Страдание преподобного отца нашего Марка, епископа Арефусийского

About the suffering of St. Mark, Bishop of Arethusia 2245, St. Gregory of Nyssa in his first word on the godless apostate Julian 2246 writes: “Who doesn’t know what happened to the wonderful Mark of Arethusia? And with a story dedicated to his memory, who won’t remember him? During the reign of Constantine the Great, taking advantage of the rights then granted to Christians, he destroyed one pagan temple and guided many people out of pagan error onto the right path of salvation, both through edifying conversation and an example of an immaculate life. The pagan Arethusians had long hated him; when Christian power fell and pagan wickedness began to grow and flare up, he did not escape the hands of the tormentors at that difficult time. So, even if a crowd of people restrains their anger and desires for a time, just as a fire is hidden in a furnace, or a river is held back by a dam, but at a certain time it will nevertheless reveal its indomitable rage - this is characteristic of it in the same way as fire flares up and a river quickly breaks through a dam. Saint Mark, seeing that the people had rebelled against him and were plotting something evil, immediately decided to flee not so much out of fear as out of obedience to the commandment of the Lord, which commands one to run from city to city, giving way to the persecutors. And Christians, even if they are courageous and firm in patience, should not only take care of their own salvation, but also have compassion on their persecutors, so that they do not increase their destruction by the hostile malice with which they are filled. But when the virtuous Mark saw that because of him the evil tormentors were taking away many, giving them over to torment and various tortures, and that others, seeing this, were sick in soul, he could not bear for others to suffer because of his flight and self-preservation; Having accepted a good and wise intention, he returned from flight, voluntarily surrendered to the people and took up arms against the fury of his tormentors. What kind of atrocities were there! What kind of torments were not invented! When each of the tormentors tried to add his own, specially invented kind of torment to the many different torments, they were not irritated by anything so much as by the courageous patience of the saint; They were especially embittered, considering his return not so much a manifestation of courage in torment as contempt and dishonor towards them. The holy elder, who had accepted the voluntary feat of martyrdom, was led through the city, where he enjoyed special respect from everyone, except the persecutors and tormentors, for his venerable years, and most importantly, for his virtuous life. He was accompanied by many, without distinction of age or rank; everyone was equally insulted: there were men and women, young and old, there were also city authorities and eminent people; everyone had one desire: to surpass each other in rage and brutality; everyone, without exception, considered it to be something great to subject him to as much torture as possible and to defeat the unshakable old ascetic who was opposing the entire city. The saint was dragged along the roads and put into a swamp; At the same time, in addition to torture, he endured dishonorable abuse: children took turns tormenting him by his hair and other parts of his body; then he was hanged in a shameful place, and the shaking body of the valiant sufferer was cut with knives and pierced with a sharp cane, and at this tear-worthy spectacle they laughed loudly and played. With some special tools his legs were squeezed to the bone; They trimmed his ears with very thin and extremely strong linen threads. Then, having smeared him with honey and fat, they put him in a basket and raised him at noon during the terrible heat of the sun to a height where he was stung by bees and wasps. And the more the fat and honey melted from the heat of the sun on the blessed (I can’t call it passionate) body of the saint, the more he suffered from the stings of wasps and bees. Saint Mark, being old in years, showed himself in his suffering feat full of strength; he did not change the brightness of his face, but even experienced some pleasure from those torments and condemned his tormentors. The following is also told about him, worthy of memory: seeing himself raised to a height, and the tormentors standing below him, Saint Mark at that time felt so far from the tormentors that he did not notice the pain, as if someone else, and not he, was suffering suffering, which he considered to be glory and not dishonor. Wouldn’t such a sight move someone who had even a drop of mercy and philanthropy in them?! But this was impossible due to the threat of torture and the anger of the king, who charged the cities and hegemons with torment towards Christians as a duty; however, many, not knowing the anger hidden in the king and his treachery, thought of him differently. Saint Mark endured all the torment for destroying a pagan temple, for which he did not give a single piece of gold to the tormentors; it is clear that he suffered for the sake of his piety. When the Arethusians demanded that he either pay in full the rather significant price they had set for the ruined temple, or rebuild it again, Saint Mark resisted more out of piety than because he did not have the opportunity to satisfy the pagans. Overcoming them with his patience and little by little reducing the price they set, he brought them to the point that they demanded from him a little money that could easily be paid. So, there was a debate on both sides: the tormentors tried to force the saint, but he remained adamant, that is, they wanted the saint to pay some money, but he did not want to give them a single penalty 2247 (although there were many such people, some of whom, out of their mercy, and others, touched by his firm and invincible patience, were ready to pay a lot of money for him); from here it is clear that he accepted the martyrdom not out of love of money, but for good faith. Saint Mark was one of those who hid King Julian, still a young boy, when the immoral and wicked family of this emperor was exterminated. And they think that it was right that Saint Mark endured such cruel suffering for this act; he was worthy of even greater torment, because, out of ignorance, he delivered from death such a great evil for the entire universe. It is also narrated that the eparch of Arethusia 2248, although he was a wicked and pagan, however, could not bear the sight of the various sufferings of Saint Mark and boldly said to the king: - Tsar! Are we not ashamed before all Christians that we could not defeat even one elder? Although victory over him would not be glorious and honest, and for us to leave him defeated is simply a great shame! Thus the courage of Christians shamed the vain dioceses and kings. And the torment of the Arethusians was such that the cruelty of Ekhet 2249 and Phalaris 2250 would have been small if compared with their cruelty; their malice surpassed even the inventor of malice and their instigator, the devil.” Here is the story of St. Gregory of Nyssa about St. Mark. Theodoret 2251 narrates that the Arethusians, seeing the indestructible fortress of the wondrous old man, Saint Mark, became meek, marveling at his great patience; they released him. Then, having listened to his teachings, they turned to the holy faith and all became Christians. The same Theodoret tells about Saint Cyril the Deacon as follows: - Who can remember without tears the evil committed by the pagans in Phenicia? For in the city of Iliopolis, adjacent to Lebanon, those godless idolaters, remembering the deacon Cyril, who, during the reign of Constantine, inflamed with jealousy, destroyed many idols revered in the city, not only killed him, but, having cut open his womb, began to bite his entrails with their teeth in a rage. But this was not hidden from the omniscient God, and they accepted a worthy punishment for their malice. Those who dared to do what was said above first of all lost their teeth: every single one of them fell out; then they lost their tongues: they festered, rotted and fell out of their mouths. At last they went blind; Such punishments personally confirmed the power of true piety. In Ascalon and Gaza, cities of Palestine, first, the torturers cut open the wombs of husbands invested with sacred rank, then of wives and virgins dedicated to God, poured barley into them and threw them to be eaten by pigs; the tormentors mocked so inhumanely. For this, the holy martyrs were prepared for victorious crowns in the Kingdom of Christ, and the tormentors were prepared for eternal torment in hell, which awaits them as righteous retribution from our True God Jesus Christ, to Him be glory forever. Amen 2252. Arethusia or Arethusa is a city in Syria. Emperor Julian the Apostate ruled the Roman Empire from 361 to 363. Penyaz is a small copper coin. Eparch is the head of the region. Ekhet is an ancient king of Epirus, distinguished by his special malice, who blinded his only daughter Metope. Phalarids was the tyrant of Agrigentum (a Dorian colony located in the south of the island of Sicily), who lived in the 6th century. BC He was distinguished by his extraordinary cruelty and treated his subordinates extremely harshly. Blessed Theodoret is a church teacher who lived in the 5th century. The death of Saints Mark and Cyril followed. IV century You might be interested in: