Страдание святой мученицы Гликерии и с нею Лаодикия, стража темничного

In the first year of the reign of the wicked Roman Emperor Antoninus 3200, during the reign of Hegemon Savinus in Greece, Christians living in the Thracian city of Traianople gathered daily in their church; Here, with earnest prayer, they asked God for peace and an increase in believers, since at that time there were few Christians who feared God, and even those suffered greatly due to persecution. Persecution was instituted against Christians because the Emperor Antoninus, being a pagan, made sacrifices to unclean idols and sent out an order everywhere commanding the death of all those who would not make sacrifices to the pagan gods. When this royal command reached Thrace, hegemon Savin went with this order to the city of Traianople and appointed a day for the citizens of this city on which they were to take part in a festival in honor of the god Dius 3201; this festival was called “lampadophoria” 3202, that is, the bearing of the light, and was supposed to begin three days after Savinus arrived in Traianople. In this city there lived a Christian maiden named Glyceria, the daughter of Macarius, who had previously been a Roman anfipat in 3203. Glyceria moved here from Rome with her parents, and then became orphaned; here she believed in Christ and joined the Christians; She visited the church of God with them every day and fervently prayed here both to the Lord Jesus Christ and to His Most Pure Mother, for whom she had a particularly strong love, as the Mother of the Son of God; Imitating Her immaculate virginity, Glyceria betrothed herself to the Lord Jesus Christ as a bride. She often taught Christians saying this: - Brothers, sisters and fathers and all the others who replace my earthly mother for me! Listen to me: remember which King we serve, the image of which King we carry on ourselves and with which sign we protect ourselves. Let us try in every possible way to fulfill the commandments of this King, so that we may receive eternal salvation, which will be given only to those who honestly and courageously fulfill all the duties of the Christian calling. The Christians answered her: “We are all ready, even now, to lay down our souls for the sake of our Lord.” To this Glyceria told them: “I ask you, pray to the Lord for me, so that He will strengthen me to accomplish the feat together with you, so that He will grant me to suffer for the sake of His name.” Pray to the Lord for me, that He may count me among His incorruptible brides who dwell in His heavenly chamber. And Christians prayed for her. Meanwhile, three days after Savinus arrived in Traianople, a pagan wicked celebration began; The pagan citizens who lived in that city, having gathered together, with lighted candles, all rushed to the temple of Diy. Seeing this, the blessed maiden Glyceria was inflamed with zeal for Christ, her Lord God; Having made the sign of the cross on herself, she hastily went to the temple of Diev and, standing before the meeting of the pagans, loudly said to the hegemon: - Honest hegemon! So I wish to begin making sacrifices for the true God. By my origin, I am more famous than all the inhabitants of this city, because my father held the honorable position of enfipat of the glorious city of Rome. Therefore, I should be the first to make a sacrifice to God. - But where is your lamp, with which you would light your victim? Saint Glyceria answered this: - My lamp is inscribed on my forehead; it is inextinguishable and enlightens every sacrifice offered to the true God. However, the hegemon did not understand what Glyceria said. Therefore, turning to her, he said: - Okay. Come and make the sacrifice before everyone else. – The eternal God does not require that lamps that produce smoke be lit for Him. Therefore, order everyone’s lamps to be extinguished so that this vile smoke is not visible. Then you will see my immaculate sacrifice, which I intend to offer to my God. The hegemon ordered to extinguish all the lamps. At this time, Saint Glyceria, standing on an elevated place so that she was visible to all the people, opened her forehead and showed everyone the sign of the Cross of Christ inscribed on her forehead; then she said in the hearing of those present: - Do you now see the bright lamp shining on my forehead? Then, raising her eyes to heaven and raising her hands, she said: - Omnipotent God, glorified by His servants, who appeared in the cave of Babylon to His three youths and delivered them from the fire (Dan. 3), stopped the mouth of the lions (Dan. 6), made Your servant Daniel a winner, destroyed the idol Bel 3204, killed the serpent 3205 and crushed the image of the demons on the field of Deir! (Dan. 3) You, Jesus Christ, the Most Pure of God, the Holy Lamb! I pray to You, come and help me, Your humble servant, crush this idol made by human hands and destroy these vile and vain demonic sacrifices. While the saint was praying to God like this, thunder suddenly occurred, and the idol of Diev fell to the ground and broke into small pieces (it was made of stone). The hegemon and the priests, seeing this, became inflamed with rage and ordered the people to stone the saint. However, the stones thrown at the saint did not touch her, but fell near her and, forming a kind of fortress around the saint, protected her from the pagans. The wicked pagans, not knowing the power of God, called the saint a sorceress. But she told them: – The power of Christ working through me exposes your error; the help of my God will turn into nothing all the torments that you plan for me. After this, the hegemon ordered, tying up the saint, and taking her to prison. The hegemon ordered the prison guards to watch the saint with great attention, telling them: - See that she does not escape from prison through her magic. Then she will say that it was her God who delivered her; and through this she can deceive many. The holy maiden said to the hegemon: - Mad, wicked and reckless man! Don't you understand that I am bound by the commandments of the Lord my God and nailed to His law? I cannot detach myself from these bonds that are pleasant to me; Therefore, I cannot run away from the suffering feat, which I myself, of my own free will, go to for the sake of Christ, my Savior. After the saint uttered these words, she was sent to prison. While Saint Glyceria was in prison, the priest of God Philocrates came to her, wanting to visit the prisoner of Christ. The saint told him: - Sign me with the sign of the cross; Having adorned me with this sign, as if with some kind of anointing, pray for me, so that I please my God and the King Whom you serve; pray for me, so that I, being protected by the sign of the Holy Cross, will defeat the malice of the devil. The presbyter, marking Glykeria with an honorable cross, said: – May the sign of Christ help you; May Christ Himself be your spiritual peace, anointing you with His grace, so that you courageously endure your feat. Having strengthened Glyceria in the Lord and taught her peace, Philocrates left prison. On the morning of the next day, Hegemon Savin arrived at the royal court, intending to torture Saint Glyceria here. Calling her to his judgment seat, he told her: “Do you now agree, Glyceria, to make a sacrifice to the great god Dius, to whom our emperor himself worships and makes sacrifices?” - How can I bow to him or make a sacrifice after your god, having fallen to the ground, was broken into pieces, not being able to help himself? I know only one God who lives in heaven, who helped me destroy your unclean idol. It is this God who should be worshiped, sacrificed and pleased. - Make a sacrifice if you do not want to be tortured. “My God will torment me if I listen to you.” - So you want to die? “I want to heal my mental illnesses with my physical suffering.” Then the hegemon ordered the saint to be hanged by her hair on a torment tree and her body to be whittled with iron claws until she died. When the saint was hanged and tortured, she did not feel any pain from the torment and said to the hegemon: - Wicked and full of all malice, servant of the devil! All the torments you subject me to are nothing to me, because I don’t feel them at all. Near me is the Lord and my God, Jesus Christ, who helps me. Prepare even greater torments for me, because I don’t feel any pain from these torments. While the saint was saying this, the servants who were torturing the saint became exhausted. The hegemon, seeing that the torments he had invented for Glyceria had been overcome by the saint, ordered Glykeria to be taken down from the tormenting tree and beaten in her face. Being biema, the saint said: – My God is my light, but Christ is my strength. He will protect His servant with goodness. Then, looking at the sky, the saint said: “I pray to You, Master, enlighten my face and help me to courageously accept these blows.” Strengthen me, O Lord, for You are the true God, enriching with the treasures of the Holy Spirit all who fearlessly confess Your holy name before the tormentors. You are the Lord who helps everyone who pleases You on earth, You protect Your saints, through whom I came to know You, the true God, and loved my Creator. Hear me now, Thy humble servant, struggling for Thy name, and help me to get rid of the snares of the devil and the mouth of the serpent. While the saint was speaking these words, the tormentors crushed her lips without mercy. But suddenly an Angel of the Lord appeared among them, who frightened the tormentors so much that they all fell to the ground as if dead. The hegemon, who had not seen the Angels, said to the saint: - Tell me, Glyceria: why do you not obey the king’s orders? - Which king should I obey? Hegemon said: - The Roman autocrat, who ordered the fulfillment of this ancient law, handed down to us by our fathers, which ordered the worship of our gods. – I listen to God Almighty and obey His law. I keep His law and therefore sacrifice myself, just as in ancient times Abraham sacrificed Isaac his son to God (Gen. 22:1-19), for which Abraham was acceptable to the true God; For this sacrifice, God sent him a blessing and told him that he would be the father of many nations. “Finally, do what I command you, if you do not want to die a cruel death, like a seduced woman.” – Christ, the Leader of us Christians, and our first hero of heroism, strengthens not only men, but also women, for feat, and He rewards those of them who courageously struggled, fighting with your father, the devil, with a bright crown. After this, the hegemon ordered the martyr to be taken to prison and ordered her to starve and thirst there for many days. The saint went into prison with joy, praising God. When she entered the inner compartment of the prison and when the doors were closed behind her, she began to glorify the Lord in these words: “Blessed are You, Lord and God of our fathers! Blessed are You, O God, known by Your saints, who faithfully keep Your commandments, Who revealed Yourself to the holy Apostle Peter, coming out of Rome 3206, who shamed his adversary Simon the Magus 3207, who helped David, whom You subdued under the feet of Goliath (1 Sam. 17:4-51). You, Most Honorable and Most Pure God, hear me and come to the aid of me, Your servant. Deliver me from the wiles of the enemy and from the temptation of this wicked hegemon.” Three days after this, the hegemon said to the tribune: “Take my ring and put a seal with it on the compartment of the prison in which that sorceress is imprisoned.” The tribune immediately went, sealed the door of the prison and ordered the prison guard to carefully ensure that no one served the martyr any food or drink. But the Angels of God brought food and drink to the holy martyr and strengthened the bride of Christ. A few days after this, the hegemon, intending to go to the city of Heraclius, came to the prison to see the martyr, since he wanted to take her with him. Seeing his seal on the prison door, he thought that Glyceria had already died of hunger and thirst, because many days had passed since she was imprisoned. But, having opened the doors and seeing the living saint, released from her bonds, and also seeing the dishes standing in front of Glyceria (they contained clean bread, milk, and there was also water in the cup), the hegemon was very amazed at all this, since he, the accursed one, did not understand that God Himself fed His servant. Then the hegemon ordered, taking the martyr out of prison, to lead her with him to the city of Heraclius 3208. The saint gave thanks to the Lord for everything, saying: “Master God! You, who teach us the knowledge of Your truth, who provide for Your faithful servants, who sent food to Daniel when he was in the ditch 3209, who sent food to Elijah the prophet (1 Kings 17:2-6), when he lived near the stream, who turns the erring to the truth, who enlightens the blind! I thank You for remembering me, Your humble servant, and feeding me during a famine with Your generous hand from Your innumerable treasures.” Saying these words, the saint went to the city of Heraclius. The hegemon, having arrived there in advance, was already making a sacrifice in the church dedicated to the god Diy. Meanwhile, the Christians living in the city of Iraklia, having learned that Glyceria, who had suffered for Christ in Traianople, was coming to them, they went out to meet her with their honest bishop Dometius. Moving away from the city three miles away and seeing the saint, they loudly glorified her for her suffering for Christ, and the bishop publicly offered a prayer to God, saying: “Lord Jesus Christ, unquenchable light, enlightener of all who are in darkness, Leader of those who go astray, who led Moses through the sea like dry land, but drowned Pharaoh in the sea (Ex. 14) We pray to You: be Your Leader and servant, help her to courageously confess Your honorable and all-holy name to the end!” Meanwhile, the saint was led into the city in chains by the soldiers accompanying her. On the morning of the next day, the hegemon decided to burn the martyr if she had not made sacrifices to the gods. Calling her before his court, he said to her: “Have you decided, Glyceria, to make a sacrifice to our gods?” – In the law given to us by the true God, it is written: “You shall not tempt the Lord your God” (Deut. 6:16), so stop persuading me. I have already said that I have fully joined and fully serve Christ, my God and Lord, and I reject the devil whom you serve. But if I am united with Christ, if I have betrothed myself to Christ, then do you really think I will ever renounce Christ my God and choose death instead of eternal life? You can do whatever you want with me; but I despise and will despise all vain earthly blessings, since I want to acquire and gain for myself heavenly blessings. After the saint finished speaking, the hegemon ordered her to be thrown into the fiery furnace. When the oven was lit, the saint protected herself with the sign of the cross and said: - Lord God, Almighty! I will bless You and glorify Your holy name because You have given me this present day and this hour with eternal joy, because You wrote my confession before Angels and men. I pray you - fulfill the desire of my soul: show this wicked and vile hegemon that You are truly my Helper. While pronouncing these words, the saint was thrown into the cave. But immediately dew descended from the sky and extinguished the flame of the oven. The saint, standing in the middle of the cave, like a pure lamb, sang these words: “Holy are You, O God! Blessed are You, who sent me, Your humble servant, help from heaven; let everyone understand that every creature is subject to You; let everyone understand that by Your will the flame of this furnace has lost its power.” Having said this, the saint came out of the cave unharmed. The hegemon, thinking that Glyceria, by his magic, did not receive harm from the fire, ordered the skin to be torn off from her head. When the hegemon’s servants began to carry out the hegemon’s orders, the holy martyr cried out to God, saying: “Lord God, who brought forth light! You, who have deigned to flourish righteousness in the midst of this torment, show the wicked hegemon Savin that everyone who firmly trusts in You and trusts in Your power will never be afraid of torment for Your name, but even desires an even greater feat of martyrdom in order to receive a more glorious crown of martyrdom. I praise and thank You for the fact that You opened the inner being of my soul, after the skin was removed from my head, so that I, illuminated by Your light, can now say about myself: “Open my eyes, and I will see the wonders of Your law” (Ps. 119:18). The hegemon, seeing a reproach for himself in these words of the saint, ordered her to be taken to prison and, tying her hands and feet, ordered her to be laid naked on a sharp stone. When midnight came, the Angel of the Lord descended into the prison. Having illuminated the prison, he released the saint from her shackles and healed her, restoring again the skin on her head, torn off by her tormentors, so that absolutely no wounds were visible on the saint’s face, and the saint was healthy and had a blooming face. The next morning, the hegemon ordered the saint to be brought to him again for interrogation. When the prison guard Laodiceus, opening the door of the prison, saw that the saint was freed from her shackles, he fell into fear and horror; not thinking that it was Glyceria, he intended to kill himself, because he thought that Glyceria had escaped from prison (the guard wanted to do this because he was very afraid of punishment from the hegemon). But the saint said to him: – Do not harm yourself, for it is I – Glyceria. The guard, being frightened, said: - Have mercy on me, save me so that I do not die of fear, since I believe in God helping you. – Follow Christ and you will be saved. The guard, leaving the prison, put on himself the bonds with which the martyr was bound, and, carrying them on himself, went to the hegemon. When the hegemon saw him, he said: “What did you do, Laodicea?” Where is the prisoner entrusted to your supervision? Laodicea said to this: - Here it is in front of you. This night she was illuminated by God's light and healed by an Angel sent from God, who freed her from her shackles; I put these shackles on myself; at the same time, she received the original beauty of her face and was completely healed by the Angel from her wounds. Seeing all these miracles of God, I believed in God and wish to be an accomplice in the death of Glyceria. Then the hegemon, filled with anger, said: “Let this accursed one be beheaded, and then we will see whether Christ will come to his aid!” When the time for beheading by the sword approached, Laodicea raised his eyes to heaven and cried out loudly: – God and Lord of Christians! Number me in Your kingdom with Your holy servant Glyceria. Saint Glyceria prayed to God for him, saying this: “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who healed mortal diseases, who freed man captive by sin from the bonds of hell, You and Your servant Laodicea freed from the power of the devil; help him to complete the feat of his confession and accept his soul in peace.” Laodicea, who heard Glyceria’s prayer, said: “Amen.” After this he was truncated at the head; The honest Christians took his body secretly and buried it with honor. Meanwhile, the hegemon, turning to Glyceria, said to her: “We know that your father was a Roman anfipat, we also know that your mother was of equally noble origin; but who helps you, we don’t know; tell us about it yourself. “Christ, the Savior of the world and the Source of all joy, helps me, who sent me food in prison, freed me from my shackles and restored the beauty of my face, trampled upon by you. After this, the hegemon ordered the saint to be given to the beasts to be devoured. The saint went to the animals with joy and joy, as if to some kind of feast. When she arrived at the place where the animals are released, she stopped. Immediately a large lioness was released onto Glykeria, roaring menacingly; but, approaching the saint, she quietly lay down at her feet and began to lick them. The saint, raising her eyes to heaven, said: “I thank You, Almighty God, God of the fathers, God of mercy! I thank You, who tamed the fury of the beast in order to show everyone Your Divine power! I thank You for making everything, even the most cruel, torment easy for me. Hear me, O God, and reward this evil hegemon according to his deeds, but do not deprive me of the crown of Your grace along with the rest of Your saints.” After the saint prayed like this, a voice was heard from heaven saying: “I heard your prayer! Come to Me in peace! The doors of the Kingdom of Heaven are opening for you!” Soon another lioness was released, which, approaching the saint, bit her, and the saint’s body was not torn to pieces by the lioness. Thus the saint gave up her soul into the hands of God 3210. The animals immediately returned to their cages. At the same hour, the hegemon became very ill with a serious illness - he was swollen all over with dropsy and became very swollen, so that he died on the street, because they did not have time to bring him into the house. Bishop Dometius took the long-suffering body of the holy martyr Glyceria and buried it in one beautiful place near Iraklia. Subsequently, from the venerable relics of Saint Glyceria, celibate myrrh flowed 3211, healing many different ailments, to the glory of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the One God glorified in the Trinity, to whom honor, glory and worship are given, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Loving the Virgin and the Mother of God Mary, you have preserved your virginity incorruptibly; having zealous love for the Lord, you have suffered wisely even to the point of death. For this reason and for the greater good, Christ God crowns you, the virgin martyr. Antoninus Pius ruled the Roman Empire from 138 to 161. Dius or Zeus is the supreme god of the ancient Greek religion, considered the ancestor of other gods. Lampadophoria or lampadodromy among the ancient Greeks was actually called running with torches. Mostly young men took part in these races. These races were organized for prizes, which were won by young men who ran a certain distance with a lit torch or lamp. Lampadophoria was associated with various religious festivals and celebrations, usually in honor of the gods of light and fire (Prometheus, Pan), as well as the supreme god Zeus. Anfipat - mayor. Bel or Baal is the supreme deity of the Babylonians, the god of the sun and light in general. In his honor, a large church was built in Babylon, which looked like a high quadrangular tower. Here, on the lower floor, there was a bed and a golden table, on which the priests placed the food assigned to Vila every day. The Babylonians considered Bel to be a living god who eats and drinks. But this deception was revealed by the prophet Daniel (Dan. 14:1-22). The serpent, who was greatly revered by the Babylonians and had a cast gold image in the same tower as Bel, was struck and scattered to dust by the prophet Daniel (see Dan. 14:23–27). This refers to the following incident from the life of St. The Apostle Peter, told in his life (on June 29) in Rome (shortly before his death), the Roman authorities were looking for him to put him to death. At the urgent request of Roman Christians, Peter decided to hide from the persecution of enemies and for this purpose secretly left Rome at night. When Peter was already near the city gates, the Lord appeared to him. Having bowed to Him, Peter said: “Lord! Where are you going? The Lord answered Peter: “I am going to Rome to give myself up to crucifixion a second time.” From these words of the Lord, Peter understood that the Lord was calling him to suffer, and returned to Rome. This is where he suffered shortly afterwards. Simon the Magus is a Jew contemporary to the Apostle Peter; came from Samaria, then studied philosophy and magic in Alexandria; became famous as a wizard who possessed magical powers. Simon the Magus repeatedly put obstacles in the preaching activities of the apostle. Peter, but was always defeated by him. History of the struggle of the ap. Peter with Simon the Magus can be read in Acts 8:9-25 and in the story of the life of St. Apostle Peter (on June 29). About 20 cities were known in ancient times with the name of Heraclius; in this case, of course, Heraclius, who was in Thrace and lay near the Propontis (Sea of ​​Marmara). Once, during the reign of Cyrus, king of Persia, Daniel killed, without a sword and without a rod, the serpent, whom the Babylonians revered as a god. Then the Babylonians rebelled greatly against Daniel and asked the king to allow them to throw Daniel into the pit. In this den there were 7 lions who were not given food so that they would eat Daniel. The prophet Habakkuk was in Judea at that time. He cooked the food and took it to the field to give to the residents. But an Angel appeared to him and said: “Take the lunch you have to Babylon to Daniel, in the lions’ den.” “Lord,” answered Habakkuk, “I have not seen Babylon and I do not know where the ditch is.” Then the angel lifted Habakkuk by the hair of his head and placed him at the top of the pit in Babylon. Habakkuk exclaimed: “Daniel, Daniel! Take the lunch that God sent you." Daniel answered: “You remembered me, O God, and did not forsake those who love you.” Daniel then stood up and ate the lunch Habakkuk brought (Dan. 14:29–42) The death of the holy martyr followed ca. 177 An eyewitness to the flow of peace from the tomb of the holy martyr Glyceria was, among other things, the Emperor Mauritius (reigned from 582 to 602). With him there was the following miracle, which took place at the tomb of the holy martyr: the Bishop of Heraclian wished to replace the copper vessel into which the holy martyr flowed. myrrh, silver, for which purpose he bought it in Constantinople. But when this vessel was placed at the saint’s tomb, the myrrh stopped. After intensive prayers and replacing the vessel with an old one, it began to flow again. It turned out that the silver vessel previously belonged to a man who practiced sorcery and was used by him for acts of wickedness. You might be interested in: