Science of the Saints, 1 October, Saint Romanus The Melodist

The Monk Romanus the Melodist was born in the fifth century in the Syrian city of Emessa.

Having moved on to Constantinople, he became a church attendant in the temple of Saint Sophia. The monk spent his nights alone at prayer in a field or in the Blachernae church out beyond the city.

Saint Romanus did not initially have the talent for reading and song. One time, on the eve of the Nativity of Christ, he read the kathisma verses, but so poorly that another reader had to take his place, and the clergy made fun of Romanus. 

The youth for a long while in grief prayed before an icon of the Most Holy Mother of God. The Mother of God appeared at night in a dream-vision to the saint, and having given him a scroll (in Greek "kondakion"), commanded him to eat it. Thus did the Monk Romanus receive the gift of book understanding, composition, and the making of churchly song. This was on the day of the Nativity of Christ. For the all-night vigil Saint Romanus in a wondrous voice sang forth in church his first kondak: "Today the Virgin giveth birth to the Transcendent One..." 

From this scroll ("kondakion") all the songs of the monk became known as kondakions or kondaks. Saint Romanus was also the first to write in the form of the "ikos," a song form which he incorporated into the all-night vigil at his places of domicile (in Greek "oikos").

For his zealous service Saint Romanus was ordained to the dignity of deacon and became a teacher of song. Up until his death, which occurred in about the year 556, the Monk-Deacon Romanus the Melodist composed nearly a thousand church songs, many of which Christians still use to glorify the Lord.

Science of the Saints, 30 September, Holy Hieromartyr Gregory The Illuminator, Bishop And Evangelist Of Great Armenia

The Hieromartyr Gregory, Enlightener of Great Armenia, was born in the year 257.

He was descended from the line of the Parthian Arsakid emperors. The father of Saint Gregory, Anak, in striving after the Armenian throne, had murdered his kinsman, the emperor Kursar, in consequence of which all the line of Anak was marked for destruction. A certain kinsman saved Gregory: he carried off the infant from Armenia to Caesarea Cappadocia and raised him in the Christian faith.

At maturity, Gregory married, had two sons, but soon was left a widower. Gregory raised his sons in piety. One of them, Orthanes, afterwards became a priest, and the other, Arostanes, accepted monasticism and went off into the wilderness.

In order to atone for the sin of his father, who had murdered the father of Tiridates, Gregory entered into the service of the latter and was for him a faithful servant. Tiridates loved Gregory like a friend, but he was intolerant of the Christian confession of faith. After ascending the Armenian throne, he began to demand that Saint Gregory renounce the Christian faith. The steadfastness of the saint embittered Tiridates, and he gave his faithful servant over to cruel tortures: they suspended the sufferer head downwards with a stone about his neck, for several days they choked him with a stinking smoke, they beat and ridiculed him, and forced him to walk in iron sandals inset with nails. During the time of these sufferings Saint Gregory sang psalms. In prison the Lord healed all his wounds.

When Gregory again stood before the emperor cheerful and unharmed, that one was astonished and gave orders to repeat the torments. Saint Gregory endured them, not wavering, with all his former determination and bearing. They then poured hot tin over him and threw him into a pit, full of vipers. The Lord however saved His chosen one: the viperous creatures did him no harm. Some pious women fed him with bread, secretly lowering it into the pit. An holy Angel, appearing to the martyr, invigorated his powers and encouraged his spirit. Thus it went on for fourteen years. During this time the emperor Tiridates wrought yet another evil deed: he martyred the holy virgin Saint Ripsimia, the aged hegumeness Gaiania and another thirty-five virgins from one of the Asia Minor monasteries.

Saint Ripsimia had fled to Armenia, together with her hegumeness and fellow sisters, to avoid entering into marriage with the emperor Diocletian (284-305), who was charmed by her beauty. Concerning this, Diocletian sent a report to the Armenian emperor Tiridates suggesting that he either send Ripsimia back, or wed her himself. The servants of the emperor found the fugitives and they began to urge Ripsimia to submit to the will of the emperor. The saint answered, that she, just like all her monastic sisters, was betrothed to the Heavenly Bridegroom and so to enter into marriage was not possible. Then from the heavens resounded a Voice: "Be brave and fear not, for I am with thee," The messengers in fear withdrew. Tiridates gave the maiden over to cruelest torments: they plucked out her tongue, cut open her stomach, blinded and killed her, chopping her body into pieces.

After this, inspired by Ripsimia to bravely endure torments for Christ, the hegumeness Saint Gaiania and two other monastic sisters were given over to similar tortures, after which they were beheaded. The remaining thirty-three sisters were run through with swords and their bodies thrown for devouring by wild beasts. 

The wrath of God befell emperor Tiridates, and likewise those of his associates and soldiers, who had participated in the tormenting of the saints. Beset by demons, they became like wild boars (as once with Nabuchodonosor, Dan. 4:30), ranging through the forests, rending their clothes and gnawing at their own bodies. After the passage of a certain while, it was announced in a dream to Tiridates' sister Kusarodukhta: "If Gregory be not taken out of the pit, emperor Tiridates will not be healed." Then those close to the emperor approached the pit and asked: "Gregory, art thou alive?" Gregory answered: "By the grace of my God I am alive." Then they brought out the holy martyr - unshaven, darkened, and very withered, but as before steadfast of spirit.

The saint ordered the remains of the martyred virgins to be gathered up, which they venerably buried, and on the place of burial they built a church. At this church Saint Gregory greeted the demon-possessed emperor and commanded him to pray to the holy martyrs. Tiridates was healed, repenting of his offenses against God, and with his whole household he accepted holy Baptism. Following the example of the emperor, all the whole Armenian people was baptised. 

Through the efforts of Saint Gregory in the year 301 there was erected the Echmiadzin cathedral in honour of the Descent of the Holy Spirit. In the year 305 Saint Gregory journeyed to Caesarea Cappadocia and there was installed by archbishop Leontius as bishop of Armenia. For his apostolic works he received the title of Enlightener of Armenia. Saint Gregory likewise converted to Christ many people from the surrounding lands of Persia and Assyria. 

In organising the Armenian Church Saint Gregory summoned to serve as bishop his own son, Arostanes the wilderness-dweller, and he himself retired into the wilderness. Saint Arostanes in the year 325 was a participant in the First Ecumenical Council, which condemned the heresy of Arius. 

Saint Gregory, having retired to the wilderness, died in the year 335. The right hand and part of his holy relics rest now in a reliquary Echmiadzin cathedral church in Armenia. In the tradition of the Armenian Apostolic Church, preserved up to the present, the Supreme Catholicos-Patriarch of all the Armenians blesses with this right hand the holy myrrh at the time of the myrrh-boiling.

Science of the Saints, 29 September, Saint Cyriacus The Ascetic

The Monk Cyriacus was born at Corinth into the family of a presbyter of the cathedral church, John and his wife Eudoxia. 

The bishop of Corinth, Peter, being a kinsman and seeing that Cyriacus was growing up as a quiet and sensible lad, made him a reader in church. Constant reading of the Holy Scriptures awakened in him a spirit of love for the Lord and of a yearning for a pure and saintly life. 

Once, when the youth was not yet eighteen years old, during a church service he was so deeply moved by the words of the Gospel: "Whosoever would to come after Me, let him deny himself and raise up his cross and follow Me," (Mt.16:24) that immediately - not returning home - he went to the harbour, got onto a ship and set off to Jerusalem. Having visited the holy places, Cyriacus dwelt for several months at a monastery not far from Sion in obedience to the hegumen Abba Eustorgius, by whose blessing he made his way to the wilderness Laura of the Monk Euthymius the Great. 

The Monk Euthymius, discerning in the youth great Divine gifts, vowed him into the monastic form and set him under the guidance of the Monk Gerasimus, pursuing asceticism at Jordan in the monastery of Saint Theoctistus. 

Saint Gerasimus, seeing the youthfulness of Cyriacus, ordered him to live in the regular community with the brethren. The young monk easily accomplished the monastic obediences - he prayed fervently, he slept little, food he partook of only every other day, nourishing himself but with bread and water. 

During the period of great Lent Saint Gerasimus, having set out according to custom into the Ruv wilderness returning to the monastery only on Palm Sunday, began also to take Cyriacus with him. In the complete solitude the ascetics redoubled their efforts. The Monk Gerasimus each Sunday communed his student with the Holy Mysteries. 

After the death of the Monk Gerasimus, the 27 year old Cyriacus returned to the Laura of the Monk Euthymius, but he too was no longer among the living. The Monk Cyriacus asked for himself a solitary cell and there he pursued asceticism in silence, communicating only with the monk Thomas. But soon Thomas was sent to Alexandria where he was ordained bishop, and Saint Cyriacus spent ten years in total silence. 

At thirty-seven years of age he was ordained to the dignity of deacon. When a split occurred between the monasteries of the Monk Euthymius and the Monk Theoctistus, Saint Cyriacus withdrew to the Sukea monastery of the Monk Chariton. At this monastery they took in monks entering anew as new-beginners, and so also was Saint Cyriacus received, humbly toiling at the regular monastic obediences. 

After several years the Monk Cyriacus was ordained priest and chosen canonarch and did this obedience for eighteen years. The Monk Cyriacus spent thirty years at the monastery of the Monk Chariton. Strict fasting and total lack of evil distinguished the Monk Cyriacus even among the ascetics of the Laura. In his cell each night he read the Psalter, interrupting the reading only so as to go to church at midnight. The ascetic slept very little. 

When the monk reached seventy years of age, he went to the Natupha wilderness, taking with him his disciple John. In the wilderness the hermits nourished themselves only with bitter grasses, which through the prayer of Saint Cyriacus was rendered edible. After a period of five years one of the inhabitants found out about the ascetics and brought to them his demon-possessed son, and Saint Cyriacus healed him. From that time many people began to approach the monk with their needs, but he sought complete solitude and fled to the Ruv wilderness, where he dwelt five years more. But the sick and demon-afflicted came to him in this wilderness, and the monk healed them with the sign of the Cross and prayer. 

At his eightieth year of life the Monk Cyriacus fled to the hidden Susakim wilderness, where two parched streams passed by. According to tradition, the holy Prophet David brought Susakim to attention: "Thou driest up the river Itham." (Ps. 73:15) After seven years brethren of the Sukea monastery came to him, beseeching his spiritual help during the time of onset, through the sufferance of God, of debilitating hunger and illness. They implored Saint Cyriacus to return to the monastery, and the monk settled into a cave, in which the Monk Chariton had earlier asceticised.

The Monk Cyriacus rendered great help to the Church in the struggle with the spreading heresy of the Origenists; by prayer and word he returned the misled to the true way, and strengthening the orthodox in their faith. 

The author of the Vita of the Monk Cyriacus, a monk of the Laura of the Monk Euthymios named Cyril, was a witness, when the Monk Cyriacus predicted the pending death of the chief heretics Jonah and Leontius, and soon the heresy would cease to spread. 

The Most Holy Mother of God Herself commanded the Monk Cyriacus to keep to the orthodox teaching in its purity: Having appeared to him in a dream together with the Saints John the Baptist and John the Theologian, She refused to enter into the cell of the monk because in it was a book with the words of the heretic Nestorius. "In your cell is My enemy," She said. 

At his ninety-ninth year of life the monk Cyriacus again went off to Susakim and lived there with his disciple John. In the wilderness a huge lion waited on the Monk Cyriacus, protecting him from robbers, but it did not bother wandering brethren and it ate from the monk's hand. Once in the heat of summer all the water in the pit dried up, where during winter the ascetics had stored up water, and there was no other source of water. The Monk Cyriacus prayed, and here amidst the desert there poured forth copious rain, filling the pit with water. 

For the two years before his death the Monk Cyriacus returned to the monastery and again settled into the cave of the Monk Chariton. Until the end of his life the righteous elder preserved his courage, and standing with fervour he sang. He was never without deeds, either he prayed, or he worked. Before death the Monk Cyriacus summoned the brethren, gave blessing to all and with a prayer he quietly expired to the Lord, having lived 109 years.

Science of the Saints, 28 September, Our Holy Father And Confessor Chariton

The Monk Chariton the Confessor suffered at Iconium during the time of one of the persecutions against Christians under either the emperor Galerius (305-311), Maximian (305-311) or Licinius (311-324). 

The grace-bearing example of the holy First‑Martyress Thecla encouraged him in his confessor's deed - she being a native of his city, whose memory he in particular deeply venerated. 

Saint Chariton bravely denounced the pagan gods and staunchly confessed faith in the One True God - Christ the Saviour. The holy Confessor underwent fierce tortures but, through the Providence of God, he remained alive. When the persecution abated, the saint was set free from imprisonment and he dedicated all his life to the service of the Lord. 

Journeying to Jerusalem on pilgrimage to the holy places, he fell into the hands of robbers. They tied him and threw him in a cave, intending later to kill him, and they themselves hastened off on business. In expectation of death the saint prayed heatedly, he gave thanks to God and entreated Him to do with him according to His will. At this time a snake crawled into the cave and began to drink wine from a vessel setting there, poisoning it with its deadly venom. Having returned to the cave, the robbers drank the poisoned wine and they all perished. 

The Monk Chariton, giving thanks to God, began asceticising at the place of his miraculous rescue. The plundered gold of the robbers he distributed to the poor, and in the robbers' cave he built a church, around which in time there formed a monastery - the reknowned Tharan Laura in Palestine. 

The Monk Chariton compiled a strict rule for his monastery. Yearning for solitude, the monk went farther into the wilderness, but there also he did not reject those who besought his spiritual guidance , and he founded yet two more monasteries - the Jerichon and the Tree-branched, named the "Palm Laura." 

At the end of his life the Monk Chariton asceticised in a cave on an hill, nearby the Tree-branched monastery, but he did not cease guidance with all three of the monasteries founded by him. 

By tradition, the Monk Chariton compiled the office of taking monastic vows. The Monk Chariton the Confessor died in extreme old age and was buried, in accord with his last-wishes, in the Tharan monastery in the church, built on the spot of the robbers' cave.

Science of the Saints, 27 September, Holy Martyr Callistratus And The Forty Nine Holy Martyrs With Him

Saint Callistratus was a native of Carthage. An ancestor of Saint Callistratus, Neoscorus, has served under the emperor Tiberius in Palestine, under the command of the procurator of Judea Pontius Pilate, and was a witness to the suffering on the Cross and glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The father of the saint was a Christian, and he raised his son in faith and piety. Also like his father, Saint Callistratus became a soldier and excelled among his pagan military comrades by good conduct and gentle disposition. During the nights when everyone slept, he usually stayed up at prayer. 

One time a soldier sleeping nearby him heard Saint Callistratus invoking the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he reported this to the military commander, who in turn summoned Callistratus, interrogated him, and wanted to make him offer sacrifice to idols. To this the saint answered firmly with a resolute refusal. Then the military commander gave orders to beat the saint and then, covered with wounds, to drag him over sharp stones. The beating and the torments did not sway the firm will and brave endurance of the sufferer. The torturer gave orders to sew up the saint in a leather sack and drown him in the sea. By Divine Providence however the sack came upon a sharp rock tearing it, and Saint Callistratus, supported by dolphins, came to dry land unharmed. Viewing such a miracle, forty-nine soldiers came to believe in Christ. Then the military commander threw Saint Callistratus together with the believing soldiers into prison. Before this, all of them were subjected to innumerable floggings.

In confinement, Saint Callistatus continued to preach the Word of God to the soldiers and he bolstered their spirits for the martyr's act. Summoned again to the military commander, the sufferers firmly confessed their faith in Christ, after which they bound them hand and foot and threw them into a water-dam. But there their bonds broke, and with bright faces the holy martyrs stood in the water, rejoicing in their Baptism, which coincided with the act of martyrdom. Over them were beautiful bright crowns, and all heard a voice: "Be brave, Callistratus, with thy company, and come rest in the eternal habitations." At the same time with this, the earth shuddered and an idol standing not far off fell down and smashed. Beholding this happening, another 135 soldiers also believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. The military commander, fearing a mutiny in the army, did not set about to judge them, but again imprisoned Saint Callistratus with the others, where they fervently prayed and gave thanks to the Creator, for having given them power to endure such sufferings. At night by order of the military commander they chopped the martyrs to pieces with swords. Their holy remains were buried by the remaining-alive 135 soldiers, and afterwards on the spot of their sufferings, as Saint Callistatus had foretold, a church was built.

Science of the Saints, 26 September, Translation Of The Apostle & Evangelist Saint John The Theologian

The Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian was the son of Zebedee and Salomia - a daughter of Saint Joseph the Betrothed. Together at the same time with his elder brother James, he was called by our Lord Jesus Christ to be numbered amongst His Apostles, which took place at Lake Gennesareth (i.e. the Sea of Galilee). Leaving  behind their father, both brothers followed the Lord.

The Apostle John was especially beloved by the Saviour for his sacrificial love and his virginal purity. After his calling, the Apostle John did not part from the Lord, and he was one of the three apostles who were particularly close to Him. Saint John the Theologian was present when the Lord resuscitated to life the daughter of Jairus, and he was a witness to the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor. During the time of the Last Supper, he reclined next to the Lord, and at a gesture from the Apostle Peter, he pressed nigh to the bosom of the Saviour and asked the name of the betrayer. The Apostle John followed after the Lord, when they led Him bound from the Garden of Gethsemane to the court of the iniquitous high-priests Annas and Caiphas. He was there in the courtyard of the high-priest during the interrogations of his Divine Teacher and he resolutely followed after him on the way of the Cross, grieving with all his heart. At the foot of the Cross he went together with the Mother of God and heard addressed to Her from atop the Cross the words of the Crucified Lord: "Woman, behold Thy son" and to him "Behold thy Mother" (Jn.19:26-27). And from that moment the Apostle John, like a loving son, concerned himself over the Most Holy Virgin Mary, and he served Her until Her Dormition, never leaving Jerusalem. 

After the Dormition of the Mother of God the Apostle John, in accord with the lot that had befallen him, set off to Ephesus and other cities of Asia Minor to preach the Gospel, taking with him his own disciple Prochorus. They set off upon their on a ship, which floundered during the time of a terrible tempest. All the travellers were cast up upon dry ground, and only the Apostle John remained in the depths of the sea. Prochorus wept bitterly, bereft of his spiritual father and guide, and he went on towards Ephesus alone. On the fourteenth day of his journey he stood at the shore of the sea and beheld that the waves had cast ashore a man. Going up to him, he recognised the Apostle John, whom the Lord had preserved alive for fourteen days in the deeps of the sea. Teacher and student set off to Ephesus, where the Apostle John preached incessantly to the pagans about Christ. His preaching was accompanied by numerous and great miracles, such that the number of believers increased with each day. During this time there had begun a persecution against Christians under the emperor Nero (56-68). They took away the Apostle John for trial at Rome. The Apostle John was sentenced to death for his confession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but the Lord preserved His chosen one. The apostle drank out of a cup prepared for him with deadly poison but he remained alive, and later he emerged unharmed from a cauldron of boiling oil, into which he had been thrown on orders from the torturer. After this, they sent the Apostle John off to imprisonment to the island of Patmos, where he spent many years. Proceeding along on his way to the place of exile, the Apostle John worked many miracles. On the island of Patmos, his preaching accompanied by miracles attracted to him all the inhabitants of the island, and he enlightened them with the light of the Gospel. He cast out many a devil from the pagan-idol temples, and he healed a great multitude of the sick. Sorcerer-magicians with diverse demonic powers showed great hostility to the preaching of the holy apostle. He gave especial fright to the chief sorcerer of them all, named Kinops, who boasted that they would destroy the apostle. But the great John - the Son of Thunder, as the Lord Himself had named him - by the grace of God acting through him destroyed all the demonic artifices to which Kinops resorted, and the haughty sorcerer perished exhausted in the depths of the sea. 

The Apostle John withdrew with his disciple Prochorus to a desolate height, where he imposed upon himself a three-day fast. During the time of the Apostle John's prayer the earth quaked and thunder boomed. Prochorus in fright fell to the ground. The Apostle John lifted him up and bid him to write down, that which he was to speak. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord, Which is and Which was and Which is to come, the Almighty" (Rev.1:8), proclaimed the Spirit of God through the Apostle John. Thus in about the year 67 was written the Apocalypse of the holy Apostle John the Theologian. In this Book was a revealing of the tribulations of the Church and of the end of the world.

After his prolonged exile, the Apostle John received his freedom and returned to Ephesus, where he continued with his activity, instructing Christians to guard against false teachers and their false teachings. In about the year 95, the Apostle John wrote his Gospel at Ephesus. He called for all Christians to love the Lord and one another, and by this to fulfill the commands of Christ. The Church entitles Saint John the "Apostle of Love," since he constantly taught, that without love man cannot come nigh to God. In his three Epistles he speaks about the significance of love for God and for neighbour. 

Already in his old age, and having learned of a youth who had strayed from the true path to begin following the leader of a band of robbers, the Apostle John went out into the wilderness to seek him. Catching sight of the holy elder, the culprit tried to hide himself, but the Apostle John ran after him and besought him to stop, and promising to take the sins of the youth upon himself, if only he should but repent and not bring ruination upon his soul. Shaken by the intense love of the holy elder, the youth actually did repent and turn his life around.

The holy Apostle John died at more than an hundred years old. He far outlived the other remaining eye-witnesses of the Lord, and for a long time he remained the sole remaining eye-witness of the earthly paths of the Saviour. 

When it became time for the departure of the Apostle John, he withdrew out beyond the city limits of Ephesus, being together with the families of his disciples. He bid them prepare for him a cross-shaped grave, in which he lay, telling his disciples that they should cover him over with the soil. The students with tears kissed their beloved teacher, but not wanting to be disobedient, they fulfilled his bidding. They covered the face of the saint with a cloth and filled in the grave. Learning of this, other students of the Apostle John came to the place of his burial, but opening the grave they found it empty.

Each year from the grave of the holy Apostle John on 8 May there came forth a fine ash-dust, which believers gathered up and were healed of sicknesses by it. Therefore the Church celebrates the memory of the holy Apostle John the Theologian still even also on 8 May.

The Lord bestowed on His beloved disciple John and John's brother James the name "Sons of Thunder" - as an awesome messenger in its cleansing power of the heavenly fire. And precisely by this the Saviour pointed out the flaming, fiery, sacrificial character of Christian love, - the preacher of which was the Apostle John the Theologian. The eagle - symbol of the lofty soaring of his theological thought - is the iconographic symbol of the Evangelist John the Theologian. The appellation "Theologian" is bestowed by Holy Church only to Saint John among the immediate Disciples and Apostles of Christ, as being the seer of the mysteried Judgements of God.

Science of the Saints, 25 September, Saint Euphrosyne Of Alexandria

The Nun Euphrosyne was born at the beginning of the fifth century in the city of Alexandria. 

She was the only child in her family of illustrious and rich parents. Her mother died early. She was raised by her father, Paphnutius, a deeply believing and pious Christian. He frequented a monastery, the hegumen of which was his spiritual guide. 

When Euphrosyne turned age eighteen, her father wanted her to marry. He set off to the monastery to his spiritual guide to receive blessing for the planned wedding of his daughter. The hegumen conversed with the daughter and gave her his blessing, but Saint Euphrosyne yearned for the monastic life. Secretly having accepted tonsure from a wandering monk, she left her father's house and decided to enter a monastery in order to lead her life in solitude and prayer. 

She feared, however, that in a women's monastery her father would find her. Calling herself the eunuch Izmaragdus, she went to that very selfsame men's monastery, which since childhood she had visited with her father. The monks did not recognise Euphrosyne dressed in men's garb, and so they accepted her into the monastery. Here in a solitary cell, in works, fasting and prayer, Saint Euphrosyne spent thirty-eight years and attained to high spiritual accomplishment. 

Her father grieved over the loss of his beloved daughter and more than once, on the advice of the hegumen, he conversed with the monk Izmaragdus, revealing his grief and receiving spiritual comfort. 

Before her death, the Nun Euphrosyne revealed her secret to her grieving father and asked that no one except him should prepare her body for burial. Having buried his daughter, Paphnutius distributed all his wealth to both the poor and to the monastery, and then he accepted monasticism. For ten years right up to his own death, he asceticised in the cell of his daughter. 

Science of the Saints, 24 September, Saint Thecla, The First Woman-Martyr Equal-To-The Apostles

The Holy First-Martyress and Equal-to-the-Apostles Thecla was born in the city of Iconium. She was the daughter of rich and illustrious parents, and moreover she was distinguished by extraordinary beauty. At eighteen years of age they betrothed her to an eminent youth. But having heard the preaching of the holy Apostle Paul about the Saviour, Saint Thecla with all her heart came to love the Lord Jesus Christ, and she steadfastly resolved not to enter into marriage, but rather to devote all her life to preaching the Gospel. The mother of Saint Thecla was opposed to her daughter's plans and demanded that she enter into marriage with the bridegroom betrothed to her. Saint Thecla's fiancée likewise made a complaint to the governor of the city against the Apostle Paul, accusing him of turning his bride against him. The governor locked up Saint Paul in prison. During the night Saint Thecla secretly ran away from her house, and she bribed the prison guards, giving them all her gold ornaments, and so made her way into the prison to the prisoner. For three days she sat at the feet of the Apostle Paul, hearkening to his fatherly precepts. The disappearance of Thecla was discovered, and servants were sent out everywhere in search of her. Finally they found her in the prison and brought her home by force.

At his trial the Apostle Paul was sentenced to banishment from the city. And with Saint Thecla they again began urging her to consent to the marriage, but she would not change her mind. Neither the tears of her mother, nor her wrath, nor the threats of the governor were able to separate Saint Thecla from her love for the Heavenly Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ. Her mother in a insane rage demanded from the judges a death sentence against her unyielding daughter, and Saint Thecla was sentenced to burning. Without flinching, the holy martyress went into the bonfire and made the sign of the cross over herself. At this moment the Saviour appeared to her, blessing her present deed, and inexpressible joy filled her holy soul. The flames of the bonfire shot up high, but the martyress was surrounded by an halo and the flames did not touch her. Thunder boomed, and a strong downpour of rain with hail extinguished the bonfire. The torturers scattered in fear. Saint Thecla, kept safe by the Lord, quit the city and with the help of a certain Christian youth searched out the Apostle Paul. The holy apostle and his companions, among which was also the Disciple Barnabas, were hidden away in a cave not far from the city, praying fervently that the Lord would give strength to Saint Thecla in her sufferings. 

After this, Saint Thecla went together with them preaching the Gospel in Antioch. In this city she was pursued by a certain dignitary named Alexander, who was captivated by her beauty. Saint Thecla refused his offer to enter into marriage, and so for being a Christian she was condemned to death. Twice they set loose upon her hungry wild animals, but they would not touch the holy virgin, but instead lay down meekly and licking at her feet. The Providence of God preserved the holy martyress unharmed through all her torments. Finally, they tied her to two oxen and began to chase after her with red-hot rods, but the strong cords broke asunder like cobwebs, and the oxen ran off, leaving Saint Thecla unharmed. And the people began shouting: "Great is the God of the Christians!" The governor himself became terrified, reasoning it out finally, that the holy martyress was being kept safe by the Almighty God, Whom she served. He then gave orders to set free the servant of God Thecla. 

With the blessing of the Apostle Paul, Saint Thecla then settled in the desolate surroundings of Isaurian Seleucia and dwelt there for many years, constantly preaching the Word of God and healing the sick through her prayer. Saint Thecla converted many pagans to Christ, and the Church names her worthily as "Equal-to-the-Apostles." Even a pagan priest, seeking to assault her purity and punished for his impudence, was brought by her to holy Baptism. More than once the enemy of the race of man tried to destroy Saint Thecla through people blinded by sin, but the power of God always preserved this faithful servant of Christ.

When Saint Thekla was already a ninety year old woman, pagan sorcerers became incensed at her for treating the sick for free. They were unable to comprehend that the saint was healing the sick by the power of the grace of Christ, and they presumed that the virgin-goddess Artemis (Diana) was her especial patroness. Out of envy against Saint Thecla, they sent their followers to defile her. When they had already approached quite close to her, Saint Thecla cried out for help to Christ the Savior, and the hill split open and hid the holy virgin, the bride of Christ. And thus did Saint Thecla offer up her holy soul to the Lord.

Holy Church glorifies the "First-Suffering" Thecla as "of women the glory and guide for suffering, opening up the way through every torment." From of old many a temple was dedicated to her, one of which was built at Constantinople by the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine. And then too, the name of the First-Martyress Equal-to-the-Apostles Thecla, a prayer intercessor for the ascetic, is remembered during the tonsure of women into monasticism.

Science of the Saints, 23 September, Conception Of Saint John The Baptist

The Conception of the Venerable Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord, John. 

The holy Prophet Malachi prophesied that before the Messias would appear His Forerunner would indicate His coming. The Jews therefore in awaiting the Messias also awaited the appearance of His Forerunner. 

In a city of the hills of Judea in the land of Palestine lived the righteous priest Saint Zacharias and his wife Saint Elizabeth, assiduously observing the commandments of the Lord. The couple however had a misfortune: getting up in years they remained childless and they prayed unceasingly to God, that He should grant them a child. 

One time, when Saint Zacharias was in turn priest at the Temple of Jerusalem, he went during the time of Divine services into the Sanctuary for making an incensing. Having gone in behind the Sanctuary veil, he beheld an Angel of God, standing at the right side of the incense altar. Saint Zacharias was astonished and halted in fear, but the Angel said to him: "Fear not, Zacharias, thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth will bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John." But Righteous Zacharias did not believe the words of the heavenly messenger, and then the Angel said to him: "I am Gabriel, that standeth before God and am sent to announce this unto thee. But now, thou shalt be mute until the day of birth, since that thou hast not believed my words."

Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zacharias and they were astonished, that he had not come out from the Sanctuary after so long a time. And when he did come out, he was supposed to pronounce a blessing upon the people, but could not pronounce it since he had been struck speechless. When Zacharias explained by gestures that he was unable to speak, the people then understood that he had experienced a vision. 

The prophecy of the Archangel was fulfilled, and Righteous Elizabeth was delivered from her barrenness, having given birth to the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord, named John.

Science of the Saints, 22 September, Saint Phocas Of Sinope, Hieromartyr

The Hieromartyr Phocas was born in the city of Sinope. From youth he led a virtuous Christian life, and in his adult years he was elevated to bishop of Sinope. Sainted Phocas converted many pagans to faith in Christ.

At the time of a persecution against Christians under the emperor Trajan (98-117), the governor demanded the saint to renounce Christ. After fierce torture they closed Saint Phocas into a hot bath, where he died a martyr's death in the year 117.

In the year 404 the relics of the saint were transferred to Constantinople (Commemoration of the Transfer of Relics is 22 July).

The Hieromartyr Phocas is especially venerated as a defender against fires, but also as giving aid to the drowning.

Science of the Saints, 21 September, Saint Quadratus Of The Seventy

The Holy Disciple from the Seventy, Quadratus, preached the Word of God at Athens and at Magnezia (the eastern peninsula of Thessaly), and was bishop of Athens. He converted many pagans to the true faith in Christ the Saviour. 

In the year 126 the Disciple Quadratus wrote an Apologia in defence of Christianity. Presented by him to the emperor Adrian (117-138), the Apologia thus affected the persecution of Christians, since the emperor issued a decree prescribing not to convict anyone without proof. This Apologia was known in the fourth century to the historian Eusebius. At the present time only part of this Apologia is known, quoted by Eusebius: "The deeds of our Saviour were always witnessed, because they were true. The healings by Him and the raisings-up from the dead were visible not only when they were healed and raised up, but always. They lived not only during the existence of the Saviour upon the earth, but they remained alive sufficiently long also after His departure; some indeed have survived to our present time."

His preaching aroused the hatred of unswayable pagans. One time an angry mob fell upon the disciple to pelt him with stones. Preserved by God, the Disciple Quadratus remained alive, and they threw him into prison, where he died from starvation. His holy body was buried in Magnezia.

Science of the Saints, 20 September, Great Martyr Eustathius, His Wife Theopiste, And Their Two Sons Agapius And Theopistus

The Holy Great Martyr Eustathius before Baptism had the name "Placidus" [meaning "placid" or "calm" in Latin]. He was a military commander under the emperors Titus (79-81) and Trajan (98-117). Even before he came to know Christ, Placidus did acts of charity, helping the poor and destitute. And the Lord deigned not to leave the virtuous pagan remain within the darkness of idol-worship.

One time while hunting he chased upon his speedy mount after a stag, which halted its run atop an high hill, and Placidus suddenly saw amidst its antler-rack a radiant Cross, and upon it the Crucified Son of God. In surprise Placidus heard a voice saying: "Why dost thou pursue Me, Placidus?" "Who art Thou, Master, Who dost speak with me?" in fright asked Placidus. In reply he heard: "I am Jesus Christ, God, Who wast incarnated for the salvation of mankind and didst endure voluntary suffering and death by the Cross. Thou honourest Me even without knowing Me, since thy good deeds and abundant alms art come to Me. I have appeared here, to convert and to conjoin thee unto Mine true servants. For I want that the man working righteous deeds, shouldst not perish in the snares of enemies."

Placidus cried out: "Lord, I do believe that Thou art the God of Heaven and earth, the Creator of all creatures. I beseech Thee, O Master, teach me what I should do." And again resounded the Divine voice: "Go thou unto the Christian priest, receive from him Baptism, and he wilt instruct thee unto salvation."

With joy Placidus returned home, and told everything to his wife. She in turn told him, how the evening before in a mysterious dream-vision she had been told: "Thou, thy husband, and thy sons on the morrow shalt come unto Me and know Me - Christ Jesus, the True God, sent unto the salvation of those that do love Me." The spouses then proceeded to do as they had been bidden.

They hastened to the Christian presbyter, who baptised all their family, and communed all with the Holy Mysteries.

On the following day Saint Eustathius set out to the place of his miraculous conversion and in fervent prayer he offered up thanks to the Lord, for having called him onto the path of salvation.

And again Saint Eustathius was vouchsafed a miraculous revelation - the Lord Himself foretold him about impending tribulations: "Eustathius, thou must needs prove thine faith in deeds. Before thee, like unto Job, art many a sorrow, so that being put to the test like gold in the forge, thou be shewn worthy of Me and receive the crown from My hands." Saint Eustathius humbly answered: "Thy will be done, O Lord. I am prepared to accept all things at Thine hands with gratitude, but let Thine almighty help be with me."

Soon Saint Eustathius was plunged into misfortune: all his servants died and his cattle perished. Brought to ruin, but not despairing in spirit, Saint Eustathius with his family secretly abandoned their home, to live unknown, humble and in poverty. He set off on a ship to Egypt. During the time of sailing a new woe beset the saint. The ship owner, enchanted by the beauty of the wife of Eustathius, cruelly set him ashore with his children, keeping the wife for himself. In great grief the saint continued on his way, and new woe beset him. Crossing a tempestuous river ford, he went to carry in turn his two sons, but when he had carried across the one, the other on shore was seized by a lion and carried off into the wilderness, and while he returned towards the other, a wolf dragged that one off into the forest.

Having lost everything, Saint Eustathius wept bitterly. But he realised that Divine Providence had sent him these misfortunes to test his endurance and devotion to the will of God. In prayer lifting up to God his inconsolable grief, Saint Eustathius went on further, prepared for new tribulations. In the village of Badiss he found work and spent five years in unremitting toil. But Saint Eustathius did not then know that through the mercy of God shepherds and farmers had saved his sons, and they lived right nearby him. He also did not know, that the impudent shipowner was soon struck down - he died from a terrible disease, and the wife of Saint Eustathius had been left untouched, and she lived at peaceful work.

During this time period it had become difficult for the emperor Trajan to levy an army for Rome. He then remembered the valiant regimental commander Placidus and dispatched Antiochus and Acacius, friends of Placidus, to find him.

Having gone round a multitude of places, finally they arrived in the village, where Saint Eustathius lived. The soldiers came upon Eustathius in a field, where he was guarding the bread-grain, but they did not recognise him and they began to tell him about the one whom they sought, asking his help and promising a large reward. But Saint Eustathius, immediately recognising his friends, did not reveal to them his identity. He brought them to the home of his master and fed them. Gazing at him, the travellers noted that he very much resembled their regimental commander, and when they saw on his knee a peculiar mark - the scar from a deep war wound - they realised that in front of them was their friend. They hugged him with tears and said why they were seeking him. Saint Eustathius returned to Rome and again became an imperial commandant. Many a new recruit entered the army for him, and he did not know, that the two young soldier-friends, to whom he often gave orders and whom he loved for their skill and daring, were actually his own sons. And they did not know that they were serving under the command of their own father, nor that they each the other were brothers by birth.

One time while on campaign the army, led by Eustathius, halted at a certain settlement. The soldier-brothers were talking in their tent. The elder one spoke about his lot: how he had lost his mother and hapless brother, and how in a terrifying way he had been parted from his father. And the younger brother with joy realised that in front of him was his very own brother, and told him so and also about himself.

A woman overheard the soldiers' conversation - their tent was pitched right next to her house - and this woman was their mother! She realised that these were her sons. Still not yet identifying herself to them, and not wanting to be separated from them, she went to their commander, Saint Eustathius, to ask permission to follow along with his army. And this commander she recognised as her husband, and with tears she told him about herself and about the two soldiers, who were actually their sons. Thus, through the great mercy of the Lord, the whole family was happily reunited.

Soon thereafter the war ended in victory. Saint Eustathius returned to Rome with honours and glory. The emperor Trajan had since died, and his successor Adrian (117‑138) wanted to celebrate the event of victory with a solemn offering of sacrifice to the gods. To the astonishment of everyone Saint Eustathius did not show up at the pagan temple. By order of the emperor they searched frantically for him.

"Why wishest thou not to worship the gods?" enquired the emperor, -"It becometh thee before all others to offer up thanks unto them. They not only preserved thee in war and granted thee victory, but also they did help thee find thy wife and children." Saint Eustathius replied: "I am a Christian and I know as the One God Christ Jesus, I revere and give thanks to Him, and I worship Him. He hath given me everything: health, victory, He returned my family and hath sent down His help unto the overcoming of tribulations."

In a rage the emperor stripped him of his rank and summoned him with his family to trial. But there also they did not succeed in swaying the steadfast confessors of Christ into offering sacrifice to idols. The whole family of Saint Eustathius was sentenced to be torn apart by wild beasts. But the beasts would not touch the holy martyrs. Then the cruel emperor in his wrath gave orders to throw them all alive into a red-hot copper ox, and here Saint Eustathius, his wife Theopistia, and their sons Agapius and Theopistus accepted a martyr's end. Three days later they opened the fiery grave, and the bodies of the holy martyrs were found unscathed - not one hair on their heads was singed, and their faces shone with an unearthly beauty. Many seeing this miracle came to believe in Christ. Christians then gave burial to the bodies of the saints.

Science of the Saints, 19 September, Holy Martyrs Trophimus, Sabbatius, And Dorymedon

The Holy Martyrs Trophimus, Sabbatius, and Dorymedon suffered for Christ during the reign of the Roman emperor Probus (276-282). 

One time in the city of Antioch a pagan feast-day was being celebrated. The sacrificial offerings were brought, the wine was poured, and the vile acts were done. The Christians Trophimus and Sabbatius arrived in the city, and with grief looking upon this loud and indecent spectacle, they besought the Lord to guide the errant onto the way of salvation. They were arrested and taken to the governor. 

At the interrogation, the saints firmly confessed their faith, and to the demand that they renounce their faith, they answered with a resolute refusal. During the time of fierce tortures Saint Sabbatius died, and Saint Trophimus was sent off, for even more terrible tortures, unto the city of Synnada to the governor Frigius Dionysius, infamous as a torturer and executioner. 

Shod in iron sandals with sharp nails, Saint Trophimus for three days went on foot, driven on by a cavalry guard. The skilled torturer used all manners of torture to break the will of the brave Christian but Saint Trophimus merely repeated the words of Scripture: "many an affliction hath the righteous one, but from them all wilt the Lord deliver him." (Ps. 33:20) 

They threw the sufferer into prison, where he was visited by a secret Christian - the senator Dorymedon. He attended to Saint Trophimus, washing and binding his wounds. When this came to the attention of the torturers, they began to demand Saint Dorymedon renounce Christianity, and then they threw him together with Saint Trophimus for devouring by wild beasts. But the martyrs remained untouched. Then they beheaded them with the sword.

Science of the Saints, 18 September, Saint Eumenes, Bishop Of Gortyna In Crete, Wonderworker

The Monk Eumenes from the time of his youth was noted for his virtuous life. 

He strove to serve the One God and therefore he shunned worldly temptations. Concerned about salvation of soul, he distributed all his substance to the poor. 

By the blessing of God the Monk Eumenes was chosen and elevated to the dignity of bishop of the Gortyna Church on the Island of Crete. 

The saint like a compassionate father comforted his flock in their sorrows, and cared for the orphaned and indigent. He prayers were so strong before God, that once during the time of drought he called forth abundant rain upon the earth. 

Saint Eumenes wisely and zealously defended the orthodox faith against the then arising Monophysite heresy. For his opposition to the heresy the saint was banished to the Thebaid, where he died in the seventh century. His body was then transferred and buried in Gortyna.

Science of the Saints, 17 September, Saints Sophia and her daughters Faith, Hope, and Charity

 

The Holy Martyresses Faith, Hope, and Charity were born in Italy. Their mother, Saint Sophia, was a pious Christian widow. Having named her daughters with the names of the three Christian virtues, Saint Sophia raised them up in love for the Lord Jesus Christ. Saint Sophia and her daughters did not hide their faith in Christ and they openly confessed it before everyone. The official Antiochus made denunciation about them to the emperor Adrian (117-138), who ordered that they be brought to Rome. Realising that they would be taken before the emperor, the holy virgins prayed fervently to the Lord Jesus Christ, asking that He should send them the strength not to fear impending torture and death. When the holy virgins with their mother came before the emperor, everyone present was amazed at their composure: it seemed that they had been called out to some happy festivity, rather than to torture.

Summoning the sisters in turn, Adrian urged them to offer sacrifice to the goddess Artemis. The young girls (Faith was 12, Hope was 10 and Charity was 9) remained unyielding. Then the emperor gave orders to fiercely torture them: they attempted to burn the holy virgins over an iron grating, they threw them into a red-hot oven and then into a cauldron with boiling tar, but the Lord by His Unseen Power preserved them. The youngest one, Charity, they tied to a wheel and beat at her with canes, until her body was covered all over with bloody welts. And undergoing unreported torments, the holy virgins glorified their Heavenly Bridegroom and remained steadfast in the faith. The tormentors subjected Saint Sophia to another and grievous torture: she was forced to look upon the suffering of her daughters. But she displayed adamant courage and during this whole while she urged the girls to endure the torments in the Name of the Heavenly Bridegroom. All three maidens with joy met their martyr's end. They were beheaded.

In order to intensify the inner suffering of Saint Sophia, the emperor decided to let her take up the bodies of her daughters. She placed their remains in coffins and reverently conveyed them on a wagon beyond the city and buried them on an high place. Saint Sophia sat there for three days not leaving the graves of her daughters, and finally she gave up her soul to the Lord. Believers buried her body there also. The relics of the holy martyresses since the year 777 rest in Alsace, at the church of Saint Trophimus in Eschau.

"Faith, Hope, and Charity, holy branches of noble Sophia, by grace made Greek wisdom foolishness. They have contested and won the Victory and have been crowned by Christ the Master of all." - Kontakion of St Sophia and her Three Daughters, Tone 1.

Science of the Saints, 16 September, The Great And All-Famed Martyr Euphemia

The Holy Great Martyress Euphemia the All-Praiseworthy was the daughter of  Christians - the senator Philophronos and Theodosia. She suffered for Christ in about the year 304 in the city of Chalcedon, located on the banks of the Bosphorus opposite Constantinople. 

The Chalcedon governor Priscus circulated an order to all the inhabitants of Chalcedon and its surroundings to appear at a pagan feast for worship and to offer sacrifice to an idol of Ares (Mars), threatening grave torments for those failing to appear. During the time of this impious feast, forty-nine Christians had hidden away at one house where they secretly made Divine-services to the True God. The young maiden Euphemia was also among those praying there. Soon the hideout of the Christians was discovered, and they were brought before Priscus to answer for themselves. Over the course of nineteen days the martyrs were subjected to various tortures and torments, but none of them wavered in their faith nor consented to offer sacrifice to the idol. The governor, beside himself with rage and not knowing any further means of forcing the Christians into renunciation, sent them for trial to the emperor Diocletian, but he separated from them the youngest - the maiden Euphemia - hoping that she, alone by herself, would not hold out.

Saint Euphemia, separated from her brethren in faith, fervently prayed the Lord Jesus Christ that He Himself would strengthen her in the impending ordeal. Priscus at first urged the saint to recant, promising her earthly blessings, but then he gave the order to torture her. The martyress was tied to a wheel with sharp knives, which in turning cut at the body. The saint prayed loudly. And here it happened, that the wheel stopped by itself and would not move even with all the efforts of the executioners. An Angel of the Lord, having come down from Heaven, removed Euphemia from the wheel and healed her of her wounds, and with gladness the saint gave thanks unto the Lord.

Not perceiving the miracle that had occurred, the torturer ordered the soldiers Victor and Sosthenes to take the saint to a red-hot oven. But the soldiers, seeing amidst the flames two fearsome Angels, refused to carry out the order of the governor and became themselves believers in the God Whom Euphemia worshipped. 

Boldly proclaiming that they too were Christians, Victor and Sosthenes bravely went to suffering. They were given over for devouring by wild beasts. During the time of execution they cried out for mercy to God, that the Lord should receive them into the Heavenly Kingdom. An heavenly Voice answered their cries, and they expired unto life eternal. The beasts however did not even touch their bodies.

Saint Euphemia, cast by other soldiers into the fire, remained unharmed. And with the help of God she emerged unharmed after many another torture and torment. Ascribing this to sorcery, the governor gave orders to dig out a new pit, and filling it with knives he had it covered over with ground and grass, so that the martyress would not know about the preparation for her execution; but here also Saint Euphemia remained safe, easily passing over the pit. Finally, they sentenced her to be devoured by wild beasts at the circus. Before execution the saint began to implore, that the Lord deem her worthy to die a violent death. But none of the beasts set loose at her in the arena attacked her. Finally, one of the she-bears struck her a small wound on the leg, from which came blood, and the holy Great Martyr Euphemia instantly died. During this time there occurred an earthquake, and both the guards and the spectators ran in terror, so that the parents of the saint were able to take up her body and reverently bury it not far from Chalcedon. 

A majestic church was afterwards erected over the grave of the Great Martyr Euphemia. At this temple took place the sessions of the Fourth Ecumenical Council in the year 451.

With the taking of Chalcedon by the Persians in the year 617, the relics of the holy Great Martyress Euphemia were transferred to Constantinople (in about the year 620). During the period of the Iconoclast heresy the reliquary with the relics of Saint Euphemia appears to have been thrown into the sea. Pious sailors pulled them out. They were afterwards taken to the Island of Lemnos, and in the year 796 they were returned to Constantinople.

Science of the Saints, 15 September, Saint Nicetas The Goth

The Holy Great Martyr Nicetas was a Goth (a Germanic tribe). He was born and lived on the banks of the Danube River, and suffered for Christ in the year 372. The Christian faith was then already widely spread throughout the territory of the Goths. Saint Nicetas believed in Christ and accepted Baptism from the Gothic bishop Theophilus, a participant in the First Ecumenical Council. Pagan Goths began to oppose the spread of  Christianity, which resulted in internecine strife.

After the victory of Fritigern, heading a Christian army and inflicting defeat on the pagan Athanarik, the Christian faith began to spread increasingly among the Goths. Bishop Wulfil, the successor to Bishop Theophilus, created a Gothic alphabet and translated into the Gothic language many priestly books. 

Saint Nicetas worked intensely among his fellow Goths at spreading Christianity. By his personal example and inspired words he brought many pagans to the Christian faith. However, Athanarik after his defeat again contrived to gather his own forces, return to his own country and reestablish his former power. Having remained a pagan, he continued to hate Christians and persecute them. Saint Nicetas, having undergone many tortures, was thrown into a fire, where he died in the year 372. The friend of Saint Nicetas, a Christian named Marianus, by night retrieved the body of the martyr, unharmed by the fire and illumined by a miraculous light, and gave it over to burial in Cilicia. Afterwards it was transferred to Constantinople. 

Part of the relics of the Great Martyr Nicetas were later transferred to the monastery of Vysokie Dechany in Serbia.

Science of the Saints, 14 September, The Exaltation Of The Precious And Lifegiving Cross

The pagan Roman emperors tried to completely eradicate from human memory the holy places where our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and was resurrected for mankind. 

The Emperor Adrian (117-138) gave orders to cover over the ground of Golgotha and the Sepulchre of the Lord, and upon the hill fashioned there to set up a pagan temple of the pagan goddess Venus and a statue of Jupiter. Pagans gathered on this place and offered sacrifice to idols there. 

Eventually after 300 years, by Divine Providence, the great Christian sacred remains - the Sepulchre of the Lord and the Life-Creating Cross - were again discovered and opened for veneration. This occurred under the Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine the Great (306-337) after his victory in the year 312 over Maxentius, ruler of the Western part of the Roman empire, and over Licinius, ruler of its Eastern part, becoming in the year 323 the sole-powerful ruler of the vast Roman empire. In 313 he had issued the so-called Edict of Milan, by which the Christian religion was legalized and the persecutions against Christians in the Western half of the empire were stopped. The ruler Licinius, although he had signed the Milan Edict to oblige Constantine, still fanatically continued the persecutions against Christians. Only after his conclusive defeat did the 313 Edict about toleration extend also to the Eastern part of the empire. The Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine, having with the assistance of God gained victory over his enemies in three wars, had seen in the heavens the Sign of God - the Cross - and written beneath: "In this Sign thou shalt conquer."

Ardently desiring to find the Cross on which our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, Constantine sent to Jerusalem his mother, the pious Empress Helen, having provided her with a letter to the Jerusalem patriarch Makarios. Although the holy empress Helen was already in her declining years, she set about completing the task with enthusiasm. The empress gave orders to destroy the pagan temple and idol-statues overshadowing Jerusalem. 

Searching for the Life-Creating Cross, she made inquiry of Christians and Jews, but for a long time her searchings remained unsuccessful. Finally, they directed her to a certain elderly Hebrew by the name of Jude who stated that the Cross was buried in the place where was standing the pagan temple of Venus. 

They demolished the pagan temple and, having made a prayer, they began to excavate the ground. Soon there was detected the Sepulchre of the Lord and not far away from it three crosses, a plank with inscription having been done by order of Pilate, and four nails, which had pierced the Body of the Lord. In order to discern on which of the three crosses the Saviour was crucified, Patriarch Makarios alternately touched the crosses to a corpse. When the Cross of the Lord was placed to it, the dead one came alive. 

Having beheld the rising-up, everyone was convinced that the Life-Creating Cross was found. Christians, having come in an innumerable throng to make veneration to the Holy Cross, besought Saint Makarios to elevate and to exalt the Cross, so that all, even afar off, might reverently contemplate it. 

Then the Patriarch and other spiritual chief personages raised up high the Holy Cross, and the people, saying "Lord have mercy," reverently made prostration before the Venerable Wood. This solemn event occurred in the year 326. 

During the discovery of the Life-Creating Cross there occurred also another miracle: a grievously sick woman, beneath the shadow of the Holy Cross, was healed instantly. The starets Jude and other Jews there believed in Christ and accepted Holy Baptism. Jude received the name Kyriakos (i.e. lit. "of the Lord") and afterwards was ordained Bishop of Jerusalem. During the reign of Julian the Apostate (361-363) he accepted a martyr's death for Christ. 

The holy empress Helen journeyed round the holy places connected with the earthly life of the Saviour - the reason for more than eighty churches - raised up at Bethlehem the place of the Birth of Christ, and on the Mount of Olives from whence the Lord ascended to Heaven, and at Gethsemane where the Saviour prayed before His sufferings and where the Mother of God was buried after the falling-asleep. Saint Helen took with her to Constantinople part of the Life-Creating Wood and nails. The Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine gave orders to raise up at Jerusalem a majestic and spacious church in honour of the Resurrection of Christ, including in itself also the Sepulchre of the Lord, and Golgotha. The temple was constructed in about ten years. Saint Helen did not survive until the dedication of the temple; she died in the year 327. The church was consecrated on 13 September 335. On the following day, 14 September, the festal celebration of the Exaltation of the Venerable and Life-Creating Cross was established.

On this day is remembered also another event connected to the Cross of the Lord, - its return back to Jerusalem from Persia after a fourteen year captivity. 

During the reign of the Byzantine emperor Phokas (602-610) the Persian emperor Khozroes II in a war against the Greeks defeated the Greek army, plundered Jerusalem and led off into captivity both the Life-Creating Cross of the Lord and the Holy Patriarch Zacharios (609-633). The Cross remained in Persia for 14 years and only under the emperor Herakles (610-641), who with the help of God defeated Khozroes and concluded peace with his successor and son Syroes, was the Cross of the Lord returned to Christians from captivity. 

With great solemnity the Life-creating Cross was transferred to Jerusalem. Emperor Herakles in imperial crown and porphyry carried the Cross of Christ into the temple of the Resurrection. Alongside the emperor went Patriarch Zacharios. 

At the gates, by which they ascended onto Golgotha, the emperor suddenly stopped and was not able to proceed further. The Holy Patriarch explained to the emperor that an Angel of the Lord blocked his way, since He That bore the Cross onto Golgotha for the expiation of the world from sin, made His Way of the Cross in the guise of Extreme Humilation. Then Herakles, removing the crown and porphyry, donned plain garb and without further hindrance carried the Cross of Christ into the church.

In a sermon on the Exaltation of the Cross, Saint Andrew of Crete says, "The Cross is exalted, and everything true gathers together, the Cross is exalted, and the city makes solemn, and the people celebrate the feast".

Science of the Saints, 13 September, Holy Hieromartyr Cornelius The Centurion

Soon after the sufferings on the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ and after His Ascension into Heaven, there settled at Caesarea in Palestine a centurion by the name of Cornelius, who earlier had lived in Thracian Italy. Although he was a pagan, he distinguished himself by deep piety and good deeds, as the holy Evangelist Luke testifies about him (Acts 10:1). The Lord did not disdain his virtuous life and led him to the understanding of truth through the enlightening light of faith in Christ.

One time Cornelius was at prayer in his home. An Angel of God appeared to him and said, that his prayer had been heard and accepted by God, and commanded him to send people to Joppa to Simon, called Peter. Cornelius immediately fulfilled the command. While those dispatched were on their way to Joppa, the Apostle Peter was at prayer, during which time he had a vision: thrice were lowered down vessels in visage of great plenitude, filled with meats and fowl. From Heaven he heard a voice, commanding him to eat of everything. At the refusal of the apostle there followed a reply: "What God hath purified, regard not as unclean." (Acts 10:15)

By means of this vision the Lord commanded the Apostle Peter to go at preaching the Word of God to the pagans. When the Apostle Peter in the company of those sent to meet him arrived at the house of Cornelius, he was received with great joy and respect by the host together with his kinsmen and comrades. Cornelius on his knees bowed down to the apostle and requested to be taught the way of salvation. The apostle began to preach about the earthly life of Jesus Christ, about the miracles and signs worked by the Saviour, about His sufferings, the teachings about the Kingdom of Heaven, the death on the Cross, the Resurrection and Ascent into Heaven. By grace under the influence of the Holy Spirit, Cornelius believed in Christ and was baptised together with all his kinsfolk. He was the first pagan to receive Baptism.

He retired from the world and went preaching the Gospel together with the Apostle Peter, who made him a bishop. When the Apostle Peter, together with his helpers Saints Timothy and Cornelius, was in the city of Ephesus, he learned of a particularly vigorous idol-worship in the city of Skepsis. Lots were drawn as to whom that would go there, falling upon Saint Cornelius. 

In the city lived a prince by the name of Demetrios, learned in the ancient Greek philosophy, hating Christianity and venerating the pagan gods, in particular Apollo and Zeus. Learning about the arrival of Saint Cornelius in the city, he immediately summoned him and asked him the reason for his coming. Saint Cornelius answered, that he came to free him from the darkness of ignorance and lead him to knowledge of the True Light. The prince, not comprehending the meaning of what was said, became angry and demanded him to answer each of his questions. When Saint Cornelius explained, that he serves the Lord and that the reason for his coming consists in an announcement of the Truth, the prince became enraged and demanded from Cornelius an offering of sacrifice to the idols. The saint asked to be shewn the gods. When he entered the pagan temple, Cornelius turned towards the East and bending down on his knees, he uttered a prayer to the Lord. There began an earthquake, and the temple of Zeus and the idols situated in it were destroyed. 

All the populace, seeing what had happened, were terrified. The prince was even more vexed and began to take counsel together with those approaching him, about how to destroy Cornelius. They bound the saint and took him to prison for the night. At this point one of his servants informed the prince the grievous news that his wife and child had perished beneath the rubble of the destroyed temple. But a certain while later one of the pagan priests, by the name of Barbates, reported that he heard the voice of the wife and son somewhere in the ruins and that they were praising the God of the Christians. The pagan priest asked to free the imprisoned one, as gratitude for the miracle worked by Saint Cornelius, in that the wife and son of the prince remained alive. The joyous prince in the company of those about him hastened to the prison, declaring that he believed in Christ and asking him to lead out his wife and son from somewhere in the ruins of the temple.

Saint Cornelius set off to the destroyed idol-temple, and through prayer the suffering were freed. After this the prince Demetrius, and all his kinsmen and comrades accepted holy Baptism. Saint Cornelius lived for a long time in this city, converted to Christ all the pagan inhabitants, and made Eunomius a presbyter for service to the Lord. Saint Cornelius died in old age and was buried not far from the pagan temple destroyed by him.

Science of the Saints, 12 September, Hieromartyr Autonomus

The Hieromartyr Autonomus was a bishop in Italy. 

During the time of the persecution against Christians under the emperor Diocletian (284-305), Saint Autonomus left his own country and resettled in Bithynia, in the locality of Soreia with the wanderer Cornelius. Saint Autonomus did his apostolic duty with zeal and converted to Christ so many pagans, that a large Church was formed, for which he consecrated a temple in the name of the Archangel Michael. For this church, the saint at first ordained Cornelius as deacon, and then presbyter. Preaching about Christ, Saint Autonomus visited also Likaonia and Isauria.

The emperor Diocletian gave orders to arrest Saint Autonomus, but the saint withdrew to Claudiopolis on the Black Sea. In returning to Soreia, he had Presbyter Cornelius ordained bishop. Saint Autonomus then set out to Asia, and when he had returned from there, he began to preach in the vicinity of Limna, nearby Soreia. One time, the newly-converted destroyed a pagan temple. The pagans decided to take revenge on the Christians. Seizing their chance, the pagans rushed upon the church of the Archangel Michael when Saint Autonomus was serving Divine Liturgy there, and after torturing Saint Autonomus they killed him, reddening the altar of the church with his martyr's blood. The deaconess Maria extracted the body of the holy martyr from beneath a pile of stones and gave it burial.

During the reign of Saint Constantine the Great a church was built over the place of burial of the saint. In about the year 430 a certain priest had the decaying church pulled down. And not knowing that beneath the church had been buried the body of the martyr, he rebuilt the church in a new spot. But after another sixty years the relics of the saint were found undecayed, and a church was then built in the name of the Hieromartyr Autonomus.

Science of the Saints, 11 September, Saint Theodora Of Alexandria

The Nun Theodora of Alexandria and her husband lived in Alexandria. 

Love and harmony ruled in their family, and this was hateful to the enemy of salvation. Goaded on by the devil, a certain rich man was captivated by the youthful beauty of Theodora and began with all his abilities to lead her into adultery, but for a long time he was unsuccessful. Then he bribed a woman of loose morals, who led the unassuming Theodora astray by saying that God would not account to guilt a sin that was committed in the night-time. 

Theodora betrayed her husband, but soon came to her senses and realising the seriousness of her downfall, she became furious with herself, incessantly slapping herself on the face and tearing at her hair. Her conscience gave her no peace, and Theodora set out to a reknowned hegumeness and told her about her transgression. 

The hegumeness, beholding the repentance of the young woman, roused in her the faith in divine forgiveness and reminded her of the Gospel passage about the sinful woman, who with her tears washed the feet of Christ and received from Him forgiveness of her sins. 

In hope on the mercy of God, Theodora said: "I do believe my God and from hence shall not commit suchlike sin, and I wilt strive to expiate my deed." At that moment Saint Theodora resolved to go off to a monastery, so as to purify herself by deed and by prayer. In secret she left her home, and having attired herself in men's garb, she set off to a men's monastery, since she feared that her husband would manage to find her in a women's monastery. The hegumen of the monastery would not even give blessing to allow her into the courtyard, in testing the resolve of the new-comer. The Nun Theodora spent the night at the gates. In the morning, having fallen down at the knees of the hegumen, she said her name was Theodore from Alexandria and entreated him to let her remain at the monastery for repentance and monastic deeds. Seeing the sincere intent of the new-comer, the hegumen consented.

Even the experienced monks were amazed at the all-night prayers on bended-knee, the humility, the endurance, and the self-denial of Theodora. The saint asceticised at the monastery for eight years. Her body, once defiled by adultery, became a visible vessel of the grace of God and a receptacle of the Holy Spirit. One time the saint was sent to Alexandria for the buying of bread. Having given blessing for the journey, the hegumen indicated that in case of a stopover along the way, to stay over at the Enata monastery along the way. At the guest-house of the Enata monastery was then staying the daughter of its hegumen, who had come to visit with her father. Allured by the comeliness of the young monk, she tried to seduce the Monk Theodore into the sin of fornication, not knowing that before her was a woman. Being refused, she committed sin with another guest and became pregnant. Meanwhile the saint having bought the bread returned to the home monastery. 

After a certain while the father of the shameless girl, realising that a transgression had occurred, began to question his daughter as to who it was that had seduced her. The girl indicated that it was the Monk Theodore. The father at once reported it to the head of the monastery at which Saint Theodora asceticised. The hegumen summoned the saint and told about the accusation. The saint firmly replied: "As God is my witness, I did not do this," and the hegumen, knowing the purity and holiness of life of Theodore, did not believe the accusation. When the girl gave birth, the Enata monks brought the infant to the monastery wherein lived the ascetic, and began to reproach its monks for an unchaste life. But this time even the hegumen believed the slanderous accusation and became angry at the innocent Theodore. They entrusted the infant into the care of the saint and dishonourably threw her out of the monastery. The saint humbly submitted to this new trial, seeing in it the expiation of her former sin. 

She settled with the child not far from the monastery in an hut. Shepherds out of pity gave her milk for the infant, and the saint herself ate only wild vegetables. Over the course of seven years, bearing her misfortune, the holy ascetic spent in banishment. Finally, at the request of the monks, the hegumen allowed her to return to the monastery together with the child, and in seclusion she spent two years instructing the child. The hegumen of the monastery received a revelation from God that the sin of the Monk Theodore was forgiven.

The grace of God dwelt upon the Monk Theodore, and soon all the monks began to witness to the signs worked through the prayers of the saint. One time in this locale during a time of drought all the water-wells dried up. The hegumen said to the brethren that only Theodore would be able to reverse the misfortune. Having summoned the saint, the hegumen bid her to bring forth water, and the water in the well afterwards did not dry up. The humble Theodore said, that the miracle was worked through the prayer and faith of the hegumen.

Before her death, the Nun Theodora secluded herself in her cell with the child and in last-wishes bid him to love God, and she asked the compliance of the hegumen and the brethren, to preserve tranquility, to be meek and without malice, to shun obscenity and silliness, to love non-covetousness, and to keep in mind their community life. After this, standing at prayer, for a final time she asked of the Lord forgiveness of her sins. The child also prayed together with her. Soon the words of prayer gave way to death on the lips of the ascetic, and she peacefully expired to an higher world (+c.474-491).

The Lord revealed to the hegumen the spiritual accomplishment of the saint and about her concealed secret. The hegumen, in order to remove any disrepute from the deceased, in the presence of the hegumen and brethren of the Enata monastery, told about his vision and for proof uncovered the bosom of the saint. The Enata hegumen and brethren shrank back in terror at their great transgression, and having fallen down at the body of the saint, with tears they asked forgiveness of the Nun Theodora. News about the Nun Theodora reached her former husband. He took monastic tonsure at this selfsame monastery where his wife had been. And the child, raised by the nun, likewise followed in the footsteps of his foster-mother. Afterwards he became hegumen of this very monastery. 

Science of the Saints, 10 September, The Holy Martyrs Menodora, Metrodora, And Nymphodora

The Holy Virgins Menodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora (305-311), were sisters by birth, and they were from Bithynia (Asia Minor). 

Distinguished for their especial piety, the Christian sisters wanted to preserve their virginity and avoid worldly association. They chose for themselves a solitary place in the wilderness and spent their lives in deeds of fasting and prayer. 

Reports about the holy life of the virgins soon spread about, since through their prayers healings of the sick began to occur. The Bithynia region was governed at that time by a governor named Frontonus, who gave orders to arrest the sisters and bring them before him. At first he tried to persuade them to renounce Christ, promising great honours and rewards. But the holy sisters steadfastly confessed their faith before him, rejecting all the suggestions of the governor, and declaring to him, that they did not value temporal earthly blessings, and that they were prepared to die for their Heavenly Bridegroom. Going into a rage, the governor took out his wrath on the eldest of them, Saint Menodora. The saint bravely endured the torments and finally, she cried out: "Lord Jesus Christ, joy of my heart, my hope, in peace receive Thou my soul!" And with these words she gave up her spirit to God.

Four days later they brought to the court the younger sisters Metrodora and Nymphodora. They put before them the battered body of their elder sister to frighten them. The virgins wept over her, but they likewise remained steadfast. Then they subjected Saint Metrodora to torture. She died, crying out with her last breath to her beloved Lord Jesus Christ. Then they turned to the third sister Nymphodora. Before her lay the bruised bodies of her elder sisters. Frontonus hoped that this spectacle would intimidate the young virgin. Under pretense that he was charmed by her youth and beauty, he began amiably to urge her to worship the pagan gods, promising great rewards and honours. Saint Nymphodora rebuffed his words, and shared the fate of her older sisters. She was tortured to death with blows from iron rods.

The bodies of the holy martyrs were to be burnt on a bonfire, but a strong rain extinguished the blazing fire, and lightning felled Frontonus and his servant. Christians took up the bodies of the holy sisters and reverently buried them at the so-called Warm Springs at Pythias (Bithynia). Part of the relics of the holy martyrs are preserved at Athos in the Pokrov-Protection cathedral of the Russian Panteleimon monastery, and the hand of Saint Metrodora is situated on the Holy Mountain in the monastery of the Pantocrator.