Страдание святого мученика Полиевкта

During the time of Decius and Valerian 344, kings of the Romans, in the city of Melitina, in the land of Armenia 345, there lived two respected warriors, Nearchus and Polyeuctus, who had such mutual love for each other, which rarely happens even between half-brothers: each of them loved his friend as his own life and breath. Nearchus was a Christian, firm in the faith and a faithful follower of the law of the Lord, and Polyeuctus was a pagan, not yet enlightened by the light of the true faith. However, this latter lived according to Christian customs and labored in various virtues, so that he could be called a fruitful olive tree, and all he lacked was to join the Church of God. Nearchus tried to convert him to the Christian faith, often read the Divine Scriptures to him and spoke about the One True God, showing at the same time the vanity and abomination of idolatry. But the hour of conversion and salvation, appointed for him by God, had not yet come for Polyeuctus. Soon, in the bazaars and streets, the godless command of the wicked kings began to be read, which called on everyone to worship their vile gods and threatened with various tortures and executions for those who were disobedient to this command. Nearchus, as a faithful servant of Christ, began to prepare for death; but at the same time, he began to grieve for his friend, Polyeuctus, believing that the one whom he expected to see as a Christian out of fear of the king’s threats would remain an unbeliever and through this would lose eternal salvation. Constantly grieving about this and crying about the death that awaited his friend, Nearchus even changed in his face and with his whole appearance betrayed his spiritual confusion. Polyeuctus, seeing his friend so embarrassed, asked him about the reason for his sadness and, since he did not say anything, Polyeuctus also became sad, sympathizing with the grave grief of his friend. Finally, Polyeuctus began to especially urgently ask Nearchus: -Did I offend you in any way? What is my fault? What did I do that was terrible that you don’t want to forgive your friend? Then Nearchus, crying and sighing from the depths of his heart, said: “When I, friend, think that our love and affection must end, I become despondent and grieved in soul. Hearing this, Polyeuctus was very upset and said: - How can this happen, friend? Why are you talking about such impossible things? Why should our love end when death itself cannot terminate it? “My dear friend,” answered Nearchus, “it depresses me to the depths of my soul that our separation will be worse than natural death.” Polyeuctus, not understanding what Nearchus was saying, hugged his friend tightly and began to ask him even more urgently: - Tell me, Nearchus, and explain what this separation will consist of? I can no longer endure your silence, and if you continue to be silent and don’t tell me anything, you will immediately see me dead in front of you. - Dearest Polievkt! We will be separated from you by that royal decree that is read everywhere; for I belong to the Christian faith, and you to the pagan faith. And so, when they take me to death, you will abandon me and leave me. Hearing this, the prudent Polyeuctus immediately understood what Nearchus wanted, and, being enlightened by the grace of God, began to think about the Divine. He recalled a vision he had a few days before and said: – Do not be afraid, my beloved friend Nearchus! We will not part with you, for in a dream I saw Christ, whom you serve, and who, approaching me, took off the clothes I was wearing and clothed me in another, new, beautiful and precious, with golden loops, and, in addition, gave me a winged horse. Nearchus, having heard this, rejoiced and explained the vision in the sense that taking off the old clothes and putting on new ones indicates a change in life for the better: “You must,” he said, “leave pagan wickedness and put on true faith in Christ; a winged horse means a quick transition to heaven. – Now you have already come to know Christ, the true God! - When did I not know Him? Didn't my heart burn when you told me about Him? Did I not marvel at His words when you read the Holy Gospel to me? All I lacked was a Christian name, but by my disposition I was already a Christian, for I was always only thinking about how I could, leaving vain idols, become a slave of Christ the Lord. So, why hesitate, Nearchus? Let us prove our devotion to Christ by our very deeds! Nearchus enjoyed his speech and rejoiced; but, fearing that his friend would not regret his property, his wife and children, as well as his life, he began to talk with him about the vanity of this world and depict invisible blessings and heavenly glory. “For me, Polyeuctus,” he said, “neither wealth, nor glory, nor military honor, nothing worldly is so dear and so desirable as life in Christ Jesus: that is the only thing I desire, and everything else seems insignificant to me.” Polyeuctus, as if tempting him, said: – Don’t you value the honors of your military rank? “It seems to me, Polyeuctus, that you still do not imagine the true honor and glory and unceasing bliss that the Lord Christ has prepared for His servants. – Do you think that I have no idea about the glory, honor and bliss that Christ has prepared for us in heaven? And I think that I went further than you in this case, because I already received, as I told you, in a vision the royal robe. But here’s what I’ll ask you: is it possible, without accepting the Christian Sacraments, to approach Christ and be His warrior? “Do not doubt this, faithful friend,” answered Nearchus, “God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones” (Matthew 3:9), for He does not close the doors of His mercy to anyone who turns to Him, and those who come to His vineyard later, pay the same as those who worked all day 346 receive. Thus, He opened paradise to the thief crucified on the cross, and for a short confession of faith He granted such retribution, because of which others put in a lot of work. Hearing this, Polyeuctus said: - May there be glory to Christ, the true God! From this hour I leave all its vanity to the world and confess myself to be a servant of Christ, Whom I will serve as He commands me. And now I will go and read the royal decree issued against Christians and against my Lord and God, Jesus Christ. With these words, Polyeuctus went to the square and, having read the royal decree, spat on him and tore him into pieces in front of the people. After this, seeing that idols were being carried into the temple, before which people bowed, he first laughed at this pagan foolishness, and then, pretending that he wanted to bow to them, he began to grab these idols one by one and smash them on the ground, like clay vessels; in total he crushed twelve pagan gods in this way. At this very time, Polyeuctus’s father-in-law, Felix, came here, who was entrusted by the kings with persecuting Christians. Seeing the destruction of his gods carried out by Polyeuctus, he became very sad and said with a groan: - Woe is me! Now I have unexpectedly lost my children, for neither gods nor people will have mercy on Polyeuctus, who did such a thing. Polyeuctes, rejoicing at the destruction of soulless idols, said to his father-in-law: - Why are you embarrassed, father? Now I have clearly shown how powerless your gods are; if you still have such, let them be brought here, and you will see how the servants of Christ abuse them. “Our almighty kings,” answered Felix, “ordered the immediate execution of such people, and you are already close to death, you are facing execution - it cannot be otherwise, because the royal command cannot be canceled.” But I give you some leniency: you can go home and say goodbye to your wife and children. “Can I grieve about my wife and children,” the saint objected, “when I have neglected earthly things and seek heavenly things, thinking about eternity?” If your daughter wants to follow me, then she will be blessed; if not, he will perish with your gods. Hearing this, Felix began to cry for his son-in-law and said to him: - Woe is me, my dear son Polyeuctus! And you were seduced by the magical power of Christ. Saint Polyeuctus answered this: – I do not hide the fact that Christ called me to the knowledge of the truth. With His Divine all-powerful right hand, He brought me from the shadows into the light, from death to life, directed me from error to the right path and honored me with being included in His army. When the saint said this, his tormentors grabbed him and began to beat him on the mouth, but he did not pay attention to this. Then his wife came and began to cry for him along with her father Felix. The saint said this to his father-in-law: - O most lawless servant of vile idols! Why do you want to seduce me with your tears and the tears of your daughter to fall away from the faith of Christ? Why are you crying about Polyeuctus, when you should be crying much more about yourself, precisely because, by serving earthly kings, you are dooming yourself to eternal fire? The saint’s wife, whose name was Pavlina, said to him with sobs: - What happened to you, my beloved husband Polyeuctus? What tempted you to destroy our twelve gods? The saint said to her with a smile: “If I alone defeated and defeated your twelve gods, then you have no one to turn to for help: you have no gods left.” Listen to me, Pavlina, and know the only true God who lives in heaven; worship Him and exchange this life for eternal life. Listening to this conversation between the saint and his wife, many of the pagans who stood near them enjoyed his words and, recognizing the truth, were touched in their souls and turned to Christ. The city judges and all the councilors, having gathered, demanded Saint Polyeuctus to appear before them for trial and, either with caresses or threats, tried to turn him back to serving idols. When their attempts failed, they pronounced a death sentence on the saint, dooming him to be beheaded by the sword. The saint went to death with unspeakable joy and told the people accompanying him that he was talking with one radiant youth, who strengthened him and told him to forget everything worldly; but no one except the martyr saw that young man. Seeing also among the crowd the blessed Nearchus, his friend and father by faith in the true God, he shouted to him: - Farewell, my beloved friend, and remember the bond of love sealed between us! Having uttered these words, he bowed his holy head under the sword and was baptized in his own blood, being executed for Christ Jesus 347. Saint Polyeuctus was the first martyr in the Armenian city of Melitene, and his death contributed to the multiplication of the militant Church and the replenishment of the triumphant Church, in honor and glory of Christ God, Who is the Head of both, to Whom, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, belongs all honor and glory for endless ages. Amen. The Roman Emperor Decius reigned from 249–251, Valerian reigned from 253–259. The city of Melitina was built by the Roman emperor Trajan (98–117). This is the main city of the country of the same name, located in the Asia Minor region of Cappadocia, which once formed the northern part of Lesser Armenia. Wed. the Lord's parable about the laborers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1–16). You might be interested in: