Страдание святой мученицы Еликониды

The holy martyr Eliconida lived during the reigns of Gordian 3489 and Philip 3490; she was born and raised in Thessalonica 3491. When the persecution of Christians began, she came to the city of Corinth 3492. Seeing people here making sacrifices to idols, she stood on a high place and cried out loudly: - O foolish and hard-hearted men of Corinth! I see that you are very wicked, for you have abandoned the eternal and incorruptible God and turned to serving soul-destroying idols. Look, I ask you, at the height of heaven and the breadth of earth; think about Him who spread the sky like a skin over your heads? Who founded the earth over the deep? Who can tame the indomitable waves of the sea with His terrible and glorious name? Who created man from the earth and breathed into his face the breath of life? Only He who holds all creation with His hand is the one true God who dwells in heaven. “For all the gods of the nations are idols” (Ps. 95:5) are dumb and soulless; may all those who bow to them be like them! While the saint was saying this freely and loudly, the wicked pagans seized her and dragged her to trial before their hegemon Perinnius. The hegemon, looking at her and seeing that she was very handsome and honest in appearance, began to talk to her with meekness, saying this: “May every good thing be sent down to you, my beautiful daughter, since I think that you believe that our gods endure forever; I rejoice over you. -What joy can the wicked have? Your joy, hegemon, will turn into weeping, and your pride will turn into weakness. I believe in God, who reigns over everything, and I rejoice that for the sake of my God I was worthy to enter into this feat, in which I undoubtedly hope to receive a victorious crown. - Do not be like crazy women with your verbosity, but meekly and briefly tell us what is your name? – I am not foolish, but wise in Christ Jesus my Lord; if you want to know my name, then I am called Eliconida. “You were given the name Eliconides not because of your merits, for because of your great madness you are preparing your body for torment and wounds. - No, I am rightly called Eliconidas, because the mercy of my God is always with me and I throw arrows at your father the devil 3493. In the same way, the name Perinnia was quite rightly given to you, because your wicked and accursed body, together with your foul soul, will be drawn into destruction by the fiery tridents. – Tell us briefly: will you make a sacrifice to the gods or not? I swear by my God Asclepius the physician 3494 that I will not spare you if you do not listen to the royal command and do not worship our gods. “You hear,” answered the saint, “that I say freely: I am a servant of Christ; Who is your Asclepius - I don’t know. Do with me what you want. Then the hegemon, filled with anger, began to torment the saint. Initially, he ordered her naked, spread out on the ground, to beat and cut her legs, then he ordered the martyr to be thrown into a cauldron filled with boiling tar. But suddenly an Angel of the Lord appeared, who cooled the cauldron, turning the boiling resin into cold dew, so that a fragrance emanated from the cauldron. Seeing this, the hegemon exclaimed: - Oh, how great is the sorcerer Christ, Who can turn fire into water! The saint said, turning to the hegemon: - Do you now consider your gods Dius 3495 and Asclepius great, after they were shamed by a woman, a servant of Christ? From these words, the hegemon was filled with even greater rage and, calling the saint a sorceress, ordered her hair and skin to be torn off from her head and her head and chest to be scorched with candles. The saint endured all these torments courageously, as if feeling no pain. Then the hegemon, changing his anger to meekness, began to say to the saint with flattery: - Dear daughter! Come and make a sacrifice to our invincible gods, especially Venus 3496 and Minerva 3497, and I will make you a priestess of the great Diana 3498 and equalize you with the wives of senators. In honor of you, I will build a golden pillar in the middle of the city, I will report you to the kings in writing, and you will be like the mother of this entire city. Saint Eliconidas answered: “Lead me to the church of your gods so that I can offer them sacrifices.” Hearing this, the hegemon was filled with great joy and immediately ordered the preachers and trumpeters to proclaim this throughout the city; then, with great triumph, he led the saint to the idol church. The saint, entering the church, said to the priests: – I wish to make pure sacrifices alone with myself; therefore command everyone to leave the church; Go out yourself and close the doors behind you. The priests carried out her orders and left her alone in the church, while they themselves, standing outside the church, rejoiced and shouted with trumpets and tympanums. Meanwhile, the bride of Christ, entering inside the church, taking the idol of Venus, broke it into three parts; in the same way, she overthrew the idol of Minerva, which, falling to the ground, completely broke. Then she cast down Asclepius from the altar and cut off his hands, feet and head; I did the same with Diem. But the people who were outside the church did not hear what was happening inside it, since the sound of trumpets and tympanums drowned out everything, and they all stood outside the church, waiting for the girl to perform her prayers and sacrifices. After a sufficient time, the priests, tired of waiting, entered the church and, seeing that their gods had been thrown to the ground, and also seeing the saint seated in the altar and praising Christ, their God, they immediately jumped up, tore their clothes, with great anger grabbed the maiden and dragged her to the hegemon. Having come to the hegemon, they said: And there was a noise and a cry among all that people, who were angry at the breaking of the idols; everyone shouted, calling: - Oh hegemon! Destroy this sorceress quickly! The hegemon ordered the holy martyr's breasts to be cut off and imprisoned in order to have time to consider what kind of cruel death to give her over. And the saint remained in prison for five days. At this time, another hegemon named Justin arrived in Corinth to take the place of Perinnius. He was told about the martyr Eliconidas, about her suffering and about her destruction of idols. Justin, who was very jealous of his gods, was filled with great rage at Eliconidas for crushing the idols and ordered the furnace to be heated as hot as possible. And that oven was lit for three days; Then Justin ordered that this holy Eliconidas be thrown into the oven. The saint, like the ancient youths in Babylon, rejoiced in the middle of the furnace, glorifying and blessing the Lord, for for her the fire was like dew and the fiery flame was like a cool wind. Then a large flame came out of the oven and rushed towards the pagans standing around; in this case up to seventy men were burned; After quite a long time, the saint emerged from the fire unharmed. The hegemon said, turning to her: “Tell us, bad woman, by what sorceries were you able to overcome the power of fire?” - Christ, my Lord, Whom you have not seen and Whom you cannot see, came to me and cooled the flame of the furnace. Not believing this, the hegemon ordered a copper bed to be brought before the judgment seat; He ordered to light it and place the saint on it before his eyes. Having ordered the bed to be lit from below with coals, the hegemon said: “Now let’s see if Christ will come to save her.” While the saint was thus tormented, so much blood came out of her that she extinguished the fire; her bed was cold. Then the martyr was taken from her bed and taken to prison, where she, falling to the ground, prayed like this: – Jesus, our strength and strength! Jesus, our glory! Christ, our hope! Be my helper and heal my ulcers, good Physician, who by Your goodness saves all those who trust in You. When she prayed in these words, Christ, the Savior of the world, appeared to her, surrounded by a very bright radiance, together with the holy Archangel Michael and the Archangel Gabriel. Approaching her, He gave her His hand, saying: - Get up, rise to your feet and strengthen yourself! I'm always with you! I watch your feat, I, with My Divine power, ease your suffering and heal your wounds. Rising to her feet, the martyr fell prostrate before the Lord, bowed to Him and said: - Jesus, Christ my God! Heal me, Your servant! Help me defeat my enemy, so that, having overcome his strength, I can enter Your church with singing and a voice of joy. - Be brave, My daughter! Behold, I will heal you and prepare for you an immortal crown in My eternal Kingdom. Having said this, the Lord departed to heaven, and the holy Angels gave Eliconidas clean bread, shining like the sun. Having tasted this bread, Eliconida felt completely healthy; her face lit up like the sun, and her body became white like snow. And the saint thanked God, praising Him until dawn. When morning came, the saint was taken out of prison, then taken to the judgment seat, and then was given to be devoured by wild beasts. Two hungry lions were released on her, having eaten nothing for three days. But the lions, approaching the saint, bowed to her and began to lick her feet. The people, seeing this, raised a cry, exclaiming: “Truly this woman is a sorceress, because she has charmed even the animals, so that they do not dare to approach her.” O hegemon! Destroy this woman! Destroy her quickly! While the people were saying this, the doors of that building were broken and opened by the power of God; those same lions jumped out and rushed at the people with great fury, roaring loudly; the people fled; The hegemon himself ran out of fear to the praetorium 3499. The lions, pursuing those who fled, killed one hundred and twenty people from the people. Then the hegemon, not knowing what else to do with the martyr, ordered her head to be beheaded with a sword. When the saint was taken outside the city to be beheaded, she raised her hands to heaven and began to pray, saying: - Oh Christ, my God! Come to me now! Present yourself to Your servant at this hour! Fulfill Your promise and lead me into Your holy enclosure, number me among Your blessed sheep. Number me with the wives who pleased You: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah, Susanna and Your Immaculate Mother, the Most Pure Ever-Virgin Mary, also with Martha and Mary, the Lazarus sisters and the prophetess Anna, who testified about You together with Saint Simeon the God-Receiver at Your meeting; number me with Elizabeth, the mother of Your Forerunner John, and with the First Martyr Thekla; add me to their number and make me worthy to rest with them forever. While the saint was praying like this, a voice was heard from heaven, exclaiming: - Come, My daughter! A crown and a throne have already been prepared for you. So the Angels begin to sing solemn chants for your ascent to heaven. Hearing such a voice, Saint Eliconidas was filled with great joy, and with joy she bowed her head under the sword. When she was beheaded, milk flowed from the wound instead of blood, which was a sign of her purity 3500. Honest Christians buried her body with reverence, glorifying the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the one God in the Trinity, to whom glory, honor and worship are given, now and to endless ages. Amen. Emperor Gordian reigned from 238 to 244. Emperor Philip reigned from 244 to 249. Thessalonica or Thessaloniki was a very significant city in Macedonia in ancient times, lying on the shores of the Fermean Gulf on the Aegean Sea. In the history of the Russian Church, this city is remarkable as the birthplace of the holy first teachers of the Slavs Cyril and Methodius (see their life on May 11 is called Thessaloniki and can be classified as one of the first (after Constantinople) trading cities of European Turkey. Corinth is a famous city in ancient times, lying in the southeastern corner of the Gulf of Corinth between the Ionian and Aegean Seas. Currently, on the site of ancient Corinth, there is a town called Kuronto with 5,000 inhabitants. The name "Elikonida" comes from the Greek. the words “mercy” and “throw away.” Eliconidas, - that is, throwing arrows at the devil by the grace of God. Asclepius was considered by the ancient Greeks to be the god of healing. Dius or Zeus is the supreme god of the ancient Greek religion. Venus or Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty. Minerva or Athena is the goddess of wisdom. Diana or Artemis is the goddess of hunting and patroness of forests. Pretoria is a public place in the city where trials were usually held. The death of the holy martyr Eliconides followed in 244. You might be interested in: