16-го числа

The Holy 12 Martyrs: Pamphilus the Presbyter, Valens the Deacon, Paul, Porphyry, Seleucia, Theodulus, Julian, Samuel, Elijah, Daniel, Jeremiah and Isaiah St. Pamphilus, a native of the mountains. Berita, famous for the family and wealth of his parents, brilliantly completed his education in Alexandria. Returning to Palestine and choosing to work in the spiritual field, Pamphilus was appointed presbyter and, as can be seen from the letters of St. Basil the Great, reached the rank of Archbishop of Caesarea and subsequently consecrated archbishops in Armenia. Pamphilus was engaged in scholarly works and worked hard to correct the text of St. Scriptures. Under him, copyist errors crept into the text of 70 interpreters corrected by Origen, and St. Pamphil corrected them, adding brief explanations. This corrected text, according to Blessed Jerome, was so respected that it was used in all the churches located between Alexandria and Antioch, and copies were taken from it for other churches. In 303, at the request of Emperor Constantine, this text - among 50 copies - was delivered to the new city he created, in which the number of Christians was spreading. In Caesarea, St. Pamphilus had a library, which among other things consisted of the works of his fathers, which he partly copied himself and partly acquired where he could. His manuscripts were considered such a treasure that Blessed Jerome, having taken out one of them: “Origen’s interpretation of the 12 prophets,” considered himself Croesus... But besides the library, St. Pamphilus endowed the poor with his manuscripts and actively spread Christian education. At the same time, he was distinguished by his deeds of mercy and shared everything he had with the poor. During the persecution from Diocletian, St. Pamphilus was tortured for his faith and was imprisoned by order of Hegemon Urvan - together with the elderly deacon of the Elean Church Valens and Paul, a native of Jamnia, who had already suffered for their faith from a red-hot iron. They stayed here for two years, after which Urvan’s place was taken by Firmilian, who, having learned about their presence in prison, ordered all three of them to be beheaded - along with the five Egyptian brothers: Samuel, Elijah, Daniel, Jeremiah and Isaiah, who were detained and suffered torture in Caesarea, on their return journey from Cilicia, where they went to see off 130 confessors who also suffered at this time in Egypt 288 and were exiled to hard work in the Cilician mines. Servant and student of St. Pamphilus - Porfiry, having heard about this death sentence, asked the ruler to allow him to bury the bodies of the martyrs after their death. Having learned that Porfiry was a Christian, Firmilian handed him over to the most severe tortures and, finally, the tormentors, having hanged him, lit a fire under him; the flames enveloped the new martyr, but even here, without uttering the slightest groan, St. Porfiry, with bright and joyful hope, called on the name of Jesus Christ and surrendered his soul to God. Having learned about the death of his disciple, St. Pamphilus thanked God and joyfully bowed his head under the sword. Then Seleucus, a warrior and Christian who informed St., suffered. Pamphilus about the painful death of his servant. He had already suffered for Christ before and was deprived of his military rank. They knew about him that he served the poor and weak Christians and visited martyrs in prison. Now, having noticed him saying goodbye to the martyrs, they reported him to the ruler, who sentenced him to death. At the same time, Elder Theodulus, a servant of Firmilian, a secret Christian, was crucified on the cross because he approached the martyrs who were being led to execution, and, having kissed them, asked them to pray for him. When the bodies of all these martyrs were thrown out to be devoured by dogs and birds, one young man, Julian, a Christian from Cappadocia, approaching Caesarea and seeing these bodies thrown out beyond the city limits, guessed that they were the remains of martyrs, and bowed before them with a reverent kiss, glorifying their exploits... This was noticed by the soldiers, who were on guard so that no one would steal the bodies of the martyrs. They reported to the ruler about the young man’s actions. Julian was called for interrogation and, when he confessed his faith, he was committed to fire. Thus, these 12 martyrs suffered on the same day in Caesarea Palestine from the tormentor Firmilian, around 309, as the historian Eusebius, who was a disciple of St., reports in detail. Pamphilus, in his History of the Palestinian Martyrs. Saint Marufa, Bishop of Mesopotamia He was a bishop in Mt. Tagrite, Mesopotamian-Sophosene region, on the borders of Persia and the Greek Empire. He died around 422 in Martiropol. His relics were transferred to Egypt and placed in the Skete Monastery of the Mother of God. St. Marufa became famous for his learning and high piety. He left behind writings in the Sirian language. His unpublished interpretations of the Gospel are especially remarkable. From them, Asseman cites the following explanation of Mapytha to the Savior’s words about the Eucharist: “Do this in remembrance of Me.” - “It is necessary and very decent that it should be arranged this way; because if constant communication in secrets had not been committed, then how could descendants know the work of Christ that saves us? or who could explain to them, who could make such a secret known? Since even now for many this seems unlikely. Moreover, end-time believers would not participate in the fellowship of the body and blood of Christ. But now, every time we approach the body and blood of Christ and receive them with our hands, we believe that we receive the body, and we become flesh of His flesh and bone of His bones, as it is written. For Christ did not call it an image and form, but said: this is My body, this is My blood” (See about St. Maruf in the “Teaching of the Father Church” Philar. Black. Part III, p. 12). St. Martyr Roman Holy Martyr Roman (See about him on January 5th). They were all deprived of their right eye and the vein of their right leg was cut off (Memorial of them on July 16).