Житие во святых отца нашего Акакия, епископа Мелитинского

The holy saint of God Akaki was a native of the Armenian city of Melitina 2593 and came from pious and God-fearing parents who, having no children, through prayer and fasting asked God for this blessed fruit. Having raised their son in the teachings of the book, the parents took him to the bishop of that city and gave him to serve God, for this is what they promised when they asked God for a child. The bishop of the city of Melitina was then Blessed Otrius. This was the same Otrius who, at the second Ecumenical Council of the Holy Fathers, gathered during the reign of Theodosius the Great 2594 against the Doukhobor Macedonius 2595, from among the one hundred and fifty fathers, was a particularly firm champion of piety. Together with Saint Gregory the Theologian 2596 and with other zealots and defenders of Orthodoxy, he firmly defended it and fought against heresy. It was to such a pious man, Saint Otrius, that the blessed youth Akakios was entrusted by his parents. Holy Bishop Otrius, seeing Divine grace in the youth, appointed him to the rank of church clergy. Akaki grew from strength to strength, excelling in virtues, zealously performing church works, improving in virtue and holiness, trying to be useful to everyone. The Monk Euthymius the Great also studied science with him when he was a youth. But Saint Akakios was a teacher not only of children, but also of adults, edifying everyone both by word and by the example of his virtuous life, especially when he reached the priestly rank and was obliged to take care of the salvation of the human souls entrusted to him. As a chosen vessel of the Holy Spirit, he was at one time elevated to the rank of bishop, as being fully worthy of it. When Saint Otrius, Bishop of Melitino, passed from this life to the Lord, then instead of him, blessed Akakios was unanimously chosen by everyone and, according to his rank, was elevated to the hierarchal throne, like a burning candle placed in a golden candlestick for the enlightenment of the entire universe (see: Matt. 5:15-16). This bishop pleased God so much and was so great in his holiness that he was awarded the gift of miracles. We will tell here in brief words some of his many wonders. One day there was a great drought, as a result of which severe famine was expected. All the people were in great sorrow. The saint of Christ, together with the starving people, went to the church of the holy great martyr Eustathius, located outside the city, and there he begged the martyr of Christ to pray to the Lord with them and ask Him for rain to saturate the parched land. Then he placed an altar and the Divine Throne not far from the church on an elevated and open place, and began to perform a bloodless sacrifice here, praying to the Lord with tears. At the same time, the monk did not dissolve the wine in the holy cup with water, as is usually done, but, directing his mind to God, he fervently prayed that God Himself would send water from above and dissolve the wine in the cup with this rainwater, and at the same time water the parched earth. And the saint’s prayer was so strong and effective that immediately a heavy rain began to fall, which not only dissolved the wine in the cup, but also sufficiently nourished the earth. The sadness of all the people who were there turned into joy, and everyone glorified and thanked God. This year there was a bountiful harvest of fruits, according to the prayers of the saint of God Akaki. In the same country there was one high-water river, which very often overflowed its banks and flooded the surrounding villages. One day this river overflowed so unusually that even large buildings that were not far from it were completely flooded by it, and some were even destroyed; Overflowing more and more hour by hour, this river threatened to flood many surrounding dwellings. Then Saint Akakios of Christ, seeing that people were suffering greatly from this flood, approached the river and, having made a prayer to God, placed a stone near the shore, and forbade the river to cross the limit he had set. Immediately the water entered its banks; despite the fact that the water in it increased significantly, since its bed became narrower, this river did not protrude from its banks further than the stone with which, as if some kind of obstacle, the saint enclosed the river in its banks. Eighteen stadia 2597 from the mentioned city there was one place that belonged to the Greeks and was called Miasina - very beautiful and level. In the midst of this place stretched a large plain, through which a fast and clear river flowed towards the east, called Azor, or Azur; this river flowed through several lakes. On the most beautiful and highest place there was an idol church, surrounded by a garden of fruit trees, irrigated by the waters of one of the lakes of the Azura River. This place was desecrated by demonic abominations, since Greeks who worshiped idols often gathered here and offered unholy sacrifices to their gods. Saint Akakios, jealous of Christ, wanted to cleanse this place and sanctify it for the glorification of the True God there. For this matter, he had to work very hard, for the pagan priests strongly opposed his intentions, not giving up their place sacrificed to idols. And when the saint began to build a church there in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos, those evil people hindered him in every possible way: what was built by the believers during the day was destroyed at night by the wicked idolaters. But the holy saint of Christ Akaki, armed against them with prayer, defeated his enemies. He, with God's help, destroyed the idolatry and built a church in honor of the Mother of God. Having consecrated this church, he made the place that had previously served as the dwelling of demons into the abode of holy angels, and built a monastery at the church of the Most Holy Theotokos for the life of virtuous monks. Thus, where previously bloody, unholy sacrifices were made to the devil, now bloodless, pure sacrifices began to be made to the True God and daily praises and prayers were made. By the grace of the Most Pure Mother of God and through the prayers of the wonderworker Akaki, miracles were performed at this place, seeing which, the Greeks abandoned their wickedness and turned to faith in Christ God. Let us remember one of the glorious miracles that took place there. It happened that the builders of the mentioned church, due to their negligence, built the church vault unsteadily, and when Saint Akakis of Christ performed the Divine Service at the altar, this vault tilted inside the church and was already ready to fall there. Seeing this, all the people who were in the church began to leave the church in disorder; the saint cried out: - The Lord is the strength of my life: whom shall I fear? (Ps. 26:1). And immediately the fall of the church vault was stopped, and, through the saint’s prayer, it seemed to hang in the air, supported by the saint’s prayer as if on some kind of solid foundation. And so it was until the saint completed the entire service and left the church with his clergy. As soon as he left there, the vault fell to the ground with a great roar, without causing harm to anyone. One day, in another church, in a village called Samuria, the same good shepherd of the verbal sheep offered spiritual food to his flock, preaching the word of God. During his conversation with the people, the many swallows who were there drowned out the saint’s voice with their loud cries and prevented the people from hearing his words, so that sometimes the words coming from the bishop’s God-speaking lips were almost completely inaudible. Then, stopping for a short time in the midst of a conversation with people, the saint turned to the swallows and commanded all of them in the name of the Creator to be silent and stop their cry. And immediately the swallows fell silent, unable to utter a single sound, and completely flew away from there, leaving their nests. From that time on, swallows did not build nests there, and if any of them accidentally flew to that church, they could not chirp here, but like a mute, after flying a little near the church, they flew away from there, as if driven by someone. Not far from the city, Saint Akakios had a house in which he lived even before taking the episcopal rank. When he ascended the holy throne, he turned his house into a hospital and refuge for the poor and wretched. The saint often visited his hospital, bringing what was needed to the sick and serving them himself. One day, coming to the sick during the harvest, he asked them if they were happy with everything and if they lacked anything. They replied that they had everything in abundance, and that there was only one thing that tormented them, and that was the multitude of flies that caused them great suffering, landing on their sores and scabs and painfully biting their bodies. The saint immediately prayed to God, drove the flies out of there with prayer, and commanded the flies never to appear there again. And so it was until the death of the saint of God: from that time not a single fly was seen in that house. Such is the miracle that this wondrous man performed by the grace of God. In the same way, he commanded the toads, which were screaming loudly in the lake and irritating the ears of the sick, to be silent. After a little time, he had mercy on the toads and again released them from silence, but not completely. For he allowed them to utter their cry quietly, and not as loudly as they shouted before. In a waterless place, the saint brought out a source of cold water from a dry stone and gave drink to the thirsty; The great wonderworker surprised this world with many other miraculous actions. Saint Akakios was present at the third Ecumenical Council, which took place in the city of Ephesus during the reign of Emperor Theodosius the Younger in 2598. There, together with Saint Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria and with other holy fathers, Akakios deposed the wicked Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople 2599, a blasphemer of the Most Pure Virgin Theotokos, and anathematized him. Saint Akakios was loved and praised by all the holy fathers and enjoyed the respect of the emperor himself. Having wisely ruled the Church of Christ for a long time and having performed many miracles, Saint Akaki peacefully departed to the Lord. His honorable body was buried next to the body of the holy martyr Polyeuctus. With him he now stands before the Lord and, with the face of other saints, glorifies the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the One God, glorified by all creation forever. Amen. The city of Melitina was located in the northern part of Lesser Armenia. Theodosius I the Great, Roman Emperor, reigned from 379 to 395. The heretic Macedonius, who had the rank of Bishop of Constantinople before the conciliar deposition, wickedly taught about the inequality of the third Person of the Holy Trinity to the first two, recognizing the Holy Spirit as the creation of God the Father. The Macedonian heresy was condemned at the Second Ecumenical Council, which took place in 381 in Constantinople. Saint Gregory the Theologian is the most famous father and teacher of the Church of the 4th century, who lived from 328 to 390. He wrote 243 letters, 507 poems (conversations in poetic form) and 45 speeches, of which five words on theology, directed against the false teachings of the Arians, are especially remarkable. His memory is celebrated on January 25. Stage is a measure of length, equal to approximately 88 of our fathoms. Theodosius II the Younger, Roman Emperor, reigned from 408 to 450. The Third Ecumenical Council was convened under him in 431. Nestorius unfairly taught about the union of two natures in Jesus Christ - divine and human. He said that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary as a simple man, therefore, with only human nature; the divine nature seemed to move into Him only later and at times left Him. You might be interested in: