Страдание святых мучеников Ермила и Стратоника

During the reign of Licinius 513, a wicked and very zealous idolater, all Christians were threatened with painful death. They were searched for in all countries, cities and villages. And anyone who, having found a Christian, reported about him to the king, thereby entered into favor with him and received great honors. Therefore, everyone, to please the king, began to search for and persecute Christians. One day, when Licinius was sitting on the throne and holding court, one warrior approached him and said: – There is a Christian here named Yermil, who has the rank of deacon among Christians; Having served Christ for a long time, he laughs at our gods and at you, king, and does not want to know you. Hearing this, the king ordered to find and capture Yermil. The saint was praying, raising his hands to the Lord his God, when messengers from the king came to him. Having learned that he was being taken to trial and torment for Christ, he rejoiced and rejoiced, and followed the soldiers, not as if forcibly led, but with cheerful haste, as if he were going to receive honors. Full of noble courage, he appeared before the king. Seeing him, Licinius asked: – Tell us, are you really a Christian, as we heard about you? “I,” answered Yermil, “not only freely recognize myself as a Christian, but declare that I am consecrated before the invisible God and stand before Him in the rank of deacon.” “Be a deacon, that is, a servant 514 and our gods,” said the king. To this proposal from the king, the martyr responded with contempt: “I think, king, you are either deaf or mad.” I told you that I serve the invisible God, and not those idols of yours who, being visible, do not see anything themselves and do not understand what it means to be a deacon. In deception, you consider them to be gods, while they are soulless and dull stones and trees, products of human hands, which deserve more to be laughed at than to be worshiped. The king could no longer hear the free speeches of the martyr and immediately ordered to beat him on the cheeks with special copper instruments, prepared in advance for torture, and at the same time sentence: - Don’t be bold with your tongue, Yermil, honor the king, make a sacrifice to the gods and save yourself from torment. The saint, it seemed, not only did not feel any pain during the severe beatings, but also laughed at the powerlessness of the tormentor. Then, raising his voice, he said loudly to the king; “You yourself will receive many wounds and you will experience the terrible hand of God on yourself because, having abandoned your Creator, you turn to deaf and dumb gods, and especially because you want to forcibly lead others, as if envying their salvation, to the same destruction.” After this, the king ordered Saint Hermil to be taken to prison for three days, hoping that he would come to his senses and repent of his courage. The martyr sang along the way: - “The Lord is for me - I will not be afraid: what will man do to me?” (Ps. 117:6). “I trust in God, I am not afraid; what the flesh will do to me” (Ps. 55:5). At the entrance to the prison he sang: - “Shepherd of Israel! Take heed; you who lead Joseph like sheep, who sit on Cherubim, show yourself and come to save us” (Ps. 79:2-3). And the Lord did not forget His servant, but sent an Angel to console and strengthen him, who appeared and said to him: - Ermil! Be courageous, speak up, do not be silent and do not be afraid, for soon you will win victory over the plans of the tormentor and receive the most holy crown from above for your suffering. So God, having armed His warrior for exploits, girded him with strength, strengthened his hands for the fight and gave his muscles like a copper bow and a shield of salvation. After three days, the king again demanded Yermil for trial and told him: – Have you repented and agree to make sacrifices to the gods in order to free yourself from the torment that lies ahead of you? Or are you still obsessed with madness and preparing your own destruction? The warrior of Christ, for the glory of the Lord who strengthened him, courageously answered this: - King! I have already told you once, and you should be content with my first words and not ask me any more. I have the God of heaven; I live by Him alone, I am ready to sacrifice myself to Him, and from Him I expect to receive great help for myself. “I’ll see if He who lives in heaven will help you,” said the king, and immediately ordered six strong and cruel warriors to stretch him on the ground and beat him mercilessly. The saint patiently endured the torment - as if it was not him who was beaten - and thus prayed to God: - My God! For my sake You endured wounds and beatings under Pontius Pilate 515; strengthen me Yourself in my sufferings for You, send me the strength to endure these torments, so that through participation in Your sufferings I may become worthy of being a participant in Your eternal glory. When the Saint was praying like this, suddenly a voice was heard from heaven, which said: - Amen, amen, Ermil! In three days you will be freed from this torment and will receive a great reward for your suffering. This voice gave the martyr great courage and strength, and brought great fear and trembling to the tormentors; they fell to the ground and could not do anything. The king was in awe, but did not want to acknowledge the power of God. By his order, the holy martyr was again taken to prison. The prison guard, who was entrusted with guarding the martyr, was Stratonik. He was a secret Christian and friend of Saint Hermil. His heart was crushed at the sight of the suffering of the martyr, but at the same time he rejoiced in his soul at his courage and firmness, but he did not dare to go through such suffering himself. Entering the prison, Saint Ermil sang: - “The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom should I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life: whom shall I fear?” (Ps.26:1) A heavenly light from above illuminated him, and again a voice was heard, calling him to bravely endure suffering and promising its end after three days. The next morning, the king again called the saint to the judgment seat. He appeared before him with a bright face, cheerful eyes and joy in his heart. The torturer, shaking his head and laughing at the martyr, said: - Answer us, what benefit did the dark dungeon bring you? Have the sufferings you have endured convinced you to submit to the royal law and give the gods the honor due to them? Or will it be necessary to invent more torments against the stubbornness of your heart? “The gloomy prison,” answered the martyr, “enlightened me; my soul is calm, joyful and light, which gives me good hope of receiving a future reward; and I am very surprised why the darkness in which you are immersed and which hides the truth from your spiritual eyes does not dissipate at all. When the saint thus denounced the king’s error, Licinius exclaimed: “You, apparently, are incapable of anything else except to openly mock me, due to the incontinence of your tongue, your insolence and madness.” Answer and speak directly: will you make a sacrifice to the gods and obey our command, or will you subject yourself to the torment you deserve? “You have already heard, king, what I answered,” said the martyr of Christ Yermil, “and you will not hear anything more from me; do what you want, fulfill what you have in mind. The enraged Licinius ordered the saint to be stretched naked on the ground and beaten in the stomach with sticks. The saint, in the midst of torture, had one joy - in Christ and prayed, raising the eyes of his soul to Him: - “Hasten, O God, to deliver me; hasten, O Lord, to help me” (Ps. 69:2). The saint’s patience brought the tormentor into even greater rage, and he ordered his stomach to be torn with eagle claws: “Let him see,” he said, “with his own eyes his insides.” – “My heart and my flesh delight in the living God” (Ps. 83:3). “As my soul is satisfied with fat and oil, and my lips praise You with a joyful voice” (Ps. 62:6). Stratonik, looking at such inhuman torment of Saint Hermilus, his friend, and at the tearing of his womb, began to cry. Seeing this, some of those around immediately reported to the king, saying: – The prison guard Stratonicus does not hide his participation in Christian error and his friendship with Yermil, because he regrets and cries for him. The king, calling Stratonik, asked: “Are you a friend of Ermil?” Stratonik, not wanting, as a student of truth, to speak untruths, and seeing that the time had come for him to accomplish a feat, he called himself a friend of Ermil and a Christian, denounced the soullessness of idols and the madness of those who worship them, and glorified the One God, the Creator of heaven and earth. The angry king ordered Stratonicus to be naked and beaten with sticks all over his body. In the midst of his torment, the sufferer raised his eyes to his friend, Saint Hermil, and said: “Pray to Christ for me, Yermil, so that He will help me firmly and unshakably maintain my faith and rise above my tormentors.” At the same time, he convinced Licinius to stop worshiping blind and soulless idols and fear punishment from the true God, into whose hands it is scary to fall (Heb. 10:31). They beat the saint until he fell silent, exhausted from his wounds. After this, the king ordered both - Stratonik and Ermil - to be imprisoned. Saint Stratonicus prayed and said: – “Do not remember the sins of my ancestors” (Ps. 78:8). – “Help us, O God our Savior, for the glory of Your name” (Ps. 78:9). In response to this, a Divine voice was heard saying: – You have completed your course, kept the faith, and there is in store for you a crown of righteousness (cf. 2 Tim. 4:7-8), which you will receive in the morning. When morning came, Yermil was again brought to the trial, and Licinius asked him: -Will you make a sacrifice to the gods? “What I told you before,” answered the saint, “I will repeat now.” Burn, slash, and - as you wish - torture me, for I am accustomed not to be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul (cf. Matt. 10:28). The torturer ordered the saint to be hanged on a tree and his body to be cut with knives. Amidst cruel torment, the saint continually prayed and said: - Be my Helper, Lord, my Savior! - Do not be afraid: I, your God, am with you! – he heard a voice from above. After this, the king condemned Saint Hermil to be drowned in the Istra River 516. He then exhorted Saint Stratonicus to make a sacrifice to the gods. “Otherwise you, damned one,” he said, “will suffer like your friend.” Blessed Stratonik answered: “Indeed, I would be damned if I obeyed your insane order.” How can I desire life when my friend dies for Christ? - What? Do you really want to die with Yermil? - asked Licinius. Saint Stratonicus answered: - I really want to! True friends need to endure disasters and enjoy blessings together. What is more pleasant for us than suffering and death for Christ? Having lost all hope of success, Licinius condemned Saint Stratonikos to the same death - to be drowned in water along with Saint Hermilus. Both holy martyrs were led to the river. On the way they sang joyfully: - “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!” 517 When the soldiers brought them to the Istra River, they put them in nets and threw them into a deep place; and thus the river received the bodies of the holy martyrs, and Heaven infused their souls into its abodes 518. On the third day, the believers found their holy bodies on the shore and buried them with honor at a distance of eighteen stadia from the city of Singidon 519. At the same time, they were laid in one tomb so that they would have everything: a common confession of Christ, a common prison, common torment, a common drowning, a common burial of their bodies, common glory in heaven by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, belongs all glory, honor and worship, now and ever and unto ages of ages, amen. Licinius was first co-ruler of the eastern emperor Maximian Galerius with the title of Augustus. After the death of Galerius, having eliminated his rivals, in 312 he became Emperor of the East, while Constantine the Great became Emperor of the West. While Constantine the Great patronized Christians, Licinius oppressed his Christian subjects, perhaps suspecting them of sympathizing with Constantine. Subsequently, war broke out between Licinius and Constantine; Licinius was defeated, deprived of power and finally executed in 324. Deacon - translated from Greek actually means: minister, in the sense of a lower clergyman. Pontic Pilate was the Roman ruler of Judea, under whom our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and was delivered to death. This was the name of the Danube River. Words of the Angel's Gospel at the Nativity of Christ. (Luke 2:14). Death of St. The martyrs Ermilus and Stratonicus followed around 315. Singidon is now Belgrade, a city on the right bank of the Danube, in its lower reaches, the capital of Serbia. You might be interested in: