Житие во святых отца нашего Евтихия, архиепископа Константинопольского

The birthplace of Saint Eutyches was a village in Phrygia called “Divine”. Subsequently, Saint Eutyches fenced this village with stone walls, built a vast church here in the name of the forty martyrs and settled virtuous men and, mainly, monks who lived their lives like Angels - he wanted the village not only in name, but in fact to be Divine. So, through the saint’s care, everything turned into a strong city. The parents of Saint Eutyches were the warrior Alexander and Sinesia, the daughter of the honest and virtuous priest Hesychius, who served in the Augustopolis church. One day, Synesia, when she was carrying this blessed fruit in her womb, resting on her bed, saw herself illuminated by an indescribable light; she was horrified and wondered what this meant? This vision foreshadowed the spiritual light that would be born from her - the enlightener of many who remained in the darkness of error. The Lord sanctified His servant Jeremiah, as He once did, destining him before his birth to be the light of the world and a great saint. The youth was baptized by his grandfather, the aforementioned priest Hesychius, and from him he received his initial instruction in books. Already in childhood there were omens of the future rank of Eutyches. Many children, the same age as Eutyches, studied with Presbyter Hesychius, and during games they began to write their names on the wall, calling themselves, some a presbyter, some some other rank; Blessed Eutyches wrote himself with the title of patriarch - “Eutyches Patriarch”; by this he seemed to prophetically indicate that God would grant him patriarchal honor in the future. When Saint Eutyches was twelve years old, he was sent by his parents and grandfather to Constantinople for further education. Distinguished from others by his successes in the study of secular science, he clearly understood that external wisdom itself is not, according to the word of the Holy Apostle James, descending from above, but earthly, spiritual, demonic, i.e. seeking earthly blessings, serving the sensual lusts of a lustful soul, not bringing a single spiritual fruit to those who love her, while “the wisdom that comes from above is first pure, then peaceable, modest, obedient, full of mercy and good fruits” (James 3:17), with which those who assimilate this wisdom are satisfied. Thus, the prudent young man Eutyches, like a man in mind, diligently sought out the wisdom coming from above; Having found it, he set in his mind the good intention of working not for the world, but for God in the host of monks. When he reached the age of a mature husband and reflected on monasticism as an unshakable intention, then, at Divine discretion, a small obstacle occurred that kept him from accepting monasticism for some time. It consisted of the following: the Metropolitan of Amasia 2433 and some other honorable persons of this city diligently convinced the blessed one to take upon himself the bishopric over the city of Lazychia 2434 without monasticism. Obeying the will of the metropolitan and others as a decision of the Lord Himself, blessed Eutyches gave himself, like a lamb to the shearers, to the Amasian bishop, who was at that time delayed in Constantinople on church affairs. Having taken Eutychius, he brought him into the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, called Urbikieva, on behalf of its creator, the eastern governor Urbikiya, and here in a separate place, in the baptismal sanctuary, he tonsured him as a church cleric. By chance, during the tonsure of Eutyches, his cut hair fell into the holy water located in the baptismal chamber, and those present said with surprise that the mother (the holy font) who gave birth to him through spiritual birth (i.e., baptism), having received his hair, herself became his successor when he was tonsured a clergyman. Then Blessed Eutyches was made a deacon, and then, in the thirtieth year of his life, he was ordained a presbyter. And when all that remained for blessed Eutyches was to assume the rank of bishop, the providence of God, arranging a better future for his servant, changed the circumstances, and another husband received the bishopric of Lazychia. Then Saint Eutyches, again returning to his original intention, retired to one of the Amasia monasteries and here took on the monastic rite. This monastery was founded by holy men: Meletius, Uranius and Seleucia, of whom the first and last, each in his time, were once bishops of the Church of Amasia and reposed in the Lord in this holy position, miraculously giving healing to the sick from their tombs. It is said about that great Seleucia that he was a miracle worker during his lifetime. Once upon a time there was a severe famine in the region of Amasia, and countless numbers of beggars and wretched people came to Saint Seleucia, so that finally all his grain reserves were exhausted. The one in charge of the distribution of bread, unable to help those asking and unable to bear their complaints, came to the saint and gave him the keys to the granaries. Taking the keys, the saint laid them on his bed and all that night he prayed to God, so that He would take pity on the people close to death from hunger, and with His omnipotent hand would send them food from sources known to Him alone. The next morning they found the granary so filled with wheat that it was impossible to even open the doors. All people then began to take wheat freely, as much as they needed and as much as they could, and the wheat that was collected did not become scarce. Some took wheat by the measure and by counting, and by recording it turned out that the number of measures taken from the Seleucia granary, multiplied by God through the prayers of the saint, reached ten topics (i.e. one hundred thousand measures); This is how Saint Seleucia is told. Similarly, healings from all kinds of ailments were given at the tomb of Saint Uranius, who once occupied the throne of the Iberian bishop and was buried there. These were the great men who founded the Amasia monastery, in which the Monk Eutychios, who then took on the angelic image, dressed in the clothes of a monk, girded his loins with the truth and, having accepted the whole armor of God, was installed as archimandrite over all the monasteries located in the Amasia metropolis, and he appeared as a reliable leader for the monastics. At that time, Justinian the Great reigned 2435, and when the saints were convened for the fifth Ecumenical Council 2436, the Metropolitan of Amasia happened to fall ill, and he began to ask the Venerable Archimandrite Eutyches to go in his place to the council in Constantinople. When blessed Eutyches was preparing to set off, he had the following vision in a dream. He saw the finger of God stretched out from the firmament of heaven, pointing to a very high mountain located above the monastery, on which stood the church of the holy martyr Thalaleos, while there was a voice from above addressed to Eutyches: “there you will be a bishop.” Waking up from sleep, the saint was surprised by the vision and wondered what it could mean. And it foreshadowed for him the high degree of patriarchate of Constantinople, to which, with the blessing of God, he was soon to be elevated. When the Monk Eutyches arrived in Constantinople, the elderly and holy Patriarch Mina, already close to death, seeing the blessed one, prophetically told his clergy about him that he would be patriarch after him; he ordered Saint Eutyches to live in his patriarchal house, where he had heartfelt conversations with him, enjoying his divinely inspired speeches. Having informed the king about the prudence and good behavior of the Monk Eutyches, Mina sent him to him. By chance, at that same hour, some of the heretics were present with the king, who began to argue with the saint on questions about the dogmas of the faith, but did not have the strength to resist the wisdom and spirit with whom the Monk Eutyches spoke. The question was whether heretics should be anathematized even after their death. Some argued that anathema should not be imposed on those heretics whose heresy was discovered after their death. Saint Eutyches, on the contrary, argued that heretics should be anathematized in every possible way, even after their death. He cited from Scripture the example of King Josiah of Jerusalem, who removed the bones of dead idolaters from their tombs and burned them in fire, many years after their death; in the same way, the saint argued, heretics should be punished even after their death. From that time on, the Monk Eutyches began to enjoy the king’s favor, and everyone praised and revered him. At that time (even before the council began), His Holiness Patriarch Mina fell ill and at a very old age passed away to the Lord. And so, many of the persons invested with clergy through gifts and petitions sought this honor for themselves from the king; the king, whose heart is in the hand of God, thought about blessed Eutyches; he gave orders to one of his advisers, the eminent husband Peter, to quietly keep an eye on the Amasian archimandrite, lest the latter, avoiding human glory, secretly escape from Constantinople. Then the saint had another vision in a dream, which he later told his family about. “It seemed to me,” he said, “as if I saw a large and very bright house, and in it a bed covered with precious decoration. On this bed sat some respectable woman named Sophia, who, calling me to her, began to show me her decoration. Following this, I saw that the roof of the house was filled with snow, and in the snow stood a boy named Soterik, who was ready to slip and fall down from the roof, but I, having warned this, brought him off the roof and snow and saved him from falling.” He had this vision the night before his election to the patriarchate and it completely came true. After all, the seen woman named Sophia signified nothing other than the Constantinople Cathedral Church of St. Sophia, and her outfits were church affairs. The youth Soterik, ready to fall from the roof, signified a dogmatic confession that was close to decline and descent into heresy and required hasty help from a good defender. The king received a Divine revelation about the Monk Eutyches in exactly the same way, as he himself reported this with an oath to his entire government and the clergy of the great church. “Once,” the king said, “I was at prayer in the church of St. Peter the Apostle in Atira 2437, where I dozed off and saw this supreme Apostle pointing with his hand at Eutyches and saying to me: “Let this one be made bishop for you.” Having heard this, everyone cried out with one voice: “Worthy, worthy!” And thus, by Divine will and revelation, Saint Eutyches was elevated to the throne of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the fortieth year of his life. At the very beginning of his patriarchate, after the holy fathers gathered in Constantinople, the fifth Ecumenical Council was opened. It was attended by the ancient Roman Pope Vigilius, the Alexandrian Patriarch Apollinaris, the Antiochian Domnus, who, together with the most holy Patriarch of the new Rome Eutyches and other holy fathers, established piety, anathematizing the heretics and their evil wisdom. While Saint Eutyches was successfully ruling the Church of Christ, the devil and his heretical servants instigated persecution against him. After several years, the Emperor Justinian, being imperceptibly seduced by the heretics, bowed to their side and, under the guise of piety, began to sow the heresy of the autartodocetes 2438, i.e., incorruptibles who claimed that the flesh of Christ, due to the union of the Divinity with it before its death and resurrection, remained incorruptible and was not involved in human suffering. By spreading this heretical teaching, the king outraged the Church, forcing everyone to believe and confess as he did. His Holiness Patriarch Eutyches resisted this, pointing out that such a teaching does not belong to the Orthodox Church, but to heretics. Based on the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the holy fathers, he found out that the flesh of Christ in everything except sin was similar to our corruptible flesh and available for suffering. For, having been born from the Most Pure Virgin, she was wrapped in swaddling clothes, fed on milk, underwent circumcision, and throughout her earthly life she demanded food and drink. And how could incorruptible flesh, not involved in suffering, endure nails and a spear for us? If only one thing is understood by her incorruption - that she was free from the corruption of sin and did not decay in the tomb. But the tsar not only did not want to listen to the Orthodox teaching of the patriarch, but also in every possible way persuaded him to confirm with his signature the justice of his heretical teaching. And since the patriarch did not agree to sign the tsar’s non-Orthodox wisdom, the latter was very angry with him. After many quarrels on both sides, the Emperor Justinian, at the instigation of the heretics, especially the heads of the regions Etherius and Addaeus, gathered a lawless gathering of bishops of like minds with him (this happened in the twelfth year of the patriarchate of Eutyches); The tsar presented false accusations against the innocent and holy patriarch to this gathering and, with the latter confirmed by false witnesses, achieved an unjust condemnation, thus depriving the good shepherd, holy man, Orthodox bishop Eutyches of the throne, and in his place he elected a certain false shepherd John, nicknamed Scholastic, a wicked man and a people-pleaser. Saint Eutychius, on the twenty-second of January, on the day of remembrance of the holy Apostle Timothy, was taken out of the church by the hands of soldiers: the regional governor Epherius, coming with a weapon and a spear and roaring like a fierce beast, ordered the saint to be forcibly pulled out, and he stripped him of his holy clothes and sent him into exile in the Amasia region. However, later Epherius himself did not escape God’s vengeance, in due time, together with his unanimous friend Addaeus; Epherius lost his rank, wealth and life; on the same day, October 3, both of them were rightly sentenced to death for their malice: their heads were cut off with an ax. 2439 Meanwhile, Saint Eutyches of Christ, having been taken to the Amasia region, remained in fasting and prayer in his monastery, where he performed many miracles, healing, by the grace of Christ, human infirmities. We present some of these miracles of Saint Eutyches here. In the city of Amasia, a certain man named Androginus lived with his wife; husband and wife grieved greatly because their children were stillborn; the child died before birth; With prayer and tears, just as the Shunammite woman once came to Elisha, the spouses came to the saint of God, asking him to pray to God for them, so that He would grant them to see their children alive. The saint, having anointed both spouses with holy oil flowing from the Life-Giving Cross and from the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos located in Sozopol, said to them: “Name the child who is in the womb (the wife was pregnant), Peter, and he will remain alive.” Presbyter Eustathius (the compiler of this life), who was with the saint at that time, asked: “If a female child is born, what name should he be called?” The saint prophetically asserted that a male child would be born, who should be named Peter. In due course the wife gave birth to a male child, he was named Peter, and the child remained alive and grew. Then she gave birth to a second son, and, bringing him in her arms to the bishop of God, asked what to name the newborn. “Let him be called John,” answered the saint, “since the Lord heard your prayer in the church of St. John.” Both babies grew to manhood and became the heirs of their parents. One presbyter from a church village brought his fourteen-year-old deaf-mute son, named Nunekhia, to the saint of God Eutychius. Having anointed him with holy oil, the saint opened his ears and untied his tongue, so that the deaf-mute began to hear and speak. Another one of the church clerics named Kirill had a five-year-old son, who was also mute and was between life and death due to illness; The saint of God, through prayer, made him healthy and gave him the ability to speak. One day, a four-year-old baby from the city of Zela 2440 was brought to the saint, completely dried up, having almost no body, but only skin-covered bones. He also could not eat anything, except for sucking a little from his mother’s breasts. He also received healing from the hands of the saint, being anointed with holy oil. Through the prayer of the saint of Christ, Saint Eutyches, and the anointing of holy oil, another child who suddenly fell ill and was ready to die, the son of an Amasian artist, was taken from the very gates of death. One woman was going to town on business with her seven-year-old son and other people. From the evil demon they met, the innocent child was stung on the feet and lay on the ground, completely unable to rise. The mother, together with her fellow travelers, picked up the child and brought him to the monastery to the blessed patriarch, with tears begging him to show his mercy and heal the baby. Through his usual healing - prayer and holy oil - the saint restored the health of the child, who began to walk as well as before the accident. Near the city of Amasia there was a nunnery called Flavia. From this monastery a young girl was brought to the saint, who could not partake of the Divine Mysteries. Before communion, she was suddenly attacked by fear and trembling, and she turned away from the Holy Mysteries with a terrible cry. When they tried to forcefully put the Holy Mysteries into her mouth, she immediately spat them out as unbearable bitterness, for there was an evil spirit in her. Having fervently prayed for her to God, the bishop of God cast out the evil demon from her. The young woman, having received healing, calmly accepted the Divine Mysteries from the hands of the bishop. One young man, who knew how to beautifully decorate churches with mosaics, in the house of the Amasian citizen Chrysaphius, knocked off the old mosaic from the walls and depicted holy icons in place of the new one. Here, by the way, there was an ancient image of a naked Venus 2441. When the young man began to destroy this image from the walls, the demon who was with him struck his hand with a most painful disease, called cancer 2442. The hand swelled, terribly festered, and the result was an incurable wound. Everyone who saw the sore hand said that it had to be taken away so that the rest of the body would not rot. Being in great sorrow from such a terrible illness, the young man, with great sobs, came to the saint of God Eutyches, asking for a cure for his irretrievably lost health. Making a prayer to God for him and anointing his sore hand with holy oil, the saint healed the young man on the third day and sent him away healthy. Having destroyed the image of shameless Venus with his healed hand, the young man, in the very place where he received the disease, depicted his free doctor, His Holiness Patriarch Eutyches. In a similar way, the saint healed the hand of another young man, damaged by an incurable disease, which doctors advised to cut off. One day a demon-possessed young man was brought to the saint, constantly experiencing severe torment. When the blessed one marked him with the sign of the cross with prayer and anointed his forehead with holy oil, the demonic force, as if pierced by a fiery spear, began to scream in a terrible voice, emitting foam and gnashing its teeth. Then it was possible to understand that the young man was tormented not by one, but by many demons. Then, numb, the young man lay on the ground as if dead, and after a little time he again began to experience the same and even much more severe suffering for many days. The saint was amazed why the demonic possession did not leave the young man for such a long time, and the saint ordered his presbyter Eustathius (the compiler of this life) to ask the young man who he was, where he was from, where he lived, what he was doing, and how the demonic possession began with him. To these questions, the young man told everything in detail about himself. “I,” he said, “was a monk in the monastery of St. John, located in the Acropolis. Then I threw off my monasticism, retired into the world, got married, committed many sins, and now, for this very thing, as you see, punished by God, I now suffer, but if you have any opportunity, help me.” Having heard this, the saint, as was his custom, made a fervent prayer to God, and exhorted the young man to return again to his former monastery and become a monk. When the young man promised to do this with sincere readiness, then, through the prayers of the bishop of God, Eutychius was immediately freed from demonic torment. A leper once came to the monk with a request for healing, and he received health with the commandment from the saint - never drink wine. Another man, during a lawsuit with his neighbor, swore falsely in court and, due to the vengeance of the Righteous Judge - God - lost his sight and did not see the light for a whole year. Led by others, he came with repentance to this miracle worker, confessing his sin to him and at the same time seeking healing for his mental, and with it, physical illness. By divine mercy, by bishop's authority, by the prayers of this saint of Christ pleasing to the Lord, he received both and returned to himself, looking with his eyes as before. Countless numbers of men, women and children suffering from various diseases flocked to the good doctor Saint Eutyches, and through his prayers everyone received a speedy healing. During the Persian invasion of Amasia, many people gathered from the surrounding areas and cities that had been captured and devastated by the enemy; its accumulation caused severe famine here; Then the saint of God arranged it so that food in his monastery did not become scarce. Every day countless people came to his monastery to receive food, and finally, the monastery economists one day informed the saint that due to the impoverishment of life and flour, not only did they have nothing to give to those who came, but they themselves had nothing to eat. Then the monk, entering the granary and the granary and really noticing the complete poverty, prayed to God and, comforting the brethren, said: “Trust in God and believe that everything that you give to those in need, God will return to you doubly. I firmly hope in God’s mercy, just as in the days of the prophet Elijah in Zarephath of Sidon the widow’s tub did not run low (see: 1 Kings. 17:16), just as at this time we will not lack the necessary things, but everyone will eat and be satisfied and will praise the Lord our God.” According to faith and the words of the saint, this really happened, for not only did the constantly distributed bread not decrease, but their quantity increased from time to time: the more bread was distributed to those who came, the more everything multiplied in the granary and granary, so that during the days of famine all wanderers, strangers and their own household ate in abundance. The saint of God Eutykhios was not without the gift of prophecy. Three years before the death of Emperor Justinian, the emperor’s nephew Justin, who then had a court rank and was going somewhere to serve in the royal service, happened to be in Amasia. Having retired with him, blessed Eutyches said to him: “Listen to me, Mr. Kuropalat! * Even if I am a sinner, nevertheless I am a servant and priest of my God, who told me that after the death of your uncle you will reign. So, beware lest you slack off while busy with many things, but watch yourself, so that you may be worthy to fulfill the ministry soon assigned to you by the will of the Lord.” Justin, having listened, thanked God and asked the holy prophet for prayerful help. In exactly the same way, he subsequently foreshadowed in his letter about the same thing to the city governor Tiberius, who was about to take over the kingdom after Justin. Saint Eutyches wrote to him in Syria the following: “God has now only partially granted you government over the people, but very soon he will hand over the whole helm of the royal government to you,” which then soon came true. After the death of Emperor Justinian, his nephew Justin ascended the royal throne; and when the aforementioned Patriarch of Constantinople John Scholasticus died, the most holy Patriarch Eutyches, after twelve years and eight months of his stay in exile, was returned to the throne to the unspeakable joy of all the people, and he was greeted on land and sea, exclaiming - “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” He accepted his throne on Sunday, the third of October, on which date, shortly before, by order of the new king, the enemies of Saint Eutyches, the regional governors Epherius and Addaeus, were condemned and executed by death. The remaining days of his life, His Holiness Patriarch Eutyches lived in peace, decorating the Church with Orthodox teaching and miracles: with his prayer he stopped the sudden onset of a pestilence and healed the sick. After this, he himself, paying his debt to nature, fell into illness on the feast of the Holy Resurrection of Christ. The pious Emperor Tiberius came to visit him, and the saint predicted the king's imminent death after his own death, which came true. Being ill during Bright Week, His Holiness Eutychius on Thomas Sunday summoned all his clergy and, having given peace, blessing and the last kiss to everyone, at nightfall he fell asleep in the Lord in the sleep of temporary death; his holy soul departed into the unflickering eternal day to the holy hierarchs. Saint Eutyches occupied the patriarchal throne after his return from imprisonment for four years and six months; all his years from birth he was seventy. Saint Eutyches was buried with honor in the Apostolic Church under the steps of the altar, where the relics of the holy Apostles Andrew, Timothy and Luke were located 2443. After the repose of His Holiness Patriarch Eutyches, the pious Emperor Tiberius lived only four months and eight days and, according to the prophecy of the saint, died in peace. For all this we will glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the One God in the Trinity. Amen. Let us all please the Divine Eutychius, singing with love, for he is a great shepherd and servant, and a wise teacher, and a banisher of heresies, for he prays to the Lord for us all. * Kuropalat is a Byzantine court position, initially associated with the highest guard of the imperial palace (φυλακή της αύλής), which later became exclusively honorary. Amasya, a city in Asian Turkey, in the Sivas province with 15,000 inhabitants, has 18 madrasahs (higher schools), in which 2,000 softs (students) study. Amasia was formerly the residence of the kings of Pontus; it contains many antiquities; birthplace of the historian Sgrabon. Southwest of Amasia, within Galatia Emperor Justinian ruled from 527–565. Born in 482 or 483, he was the son of an Illyrian peasant. Taken by his uncle - later Emperor Justinian I - to Constantinople to the court of Emperor Anastasius, Justinian received a good education, and after the death of his uncle, who had previously been adopted by him, ascended the throne. He glorified his reign by subjugating the Vandal and Ostrogothic states. The Fifth Ecumenical Council was convened in May 553 in Constantinople. 165 bishops attended. Among them were all the eastern patriarchs, but from the west there were only 5 African bishops. The chairman was Eutyches, Patriarch of Constantinople; The council was convened to finally resolve the issue of Theodore of Mopsuet, the blessed Theodoret and Willow of Edessa. At the same time, the council approved the definition of religion of all previous Ecumenical Councils, including the Council of Chalcedon. Afir is a city on the shores of the Sea of ​​Marmara. Among the various opinions that arose from the Monophysite dispute, one stood out, supported by Julian of Halicarnassus. He confessed that the body of the Savior was incorruptible, that it was removed from death, just as the body of Adam would have been taken from it if he had remained in his innocence; that it was the same as before and after the resurrection, that his hunger, thirst, fatigue did not flow from the composition of his human nature, but were feelings to which He voluntarily exposed himself. The Autodocetes called their opponents phthartolatras (i.e., worshipers of the perishable). John III Scholastic ruled the See of Constantinople from 565–577. Zela, south of Amassia, on the Iris River, in the kingdom of Pontus, is built on a hill. During the war between the Romans and the Pontians in 67 BC. The Roman praetor Triarius was defeated here by Mithridates. Nowadays the village of Zelekh is in Asia Minor in the Turkish vilayet of Sivas. Venus among the Romans, among the Greeks Aphrodite - the goddess of love and beauty - the wife of Hephaestus, was born from sea foam. She was depicted naked. Patriarch Eutyches died in 582. The body of St. Eutychius was transferred from the Constantinople Church of the Apostles to Venice in 1246. He ruled the Patriarchate of Constantinople for the first time from 562–565, and again from 577–582. You might be interested in: