the holy martyr answered the proconsul. “Don’t think of seducing me with snake cunning and feigned tears!” You will not catch me at all - the servant of God! The general Maximian was with the proconsul Perennia. The latter said to the saint: - Unkind person! My most honorable lord, the proconsul, pities you, and you insult him. - Let him, if he was born to destruction, cry about himself and about the hour of his birth, but why are you reproaching us? If a proconsul conducts a trial, who are you who speaks at the trial before him? For us, one judge is enough, but if you want to judge us, then may our Lord Jesus Christ destroy you! The warden then said to the proconsul: - Master! I swear by your power that if you allow him to speak impudently, he will then dare to utter insults and blasphemies against the autocrats themselves, and we will be exposed to considerable danger! “Truly,” answered the saint, “the Holy Scripture says: “Why are the peoples in turmoil and the tribes plotting in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the princes take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed (Christ)” (Ps. 2:1-2), and now Christ is condemned by foolish people and suffers in his own members, like Christ’s faithful servants. “Having exposed this scoundrel,” said the proconsul, turning to the servants, “beat him harder than the first until he obeys the royal laws and worships the gods!” During the secondary beatings, Saint Kodrat said: “Glory to You, Lord Jesus Christ, that You, for the sake of Your holy Name, have made me, Your sinful and unworthy servant, worthy to suffer, so that I might be numbered among Your beloved servants.” I thank You and pray, fill me with Your Holy Spirit, enlighten me and grant me the strength to maintain my faith unchanged, enlighten me with Your wisdom, so that the lawless will not overpower me. Be my helper, my Lord! Now is the time for Your help, now is the hour of Your intercession! Strengthen me so that through Your servant Your holy name may be glorified! Bring me to Your heavenly Father and present me before Him, saying: “And this is Your servant!” Hey, Lord Jesus Christ! Help me successfully accomplish my feat! Thus the saint prayed, while the executioners who inflicted the beatings, due to fatigue, changed positions five times - the saint was beaten for such a long time! From the brutal beatings, the back of the blessed martyr was swollen by one elbow, 1803, blood flowed in a stream and the flesh fell away from the bones. “Although now,” asked the proconsul, “do you believe, Kodrat, in our gods?” - “The kings of the earth rise up, and the princes take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed” (Ps. 2:2). “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands,” answered the saint. - “They have lips, but they do not speak... Let those who make them and all who trust in them be like them” (Ps. 113:12-13). “Addressing us with an incomprehensible speech, do you think,” said the proconsul, “to hide your blasphemy against the gods?” “To you, a blinded madman,” answered the saint, “the bright truth appears dark, and the darkness—the deceptions of this age—is light for you!” Listen to me, speaking to you in the words of the holy fathers. Let it be known to you that I will not sacrifice to your gods and will not obey the command of the king and his advisers. So, if you want to torment me, carry out your will and through this quickly send me away before the face of the Heavenly King! “I swear to the gods,” said the tormentor, “that I will not spare you, but with amazing torments and a cruel death I will destroy you, the accursed one!” Already at sunset the saint was freed from torment and taken to prison with other Christians. Moreover, the proconsul ordered small nails to be placed under the martyr’s back, a huge stone to be placed on his chest, his feet to be driven into stocks 1804, and his entire body to be shackled in heavy iron. The saint was left in this position for many days: he courageously endured such severe torment that it is impossible for a person to endure and remain alive - then the all-powerful right hand of Christ strengthened the sufferer to glorify His Divine power. After a long time, Proconsul Perennius decided to go to Nicaea in 1805 and ordered to lead the imprisoned Christians along with Saint Codratus. In Nicaea, the proconsul sacrificed to demons in a pagan temple and ordered Christians to be brought there in order to force them to do the same. When the servants of Christ were brought to the demonic church, Saint Codratus begged the soldiers to first lead him inside the church to the proconsul: by the power of Christ, Saint Codratus, after suffering severe torment, was healthy and unharmed and, walking ahead of the regiment of Christians, his face shone, revealing along with bodily strength and strength and spiritual courage. When Saint Kodrat was led into the church before the others, he amazed his tormentor. Horror seized the proconsul after he saw that the saint was healthy in body and cheerful in face. - Make a sacrifice to the gods! - the proconsul ordered. “I am a slave of Jesus Christ,” answered the saint, “and I sacrifice myself to Him, and let your gods, who created neither heaven nor earth, perish!” “Submit to the king’s laws, not Christ’s,” continued the proconsul. “I submit to the laws of the Heavenly King,” answered the saint, “and not to the insane command of people who do not know God.” However, Holy Scripture commands us to pray for them, so that they will be converted and understand the truth. – If you pray for the king, then you must fulfill his commandments, because it is written in your Scriptures: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). “You rightly say,” the saint noted, that what is Caesar’s is due to Caesar, and what is God’s must be rendered to God. So I gave the king what was intended for him at the time when I was paying him off for my estates, and for God I am still obliged to finally fulfill the following piety towards Him. The earthly king commanded that Christians either make sacrifices to idols or die. And we are ready to die for Christ our God, not just once, but many times! “Do you know,” asked the proconsul, “how many Christians have sacrificed to our gods, and do you really think to be much better than them?” – As someone who did not bow my knees to idols, I am truly much better than all those who retreated from their Creator God. Where are those who sacrificed to your Gods? I don't notice them! The proconsul ordered them to be summoned. Meanwhile, the saint began to ask to be untied, since he had been tied up until then. The proconsul, assuming that the saint wanted to worship the gods, ordered him to be untied. And he, quickly approaching, grabbed a huge idol by the legs, overturned it to the ground and broke it, and then rushed at other idols, but the warriors and priests held him back. Then the proconsul, angry, ordered the saint to be hanged outside the walls of the church and scoured all over his body with a sharp iron. Meanwhile, those who had apostatized from the Christian faith approached, and Saint Kodrat, enduring torment, spoke to them. - Damned ones! What, having endured, did you so hastily reject Christ the Master and voluntarily surrender to the devil? Didn't you believe that there would be a resurrection of the dead, the Judgment of God and the depths of hell? Haven't you heard about the unquenchable fire and the never-ending worm? What answer will you give on the glorious and great day of the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead? Open your mind's eyes and see, from what have you fallen? Because of your temporary and worthless life, you have left the eternal and heavenly Kingdom. Having neglected the sweetest and most merciful Master, you have given yourself into the slavery of the worthless servant of the devil, who, if he gains control of someone, beats and kills him. When our Lord comes, He will bind the devil with indestructible bonds and cast him into the fiery abyss along with those who surrendered themselves into slavery to him. Understand what you have done! Fearing short-term torment, you gave yourself over to eternal torment. You will see the future for yourself when you appear before the fair Court of Jesus Christ, Who will reward everyone according to their deeds. Haven’t you heard the words of the Lord written in the Holy Gospel: “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but fear Him more who can destroy both soul and body in hell (fiery)? (Matthew 10:28). 1806 When the saint pronounced these words, the fallen cried out with tears, saying in a loud voice: - Servant of God, we were afraid of torment and, like dumb animals, we were tempted; like lost sheep, we became food for wolves and were torn to pieces. We were captivated by our sins, and so, having wished to live here for a short time, we died for the future eternal life. We, the damned ones, don’t know what to do! Noticing their tears, blessed Kodrat was filled with joy and said: - Brothers! Dare and don't despair! Christ the Lord is merciful - fall to Him with repentance and tears and stand openly for Christ, so that each of you has the opportunity to be cleansed of your sins with your blood. And so, falling to the ground, those who departed from Christ wept bitterly for a long time, throwing ashes on their heads and hitting their foreheads with stones. From their crying and sobbing such a cry arose that the inhabitants of the entire city of Nicaea came running and were amazed at their such sincere repentance for their apostasy from the faith. Coming out of the idol church at this cry and seeing what was happening, the proconsul ordered the holy martyr to be more severely planed and his planed ribs to be set on fire with hot candles. The saint prayed long and earnestly to God for the repentant, so that their conversion would be accepted. When, finishing the prayer, he said: “Hey, Master, Lord Jesus Christ, may my soul be for their souls - just have mercy on them,” then immediately the executioners who carried out the torment weakened and fell to the ground like the dead. Meanwhile, Saint Codratus and all the bound and repentant Christians standing there were overshadowed by a bright cloud. The proconsul and his advisers, together with all the pagans, were overcome by darkness; horror fell upon them, and they trembled with fear, believing that the city was about to fall apart. After a long silence, the believers heard the singing of the holy Angels from above, praising and glorifying God. After two hours, the darkness began to dissipate, and the pagans, turning their gaze to the saints, began to notice the heavenly light. The proconsul, as soon as he came to his senses, immediately ordered the capture of all those who, under the influence of the admonishing words of the martyr, again turned to Christ in repentance. Having tied them up with the other Christians present at the trial, he ordered them to be taken to prison. Immediately, he also untied Saint Kodrat from the tree and again imprisoned him in the same bonds. On the morning of the next day, Proconsul Perennius again opened the court, ordering that all the Christians who were there be brought out of prison, except for Saint Codratus. Throughout that day he interrogated them, caresses and torments inducing them to make disgusting sacrifices. Noticing that the Christians were unshakable and adamant in confessing their faith, Perenniy, after many beatings, ordered everyone to be taken to his native city and burned there. And all the holy sufferers went away in great joy, glorifying God. And so each of them died, being burned in his own fatherland, and moved to the heavenly fatherland. After this, the proconsul set out from Nicaea for Apamia in 1807, leading Saint Codratus with him. He came here to seize Christians, forcing them to sacrifice to idols. He was ordered by Emperor Decius to go around cities and countries, putting Christians who did not want to worship the gods to torture and death. Arriving in Apamia, the proconsul Perennius entered the church, worshiping idols. Bringing the holy martyr Kodrat here, he asked him: “Will you, crafty wizard, make a sacrifice to the gods or not?” Saint Kodrat answered with a courageous soul: – Call your father Satan magically evil, because he really is. But I am a Christian and I know neither magic nor deceit, and I will not sacrifice to demons! Then the proconsul said to his friends: “What kind of torment I will inflict on this damned Christian, I don’t know!” They were silent, because they saw that the martyr no longer had a body, only bare bones, and his whole body was torn to pieces and planed. The torturer ordered the saint to be put in a sackcloth bag and all kinds of reptiles to be placed in it, and then thrown into one deep and swampy ditch, which was done. The next morning, the tormentor, considering the saint already dead, ordered him to be pulled out of the ditch, and to everyone’s surprise the saint turned out to be unharmed. The martyr, turning his gaze to heaven, said: - I thank You, Lord Jesus Christ, because the arrows of infants (with their minds) became plagues for them and their strength weakened. You strengthened me and gave me strength to shame them for the glorification of Your holy name. Then the saint said to the proconsul: - Reckless! Do you notice that your cunning has no success? Do something even worse to me, do it quickly, without wasting time. “Cursed one,” the proconsul answered furiously, “I will torment you throughout the entire journey, although you rely on your magic.” Then Perenny went to Caesarea, taking with him the holy martyr; here, performing sacrifices according to custom in the church, he called the saint to him and said to him: - Enough of all kinds of torment for you - come, finally, and make a sacrifice to the gods! “You played with me,” answered the saint, “with tortures, and I was truly surprised that you had already weakened, performing them on me.” But I, accepting torment, do not weaken, but I wish to endure the same and even more severe ones for my God. Then the proconsul, in anger, again ordered to beat the saint’s naked body with sinews without mercy, stretching him out on a torturous log. However, the bits were only bare bones, since there was no body on them. During the beatings, the saint sang: “They have oppressed me a lot since my youth, but they did not overcome me. On my ridge the oratai plowed and made their long furrows” (Ps. 129:2-3). Meanwhile, the proconsul shouted to the executioners: – Hit harder, because he doesn’t feel the pain. Turning to the tormentor, the saint said: “Strike, strike my humble skin, for when the latter is tormented, my soul becomes strong!” “You damned one,” exclaimed the proconsul, “I believe that you are possessed by an evil demon!” “Not only am I not possessed by a demon,” answered the saint, “but, on the contrary, I myself own your father Satan, and not only him alone, but all his servants, and, by the grace of my Christ, I command all his army: all the underworld fears and trembles me, seeing on me the terrible and invincible sign of Jesus Christ and His grace abiding with me.” Then, after a short silence, the saint called out: – Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. The people of Caesarea, who were present, exclaimed “Amen!”, for there were many Christians among the people. Then, in a furious anger, the proconsul ordered to seize from among the people two men standing nearby, distinguished by their nobility, and, having exposed them, immediately hang them in the place of torture, and beat and plan their bodies. The executioners, leaving Saint Codratus, began to torture those two Christians whose names were Satorin and Rufinus. They were tormented until their entrails were ready to fall out to the ground. During their torment, Satorin and Rufinus begged Saint Codratus and all the upcoming brethren to pray to the Lord for them. Saint Kodrat, appealing to God, said: – Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the invisible Father! Send help to Your servants, look mercifully on the humble and have mercy on them! Give patience and invincible strength to Your sufferers, so that, having endured to the end, they will defeat and disgrace the enemy who rises up against them! A lot of time passed, and the holy martyrs remained silent, as they were unable to speak from intense suffering. Finally, the torturer ordered them to be untied and their heads cut off. Thus, the two holy martyrs, Satorin and Rufinus, ascended to heaven to the Lord Christ existing in two natures, for whom they suffered. After this, the proconsul Perennius, having retired from Caesarea, came to Apollonia in 1808, leading Saint Codratus with him everywhere, taking also other Christians for torture. Entering the church of Apollo, Perennius said to the martyr: “Know the gods and you will be healthy: I will order the doctors to take care of you.” So, go to the god Asclepius 1809 and he will heal you. Fear the greatness of the gods: the almost great Apollo 1810, and Herakles 1811, and the king of all gods Zeus 1812, the glorious Ares 1813 and the terrible Poseidon. Have you never sailed on a ship on the sea and noticed the formidable power of God! Bow down to the sun shining from heaven to earth. Has it died and is no longer in heaven? – I worship the True God the Father and His Only Begotten Son and the Holy Spirit and tremble before His power, majesty and unapproachable glory. I always praise and glorify His ineffable power and omnipotence, but I will not bow to dead idols and will not honor the works of human hands: I am not afraid of either demons or you, who have short-term power. After a few days, I will go to my God, but you will forever moan bitterly, because you did not want to know God, who gave you real life. The son of Satan, the brother of the devil, an accomplice of wicked demons, surpassing pigs in his dumbness, a mad dog, a bloodsucker, a snake, greedier than animals, devouring disgusting meat in the churches. Are you not ashamed of your madness and do not understand your blindness? You slaughter cattle and birds as sacrifices to the gods; do your gods, being soulless, experience hunger? Bring food to the lips of an idol, will he taste it? And if your gods require sacrifices, then ask, let them answer, any of your gods, stone or wooden, what does he want to be slaughtered for him, a goat, an ox, or a chicken? O perilous ones! You yourself have fallen into a destructive ditch and you want to push us into it. The proconsul, enraged by these words, ordered vinegar and salt to be poured onto the saint’s wounds, rubbed with hair ropes, and a hot iron applied to the ribs. And then, as the day was already turning towards night, the torturer ordered the sufferer to be thrown into prison. The next morning the proconsul left Apollonia, heading towards the Hellespont 1814, leading bound and captured Christians; The holy martyr Kodrat was also taken with them, for from severe torment he could not even move his legs. The proconsul, having passed the river called Runtok, was met by the governor of that region. Large crowds of Christians also gathered from the surrounding villages, as if to meet Proconsul Perennius, but in fact, wanting to see and honor the holy Great Martyr Codratus, whose fame was spreading throughout Asia and the entire universe. The proconsul, having entered the village he met along the way with the regional governor, spent the night in it; when the day came, he wanted to make a sacrifice to the demons, since there were many idols in the village - at the same time, of course, he wanted to force Christians to make sacrifices. First of all, the proconsul ordered Saint Codratus to be placed before him, and since he did not have the strength to walk on foot, they brought him to the church in a chariot. But although Saint Kodrat was weak in body, he nevertheless seemed cheerful in appearance, smiling and rejoicing in God his Savior. All the gathered people stood there, wanting to see the suffering of the martyr of Christ. The proconsul asked Codratus: - Kodrat! Have you decided to know the gods, or are you still in your madness? The saint answered loudly: – From infancy I was taught to know the True God Christ; I am a Christian from my mother’s womb, and I don’t know any other God except the One in whom I have believed since the cradle! Then the proconsul ordered to light a huge fire, place an iron bed on it and, when it became hot, lay the martyr. “There is no need,” the saint said, “for anyone to lead me and lay me on this bed, - I will enter it myself!” And so, strengthened by the power of Christ, he himself went into the fire and, making the sign of the cross, lay down on a red-hot bed and rested on it as if on a soft bed, experiencing absolutely no harm from the fire. The fire, having lost its natural strength, served the servant of God, only providing him with as much warmth as was necessary to calm the laborious and painful body of the holy martyr. Meanwhile, the devil’s servants placed resin, oil, and cotton under the bed, and the saint sang: “Hasten, O God, to deliver me, hasten, O Lord, to help me. Let those who seek my life be ashamed and put to shame” (Ps. 69:2). Mocking the tormentor, he said: “Your fire is cold, and the iron of this bed is much softer than your hardened heart.” You did well to order me, tired from the journey, to rest on this soft bed! With such words the saint turned on his couch, as if on a bed. Much time passed, but the holy martyr remained alive, healthy and unharmed in the fire; Then the tormentor, burning with anger, ordered, removing the saint from his bed, to cut off his head outside the village. Having emerged from the fire with firm feet, the saint no longer needed a chariot or support, but went by himself to the place of execution, chanting along the way: - “Blessed is the Lord, who did not give us as prey to their teeth” (Ps. 123:6). Some of the brothers who followed him sang with him. And, giving thanks to God, he bowed his honest head to the sword. This is how the holy great martyr of Christ Codratus died, being beheaded by the sword on the tenth day of the month of March, on which he was crowned with martyrdom together with his squad and his friend of the same name, Codratus of Corinth, which happened during the reign of Valerian over the Greeks and Romans, and over Christians during the endless reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and ever forever and ever. Amen. Emperor Decius ruled the Roman Empire from 249–251; he was one of the most cruel persecutors of Christians. Valerian ruled from 253–259. Bithynia is a northwestern province of Asia Minor. It lies along the shores of the Black Sea, Bosphorus and the Strait of Constantinople. This country has been known since ancient times and received its name from the Bithynians, who moved to it from Thrace. Bithynia was picturesque, fertile and abundant in livestock; Bithynia was divided into two provinces. In the first the main city is Brussa (in ancient times Prusiada), in the other Nicomedia. Until half of the 6th century. BC The Bithynians were free, independent and known as skilled sailors. In 546 they fell under the rule of the Persians, but not for long and from 327 Bithynia was again an independent state. In 75 BC, King Nicomedes III, dying, bequeathed his country to the Romans, who annexed it to their empire, as an independent province, governed by a special proconsul. Christianity in Bithynia appeared in apostolic times (1 Peter 1:1) during the time of Pliny the Younger, who ruled Bithynia and Emperor Trajan (98-117 AD), there were a lot of Christians here, not only in cities, but also in villages and hamlets. Under Diocletian (284–305) there were terrible persecutions of Christians in Bithynia. In the IV and V centuries. Bithynia was especially remarkable in ecclesiastical terms: it had many church councils regarding various heresies. Falling successively first under the rule of the Seljuks, then under the rule of the Saracens in 1332, Bithynia was subordinated to the Turks, under whose rule it is now. It is part of two governorships (vilayets) of Kadavendkiakht and Kastamuni and has 700,000 inhabitants. At the head of the church administration is the Archbishop of Nicomedia, to whom 12 bishops appointed by the Synod of Constantinople are subordinate. Caesarea was located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The Apostle Paul visited this city several times during his travels (Acts 9:29–30; Acts 18:28; Acts 21:8) and spent two years here as a prisoner (Acts 23:33; Acts 24:27; Acts 26:4 et seq.). In this city lived the centurion Cornelius, whom the Apostle Peter converted to Christ (Acts 10:1; Acts 10ff.); the Apostle Philip also lived here (Acts 21:8). Here Herod Agrippa died, struck by an Angel and eaten by worms. Caesarea was originally called the city or tower of Strawton. The city was restored by Herod the Great, who named it Caesarea in honor of the emperor (Latin Caesar - cut, chopped) Augustus. Anphipat is a Greek word for proconsul. This is the name of a Roman government position (ruler of a province, i.e. region). According to the ideas of the ancient Greeks and Romans, the highest or most important Gods lived in the airy space between earth and sky, and their abode was in magnificent chambers on the top of Mount Olympus in Greece. That is why these twelve gods are also called Olympian gods. They are gods: Zeus (Jupiter), Hera (Juno), Poseidon (Neptune), Demeter (Ceres), Apollo. (Apollo), Artemis (Diana), Hephaestus (Vulcan), Pallas-Athena (Minerva), Areus (Mars), Aphrotis (Venus), Hermes (Mercury), and Vestia (Vesta). The famous singer of antiquity, who lived at the end of the 10th or at the beginning of the 9th century BC. The ancients imagined Homer as a blind old man. Therefore, some derived the very name Homer from the word “blind.” The epic works Iliad and Odyssey are attributed to him, of which the first describes the events of the tenth (1184 BC) year of the Trojan War, which took place over fifty-one days, the “wrath of Achilles” (the hero of the war) and its consequences, and the second, the Odyssey, conveys various episodes from the wanderings of one of the heroes of the war, the king of the island of Ithaca (Mediterranean Sea) Odysseus before the destruction Troy and embraces a short period of time of 40 days. Poseidon is the son of Kronos and Rhea, the brother of Zeus, with whom the latter shared his dominion by lot. Poseidon inherited the sea, with which inseparable was the main dominance over the winds and the power to produce an earthquake, which is why Poseidon was called the Earth Shaker. Poseidon was depicted as a gloomy old man with a large beard and a trident in his hand. Elbow is the elbow of the hand, measure from the elbow to the end of the middle finger. Biblical cubit 10 1 2 inch. This name denoted a weapon assigned to prevent the escape of criminals. It was as follows. They usually took a thick log, split it in half with wedges, cut out two small recesses in both halves to accommodate the legs; Having inserted the legs of the criminal, they connected the wood, then drilled holes at both ends and hammered it tightly with wedges, and in an improved form, both ends were locked with locks, or sometimes they simply twisted the ends with ropes. Nicaea is the main city of Antioch, in which there were the first and seventh Ecumenical Councils: the first in 325 under Constantine the Great, presided over by Eustathius, Archbishop of Antioch; the council condemned Arius, composed the Creed up to the 8th member, established the time of Easter, established the primacy of the bishops of Rome, Alexandria and Antioch, and issued 20 church rules; The seventh Ecumenical Council took place in 787 under the Empress Irina, chaired by Patriarch Tarasius of Constantinople; it condemned the iconoclasts and approved church orders in 22 rules. Gehenna is a place of eternal torment. This name comes from Hebrew words that mean the valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem, where children were burned in honor of Moloch (1 Kings 11:17; 2 Kings 16:3-4.) After Josiah canceled this terrible sacrifice (2 Kings 23:10), the corpses of executed villains, carrion and all kinds of uncleanness were dumped in the valley of Hinnom, where all this was burned. Apamia is a city in Asia Minor on the borders of Phrygia and Pisidia. Apollonia is a city in Illyria, near the sea, famous for the prosperity of science during Roman rule. Asklipios or Aesculapius - the god of medical art - the son of Apollo and the daughter of the Thessopian king Koronissa. He was depicted as a venerable, bearded husband with an important and benevolent expression on his face, in white clothes with a staff around which a snake curls. Sometimes, in addition to the snake, a rooster was depicted with Aesculapius, to which he was dedicated to this god. Apollo - son of Zeus and Latona - brother of Artemis, god of light; The beliefs of the ancients gave Apollo eternal and unchanging youth and strength, signifying the eternally youthful power of light and heat. He was depicted as a beautiful, strong young man with a bow or a curved shepherd's crook in his hands and with a quiver of arrows behind his back. Sometimes a lyre (musical instrument) is in the hand. Feet without shoes or in smart sandals, on the head there is a laurel wreath. Hercules or Hercules is the most famous Greek hero, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, the wife of King Amphitryon. He was usually depicted as an unusually developed, strong man, in the most flourishing time of his age, naked or in a lion's skin with a curly head and with a heavy club in his hand. Zeus is the god of the sky. He had many nicknames. Son of Kronos, the oldest of the gods. He was depicted sitting on a throne with an aegis in his hands. Ares - son of Zeus and Hera; the god of anxiety and unrest of the sea, the terrible god of war, battle, battlefield, who delights the soul with murder, reveling in blood. He was depicted as a young man with a shield and spear in his hands. The strait connecting the Sea of ​​Marmara with the Aegean. You might be interested in: