Похвальное слово мученикам

A meaningless, unlearned and worthless person intends to paint and display to everyone a beautiful, majestic and attractive picture, that is, to tell about the feat of the holy martyrs; at the same time, he does not have colors worthy of such a picture, and his fingers are incapable of even giving this picture a perfect outline. How can he, insignificant and inexperienced, dare to paint a picture that is beyond his feeble powers? Since he knows his lack of skill, and does not forget his weakness, he therefore falls down and with tears begs the common Lord of all, Christ the King, Who also gave His martyrs strength in deeds, patience in sorrow, which helped them overcome the various tricks of the enemy who hated goodness, and were crowned with an unfading crown - begs that the good and holy God Himself would grant the unskilled have the wisdom, meaning, and power to compose a great picture worthy of the feat of the holy martyrs, for contemplation by all future generations - and they too will recognize the wonderful patience and very great firmness of the victorious martyrs, because they were courageous in their intention and acquired great praise. During the persecution, when all the brethren fled from the field, not daring to confess Christ, the Son of God, these valiant ones stood in the field with all the courage and, having girded their loins with sincere faith, fearlessly, with great boldness, confessed Christ, the Son of God. And what do I say about the fearful who have left the field? These cowardly ones fled not from the field, but from the Heavenly Kingdom of God, having become unworthy of it. So, the valiant saints persevered in their feat with great joy, enduring all torture for the name of the Only Begotten Son of God and the Savior of the world. And indeed, weren’t these blessed ones valiant when they saw with their own eyes the terrible instruments of torment prepared for them, a burning fire, an oven and cauldrons, from which tar and fat were spewing out in drops; They also saw wheels spinning with coercion and creaking in the burning fire, and also claws, saws, vices, drills, shackles and bonds red-hot in the fire; in a word, the tools that the enemy of all truth has invented against those who profess the name of the Savior. He laid out all this before the martyrs in order to bring the saints into fear and timidity, and so that at the sight of this they would restrain their tongues from confessing Christ Jesus. What do these God-loving and perfect ascetics do at the sight of so many instruments of torment that are before their eyes? Armed with readiness for all tortures, with great boldness, fearlessly and without hesitation, they confess Christ before the sitting princes and judges. Neither the hissing of the fire, nor the swirling flames in the furnaces, nor the bubbling of the boilers, nor the rotation of the wheels, nor the iron claws, nor the teeth of the saws, nor the great sharpness of the drills, nor the pressure of the shackles, nor the weight of the bonds, nor the threats of the tormentors, nor the gnashing of princes, nor all the tricks of the enemy who hates goodness and his servants, frightened the courageous ascetics of Christ, and did not prompt them to renounce their God and Savior, but they trampled all the machinations of the enemy with faith, and fear did not come any closer to them... Do you see the courage of the God-loving slaves? Do you see the inflexibility of the spirit of Christ-loving ascetics? Do you see the zeal of those who love the Kingdom of the Most High God? Do you see the perfect faith of these faithful, truly perfect ones? Do you see the love for God with which they neglected everything that is on earth in order to see God, Whom they loved? Do you see how love for Christ lifts up from the earth those who desire exaltation? Do you see how heaven desires to see its crowned crowned people rejoicing in the light? Come, my sincere brother, and with the eyes of your heart study the fruits of martyrdom, the abundance of faith and the immutable pious thought in perfect ascetics. See how violent torment could not lead the righteous to exhaustion and the thought of the love that they had for God; on the contrary, being tormented, they accepted the blows with great joy as the greatest pleasure, and with a cheerful face they thanked God that they were worthy to suffer for Him. How can I praise you, perfect Christ-bearers, or what shall I call you, glorious and blessed? Who will be able to speak praise of your faith? The wisdom of the wise men and women is astonished (perplexed), seeing so many extraordinary things in the servants of Christ; The tormentors and judges are at a loss for words at the sight of the zeal of the holy martyrs. No matter how much the lawless servants tormented the bodies of the saints, they did not see them sad and despondent, as those suffering torture should be; on the contrary, they saw the saints in great joy. They were calm and cheerful amidst the torment. And we, brethren, on that Terrible Day of Judgment, what justification will we have before God for having been so careless about the love of God and our lives even without persecution and without any sorrow? The martyrs, in sorrows, in temptations, in tortures, in terrible torments, loved God with all their souls; temptations and severe tortures could not separate them from the love of God; and we, living in peace and bliss, do not love God, the good Lord. What will we do when there, before the throne of the Judge, on that trembling day, the victorious martyrs with great boldness will show the scabs of ulcers and painful executions? What will we show there, brothers? What merits? Is it love for God, is it faith in Him? Is it alienation from everything earthly? Or dispassion? Or silence? Or meekness? Is it alms? Or chaste contrition? Is it poverty? Or tears? Blessed is he who has these merits, for he will be a partaker of the martyrs there; they will not throw him out of the palace of light, and for the sake of such merits he will undoubtedly have the same boldness before Christ and before His Angels. Victorious martyrs, who voluntarily endured sorrow out of love for God and the Savior and who have boldness before the Master Himself, intercede, O saints, for us, weakened and sinful, and filled with laziness, so that the grace of Christ may come upon us and enlighten the hearts of all the lazy, so that we may love the Lord. You are truly blessed and glorious. Both Angels and men will please you. For during the tribulation, when your suffering in torment intensified, you had paradise before your eyes, saying to yourself: “Let bodily torment increase here, so that there, in paradise, pleasures and peace will increase.” And when, amidst the torments, a troubled (very strong) storm arose within you, you had before your eyes God’s pleasure and the firm confidence that the Most High God, who spoke His promises, was not deceitful. Since you had these future blessings before your eyes, and this assured you that you would endlessly enjoy them in joy, then, O saints, your strong thoughts did not weaken. The joy of the future and the delight of your anticipation made you courageous and valiant every hour, and you were never satisfied with your suffering. The enemy saw how bravely and fearlessly you entered into the struggle, having no fear in your heart of threatening tortures and temptations, and the strength of his wickedness was exhausted. Since you overcame all his torments, the enemy made an attempt, through the fear of the sword, to put your courage into fear, so that you would renounce Christ, who has always been desired by the souls of those who fear Him. And he, pathetic one, did not know that his sword was drawing out abundant sources of blood from the necks of the holy ascetics, and in these streams of the blood of the saints he himself perishes. However, with shame he said to his forces: “I am afraid and timid of this blood flowing from the necks of those who were sacrificed for the name of Jesus of Nazareth, because they convince each other to die for Him. Their smoking blood darkened me. I am no longer able to resist the unanimity of Christ’s disciples for one hour or even a moment. It would be much better for me not to raise kings over them. For behold, their blood pursues me everywhere. The stench (fragrance) of this blood relaxes my strength. I can’t even get close to the place where the bones of Jesus’ disciples are.” Here are the brilliant merits of your courage, perfect ascetics, here are the virtues of your faith, Christ-bearing ascetics! This is the height of your victory, courageous God-bearers and lovers of God! Here is your praise! Your death has purchased life for you. The wise have conceived the idea of ​​your slaughter, and the wisdom of their minds has turned into nothing. Amazed, they said to each other: “Truly great is God, the Christian God, in whom all His disciples have believed!” And often the tormentors, seeing the patience of the holy martyrs and the good consolations that they gave to each other during their feat, themselves became true worshipers, fearing God and perfect in the faith. Do you see, brethren, what divine agreement? Do you see, beloved, what kind of love is according to God, which strengthens its own members in labor? The holy martyrs, who entered into a single feat, consoled each other and always encouraged the faint-hearted, so that the slaves themselves would joyfully seek the same crown with them. And we, the wicked ones, envying each other, eat each other, bite each other because of the cruelty of our wickedness. Come and be a disciple of the holy martyrs! If you want to learn, they will be good teachers for you, and you will learn from them wonderful dispassion, perfect faith, love of God, great compassion and desire for future blessings. By God's power and perfect faith they emerged victorious from the blazing fire, and you always overcome the blazing evil desire. With patience and trust in Christ, they victoriously overcame all torture, and you, too, with chastity and pious thoughts, overcome all shameful passions. They defeated their tormentors with meekness and generosity, and you overcome the torment of anger. They obviously became martyrs, but you secretly always be a perfect martyr. They boldly accomplished their feat, and you perform your hidden feat, so that on the day of reward you will receive the crown with them and become a joint heir with them in the Kingdom, rejoicing forever and ever. Pray now, saints, for the sinner who indulges in sleep during such a blessing from God towards him, so that he too may be granted mercy at that hour, when the secrets of men are revealed. And I became your pitiful cupbearer, good victorious martyrs, and lovingly offered the good wine of your asceticism to the children and brothers of your faith, and from the wonderful meal of your victorious triumph, always filled with dishes, I treated your fathers, brothers and relatives, who every day with a heartfelt desire always come to eat and drink from this meal. For behold, they sing psalms and, rejoicing, glorify God, who crowned the heads of your courage, in great joy they surround the holy remains of your suffering, wanting to accept the blessing and take with them medicine for soul and body. So, bless everyone, as good disciples of the good Lord. And I, weak, strengthened by you, sang with love before your holy remains. Therefore, you too, be intercessors for me, the paralytic, before the throne of God, so that through your prayers I too may be saved there, by the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Glory to Him and the Father and the Holy Spirit forever! Amen. You might be interested in: