Память святого Карпа, Апостола из семидесяти

The Holy Apostle of the Seventy Carp was a follower and servant of the Holy Apostle Paul; he carried his messages to the places where they were intended. For quite some time, Karp worked together with the Apostle Paul, preaching the word of Christ everywhere, 3462 and for this he suffered a lot of troubles and misfortunes. Then Saint Carp was installed by the Apostle Paul as bishop of the city of Beria in Thrace in 3463. The Holy Apostle Carp labored preaching the Gospel of Christ on the island of Crete 3464; here, by the way, he received Saint Dionysius the Areopagite 3465 into his house and saw the Lord, who appeared to him in a vision at the time when Carp asked Him to put two sinners to death, and heard His voice proclaiming: “Torment Me again, for I am ready to suffer once again and be crucified for the salvation of people” 3466. Saint Dionysius the Areopagite testifies to this Saint Carp that he never began to perform the most pure and life-giving Mysteries before he was vouchsafed the Divine vision that appeared to him from heaven. 3467 While serving as a priest in Beria, Karp converted many pagan Hellenes to Christ; denouncing the Jews, he told them that Christ, crucified by them, is the true God and Creator of everything. Subsequently, he was brutally killed by the Jews and thus delivered his soul into the hands of the Lord 3468. His venerable relics were placed by faithful and God-fearing people in the same city where he served as a priest, and with these relics various healings were given to the sick for the glory of Christ our God. Apostle Saint Carpe, pray to the merciful God that he may grant remission of sins to our souls. As the Church has always acquired the bright star of the Apostle Carpe, she is enlightened by the abundance of your miracles: save by faith those who honor your memory. By the way, the Apostle Paul left a phelonion and various books with him in Troas, among which the apostle especially mentions parchment books (2 Tim. 4:13). Thrace was the name given to that part of the Balkan Peninsula that lay north of Macedonia, the Aegean and Marmara Seas. Currently, the following lands are located on the site of ancient Thrace: eastern Hungary, Transylvania, Bessarabia, Moldavia, Wallachia, Bulgaria, Serbia and the eastern part of Rumelia. The city of Beria is currently called Verria or Kara-Verria; it has about 12,000 inhabitants. – The Apostle Paul was in Beria during his second apostolic journey. The island of Crete (otherwise Candia - from the main city of the same name) is located in the middle part of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Aegean Sea. Christianity began here with the event of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, for the Cretans were also present at this event (Acts 2:11). Then Christianity was established here by the Apostle Paul, who appointed Titus here as bishop so that he would “complete what was unfinished and appoint elders in all the cities” (Titus 1:5). - In the 17th century. Crete came under Turkish rule. Dionysius the Areopagite is a member of the Areopagus, the supreme court of Athens. Converted to Christianity by the Apostle Paul during his second apostolic journey (c. 54). Listed as St. Church to the ranks of saints. – His memory is celebrated on October 3. In order to understand these words, it is necessary to recall the following incident from the life of the holy Apostle Carp. One of the unbelievers seduced one of the Christians into evil. Karp was quite saddened by this. Having never shown impatience before, Karp this time was very upset in his soul. He thought to himself that the wicked who corrupt and destroy people should not live on earth; and he began to pray to God that fire would fall from heaven and burn those two wicked people - both the seducer and the seduced. As he prayed about this, suddenly the upper room in which he stood shook and split in two. Raising his eyes upward, he saw the sky open and the Lord Jesus Christ sitting in it in human form. Looking down, he saw a deep abyss, on the edge of which stood those two sinners whom Karp had asked for destruction. Karp, seeing that those who saddened him were ready to fall into the abyss and be eaten by the serpent creeping below, was filled with joy; but since they still did not fall into the abyss, Karp again began to be annoyed and grieved and again began to pray to God for their destruction. When he raised his eyes to heaven, he saw that the Lord approached those sinners and gave them a helping hand. Then the Lord said to Karp: “Torment Me again, for I am ready to suffer once again and be crucified for the sake of saving people.” The legend about this is reported by Saint Dionysius the Areopagite in his letter to the monk Demophilus. This message can be read under the 3rd day of October (feast day of St. Dionysius the Areopagite). Dionysius the Areopagite speaks with great praise of the Apostle Carp. For example, in a letter to the monk Demophilus, he says about Carp: “This man was great in his virtues and was distinguished by such sublime purity of mind that he had a great ability to see God.” The death of the holy Apostle Carp followed in the 1st century. You might be interested in: