Страдание святой мученицы Фотины 2053

During the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero in 2054, a cruel persecution was launched against Christians, and after the martyrdom of the holy supreme Apostles Peter and Paul, they were looking for those who had been taught by them faith in Christ. At this time, Saint Photina, living in the African city of Carthage 2055, together with her son Josiah, fearlessly preached the Gospel of Christ. Meanwhile, the eldest son of Photina, named Victor, fought courageously in the war that the barbarians were waging against the Romans at that time, and at the end of the war, by order of the emperor, he was appointed commander of the troops in the city of Attalia 2056 in order to subject the Christians who were there to torture. When the ruler of the city, Sebastian, found out about this, he said to Victor: - Voivode, I know for sure that you are a Christian and that your mother and your brother Josiah are followers of Peter, and therefore you will not fulfill what the emperor commanded you for fear of destroying your soul. “I am burning with the desire to fulfill the will of the heavenly and immortal King, Christ, our God,” Victor answered this, “and I neglect Nero’s command to torture Christians.” Then Sebastian said to Victor: “As a sincere friend, I advise you: submit to the will of the emperor.” After all, if you begin to fulfill the royal command with due diligence and subject the Christians whom you manage to find to judicial interrogation and torture, then you will do what is pleasing to the emperor, and you will acquire the property that belongs to them, and inform your mother and brother by letter, so that they do not go so openly and do not incline the pagans to renounce their fatherly beliefs, but let them secretly confess faith in Christ, your God, if they want you not to suffer the same torment because of them. “I will never do this,” answered Victor, “and not only will I not do it, but I don’t even want to think about subjecting Christians to torture or forcibly taking anything from them or advising my mother and brother not to preach that Christ is the true God, but I myself with all my soul want to be a preacher of Christ, and I will be one just like them.” To this Sebastian said to him: - Oh Victor! We all know well what disasters await you, your mother and brother. After these words, Sebastian’s face suddenly flared up, and he fell to the ground from acute and severe pain in his eyes, and completely lost the ability to speak. The servants who were present picked him up and laid him on the bed, and he lay there for three days without saying a single word. And after three days he cried out with a loud voice and said: - One Christian God is the true God, one Christian faith is the true faith and one is baptism - baptism in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There is no other true faith except the Christian faith. Entering Sebastian, Victor asked him: – Why did such a change occur in you so unexpectedly? “My dear Victor,” answered Sebastian, “your Christ is calling me to Himself.” Victor immediately instructed him in the faith, and he accepted holy baptism. Coming out of the font, he suddenly received his sight and glorified God. The servants who were present, seeing this wondrous miracle, were afraid that they, like Sebastian, would suffer the same disease because of their unbelief, and they were also baptized. Soon after this, a rumor reached Nero that Victor, the commander of the troops in Attalia, and the ruler of this city, Sebastian, professed the faith of Peter and Paul and attracted everyone to themselves, convincing them to follow their preaching, and also that Victor’s mother Photina and her son Josiah, sent to Carthage by the Apostles, were doing the same. Having learned about this, the emperor was inflamed with anger and sent soldiers to Attalia so that they would bring the Christian men and women who were in this city to him for judgment. At this time, Christ appeared to the Attalian Christians and said to them: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). I will be with you, and Nero will be defeated, and also those who are with him.” - From this day on, Photin 2057 will be your name, since many, enlightened by you, will turn to Me. Christ strengthened Sebastian for the coming suffering with these words: – Blessed is the one who completes his feat before the end of 2058. The Lord said these words and ascended to heaven. Saint Photina was also notified by Christ of the suffering awaiting her and immediately, accompanied by many Christians, she set off from Carthage to Rome. When she entered Rome, the whole city began to move, and everyone said: “Who is she?” She fearlessly preached the Gospel of Christ. Meanwhile, her son Photina, who formerly bore the name of Victor, was brought to Rome, along with Sebastian and the soldiers taken with them, but Saint Photina warned Victor, having appeared before Nero with her son Josiah and the Christians who had come with her from Carthage. Nero asked the saint: – Why did you come to us? “In order,” answered Fotina, “to teach you to honor Christ.” At this time those who were with the emperor said to him: - Mayor Sebastian and governor Victor, who do not believe in gods, came from Attalia. “Let them bring them to me,” Nero commanded. And when they were brought, he asked them: – Is it true what I heard about you? “Everything that you heard about us, king,” they answered, “is the true truth.” Then Nero, turning to the holy women, asked them: – Do you agree to renounce your Christ or do you want to die for Him? - O king! - answered the holy women, turning their gaze to heaven, - it will never happen that we renounce faith in Christ and the love that we have for Him. -What are your names? - asked the emperor. “I,” answered Saint Photina, “from Christ, my God, received the name Photina, but my sisters are called like this: the first, who was born after me, is Anastasia, the second is Photo, the third is Photida, the fourth is Paraskeva, and the fifth is Kyriacia, and the names of my sons are as follows: the name of the eldest, who was named Photina by my Lord, is Victor, and the youngest is Josiah. “So, do you all,” Nero said to this, “agree to be tortured and die for the Nazarene Christ?” “We are all,” answered Saint Photina, “with joy and joy we are ready to die for Him and we all desire this.” Then Nero ordered their hands to be crushed with iron hammers. An anvil was brought, and the wicked tormentors, placing the hands of the saints on it, began to beat them. They beat from the third hour to the sixth 2059, and the beaters changed three times, but the saints did not feel any pain. Nero, having learned about this, was embarrassed and ordered their hands to be completely cut off. The torturers then fiercely seized the holy martyrs, tied their hands and again put them on the anvil. First of all, Saint Photina was subjected to torture, but the tormentors, who chopped off her hands with axes, took turns many times and, having no success, fell exhausted like the dead, and the holy martyr, remaining unharmed by the grace of Christ, prayed and said: “The Lord is for me - I will not be afraid: what will man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6). After this, Nero began to find it difficult, thinking about what other torments he could subject the saints to, and finally ordered Sebastian, Photinus, and Josiah to be blinded and imprisoned in the inner compartment of the prison, and Saint Photina and her five sisters to be taken to his golden edicule 2060 and ordered his daughter Domnina to be with them constantly. While staying in the imperial edicule, Saint Photina instructed Domnina and one hundred of her slaves in the faith of Christ, and they all accepted holy baptism, and also converted one sorcerer to Christ, to whom he once brought a tincture of a poisonous herb for her and her sisters to drink, after which she endured many torments. When three years had passed after this, Nero once ordered the release of one of his servants, who was among his courtiers, who, by his command, was imprisoned, and those sent for this, seeing the holy martyrs Sebastian, Photinus and Josiah in a healthy state in prison, reported to the emperor that the blinded Galileans saw and were completely healthy, that the prison itself was light, filled with abundant fragrance and from the place of imprisonment became a place for glorifying God and the holy house, that the saints have great wealth in prison, that the people gather to them and, having believed in their God, receive baptism from them. Hearing this, Nero was horrified and, ordering the holy martyrs to be brought to him, said to them: “Have I not, by my royal command, forbidden you to preach about Christ in the city of Rome?” How did you dare to do this while in prison? For this I will give you over to many and terrible torments. “Do whatever you want with us,” the holy martyrs said to this, “but we will not stop preaching about Christ, the true God and Creator of everything.” From such words Nero fell into terrible anger and ordered the saints to be crucified upside down, and then for three days to beat them on their naked bodies with belts until, he said, their members disintegrated, which was done. After this, he ordered a guard to be posted and to watch them hang for three days. On the fourth day, the servants sent by him came to see if the holy martyrs were alive, and when they saw that they were hanging and still alive, they immediately became blind. At this time, the Angel of God, descending from heaven, untied the saints and, having kissed them, made them completely healthy. Then the saints, taking pity on the blinded royal servants, prayed, and they immediately received their sight. Having believed, they were baptized in the name of Christ our God and became followers of the saints. The wicked Nero, having learned about this, became very angry and ordered the skin to be torn off from Saint Photina. And while the tormentors were carrying out this royal order, the holy martyr sang: “Lord! You have tested me and you know. You know when I sit down and when I get up; You understand my thoughts from afar” (Psalm 139:1, 2). They skinned Saint Photina and threw her into a well. After this, they grabbed Sebastian, Photinus and Josiah, cut off their popliteal bones and threw them along with their knees to the dogs, and then tore off their skin and, by order of the emperor, threw them into a dilapidated stone building. After this, Nero ordered the five sisters of Photina to be brought to him, and ordered their nipples to be cut off, and then their skin to be torn off. When the tormentors approached Saint Photis for this, she did not want any of them to carry out this torture on her, as they did on other holy wives, but, standing in the place of torture, she courageously tore off her skin and threw it into Nero’s face, so that he himself was amazed at her courage and patience. Then the torturer came up with a new, extremely cruel and deadly torment for Saint Photis. At his command, two trees were bent towards each other in his garden and tied to their tops by the feet of Photis, after which the trees were released, and the holy martyr was torn apart by them. So she gave up her righteous and blessed soul to God. After this, the wicked Nero ordered all the other holy martyrs to cut off their heads with the sword, and Saint Photina, taken out of the well, was imprisoned, where she remained for twenty days. Having then ordered her to be brought to him, Nero asked her if she would now submit to him and, having repented of her stubbornness, would not make sacrifices to idols. Then Saint Photina spat in his face and, laughing at his madness and stupid mind, said: - O most wicked blind, deluded and insane man! Do you really consider me so unreasonable that I would agree to renounce my Lord Christ and sacrifice to blind idols like you!? Hearing such words, Nero ordered Saint Photina to be thrown into the well again. And when this was fulfilled, the holy martyr gave up her soul to God and, wearing a martyr’s crown, eternally rejoices in the Kingdom of Heaven along with all who suffered with her 2061. Saint Photina is the same Samaritan wife with whom the Lord talked at the well. The story about the Savior’s conversation with the Samaritan woman is in the Gospel (John 4:5) and further. Emperor Nero reigned in Rome from 64 to 68. The persecution of Christians under him began in 65 and continued until 68, when this sovereign put an end to the bloodshed by suicide. During this persecution, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul suffered in Rome. Carthage is an ancient coastal city in northern Africa, founded by the Phoenicians and formerly their famous colony. Destroyed in 146 BC, it was restored under the first Roman emperors, reached a high degree of prosperity and was distinguished in the first centuries of Christianity by the strong development of the pagan Greco-Roman cult, which is why superstitions, sorcery and the so-called magical arts were maintained for a long time. Nowadays in its place is the city of Tunis. Attalia is a city in the province of Pamphylia, located in the southern coastal part of Asia Minor. This city was founded 1.5 centuries BC by Attalus II Philadelphus, who named it by his own name. The name Photinus means luminous and comes from the Greek word “phos”, “photos”, which means light, especially daylight, solar. This expression is borrowed from the Gospel words: “he who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13). For the Romans, according to our reckoning, the beginning of the day was considered to be from 6 o’clock in the morning. From here 3 o'clock in the afternoon corresponded to our 9 o'clock. a.m., 6–12 a.m. day. Edicule here means the house, the palace of the emperor. Nero's "Golden House" is known for its extraordinary size, height and richness of its decorations. Some rooms and hallways of this house were decorated with gold and precious stones. The death of Saint Photina followed around the year 66. The church and its relics were in Constantinople outside the Blachernae Gates. You might be interested in: