remained unharmed and then appeared again to the pasha. Pasha trembled, seeing before him the one whom he considered killed to death. In order to satisfy the fury of the crowd, which demanded the execution of the derogator of the great prophet, the pasha handed over the sufferer to their will. For three days the frantic Turks exhausted themselves in all kinds of torment over Nicodemus and, finally, seeing that there was no opportunity or strength to shake his firmness, they beheaded him at the place shown to him by the Lord. Thus, having accomplished a suffering feat, blessed Nicodemus was awarded the crown of heavenly glory. His holy relics remain intact to this day, pouring out fragrance and exuding healing for those who come to them with prayer and faith. Through his prayers may we also be rewarded with the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen.
The Monk Nicodemus suffered in 1722, on July 11th.
Prmch. Nectarius of Vriulla († 1820, commemorated July 11)
The Holy Martyr Nektarios came from the village of Vruilla (or Vurla, as it is called in common parlance), located in Asia Minor, Ephesus diocese, from simple but pious parents, and in holy baptism he was named Nicholas. Left orphaned after the death of his father at the age of 17 and being in extreme poverty, in order to support himself and his mother, he became a shepherd for one rich Hussein Agha, herding camels. At that time, a devastating plague was raging, from which people in entire villages were dying out, but in order to protect themselves from infection, in this case, the inhabitants of the villages got out of their houses into the fields and spent a nomadic life there. Thus, Nikolai’s master got out into the field with all his servants, who besides Nikolai had six more Greek boys, and all of them were completely removed from any communication with anyone, as happens in such times.
The master of these unfortunates, wanting to seduce them from the true path, began to tell them that all Christians had died out from the plague and that only Muslims and they remained; at the same time, as if taking part in them, he said: “If you do not want to die of starvation and, moreover, provide for your future life in the future, then you need to accept the Muslim faith.”
The unfortunate ones, seeing their hopeless situation, out of their childish foolishness, agreed to renounce the Christian faith and accept the Muslim faith.
When the plague stopped, all the residents wandering through the fields began to return to the village and their homes. Mister Nicholas also returned with his family and servants. Meanwhile, Nikolai learned that his mother had not died, but was alive and in the same village. Rejoicing, he immediately went to her, but the pious mother, as soon as she saw Nicholas dressed in Turkish dress, told him with reproach and anger: “Get away from me! I don’t know who you are!” The young man, seeing himself rejected by his own mother, with heart disease, began to tell her how he became a Muslim and how he was deceived. But a truly pious Christian, his mother still did not recognize him as her son and with even greater anger told him: “Get away from here! I did not give birth to you as a Turk, but as a Christian; Get out of here now so that my eyes don’t see you!” These formidable words of the good mother shook the soul of the unfortunate outcast to the depths and, as if with red-hot arrows, pierced his heart.
Shame, repentance and consciousness of his fall were revealed in all their fullness: out of remorse, he could no longer look at his mother’s face and with deep sorrow withdrew from her.
As soon as he left his mother, he no longer returned to Hussein Agha, but went to Smyrna. Here he found his uncle, to whom he told about his misfortune. His uncle, dressing him in European dress, sent him to Constantinople, and from there advised him to go to Russia, where he would repent of his great sin.
Nicholas listened to his uncle’s advice, went to Constantinople, and from there to Wallachia, but for some reason he did not want to go further, but returned back to Smyrna, where he again came to his uncle, who this time did not accept him, but drove him away, in fact, because he did not listen to his advice. All these failures, apparently, occurred according to God’s will so that Nicholas, in order to cleanse himself in sin, would labor not in the world, but in the desert and among experienced and holy men.
At that time, a confessor from the holy Mount Athos, a pious and experienced man, happened to be in Smyrna, to whom some virtuous Smyrna Christians introduced Nicholas, asking him to teach him spiritual healing. The confessor, having heard the confession of the outcast, sufficiently taught him, then advised him to go to the Holy Mountain and arrange his salvation there, which he joyfully did and, soon leaving Smyrna, arrived there safely.
Upon arrival at the Holy Mountain, he found one compatriot there laboring in a separate cell. This pious monk, with brotherly love, gave him shelter and put him to rest. Then he introduced him to an experienced confessor, who, having read him, introduced him to the Orthodox Church. So blessed Nicholas lived for some time in the cell of his compatriot who sheltered him, leading an ascetic life, and his heart, instead of embarrassment, was soon warmed by Divine love, which little by little inflamed his young heart more and more, so that Nicholas decided for the love of Jesus Christ and for his former renunciation of Him to shed blood and accept a martyr’s death. But, however, the confessor did not advise him to decide on such a great feat, presenting him with seemingly terrible torment and possible danger, as if for fear of falling away from the Christian faith again. Although his confessor’s advice was accepted, his heart still did not calm down.
Therefore, in order to test himself even more in spiritual exploits, he wished to go through a silent life, for which he moved from here to the monastery of St. Anna, in which his compatriot Stephen also labored in the cell of the Holy Trinity. He willingly accepted the young ascetic into the midst of his disciples and soon tonsured him into monasticism with the name Nektarios. After accepting monasticism, Nektarios began to apply labor to labor, spending his nights in vigil, prayer and kneeling; his food was bread and water. The devil, seeing the young ascetic succeeding in virtue and wanting to weaken him, began to confuse the brothers cohabiting with him, who, succumbing to the suggestions of the evil one, hated Nectarius so much that they began to ask Stephen to expel him from their society. But the prudent Stephen, seeing in this unpeacefulness the machinations of ancient malice, did not reject the requests of the brethren and, among other things, exhorted them to leave anger, which is unusual for the servants of God, and, moreover, expressed that they should consider themselves happy and thank God that He honored them to live together with the future martyr of Christ.
These words dispelled all the darkness and deceit of the enemy, and from then on the brethren changed their opinion about Nektarios and began to treat him with love.
Finally, the time was already close to Nectarius to accomplish the feat of martyrdom, for his heart, burning with Divine love, was no longer able to endure the burning flame, and he began to ask Elder Stefan to bless him for the feat of suffering. The experienced elder did not deign to his intention, since he saw him still very young to undertake martyrdom. But this did not stop Nectarius, and he only began to ask Stefan even more forcefully to let him go to suffer. Stefan, not wanting to decide such an important matter alone, consulted with other confessors, who also tried to reject Nektarios and, seeing his youth and fearing an unknown end, did not advise him to expose himself to torture. But, however, the deviations were in vain, and Nektarios complacently answered the elders that on his part only the beginning is required, and Divine power will complete the end and that he has firm hope in the help of Jesus Christ, for whom he intends to shed his blood, as well as in his patroness, the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, for whom he has undoubted faith and love.
The Holy Fathers, seeing Nektarios’s strong thought, blessed him for his suffering, and Elder Stefan wished to accompany him for spiritual consolation.