Страдание святых преподобномучениц Архелаи, Феклы и Сусанны

Virginity, which conquers the world and tames carnal passions, was not known to the mother of all Eve, for she was told by God: “In illness you will give birth to children; and your desire is for your husband” (Gen. 3:16). Virginity is free from this; it does not fade over many years, but always blooms and adorns the life of virgins; a virgin becomes the bride of Christ and enters the heavenly palace of her Bridegroom. Blessed Archelaus was adorned with this honest and Divine gift—pure virginity—who became bewildered by Christ and showed herself to be the conqueror of the world. She lived in one place near the city of Rome, in a small and unknown monastery, which could have been in those difficult idolatrous times for Christians. When the wicked king Diocletian in 3682 instituted a great persecution of Christians in Rome, the holy maiden Archelaus, fleeing with her two sisters and companions in Christ, Thekla and Susanna, from the persecution of the tormentors, left Rome and fled to Campania in 3683; they all changed their clothes to men's clothes so that no one would know that they were girls; here, not far from the city called Nola 3684, holy virgins settled in a remote and empty place, spending days and nights in fervent prayers to God, practicing in various godly deeds and healing the illnesses of the afflicted, since for their pure and holy life they were granted the grace of miraculous healing of illnesses. Their faces were humble, meek and at the same time bright, for they always rejoiced in their hearts in the Lord Jesus Christ; chastity and holiness shone in their gaze. Their clothes were made of hair, simple and rough, and they had the appearance of a desert and fasting person. The hair on their heads was cut like that of men, so that many considered them to be men and not women. Little by little, surrounding people began to gather to them, either for healing or for spiritual guidance, since they, in addition to the gift of healing, also had the ability of inspired teaching; they healed not only bodies, but also human souls, and converted many from pagan wickedness to the faith of Christ; their fame spread throughout the country. The news about the holy virgins also reached the commander of the campaign, named Leontius, for soldiers were stationed in many places to supervise the Christians; They reported these holy maidens to the chief. This latter ordered them to be taken and brought to him to the city of Salerna 3685, where Christians were then tried and tortured. The holy maidens were taken and brought for questioning to Salerna. They understood that the Lord Jesus Christ - their immortal and incorruptible Bridegroom - was calling them to the crown of martyrdom, in order to receive them into His heavenly palace, adorned not only with virginity, but also with suffering blood, as if it were a royal scarlet. Filled with great boldness and hope in God, they without fear came to the tormentor and in a free voice told him the whole truth about themselves - who they are and where they come from; They did not hide either their life or their Christian faith, they did not hide the fact that they were virgins, betrothed to Christ and promised Him to keep themselves pure until their death. Hegemon Leonty, looking at them and seeing that the blessed virgin Archelaus was older than the others in years, more daring in conversation, also noticing that her face was especially pious, turned to her and said: - Listen, Archelaus! By what right do you call all kinds of people to you, good and evil, and teach them to worship Jesus of Nazareth, Who could not save Himself when He was tortured, and much less can help anyone else? How dare you indulge in some magic words and seduce people; How dare you, covering yourself with men's clothes, show yourself to be a man, when you are actually a nasty and harmful sorceress? You probably taught these two girls magic too; If I don’t destroy you now, then you will seduce all inexperienced women and men with your false teaching. To this the holy maiden answered: – I trample the power and authority of the devil with the power of Christ; I taught people good things, namely, so that they would know the one true God, who created heaven, earth, sea and everything in them: healing is given to all who are sick in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, through me, His servant; I do not pretend to be a man, for now I have declared myself a maiden and a servant of Christ; and these two sisters of mine have been raised in the Lord from their youth in the faith of Christ. - Anyone who disobeys the royal order will be put to death. – We have a King, our Lord Jesus Christ, for whose sake we despised the world and everything in it; We obey His command and expect mercy from the One who possesses heaven and earth and everything else. – Our gods contain everything and own everything; they have many names: Kronos 3686, Trismegistus 3687, Hermes 3688, Aphrodite 3689, Hera 3690, Athena 3691, Dius 3692, who is taller than all. These powers of God contain and govern the entire universe. “Your gods are blind, and the blind worship them and believe in them.” “Your God is one and He is not able to defend Himself, for He was crucified on the cross, and was given vinegar to drink, and was crowned with thorns, and pierced with a spear.” – Our God suffered all this for the sake of our salvation, so that all who believe in Him would not perish, but have eternal life; your gods do not see, do not hear, do not speak, and therefore cannot help themselves or others. After such words, the hegemon, angry, ordered the saint to be given to hungry lions, thinking that they would immediately tear her to pieces; but the animals became meek, like sheep, and lay at the feet of the saint. She prayed to God, saying this: - Lord God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who has kept my body clean from all filth until now! Just as now You have tamed the beasts and given me the strength to defeat the hegemon, more fierce than the beasts, so always be to me, Your servant, a constant helper. The hegemon, seeing that the saint remained unharmed by the beasts, was filled with even greater rage and ordered the soldiers to kill the beasts, and to tie the holy martyr and her friends into prison. But in prison an Angel of the Lord appeared to the holy martyrs, illuminating them with an indescribable light and saying: - Do not be afraid, maidens of Christ! Your prayers have reached God and crowns in heaven are already prepared for you. When the guards saw this unusual light in the dungeon, they said in fear and horror: “Indeed, the God whom these girls confess is the true God.” In the morning the hegemon said to the servants: “Bring to me that sorceress who yesterday dishonored me and my gods with various blasphemies.” And immediately the holy martyr Archelaus was presented to the court and said: - O hegemon, it is not I, but your evil deeds that bring you blasphemy and dishonor and are preparing an unquenchable fire in which you will suffer forever along with your gods; if you want to get rid of eternal torment, then listen to my soul-helping words and accept my good advice: believe in God the Father who created you, and in the Only Begotten Son, His Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father; This is One God, glorified in the Trinity both on earth and in heaven! The chief, taking these words for mockery and madness, objected to the saint, saying: “If you listen to me and believe in my gods, you will be gifted with wealth and honor and will receive not the last place among honest Roman wives; if you do not listen to me, then I will give you over to the reproach of fornicators, then I will subject you to cruel tortures and, finally, I will give you up to a cruel death; I will give your body to be eaten by dogs, beasts and birds. – I have my Lord Jesus Christ as my helper, who is the guardian of both my soul and body. He will save me from the defilement that you are preparing for me, just as He saved many holy virgins who suffered before me; I am not afraid of death, for I hope to receive eternal life from my Lord, Who will grant me endless joy and count me among His holy Angels. After this, the hegemon ordered to strip the saint, plan her pure virgin body with iron tools and beat her cruelly, and ordered the wounds to be poured with hot oil and resin prepared for this; and the body of the saint was pierced and burned to the bones. Everyone who was there, looking at the suffering of the holy martyr, was extremely surprised and perplexed how such a weak girl could endure such cruel torment and remain alive. The saint, raising her eyes to heaven and raising her hands in the shape of a cross, said: - Master, look down from heaven, from the height of Your holy throne, upon Your faithful servant! Quench the burning fire with the dew of Your grace and give my body solace in the torment inflicted on me by the hegemon. As soon as the saint uttered these words, a light immediately shone above her head and a voice was heard saying: The hegemon, seeing the saint unharmed, gnashed his teeth with rage. Near that place there was a large stone that several people could hardly move; the hegemon ordered to lift it and place it on the martyr so that she would be crushed by that stone. When the servants began to carry out the orders of the hegemon, the Angel of the Lord, invisibly present with the holy virgin, quickly moved the stone to the other side, so that it crushed the servants of the tormentor, but the saint remained alive and praised God, chanting: - Blessed are You, Lord God of our fathers, who saves those who trust in You! - Great is the Christian God, Whom this girl confesses! - What to do now with this sorceress? She overcomes all torment; take her and lead her out of the city; take along with her the two girls who follow her, and kill all three with the sword. The soldiers immediately took the holy martyrs, tied their hands back and led them outside the city. When everyone reached the appointed place, the soldiers were already preparing to behead the honorable heads of the holy martyrs; at that time they saw the Angels and were afraid; The holy angels, looking at the suffering of the martyrs, prepared to take the martyred souls with glory. The warriors, having somehow sensed the presence of these Angels, were horrified, trembled and seemed to forget themselves. But Saint Archelaus, having prayed to God, said to the soldiers: - Do what you are ordered. “We don’t dare,” madam, because fear has gripped us. Then the virgins all said to them together: “If you don’t follow orders, you won’t have a part with us.” The soldiers, hearing this, drew their swords and cut off their heads 3693. So the three holy venerable martyrs - Archelaus, Thekla and Susanna, pure virgins, accomplished their feat, entered the heavenly palace and now with the Angels stand before the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the One, glorified in the Trinity, God, to whom glory is given forever. Amen. Diocletian reigned from 284 to 305. Campania was located in ancient Italy and was bordered on the west by Latium, on the north by Samnium, on the east by Lucania and on the south by the Tyrrhenian Sea. In this Italian province, for the first time (from the 8th century), they began to cast bells, which is why they are called campans in the Church Charter (previously, bells or iron boards were used). The city of Nola lay south of Capua; still exists today (now located in the Italian province of Caserta) and has about 15,000 inhabitants. The city of Salerno was located near the Tyrrhenian Sea; still exists today. Kronos is, according to Greek mythology, the youngest son of Uranus and Gaia, one of the Titans. He was considered the patron of sowings and harvests, which is why he was depicted with a sickle in his hand. The name Trismegistus was adopted by Jupiter or Zeus. Hermes is the god of prosperity. Aphrodite or Venus is the goddess of love and beauty. Hera is the patroness of marriage and childbirth. Athena or Minerva is the goddess of wisdom. Zeus or Jupiter is the supreme god of the ancient Greek religion, considered the ancestor of other gods and the culprit of everything that exists. The death of the holy martyrs followed in 293. You might be interested in: