Поучение на память святого великомученника Евстафия Плакиды, месяца сентября, в 20 день («Терпением вашим спасайте души ваши» (Лк. 21:19))

Hardly any of the saints fulfilled this commandment of Christ more: “Save your souls through your patience” than the now revered holy great martyr Eustathius Placidas, pious listeners! Hardly anyone like him, “looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, endured the cross” (Heb. 12:2)! Hardly any of the ascetics, like the Apostle Paul, more than he showed himself to be a servant of God “in great patience, in adversity, in need, in difficult circumstances” (2 Cor. 6:4)! For although many showed great patience in the name of the love of Christ, they cared about themselves and endured only their own suffering. This same great martyr of Christ, before suffering for Christ, in addition to external voluntary disasters for the sake of God, patiently endured three painful wounds in his heart for sixteen years. The first wound is grief over the deprivation of his wife, and besides this, two more wounds – grief for his two children, whom he considered torn to pieces by beasts. How hard and painful it was for the heart of that righteous husband to be suddenly and violently separated from his honest and holy wife and deprived of his beloved children on the same day! How adamantine was the heart of this courageous man of God! How could he not throw himself into the abyss of the sea, standing on the seashore and seeing his like-hearted friend, his faithful wife, being taken by the rapacious hands of nasty barbarians to a distant and unknown country! How could he not have plunged from sadness and heartfelt exhaustion into a river stream, standing in the middle of the river and seeing his children being kidnapped by beasts! How did he not fall into despair and extreme exhaustion, carrying this action, written with sorrow in his heart, for sixteen years, constantly, day and night, not forgetting about it, and lamenting it with groaning! The saint of God knew well that this happened to him not without the will of the Heavenly Father, in Whom he truly believed, in Whom he firmly trusted and for the sake of His Divine love he endured this, “saving his soul with his patience.” His story, known to everyone, tells about it in detail and clearly, and therefore I will not slow down my speech by telling about it. Things known to everyone do not require a long talk about them; it is enough just to remember them and always learn for our benefit. Therefore, taking the words of the Gospel, now read at the Liturgy, and the example of the long-suffering life of the holy great martyr, I intend to talk with your piety about how useful it is for every Christian to “save his soul through his patience.” Patience is not simple patience, for many suffer for the cause through their own fault, but patience in sorrows that happen without guilt and are accepted for the sake of the love of God - such patience is pleasant and praiseworthy in the eyes of God, as the holy Apostle Peter says: “For this is pleasing to God, if someone, thinking about God, endures sorrows, suffering unjustly. For what is praise if you endure being beaten for your wrongdoings? But if, while doing good and suffering, you endure, this pleases God. For to this you were called” (1 Pet. 2:19–21). This is precisely patience, patience, not because of any guilt, but for the sake of the love of God, meekly accepted, and will be the subject of our conversation. In particular, we need to talk about the patience that stems from the hostility of our false brothers, who are at enmity against us without reason, persecuting us unjustly and with their enmity causing us to mutual hostility, anger and rage. For rarely does anyone have such patience as to endure the enmity of his enemy with meekness and not respond with mutual enmity, not become angry, not become embittered. And how much benefit such patience brings to a Christian is impossible to calculate: we, the narrators, do not have enough time. Let us indicate a little that is needed at the present time, suggesting questions. First, I’ll ask: who is the strongest, strongest, bravest in heaven? I think that some here will remember the conversation between the three bed-maids of King Darius: one of them wrote that wine was the strongest, another pointed to the king as the strongest, and the third exalted the female sex above all. I, as a Christian, do not join any of them as the Old Law, for they did not know our Christian life, which was after them. Oh, if they knew her, they would reason differently! It seems that they forgot to ask the wise Solomon, he would have told them who was stronger. And to their reasoning we can answer: wine itself is not strong if a person does not want to get drunk with it, royal power is not terrible if a person does not do any evil, and a woman will not overpower a man if the person himself does not desire her. I wish for a different answer to my question: who is the strongest and strongest in heaven? But from whom can I hear the truest answer, if not from the one whom I have already mentioned, that is, from the wise Solomon. I’ll ask him: wise Solomon, who do you consider the strongest and strongest? “I do not think,” he says, “that anyone is stronger than a patient man: he who is patient is better than the brave” (Prov. 16:32). This is who Solomon calls the strongest and strongest: a patient man. And I expected that he would begin to list the ancient heroes, knights: Joshua, Gideon, Jephthah and others, who courageously defeated the regiments of adversaries and completely exterminated the kings of Midian, Canaan, and Amorite, taking possession of their kingdoms. I also thought that he would also mention Sampson, who put many Philistines to death with one jaw of a donkey, more than with a sword and a spear, broke down the great gates of the city of Gaza and carried them on his shoulders to the top of the mountain, shook the great mansions with his hands and brought them down to the ground. I thought that he would not forget to remember his father David, who, in his youth, when he tended flocks in the desert, instead of having fun, played with lions as with kids, and with bears as with lambs, and who, not yet reaching adulthood, threw to the ground, like some great oak, the famous and terrible giant Goliath. When David reigned, how many glorious knights were with him! Adinon Asoney, who himself defeated eight hundred adversaries with one spear. Eleazar, who, during a brave battle with foreigners, “his hand became so tired” that “it stuck to the sword” (2 Samuel 23:8, 10). Finally, three knights who, when David, surrounded by enemies on the field, “was thirsty and said: “Who will give me water from the well of Bethlehem?” (2 Samuel 23:15) - they made their way through all the enemy regiments to Bethlehem and, having drawn water, brought it to David, again fighting with the adversaries! I thought that Solomon would begin to praise the strength and strength of all these knights. And suddenly I hear from him: a husband who has long-suffering is better than a strong body. I will propose another question: why is a long-suffering husband better and stronger than a strong-bodied husband? But before we find the answer to this question, let’s see what patience struggles with? Perhaps someone will say that it fights the enmity of its enemy. I will say without a doubt that it fights first of all with a hostile thing that is contained within itself - with impatience, with anger and rage. And if he overcomes it within himself, he will more easily overcome the enmity of his enemy and will appear stronger in his generous patience than someone who is strong in body. I’ll ask again: is impatient, angry rage stronger than bodily strength? Truly so, for it is one of those difficult to overcome natural or natural passions that the apostle mentions: “The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). This pride also contains a furious, angry passion, for pride is impatient, angry, and malicious. And that angry rage is innate to man, this is clear from the words of the wise, who answer the question: what is man? - they answer: man is an animal, angry, lustful, rational. But in order for a person to overcome any passion innate to human nature, an incomparably greater strength is needed than physical strength. That this is true, we will be convinced from the reasoning. Bodily strength and strength live in a person temporarily, and not always. For man was born a weak child and, as he grows in years, he grows in strength; and only when he comes to perfect age does he become strong and, if his health is not damaged in any way, does he have bodily strength. A sick person is powerless. Then, when old age sets in, a person again loses his bodily strength, and the older he gets, the weaker his body becomes. The passions innate to man, embedded in his nature from the day of conception and birth, grow with him and live in him relentlessly, for even in small children one can see the violent and lustful. It is well said in a church hymn: “From my youth many passions have tormented me.” The same thing happens with old people, as someone says in Fatherland: “I saw an old man who had reached the age of a hundred years, but had not left behind carnal sin.” A person who is strong in body fights his adversary only sometimes when he has one, but without an adversary he remains at peace. In the struggle with natural passions there is no peace. Continually, day and night, man struggles with them, for, as the apostle says: “The flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh” (Gal. 5:17); and in another place: “I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind” (Rom. 7:23). The fight against passions is constant, but overcoming them is rare. David says well: “If they do not prevail over me, then I will be blameless and cleansed from great sin” (Ps. 19:14). A person fighting an adversary may have an assistant, as happens in battles: many military regiments help the king or governor. For someone struggling with his passions, no one else - except God - can provide help: neither a relative, nor a friend, nor military regiments. For this battle is not external, not visible, but internal, invisible, belonging to him alone, just as David alone had to fight with the giant Goliath, and before that with the beasts of the desert. In order to overcome one’s natural passions, one needs incomparably greater strength and strength than one who fights with the help of bodily strength to overcome a visible adversary. And since angry rage in a person is a natural passion of his nature, it is just as difficult to overcome as a giant and a fierce beast. She is a giant, for she damages the health of many, as Eliphaz, Job’s friend, says: “Wrath kills the foolish” (Job 5:2). She is a fierce beast, for just as a tiger, irritated by the sound of tambourines, bites and torments himself half to death, so an angry man, enraged by some unpleasant words, as if by the sound of tambourines, is tormented in his heart, grinds his teeth, bites his fingers. Such a person is admonished by Baldad, Job’s second friend: “Why are you destroying your soul in rage?” ( Job 18:4 )? And in another translation: “Why do you torment your soul?” I will say more than that: angry rage in a person is demonic possession. Did Saul rage when he was inflamed with anger at someone? But, in addition, in history there are many examples of people going berserk with anger and rage. In order to overcome such a strong and innate passion, rage, I say, angry, as well as to overcome the giant, the fierce beast and the very power of the devil, truly, great, supernatural strength and strength are required, much greater than bodily strength. Who can overcome such a strong passion? Let us listen to what St. Chrysostom says: “There is nothing stronger than meekness, for just as water quenches a kindled fire, so a soul that burns with anger stronger than a furnace is quenched by a word spoken with meekness.” But I, heeding the words of Chrysostom that there is nothing stronger than meekness, I think that meekness, kindness and patience are one and the same thing, for kindness does not live without patience, and patience does not live without meekness. Therefore, I want to learn more clearly from Chrysostom what is the strength of patient meekness? He, pointing out to us the example of the Old Testament Saint Joseph the Beautiful, says: “In battle, the proof of courage is that a warrior kills his adversary. But a more obvious victory is if you defeat the one who offended you with patience, for God gave you the strength to win not by intertwining your hands, but by patience.” Thus, blessed Joseph, who generously endured insults, is glorified everywhere as a winner, for with patience he defeated both his brothers and the Egyptian wife who slandered him, and since patience with meekness and gentleness defeats this strong, natural, opposing and difficult to overcome passion, it means that a patient person is stronger than a strong body, brave and famous warrior who defeats adversaries. So, having learned that a long-suffering man, who rules over his heart, tames and conquers the natural passion of anger and rage, is stronger than the bravest warriors, let us say without a doubt that the benefit to a person from patience is great, and therefore the Gospel speaks well, commanding “with patience to save your soul” (Luke 21:19). I’ll propose another question: does anyone know how you can make a hostile enemy a friend? There is no other way for this except patience: not to take revenge, but even more to do good to him. Solomon, as well as the holy Apostle Paul, advise: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink: for in doing this you will heap burning coals on his head” (Prov. 25:22; Rom. 12:20). What does it mean to heap burning coals on an enemy’s head through charity? What is the meaning of these words? Someone will say that when you feed and drink your enemy, then your very bread and salt kill him. And I myself would have thought so, but the interpreters of Divine Scripture explain it differently, saying that just as in the body, among all its members, the most important member is the head, so in the soul the most important thing is the mind. The mind is like the head of the soul; and this spiritual head - the mind - can be warm, and it can also be cold. It is warm when it contains the warmth of true love for one’s neighbor, and cold when it contains not love, but enmity towards him. Therefore, when you begin to repay your friend, who does not have the warmth of love, with good for evil, doing good to him, then such your benefit becomes to him like a coal of fire, warming his cold head and mind. For, seeing your patience, kindness, as well as the good deeds done to him by you, he will be ashamed, begin to reproach himself in his conscience, regret his unjust enmity, and will feel affection and love for you. And so you will warm him, as if with a burning coal, with love for you, and your former enemy will become your good friend. That this is true we can see from the example of David and Saul. Saul pursues David, and David, fleeing from Saul’s angry rage and his murderous hands, hid in a deep cave that came across somewhere along the way. Saul, following him nearby, having been tired on the way, and wanting to hide from the heat of the sun and rest, entered the same cave, not knowing that David was there, and fell asleep in it. And so, when one of those who were with David whispered to him: “Behold, the Lord has delivered your enemy into your hands; kill him” (1 Samuel 26:8), - David, rejecting his advice, answered: “I will not lift my hand against Christ the Lord” (see 1 Samuel 26:10). Having said this, he approached the sleeping Saul, cut off only the edge of his clothing and disappeared into the cave again. When Saul, waking up and not knowing anything about David, went out to continue his journey, David also came out of the cave and shouted after him: “Lord King!” The king turned around, and David bowed to him to the ground and, showing the hem of his robe, said: “Today the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave, and did not think of lifting my hands against you, my master; look at the hem of your garment in my hand and make sure that there is no malice in me against you; Why are you persecuting me, the innocent one?” (1 Samuel 24:11–12). And he said many more touching words to him, as is written in the book of Kings, from which Saul’s anger went away, warmed from the cold, as if by a fiery coal, by David’s patient kindness and his beneficence, that is, by the fact that he did not kill him. Having warmed up, I say, from the cold of dislike and unjust enmity, he said, touched: “Is this your voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice and wept” (1 Samuel 24:17). We see here how David's patience and his good deed, that is, the fact that he did not kill his enemy, led Saul to tenderness and repentance, and turned him from an enemy into a friend. For he called the one he was persecuting his child and began to cry, seeing his innocence and his unjust enmity. Reasoning about this, Saint Chrysostom says: “How sudden is such a change! Previously, Saul did not want to call David by name, since his very name was hated by Saul. Now he brought David into kinship and called him a child. Who could be more blessed than David? He made a murderer his father, turned a wolf into a sheep, filled the furnace of wrath with much dew and extinguished the flame of rage” (The Sermon on David and Saul). From here we see that kindly patience, combined with beneficence, like a fiery coal, warms the enemy and turns him from an enemy into a friend. How great is the benefit to man from patience! How good it is to follow the gospel advice: “With patience save your soul!” I will propose another question: what enriches a person with spiritual wealth? I know that here you will point out various virtues: fasting, prayer, purity, love and other godly deeds, but I will say without a doubt that patience enriches it. For there is no virtue that does not flow from patience. Whether it is fasting, there is hunger and thirst in it. Whether it’s prayer, it involves a struggle against despondency and laziness. Is it clean - but how necessary is patience in it! Whether it is love, it must “bear one another’s burdens” (Gal. 6:2) and be patient with one another. And every good deed requires both its own labor and its own patience, as they say: good deeds are earned through labor and corrected by illness. Patience is that fertile soil in which every virtue grows. Remember the Gospel parable about someone who sowed seed in his field: “Some fell by the wayside, some on a rocky place, some on thorns, and some on good ground.” And those seeds that fell along the road, on the stones and among the thorns, perished; and only one of them, which fell on good soil, bore abundant fruit. What kind of good land is this? Let us listen to how Christ explains this: the seed that fell on the good ground are those people who, heeding the word with a good and kind heart, hold it within themselves and “bear fruit with patience. Having said this, He exclaimed: “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Mark 4:4–9; Luke 8:15). Let us listen to these words: “They bear fruit with patience.” Patience is that good soil, that fertile field, which, when the seed of God falls on it, sprouts and bears abundant fruit of good deeds. Having said these words: “they bear fruit in patience,” the Savior added to them the exclamation: “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear,” that is, as if he said: “Listen, all four-pointed universe, listen to the east, listen to the west, listen to the south and north, all under heaven, listen that patience cultivates every virtue, without patience no one can do anything good, no one can please God and receive salvation! “He who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13). The holy prophet Isaiah, prophesying about the peace that was to come for the people of God, said: “They will beat their swords into plows and their spears into pruning hooks” (Is. 2:4). I will not slow down my words with historical interpretation and will explain the meaning of this saying with spiritual interpretation. Every hostile tongue, slandering its friend and speaking evil, is a sword, according to David: “They have sharpened their tongues like a sword” (Ps. 63:4). Every offensive word is like a sharp spear piercing the heart. If in your heart, filled with the fire of love and kindness, you hammer these hostile weapons with patience, as if with a hammer, if you gain benefit from the plow and sickle, uproot hostility, prepare good soil, sow affection, then you will reap the benefit. And so you will turn the weapons of death, the sword and the spear, that is, the enmity of your enemy, into weapons for acquiring the fruits of life and enrich yourself with spiritual wealth. I’ll ask again: does anyone want to find a treasure, a treasure? I think that everyone will think in their mind: “Why not wish yourself well?” Who doesn't want the best for themselves? I will give advice: get yourself a field of patience, and you will find wealth. Remember the Gospel parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid, and for joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field” (Matthew 13:44). Before interpreting this parable, let us consider why the Gospel does not say: the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure “hidden in a city,” but it is said: “hidden in a field”? But it would be fitting for that spiritual treasure, the kingdom, I say, of heaven, to be hidden not in a field, but in a city. The Lord said that “the kingdom of God is within us” (Luke 17:21), and we live in a reigning city, and therefore the kingdom of heaven should be with us in the city. Why does the Holy Gospel take this treasure out of the city into the field? “Like,” he says, “a treasure hidden in a field.” Is it because there are many thieves in the city, that is, so that they do not steal? But the kingdom of God cannot be stolen by thieves: “Thieves do not break in and do not steal” (Matthew 6:20). Why, I say, is this spiritual treasure of the heavenly kingdom hidden not in the city, but in the field? And who hid it? There is a rumor among people that treasures hidden in the earth sometimes move from place to place on their own, without the participation of human hands. It's a fable, it's not true, I don't believe it. But I know it to be true that the treasure of the kingdom of heaven moves from place to place, dwells where it pleases, and from where it is unpleasant, leaves with the words: “Behold, your house is left to you empty” (Matthew 23:38). This treasure of the heavenly kingdom was also in the city, inside us, and he must not have liked his citizenship: he left the city for the field. Why didn't you like it? David says that “lawlessness and strife are in the city, and interest and flattery have not disappeared from its squares” (Ps. 54:10, 12), and where there is lawlessness and strife, interest and flattery, there the kingdom of heaven is cramped. It does not like lawlessness and other unpleasing deeds worthy of hell, and not the kingdom of heaven. Apparently, the heavenly kingdom went around all the places in the city looking for peace, and did not find it. It visited the royal treasuries and the treasuries of princes, boyars and other powerful people, and saw there many unrighteous riches, collected through theft, embezzlement, at the cost of human grievances and tears. He did not like to lie with the unrighteous treasure, for it itself is righteous, containing only righteous treasures, abhorring the unrighteous; and it went away from here. The kingdom of heaven came to the rows where precious merchant goods lay in abundance, and thought to itself: here everyone has acquired everything that they have through their labor; there is no theft or resentment here, I will settle here. The kingdom of heaven watches how buying and selling is going on, and sees a great deception, hears many false words: they deceive each other, they lie to each other, selling bad things for good things, setting a price that is higher than appropriate, they swear to each other not in truth. The kingdom of heaven did not hesitate here either, it moved away from there. The kingdom of heaven went to orders, to town halls, and thought: here all tribes and peoples are judged, here judges are appointed to create the truth - I will settle here. He looks at the kingdom of heaven and sees the holy prophet Micah there, standing and crying. What are you crying about, holy prophet? The prophet answers: “Oh woe is me! There are no more merciful people on earth, there are no truthful people among people; everyone is plotting to shed blood; everyone sets a net for his brother; the prince asks for gifts, and the judge speaks peacefully, but in his heart he wants to pervert the matter” (Mic. 7:2-3). Hearing this and seeing the unrighteous judgments carried out for money, the kingdom of heaven left from there. The kingdom of heaven walks along a certain street in the city and, approaching the chamber of a certain nobleman, hears the voices of those having fun, the singing and rejoicing of those feasting, and thinks: “Here people have gathered out of love, and where there is love, there is God.” It's fitting for me to be there too. The kingdom of heaven ascended into that chamber and saw the people of God eating, drinking and eating together instead of bread: they condemn each other, scold each other, flatter each other in words, but deceive in their hearts; then, having drunk, they begin to insult each other, and not only with evil words, but also with their hands, they fight with each other. Seeing this, the heavenly kingdom hurriedly left from here. Saint David meets the kingdom of heaven on the way and asks: “Where are you coming from, kingdom of heaven, and where are you going?” And the kingdom of heaven told Saint David everything that had happened to him, where it was, how it looked for a place in the city and did not find it. “I will go,” he says, “now to the common people of God and settle among the common people! After all, every simple soul is holy in the eyes of God.” Saint David answers him: “You will not find a place for yourself among the common people, for “everyone has turned aside, they have become completely worthless: there is none who does good, not even one” (Ps. 53:4). The same lawlessness, theft, robbery, robbery, murder and other nasty deeds are happening among the people, which are shameful not only to talk about, but even to think about. The kingdom of heaven has stopped and is wondering where to go? And he said: “I will go to the church of God, to the holy church, perhaps I will find my peace there, for the Scripture says: “The Lord is in His holy church” (Ps. 10:4), and therefore it is fitting for me to be there. The kingdom of heaven has entered the church and is watching what is happening in the church. He sees that some are dozing, others are talking to each other about everyday concerns, others are present in the church only with their bodies, but they are not listening to prayer with their minds, but are dreaming about who knows what and are far from God in their hearts; the clergy read and sing without paying attention, the priests and deacons in the altar curse and sometimes fight. Seeing and hearing this, the kingdom of heaven remembered the words of Scripture: “My house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves” (Luke 19:46); and said to herself: “This is not the house of God, but a den, I’m going away from here!” Not finding a place for itself anywhere in the city, the kingdom of heaven remembered the words of God spoken in prophecy: “Come out from there; touch not what is unclean” (Isa. 52:11). The kingdom of heaven left the city and, having reached a certain village, looked at what was happening in it. And then he sees that some are living in extreme poverty, others are dying of hunger, others are being beaten in the streets, others are crying and sighing, and some can barely keep their soul in their body. Seeing this, the kingdom of heaven wanted to live in the village, saying: “Here is my peace, I will settle here” (Ps. 131:14), among people in need, my place is. For the Scripture says: “The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and those who use force take it away” (Matthew 11:12). So, the kingdom of heaven settled in the village, and the Gospel noted this in the words: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field” (Matthew 13:44). But let’s begin to interpret the above parable. What does "field" mean? The Lord himself explains this by saying: “The field is the world” (Matthew 13:38). What is a "treasure"? Blessed Theophylact says that “treasure” is the wisdom of God, hidden from the beginning of centuries and revealed in the apostolic sermon (Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew). We, directing the word towards our goal, here call a person “field”. Let no one think that this Gospel word “field” means a village or village. The word “field” means land, a field plowed and sown, as it is said elsewhere: “They bought a potter’s land for the burial of strangers” (Matthew 27:7), that is, they bought land, a field. A Christian who receives into his heart the seeds of God’s words is like a field, that is, a plowed and sown field, from which our Lord Jesus Christ expects spiritual fruits, as indicated in the apostolic book: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23). And just as a field, if it is not plowed and not cultivated, will not bear any fruit, no matter what seeds are sown on it, so a person who has not been cultivated by troubles, sorrows, misfortunes, insults and temptations allowed by God, if, I say, does not have patience, then he will not bear the fruit of good deeds and will not be enriched with spiritual wealth. In this field, that is, in a person, a treasure is hidden, and I will not sin if I call the human heart this treasure. This treasure is not visible to the eyes, for it is hidden deep inside, as David says: “A man comes, and his heart is deeply hidden” (Ps. 63:7), no one can know the secrets of the heart. What treasures, what precious things are in this treasure of the human heart? Who knows? Who will tell us? Saint Macarius of Egypt in his book of fasting says that very precious things are hidden in the human heart. “The heart,” he says, “is a small vessel, but in it are all things. There is God, there are Angels, there is life and the kingdom, there are heavenly cities, there are treasures of grace.” Such are the precious things hidden in the human heart! Who will appreciate God and Angels? Who will value life and kingdom? Who will tell you the price of the cities of heaven? Who can number the treasures of grace? And all this is contained in a small vessel, in the heart: “We carry this treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Cor. 4:7). But how are these richest treasures of the heart acquired? Truly, nothing other than patience: “With your patience,” it is said, “save your souls” (Luke 21:19). So, everyone who wants to accumulate such spiritual treasure for themselves should acquire the field of patience and “bear fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15). But I will not burden your love with a long conversation. Having indicated in part what benefits patience brings to a Christian, I will turn to the Holy Great Martyr Eustathius Placis. Here is for us an example of patience in adversity - this now celebrated saint of God. Has anyone heard of the patience of the righteous Job? Let him look at the patience of Saint Eustathius and find no difference. Saint James says: “You have heard about the patience of Job and have seen his end from the Lord” (James 5:11), but I will add to this: you have also seen the long-suffering patience of the holy great martyr! So, my brothers, take Saint Eustathius as an example of long-suffering in adversity, who endured so much for the love of God and through patience acquired such great benefit for himself. Amen.