Страдание святого священномученика Артемона

During the reign of Diocletian, a great persecution of Christians arose in 2521: torturers were sent throughout all cities and regions of the Roman state to force Christians to make sacrifices and worship idols, and those who resisted were to be executed and killed. By the way, such a messenger, named Patrick, came to the Laodicean region 2522, where he began, without delay, to fulfill the command of the king. Even before the arrival of Patricius, having learned of his imminent coming, the Bishop of Laodicea, Blessed Sisinius, accompanied by the holy presbyter Artemon and some Christians, entered the church of the goddess Artemis at night 2523 and, having previously broken it, burned all the idols that were in it. Then, returning to his Christian church, located at a distance of five miles from the city, he performed the usual divine service and addressed the faithful with the following instruction: - My children, there are rumors about the Antichrist approaching the city to kill Christians: do not be afraid that nothing - neither fire, nor sword, nor animals, nor other cruel capital punishments can separate you from the love of Christ. When Patricius arrived in the city, he first of all made a sacrifice at the church of Apollo; on the same day he staged spectacles for the people and announced a royal decree prohibiting the practice of Christianity. After five days of fun with spectacles and hunting, Patricius wanted to make a sacrifice to Artemis, but, entering her church, he did not find there, to his surprise, idols. Some of the Greeks around him replied that the statue of Artemis and other idols was destroyed by Bishop Sisinius with the participation of his priest Artemon and other Christians. When Patricius asked where the bishop and the Christians were now, he was told that all the Christians had gathered in their church. Patrick immediately mounted his horse and went, accompanied by armed soldiers, to the Christian church, intending to kill the Christians, and to put Sisinius and Artemon to death by cutting them into pieces. But when Patricius was already close to the goal of his journey and there was no more than one mile left to the church, suddenly he was seized by such a strong trembling that he fell from his horse; this trembling gave way to excessive heat, and Patricia was forced to be carried on a stretcher to the first house they came across on the way. At night, surrounded by soldiers sitting with candles and awaiting the death of their leader, he said to his closest servants: “The Christians cursed me, and their God is torturing me.” – The strong gods and the bright goddess Artemis will restore your health. Experiencing severe pain and no longer thinking of staying alive, Patricius said to the soldiers: - Go to the Christian church and tell Bishop Sisinius: this is what the royal ambassador says - Patricius: great is the Christian God! Pray to Him to help me get rid of my serious illness; then I will make your image out of gold and place it in the middle of the city. The soldiers went and conveyed the words of Patricius to the bishop. The latter ordered the following answer to be given to him: - Let your gold remain with you; If you believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, you will be healthy. Patrick sent ambassadors to the bishop a second time, saying: “I believe in your God, if only I could be healed.” The bishop prayed for him, and immediately Patrick became healthy, completely freed from the disease. A few days later, after his recovery, Patrick went to the Palestinian city of Caesarea. When he departed from Laodicea about three miles, he met on the way the holy presbyter Artemon, returning from prayer: he was catching wild animals with the word of Christ, and two deer and six wild donkeys followed him. Saint Artemon led them to Bishop Sisinius, who really wanted to have wild animals in his garden. Having ordered the chariot to stop, Patrick asked the servant of God Artemon: - How did you catch these animals? “I caught them with the word of my Christ,” he answered. “I think,” Patrik asked again, “that you, elder, are a Christian?” Saint Artemon said to this: – From my youth I have been a Christian. Then Patricius ordered the saint to be chained with two chains and handed him over to two soldiers so that they would lead Saint Artemon after him to Caesarea. Unable to continue on his way, Saint Artemon turned to the animals following him and ordered them to go to Bishop Sisinius. They went and stopped at the doors of the church fence. The bishop asked the gatekeeper: -Where did these animals come from? One of the deer, who received the gift of speech from God, said: - The servant of God Artemon was taken by the wicked royal ambassador, and he is now being led bound to Caesarea; He sent us to you. The bishop was horrified when he heard human speech from the deer, and at the same time he was saddened when he learned about the capture of Saint Artemon. Calling Deacon Philea, he said to him: – A new miracle has appeared! Of these animals that you see now, one deer conveyed to me in human speech that the servant of God Artemon was captured by the wicked Patricius and bound bound to Caesarea; I cannot restrain myself from horror, seeing a deer with the gift of speech, and from grief at the thought of what happened to Artemon. Take the prosphora and go with your servant to Caesarea; find out whether what was conveyed by the deer is fair. The deacon took the prosphora and, after praying, set off, accompanied by a servant, on the road. Arriving at Caesarea, he actually found Saint Artemon there imprisoned. Having greeted him cordially, he said to him: – Servant of the Most High God and shepherd of the verbal sheep, until now we would not have known how you separated from us and fell into the hands of the tormentor if the deer had not told the bishop about it; for this reason he sent me here to check the justice of what he said; the bishop is very sad for you. “Go, servant of God, and tell my lord, the holy bishop, that I have been taken to torture for Christ and am sitting in prison; let him pray for me, so that I can defeat the machinations of the Christ-hating tormentor and thus be worthy of becoming a partaker of Christ. Having kissed each other, they parted: the deacon returned to his place, and Saint Artemon remained in prison. When the deacon, returning, conveyed the words of Saint Artemon to the bishop, the latter prayed with tears, saying: - Lord Jesus Christ, who delivered Daniel from the mouth of the lions, who saved the three youths from the fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar, deliver your servant Artemon from the hostile Patricius, give him the strength to overcome the machinations of the tormentor and number him among the holy martyrs. One day, while staging spectacles in Caesarea, Patricius ordered Saint Artemon to be brought to him and asked him: - Tell us, old man, what is your name? “I am called a servant of Christ my God and I am Artemon.” “Did you break the statue of the great goddess?” - said Patrik. “I am exactly,” answered the saint. “Tell me,” Patriky asked again, “how did you overcome the power of the goddess and not spare her image?” How could you not be afraid of punishment: it was only because of her meekness that she had not yet taken your life? “By praying to my God,” objected Saint Artemon, “I will gain victory even over you and your torment; especially since I could overcome the dead and dumb idol. – When I heard your name – Artemon, I thought that you were a slave of the goddess Artemis; I believe that she saved your life for your namesake with her. Saint Artemon exclaimed to this: - Lawless, wicked and darkened son of the devil, if you want to know about my name, then let it be known to you that it was given to me by God even at the time when I was in my mother’s womb. Patrick continued, exhorting: - Have pity on your old age and gray hair, make a sacrifice to the great god Asklipius in this city 2524. “For sixteen years,” answered the saint, “I was a reader in the church of my God, for twenty-eight years I was a deacon, reading the Holy Gospel; For thirty-three years I held the priesthood, teaching and instructing people with the help of Christ on the path of salvation, and now you demand that, imitating you, I make a sacrifice to the demon located in an insensitive idol, but still I want to see your god and test his power. – The god Asclepius has great power and glory: whoever does not bring him incense with prayer before the doors of his church cannot enter inside. In the church of Asklipius there lived snakes, to which the priests brought sweet food once a year. “Let’s go to the church of Asklipius,” said Saint Artemon, “and if he does not allow me to enter it, then I will bring him incense.” And so, when the saint, accompanied by Patricius and the people, approached the church of Asclepius, the snakes, or rather the evil spirits contained in them, unable to bear the approach of the martyr gifted with the power of Christ, raised a terrible whistle and confusion in the church, so that it shook like a tree from the wind; Seeing this, Patricius and the people fled in fear. Patrick said to the saint: - Look how great is the power of Asclepius, who does not allow anyone to enter his room without first offering him incense. “Tell the priest to open the church so that I can enter there,” asked Saint Artemon Patricius. He ordered one of the priests to do this. The priest, named Vitaly, said, turning to Patricius: “I report to your blessed authority that I cannot open the church before I offer incense with prayer, for the wrath of the god Asclepius is great.” Taking the censer and offering the usual incense, he opened the doors of the church, and immediately ran away. Then Patrick, standing at a distance, said to the saint: - Elder, if you can enter, then enter! Saint Artemon approached the door and, having made the sign of the cross, fearlessly entered inside, and the snakes became motionless. The saint turned to the true God with the following prayer: “Lord my God, through Your servant Daniel, who crushed the Babylonian Vila and killed the serpent, You and now by Your power through me, a sinner, crush the heads of these serpents, so that Your holy name may be glorified!” After this, he forbade the snakes to harm anyone and, ordering them to follow him, went out with them. Seeing the snakes coming out of the church, the people and Patrick were horrified and began to run away. Saint Artemon exclaimed after them: - Why are you running? Do not be afraid, stop and watch now how, by the power of the true God in whom I believe, these snakes will die before your eyes. Then he blew on them, and they immediately became dead, prostrating themselves before his feet as if struck by lightning. And Saint Artemon said to Patricius: “You see how the gods you revered died by the power of God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The people and Patrick were horrified, seeing the killing of snakes without any weapon; Of these, one was so large that it was five cubits wide and twenty-five long. Priest Vitaly exclaimed in a loud voice: - Great is the Christian God and great is the power of this man, who killed these snakes with one breath! Then, falling at the feet of the saint, he said: - Servant of the Lord on High, I will not depart from you, begging: mark me also with the power of your God, so that I may become a perfect sheep of your flock; Until now I was in deception, believing in idols and these snakes, but now I know the true God. The wicked Patrick, being blind in soul, although he saw such a great miracle, did not want to know the true God: he believed that Saint Artemon killed the snakes not by the power of God, but by the power of magic. Unable to bear the shame and filled with anger for his disgrace and the killing of the snakes, he ordered the holy martyr to be seized again and presented to his unjust court for torture. Here he angrily said to the saint: - If you do not reveal by what force the snake killed the great goddess Artemis and the radiant Apollo 2525, then I will cut you into pieces. “By the power of Christ, with the assistance of Archangel Raphael sent from God, I killed your snakes,” answered Saint Artemon. – Can the one crucified by the Jews have such power? – Patrik doubted. - Mad with anger, heir of hell and ancient serpent, you have already heard, so hear again, that by the power of my God your snakes died. After these words, Patricius was filled with rage and ordered the iron frying pan to be heated; then he ordered to stretch out the naked martyr on it and stab him with red-hot iron rods, cutting off his limbs with a sharp iron; at the same time he said to Saint Artemon: “You see, rebellious old man, how your body suffers from torment. The sufferer, raising his eyes to heaven, prayed: - Lord Jesus Christ, do not allow the pagan to laugh at me, Your servant; You know that I endure suffering for You; Grant me patience to endure them, so that the enemy may be put to shame. Hear, O God, my prayer and accept my prayer, O God of hosts! You created heaven and earth and performed miracles throughout the entire universe; You are the Lord of all, and no one can resist You; By Thy mercy save me, O Lord. You showed the innocence of the lawlessly killed gentle youth Abel, You rewarded Your saint Enoch by taking him to heaven, You preserved Noah in the ark and through blessing exalted the priest Melchizedek 2526, You glorified Abraham for his sacrifice, multiplied the children of Jacob, delivered Lot from the fire of Sodom, and exalted Job for his patience. With Your help, Joseph conquered carnal passions and triumphed over his enemies. Moses, Your servant, and all the righteous, over whom You have shown Your power, demonstrating their piety, praise You, Who has glorified their God. And I, Lord, Thy servant, pray to Thee: have mercy on me according to Thy mercy and help me by Thy power. During the saint's prayer, a deer came running to Caesarea, speaking in Laodicea with the bishop in a human voice; going out into a square crowded with people, he fell at the honest feet of the martyr and licked them. Then, having again received, by God’s command, the gift of speech to expose the wicked and put him to shame, he stood against Patricius and began to say: - Know, wicked one, that nothing is impossible for God: in order to show His power, He can give speech to the dumb. Know that God’s servant Artemon will soon be freed from torment, and you will be seized by two birds and thrown into a boiling cauldron for inhumanly tormenting a righteous man and for rejecting God, whom you recognized as true and in whom you believed. Seeing the denunciation of wild animals as nothing more than sorcery, the wicked Patrick flew into a rage and ordered the soldiers to kill the deer; one of them took a spear and threw it forcefully at the latter, but the deer jumped back, and the spear hit one of Patricius’s close associates and pierced his belly, so that he died immediately. Patrick regretted him and retired from the trial to his house, ordering the martyr to be taken to prison again. In the morning, he ordered a large cauldron to be filled with resin and boiled, so that he could throw the martyr’s head down into it. When the order was carried out, Patricius was informed that everything was ready; He, wanting to see the execution of Saint Artemon himself, mounted a horse and rode to the cauldron, but while he was already approaching it, two Angels, descending from heaven in the form of eagles, grabbed Patricius and threw him into boiling resin, in which even his bones were boiled. The soldiers and people fled in horror at the sight of this; the saint, brought to the cauldron, remained alone, glorifying God; Kneeling down, he prayed and brought out a spring from the ground on which he stood. Priest Vitaly and many other pagans came here to him; taught the faith of Christ, they were all baptized by Saint Artemon. That same night a voice came to the holy martyr from above: “Leave the city and go to Asia, to a place known as Wuli, which is located on the sea coast; there you will find Alexander and his mother Pironia: together with them you will deliver many from demons and heal from illnesses, and many, enlightened by you with the light of Christ’s teaching, will glorify God. When morning came, all the converts gathered to the saint; he, having taken the Divine Mysteries, taught them the honest Body and the honest Blood of Christ, saying: – This bread is the Body of Christ, and this cup is the Blood of Christ, shed for your souls; Be careful, children, that none of you fall away from the love of Christ, remain steadfast in the faith, but I was commanded to go to Asia. The Bishop of Caesarea, hearing about everything that happened with Saint Artemon and learning that he had baptized many and was teaching, preaching the Gospel, came to him with Christians and greeted him with a kiss; then, having made a prayer, he marked the place where the martyr suffered, and subsequently built a church here; Of those baptized by Saint Artemon, he appointed some to presbyters, others to deacons, and he installed Vitaly as a bishop and subordinated the Palestinian region to him. Saint Artemon, having said goodbye to the bishop and the people, went to the Asian country indicated to him; on the way he was caught up by an angel and placed in the place that was revealed in a vision; here, with the help of God, he performed many great miracles and converted many to the Lord, teaching the truth of the Gospel. During his preaching, Saint Artemon was captured by the pagans and, after being beheaded by the sword, went to the eternal abodes to receive a crown from Christ our God; to Him, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be glory and worship forever and ever. Amen. During the reign of Diocletian (from 284 to 305), four decrees were issued against Christians. The first was announced in February 303. This decree ordered the destruction of churches and the burning of St. books, at the same time Christians were deprived of civil rights, honor, protection of laws and their positions; Christian slaves lost the right to freedom if, having received it on any occasion, they remained in Christianity. Soon a second decree was issued which ordered all heads of churches and other clergy to be imprisoned; thus the decree concerns only clergy; the latter were accused before the emperor as the instigators of the uprising in Syria and Armenia, which, unfortunately for Christians, began after the appearance of the first decree. In the same 303, a third decree followed: on the basis of the second decree, all prisoners were ordered to be forced to make sacrifices under fear of torture for resistance. Finally, in 304 the last fourth decree was promulgated, which declared persecution of Christians everywhere; The “great persecution” spoken of in this life apparently refers to the persecution that followed the fourth decree. Because of this decree, more Christian blood was shed: it was in effect for 8 whole years, until 311, when Emperor Galerius, by a special decree, declared Christianity a permitted religion. Diocletian's persecution was the last; in it, Christianity, after almost three centuries of struggle, won a final victory over paganism. This region is located in Asia Minor. Artemis is the goddess of the hunt among the Greeks, originally probably the goddess of the moon. Asclepius or Asclepius is the god of healing. Apollo is the sun god, patron of the arts. Saint Artemon mentions here the following event in Old Testament history. When Abraham was returning after the victory over the kings who had captured his relative Lot, Melchizedek, the king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, came out to meet him with bread and wine and blessed Abraham (Gen. 14:1-20; Heb. 7:1); this blessing expressed the higher dignity of Melchizedek before Abraham, for, says St. Ap. Paul: “Without any contradiction the lesser is blessed by the greater.” (Heb. 7:7). You might be interested in: