Страдание святого мученика Варвара воина и других с ним

When the God-hating king Julian the Apostate 2997 began a war with the Franks 2998, he sent the military leader Bacchus against them, in whose regiment he served a brave warrior named Barbarian, a Christian by faith, but a secret one. The regiments of both countries prepared for battle; Among the Franks there was one strong fighter, like Goliath (1 Samuel 17). Coming out in front of the Roman regiment, he challenged them to single combat, so that someone would come forward to fight him, and since none of the Romans dared to come out against him, because his very appearance, which spoke of his strength, frightened them, he laughed at them. Then the commander Bacchus, knowing about the courage of the blessed Barbarian, called him to him and asked if he could go out to fight against this proud fighter, boasting of his strength. The barbarian, trusting in the help of his Lord Jesus Christ, in whom he believed, did not refuse single combat: arming himself with the sign of the cross, he attacked the enemy and, grappling with him, overpowered him and killed him with the help of God, for an angel was sent down from the Lord to the blessed Barbarian, who helped him. Then the Franks were ashamed and fearful; The Romans, inspired by courage, rushed at them and won a final victory over them. Such bravery of the blessed Barbarian gained him great honor among the Roman regiments and the approval of the king: he was honored with the rank of comite 2999. Subsequently, the commander Bacchus, after this glorious victory over the enemies, while staying with troops in Thrace 3000, wished to make sacrifices to idols in order to give them gratitude for the victory, which he attributed not to Christ God, but to his vain idols. And so he invited his victims and the prince Varvara, as the first winner, to commit uncleanness. But Saint Barbara, having openly confessed that he was a Christian, turned away from idols. Then the governor announced this to the king; the king, having commanded that the warrior of Christ be presented to him, forced him to offer sacrifices to idols; but since the blessed Barbarian did not obey, the king ordered him to be hanged on a tormenting tree and his belly was cut with a sword until his entrails fell out to the ground. But while the saint was praying, an Angel appeared and, having collected his entrails, put them back in their place in the martyr’s womb and healed him, so that not even a trace of the ulcer remained on his body, and then untied him from the tormenting tree. Seeing such a miracle, the commander Bacchus, together with two warriors - Callimachus and Dionysius, believed in Christ and confessed Him, and blasphemed the bad pagan gods. For this, by order of King Julian, the new confessors of the name of Christ: Bacchus, Callimachus and Dionysius were truncated at the head and thus were numbered among the holy martyrs in heaven. And the wicked king ordered Saint Barbara to be tied to an iron wheel, under which a strong fire should be lit, and that wheel to be spun with the martyr tied to it, pouring boiling oil onto the latter’s suffering body. But the martyr, who offered up warm prayers to God, remained completely undamaged by the fire: on the contrary, the fire rushed towards the tormenting warriors, scorched them, and turned two of them to ashes. After this, the sufferer of Christ was thrown into prison, where the Lord Himself appeared to him and strengthened him. The next morning Saint Barbara was again taken out for torment; He, naked, was stretched in four directions, after which he was mercilessly beaten on the back and belly with ox sinews. Then the martyr was thrown into the oven, which had been previously lit for three days. Having stayed in it for seven days, the saint was found again alive, healthy, not at all damaged by the fire, in a word, he came out of the cave, as if from a bathhouse, praising God. After this, Saint Barbarian was again thrown into prison, where many scorpions, snakes and all kinds of reptiles were thrown into him, in the expectation that he would die from them. But even during this conclusion, Saint Barbara, having driven away the poisonous reptiles from himself with the sign of the cross, remained undamaged. Then the fierce tormentor, who did not want to know the power of Christ, ordered the copper ox to be set on fire to the maximum possible extent and the martyr to be cast into it; but even there the saint remained unharmed. He did not feel any pain from the fire, but the copper ox, as if feeling scorched by the fire, began to move as if alive, utter some sounds and walk. Seeing this miracle, many of the pagans believed in Christ. Finally, after all this, the tormentor ordered the holy martyr Barbarian to cut off his head. And so he valiantly accomplished his suffering feat for Christ the Lord. The pious Bishop Filikis took his venerable body with honor and gave it to burial in the city of Methone of the Peloponnese, glorifying Christ God, glorified forever with the Father and the Holy Spirit, amen. Julian the Apostate, nephew of Constantine the Great, was born in 331. In 345, together with his brother Gall, he was exiled to Cappadocia by Constantius, where he spent six years under strict supervision. In 351, he left his place of exile and spent several years in Nicomedia, where he was interested in studying philosophy; in 355 he was appointed by Constantius commander of the troops in Gaul; here he knew how to attract the love of the army, which in 361 proclaimed him emperor. The study of philosophy under the guidance of a pagan teacher, discord among Christians due to Arian unrest, hatred of Constantius aroused in Julian hatred of the religion of his oppressor - Christianity. He set out to restore paganism and destroy Christianity. But all his attempts were a complete failure. Julian died in 363 after a battle with the Persians, during which he was mortally wounded by a spear; with his last words - “You have won, Galilean!” – Julian expressed consciousness of the victory of Christianity over paganism. The Franks are a union of Germanic peoples on the Lower Rhine. With their attacks on the Roman region, the Franks significantly accelerated the fall of the Roman state. Having invaded northern Gaul, the Franks mixed with the native population and partly adopted their customs. After victories over the Romans, the southern Aliman tribes and the Visigoths, the strength of the Franks under the Carolingians rose to world-historical significance. The king's bodyguards were called comites. Subsequently, this title began to be attached to officials (who made up the retinue of generally senior officials - proconsuls, regional governors, governors), whose duties subsequently began to include collecting taxes into the state treasury. Region in the Byzantine Empire in the northeastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. At present, Thrace, under the name of Romolia or Rumelia, constitutes a province of European Turkey. You might be interested in: