19-го числа

St. Apostle from 70: Archippus and Philemon and St. Apphia Apphia was the wife of Philemon, to whom there is a letter from Ap. Paul; preached about Christ in Gaza and other places, and St. Archippus was bishop of Colosse after Epaphras. During the reign of Nero they died as martyrs: Philemon and Apphia were stoned, and Archippus was cut with knives. Ave. Eugene and Macarius confessors Julian the apostate, having arrived in Antioch in 362, demanded the priests Eugene and Macarius to compete about faith and, convicted of wickedness, ordered both to be beaten. Then, together with dux Artemy, who openly admonished the king, they were thrown into prison; the very next day, the king condemned them to imprisonment in one of the swamp oases of Libya, where they died. For Artemia, see October 20. Disciple of the Monk Dorotheos, who died in 620 (comm. June 5). It was not through long years of severe ascetic deeds that blessed Dositheos pleased God. He had barely worked for five years in his earthly career, and among the labor that fell to his lot, he did not even have time to observe one of the main rules of the monasticism in which he was a member, namely: constant presence in the church during the Divine service. He often missed it... Exhausted under the burden of the work entrusted to him, Dosifei could also not withstand strict fasting, sometimes allowing himself to be reinforced with food beyond the allotted time and of a more nutritious quality... This led to bewilderment and even temptation to the other monks of the monastery (Palestinian - St. Serida, near Gaza), and they did not consider Dositheus to be a true ascetic of God... so when the young man Dositheus, exhausted by illness, sensing the approach of death, said to the perspicacious elder Vissarion, who was living in the monastery at that time: “My Lord, I can no longer be alive,” and the elder answered him: - “Child, go in peace, present yourself to the Holy Trinity and pray for us!” - then the brethren, having heard the elder’s answer, became indignant, saying: “What great thing did this young monk, who had lived in the monastery for barely five years, do, that he was worthy to hear such words from the great elder?... We did not see him particularly laboring in fasting and vigil; on the contrary, he came to the service after everyone else, and sometimes stayed at home.” But how did the monk Dosifei make up for his omission of monastic duties? He replenished them with what was most precious to God: the love with which he fulfilled the task assigned to him - caring for the sick. He was a true comforter to the sufferers; With diligence and the greatest attention he prevented all their desires, facilitating them in every way. He loved his patients so much that if ever, due to human weakness, he occasionally happened to be irritated by their grumbling and impatience, then this constituted the greatest grief for him, which he atone for with bitter tears of repentance, so that it was difficult for the brethren even to console him at such moments... And if he was sometimes absent or late for Divine services, it was either in case of extreme fatigue from day and night tireless work, or because the sick at that time needed his intensive care for them. And who knows whether it was easy for such a soul to be deprived of “dwelling in the house of the Lord all the days of his life, contemplating the beauty of the Lord and visiting His church”? (Ps.27:4). But the duty to help his neighbor was dearer to him than anything else, and with boundless love and selflessness he served people, and his short but full of love life was fragrant before the Lord with the purest sacrifice... And God did not leave her without His sign, I am pleased... The bewilderment that confused the monks was resolved by a special vision of St. Dositheus to one respected elder, to whom the previously deceased elders who had pleased God were revealed, and among them the young man Dositheus, who participated in their bliss. Short-term feats of active love for one's neighbor were shown to be equal before God with long-term feats of fasting and prayer.