Житие и страдания святого священномученика Евсевия, епископа Самосатского

Saint Eusebius was the bishop of the city of Samosata 4089, which was under the control of the Patriarch of Antioch. He was a true believer, pious, filled with zeal for God, constant and unshakable in the Orthodox confession at the very time when the intensified heresy of Arius 4090 was causing great harm, and the greatly troubled Church of God was wavering, like a ship in the middle of the sea in a storm. After the death of the holy great king Constantine (reigned from 306 to 337), his son Constantius 4091 ascended the throne in the eastern half of his kingdom, who, as an Arian, began to help the Arians in everything and pursue their benefits. Therefore, during his reign, the Orthodox had to experience great persecution and oppression from the Arians, from whom Saint Eusebius suffered no little suffering for his zeal for the Orthodox faith. The zeal of Saint Eusebius for the Church of Christ became known to everyone after the following event. When Eudoxius, Patriarch of Antioch, an Arian, moved to the throne of Constantinople because of wealth in 4092, then on this occasion a council of all Syrian bishops was convened in Antioch to elect a patriarch to replace Eudoxius. In view of the fact that not only among the Christian people, but also among the bishops there were few Orthodox Christians, and many were Arianists following the wicked king, the doctrine of the newly elected patriarch should have been of great importance for the Orthodox Church. Saint Eusebius, who at the council occupied not the last place among the primate bishops, took care of this. Knowing well the bishop of Sebaste, in Armenia, Meletius, as a true believer and firmly holding to the symbol of the first ecumenical council of Nicaea, Eusebius advised everyone that this bishop should be elected to the patriarchate. The Arianists, not knowing the Orthodoxy of Meletius and thinking that he would be like-minded, willingly listened to the advice of Eusebius. They drew up a general verdict regarding Meletius, confirmed it with their signature and deposited it with Saint Eusebius. Then, when they received royal consent to this election, the news of the election was sent on behalf of the bishops to Saint Meletius, and the latter was brought to Antioch, where he was greeted with great joy. Saint Meletius, in the rank of patriarch, began to teach his flock, first of all, a good and virtuous life: by this he tried to smooth out the path to orthodoxy for obstinate hearts. The saint expected that by correcting evil morals, plucking out thorns and thistles, he could with great success scatter the seeds of Orthodoxy among his flock. After a short time, the people wanted to make sure what confession their new patriarch adhered to, which is what they began to ask the patriarch for. On this occasion, Saint Meletios delivered a sermon to the people in the church, in which he praised the Orthodox faith, established at the first Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, and confessed the Son as co-essential and co-natural with the Father, uncreated and the Creator of all creation. After such a nationwide sermon, the Arians became embarrassed and became very angry, and the Orthodox rejoiced to see such an Orthodox bishop on the apostolic throne. The Arians furiously expelled the patriarch from the church on the 30th day after his accession to the patriarchate and began to blaspheme him everywhere, calling him a follower of the heretic Sabellius 4093. Then, at their request, Meletius was condemned by the king to imprisonment and was sent into exile from Antioch at night. In his place, the Arians elected Euzous, an Arian, to Antioch. Saint Eusebius of Samosata, seeing the disturbance the heretics caused in the Antiochian church, seeing also the undeserved reproach that the Arians showed to the new Archbishop Meletius, without telling anyone anything, left Antioch and went to his city. After the departure of Meletius, the Arians remembered that Eusebius had in his custody, signed by the hands of bishops, the verdict on the election of Meletius. Remembering this, they came to considerable confusion, fearing that they themselves, of their own free will, had chosen an archbishop for themselves and immediately expelled him. Therefore, the Arians began to ask the king, who was then in Antioch, to send to Eusebius with a request to return the sentence entrusted to him. The king immediately sent a messenger to Eusebius for the verdict. The messenger, having arrived at the bishop, conveyed to him the royal command, to which Saint Eusebius responded thus: - I will not give the general verdict entrusted to me until everyone who has entrusted this verdict to me gathers together (at the council). The envoy returned with nothing, for which the king was very angry and sent him again, writing a strict command, if the bishop did not want to give the sentence, to cut off his right hand. The king wrote the latter to intimidate the saint, but he did not dare order the envoy to do this. When the royal messenger caught up with the bishop and showed him the menacing message, Saint Eusebius, having read it, immediately extended his two hands to be cut off with the words: - Not only one right hand, but also the left one; Still, I will not give a sentence that exposes the wickedness and lawlessness of the Arians. Again the messenger returned without a sentence and told the king about everything. The king, having heard the answer of the holy bishop, was very surprised at his fearless courage and firmness, for which he subsequently praised Eusebius before many. After several years, the evil king Constantius died, after whom Julian the Apostate 4094 began to reign. This king first returned Saint Meletius from imprisonment to the Antioch throne, but then again expelled him. During the reign of Julian, the Church of Christ experienced even greater evil than during the reign of Constantius. The Arian heresy, which confuses all the faithful in the universe, was joined by persecution from idolaters. The king himself clearly denied Christ and began to openly offer sacrifices to idols. A persecution was launched against the Church of Christ and Christians, which was directed mainly against the clergy. These persecutions led to the fact that many Orthodox churches (at this time) were left without their ministers, the holy thrones - without bishops, of whom some were killed, while others were dispersed either by the Arians - during the reign of Constantius, or by idolaters - during the reign of Julian. It was so difficult that if the Lord had not stopped the life and reign of Julian, then hardly any church with its ministers would have remained intact. At such a cruel time, Saint Eusebius, having concealed his holy rank, dressed himself in military clothes and in this form began to go around Syria, Phenicia and Palestine, confirming Christians in the Orthodox faith. Where he found a church without ministers, there he appointed priests and deacons and other clergy, and everywhere he appointed as bishops only those who rejected the heresy of Arius and philosophized Orthodoxy. This is what zeal for Christ, what work, what diligence and care the great bishop of God Eusebius had for the Church of Christ at this time! After the shameful death of Julian, the pious and Christ-loving king Jovian began to reign 4095, under whom Saint Meletius was again returned to his throne. At this time, Saint Eusebius and other Orthodox bishops began to govern their flock with boldness, without fear of the pagans. On the advice of Saint Eusebius, Meletius convened a Local Council in Antioch, at which there were 27 bishops; Among them, the first after Meletius was Eusebius. At this council was Pelagius, bishop of Laodicea, about whose immaculate and holy life the following is related. In his youth, Pelagius was convinced by his parents to marry, but when he was brought into the palace, he convinced his bride to keep her virginity pure. So, under the guise of marriage, he and his wife remained in imperishable virginity, like brother and sister. In addition to this, he was distinguished by many other virtues, for the sake of which he was honored by God and people with the rank of hierarch. Pelagius showed great love for Saint Meletius and Saint Eusebius and was their like-minded friend and, together with them, a champion of piety. At the above-mentioned local Council of Antioch, the holy fathers commanded everyone to confess and Orthodoxy support the oneness of the Son with the Father, as well as the doctrine that was approved at the first Ecumenical Council. The Arians joined this definition and added their signatures, although they did it hypocritically, for a time, to please the Orthodox Tsar, and mainly out of fear of the Orthodox bishops, Saints Meletius, Eusebius and Pelagius, who enjoyed great respect from the Tsar. The pious king greatly loved these pillars of the church for their orthodoxy and holy life and listened to them in everything, which is why they were terrible to the heretics, who, out of fear of them, joined the Church. After the death of the short-lived pious king Jovian, Valens 4096 ascended the throne and the heretics again returned to their evil faith, like dogs to their vomit 4097, first of all seducing the king into Arianism through his Arian wife Domnica. The Orthodox Church again began to suffer oppression, and its bishops were expelled. Saint Meletius was exiled to Armenia, Saint Pelagius to Arabia, Saint Eusebius was sentenced to imprisonment in Thrace. The unrighteous order of the unrighteous king regarding the expulsion of Eusebius was delivered to Samosata in the evening. Saint Eusebius, having learned about this, called the royal messenger to him and said to him: “Today, be silent and don’t tell anyone about the reason for your coming, otherwise the people will find out and, becoming jealous, may become indignant and kill you; then I will be the culprit of your death. Having said this, Saint Eusebius performed evening prayer and at night announced the secret to one of his faithful servants. As soon as everyone fell asleep, the saint and his servant left the bishop's house; the servant carried the head and the book behind the bishop. When the travelers came to the Euphrates River, which flows near the city walls, they boarded a boat to sail to the city of Zeugma. The saint immediately ordered the oarsmen to row, who, having worked all night, delivered the travelers to the city of Zeugma the next day. The Samosatians, having learned that the holy bishop had left them, gave themselves over to great weeping and sobbing, and at the same time began to ask if anyone knew where the saint had gone. One of the residents saw how the saint got into the boat, and heard that the saint ordered himself to be taken to the city of Zeugma, which he told the people about. Immediately many of the inhabitants boarded boats, hastily swam after the saint and caught up with him in Zeugma. Standing before the face of the saint, they burst into great sobs, trying to persuade him to return to their city. The saint refused. After this, they made all kinds of prayers before him, didn’t say any words, fell at their feet, watered them with tears, so that he would just return to his throne. Saint Eusebius reminded them of the following apostolic word: “Let every soul be submissive to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God; the existing authorities have been established by God. Therefore, he who resists authority resists God's institution. But those who resist will bring upon themselves condemnation” (Rom. 13:1–2). Citing this apostolic word, the saint said: “It is impossible for me to be an opponent of the royal command, and it is not safe for you to oppose the royal will.” After this, those who came realized that they were not able to convince the saint to return back, and then they began to give him on the road, one gold, another silver, clothes, and others slaves, as if he were going to a distant place. Saint Eusebius took very little of what was offered. When parting, the saint taught them to adhere to the Orthodox faith and apostolic dogmas, prayed to God for everyone and, blessing everyone, set off on the road ahead, to Thrace, where he was condemned to exile. When Saint Eusebius was in Istra, a rumor reached that the Goths had invaded Thrace and were greatly devastating it. Therefore, the saint did not go further, but remained in Istra, where he remained until the death of the evil king Valens. The Arian bishop Eunomius was appointed by the Arians to replace Eusebius in Samosata. When Eunomius entered the city of Samosata to rule the flock, none of the inhabitants of the city - neither rich nor poor, nor artist, nor farmer, nor husband, nor wife, neither old nor young, came out to meet him: the whole city, being orthodox, did not want to honor the heretical bishop, nor accept blessings from him, nor even see him. Eunomius, by royal authority, took over the administration of the bishopric and began to serve in the cathedral church. The people did not go to that church, and also to the bishop’s house, not loving the heretic bishop. In view of this, Eunomius was constantly alone, except for those who came with him. They say about him that although he was a heretic by faith, however, his disposition was kind, meek, quiet, humble and kind to everyone. The following is said about his good character. One day he went into the common bath to wash, and the servants, according to the custom of that country, closed the doors behind him so that others would not enter where the bishop was washing. Eunomius, having learned that many were standing at the door, wanting to wash, ordered the servants to open the doors and let in everyone who wanted to wash with him. Those who entered the bathhouse, seeing the bishop sitting in the warm font, did not want to sit down and stood in front of him, thus showing him honor. The bishop invited them to enter the same font where he was, but those who came refused. Then the bishop realized that those who had come because of him were standing and did not want to wash. He was greatly saddened by this, left the font and left the bathhouse, not wanting to be venerated. Those who remained in the bathhouse immediately poured the water out of the font, as if it had been defiled by the bathing of a heretic, and they washed the font itself well, abhorring the presence of a heretic in it, and only then, having warmed the new water, they set up a font for themselves. Having learned about this, Eunomius was finally convinced that he could not attract the people of Samosata to himself, he left the bishopric and left the city. After the removal of Eunomius, the Arians installed Bishop Lucius, an obvious wolf and enemy of Christ’s sheep, in Samosata because of their evil faith. The citizens of the city did not honor this bishop, like the first (Eunomius), and he lived in communion only with those who came with him, for none of the Orthodox went to the bishop. The sheep of Christ, although they were without their shepherd (Eusebius), however, remembered his teaching well and immaculately observed the holy faith. How much the Orthodox abhorred the heretical bishop can be seen from the following incident: One day, many boys on the street (according to children's custom) were playing with a ball, throwing it from one to another. At this time the bishop had to pass through here. By chance the ball fell under the bishop's horses and chariot. The children, seeing this, began to shout loudly: “the ball has been defiled by heresy, the ball has been defiled by heresy...” Hearing the screams, the bishop left one of his servants to find out what the children were doing and why they were shouting so loudly. The children lit a fire and began throwing a ball through the flames, thinking that with this fire they would cleanse the ball of heresy. So not only adults, but also small children abhorred the heresy of the bishop, who was like an abomination of desolation in a holy place (cf. Dan. 9:27). Having learned about this, Lucius did not follow the meekness of Eunomius, but became angry and exiled many sacred persons to distant places. Eusebius’s nephew, Blessed Antiochus, a most worthy priest, godly and inspired, skilled in book wisdom, was exiled to Armenia; the most famous among the servants of the Lord, Deacon Evolkiy, was driven into the Oasim desert. In view of this, considerable sadness and sorrow befell the Samosat city. After the terrible death of the evil king Valens, the blessed king Gratian began to reign 4098. He immediately freed all the bishops and other sacred persons expelled for the Orthodox faith, and ordered that their former thrones be returned to them. Then they returned: Saint Meletius - to Antioch, Saint Pelagius - to Laodicea, Saint Eusebius - to Samosata. Together with Eusebius, all those expelled by the Arian Lucius returned to Samosata, including the priest Antiochus from Armenia and the deacon Evolkius from Oasim. For the Orthodox this was a great joy, for the wicked it was a great shame. Upon returning to his former place, Eusebius, together with the other bishops, and especially together with Saint Meletius, began to take care of the improvement of the church. First of all, he tried to elect to the episcopal thrones, which were empty after the overthrow of the Arian bishops, worthy men and firm in Orthodoxy. Ordaining the bishop to the rank of bishop, the saint installed the following bishops: the honest Acacius - in Vireya, the virtuous Theodotus - in Hierapolis, Eusebius of the same name - in Chalcis, Isidore - in Cyrus, and in Edessa, after the repose of the holy bishop Varsa, he elevated the confessor Eulogius to the throne. With the godly Bishop Marinus, elected to the Arian city of Dolikhina, Saint Eusebius went himself (to the indicated city), where he wanted to cleanse the church of heresy and place the newly elected Orthodox bishop on the throne. When Eusebius entered this city, an Arian woman threw a pot at him from the roof and cut the saint’s head. From this ulcer Saint Eusebius fell ill and reposed in the Lord. Dying, he conjured everyone who was with him so that, out of revenge, they would not do any harm to the woman who caused him illness. In this case, the saint imitated his Master, who prayed for those crucifying Him, saying: “Father! Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34); and also to Saint Stephen, who prayed for those stoning him 4099. Thus, in 4100, the great saint of God Eusebius died as a martyr at the hand of the Arian, having suffered for the Son of God, co-essential and co-natural with the Father. His holy body was returned to the city of Samosata, where it was honestly buried, with tears and sobbing of the entire Christian people. The aforementioned blessed Antiochus, the son of the sister of Saint Eusebius, was elevated to the place of Eusebius. The Samosat Church flourished in Orthodoxy, piously glorifying the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the One God in the Trinity, to Him and from us be honor, glory, thanksgiving and worship, now and forever. Amen. Having lived piously in the priesthood, and gone through the path of torment, you extinguished the idolatry sacrifices, to Saint Eusebius; but as if you have boldness towards Christ God, pray for our souls to be saved. Samosata is the main city of the Syrian province of Commagene; was located on the western bank of the Euphrates River, now Samsat. Arius denied the consubstantiality of the Son of God with God the Father, considered Jesus Christ to be a creation and did not recognize His Divine perfection. The heresy of Arius was strongly condemned at the first (325) and second (381) Ecumenical Councils. Constantius (II) reigned from 337 to 361. Eudoxius was patriarch of Antioch from 357 to 358; in Constantinople from 360 to 370 Sabellius, a third-century heretic, argued, distorting the Orthodox teaching about the Holy Trinity, that God has One Person: as the Father, He is co-present in heaven, as the Son on earth, and as the Holy Spirit in creation. Julian the Apostate reigned from 361 to 363. Jovian ruled the Roman Empire from 363 to 364. Emperor Valens reigned from 364 to 378. The comparison is taken from 2 Pet. 2:22. Gratian ruled the western half of the Roman Empire from 375 to 383. The memory of Saint Archdeacon Stephen is celebrated on December 27. The death of the holy martyr Eusebius followed ca. 380 g. You might be interested in: