Tuesday September 20 / October 3 ns 2023 • Holy Martyr Evstáthios and those with him; St. Evstáthios, Archbishop of Thessalonica ~ ON READING THE LIVES OF MARTYRS AND SAINTS by Archbishop Chrysostomos of Blessed Memory also a PAGE

An Angel, first in rank, was sent from Heaven to say to the Theotokos: Rejoice. And beholding Thee, O Lord, assuming bodily form, he stood marveling . . .

Evstáthios was a great Roman general during the reigns of Emperors Titus and Trajan. Though he was a pagan, Placidas (for that was his pagan name) was a just and merciful man, similar to Cornelius the Centurion, who was baptized by the Apostle Peter (Acts 10). 

Out hunting one day, he pursued a stag. By God's providence, a cross appeared between the antlers of the stag and the voice of the Lord came to Placidas, directing him to go to a Christian priest and become baptized. Placidas was baptized, along with his wife and two sons. At baptism, he received the name Evstáthios; his wife, Theopiste (''faithful to God''); and his sons, Agapitos and Theopistus. 

After his baptism, he returned to the place where he had experienced the revelation of the stag and, kneeling, gave thanks to God that He had brought him to the truth. Just then, the voice of the Lord again manifested itself to him, foretold that he would suffer for His name, and strengthened him. Then Evstáthios secretly left Rome with his family, intending to hide among the simple people and serve God in humble and unknown surroundings. Arriving in Egypt, he was immediately beset by trials. An evil barbarian abducted his wife, and both of his sons were seized by wild beasts and carried away. However, the barbarian soon lost his life, and the children were saved from the wild beasts by shepherds. 

Evstáthios settled in the Egyptian village of Vadisis and lived there for fifteen years as a hired laborer. Then barbarians attacked the Roman Empire, and Emperor Trajan grieved that he did not have the brave General Placidas, who had carried the victory whenever he fought. The emperor sent two of his officers to seek the great commander throughout the empire. By God's providence, these officers (who were once companions of Evstáthios), came to the village of Vadisis, found Evstáthios and brought him back to the emperor. Evstáthios amassed an army and defeated the barbarians. On the way back to Rome, Evstáthios found his wife and both sons. Meanwhile, Emperor Trajan had died and Emperor Hadrian was on the throne. When Hadrian summoned General Evstáthios to offer sacrifices to the gods, Evstáthios declined, declaring himself a Christian. The emperor subjected him and his wife and sons to torture. They were thrown to the wild beasts, but this did them no harm. Then they were cast into a red-hot metal ox. On the third day their dead bodies were removed, but they were unharmed by the fire. 

Thus, this glorious commander rendered unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's (St. Luke 20:25), and took up his habitation in the Eternal Kingdom of Christ our God.

Ephesians 6:10-17 KJV

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Saint Luke 21:12-19 KJV

12 But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake.

13 And it shall turn to you for a testimony.

14 Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer:

15 For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.

16 And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.

17 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.

18 But there shall not an hair of your head perish.

19 In your patience possess ye your souls.

ON READING THE LIVES OF
MARTYRS AND SAINTS

by Archbishop Chrysostomos of Blessed Memory

also a PAGE

In a time of anti-religious cynicism and at a time when we, who are emerging from one of the most violent, barbaric, and bloody centuries in human history, nonetheless consider ourselves quite civilized and advanced, the lives of Saints and Martyrs—religious fairy tales, as some call them—appear to many as naïve and meant for the ignorant and superstitious. Given this perception, it is all the more important that we learn to read and enjoy, as well as fully understand, the lives of those who embody and exemplify the virtues of our Faith. In many ways, hagiographical (the writing of the lives of saints) accounts, which, like Icons, have a style, a language, and an imagery of their own, are the literary counterpart of Icons.

Through the symbolic, stylized lives of the heroes of our Faith, we are inspired to imitate the ways of pure and guileless believers. We are lifted up, through the agency of hagiography, to the very archetypes of those perfected, deified, and made perfect, by Grace, in Christ. Hagiography has the ability to present, in a purified medium, the witness of Saints and Martyrs who transformed themselves in Christ, becoming "small Jesus Christs" in Jesus Christ (the actual meaning of Christocentric sanctity). If these lives seem at times fantastic, this is because we are so mundane. If they seem terribly improbable, it is because our limitations, pretensions, and pride are so horribly and inevitably probable.

In the forgotten past, Aesop's tales, fabrications, taught virtue and values to generations of human beings. In our nearer, if fading, Christian past, the lives of Saints and Martyrs served the same purpose, though they were not fabricated, but derived from actual lives and actual events. They may, once more, be told in an "iconographic," stylized way, but they rise out of real lives in real time; and, beyond this, they take on spiritual dimensions by virtue of the Grace that they convey.

I think that we all need to return to an understanding of what hagiography teaches us; of how it cleanses our minds and subdues our passions; of how it reinforces our faith in things beyond the natural and beyond the limitations of the world. We need those things that speak of simplicity of spirit and that starkly contrast human good and faith against the demonic, fallen ills of human resentment, jealousy, and evil, which we cover with the myth of being sophisticated creatures living in a civilized time.

Reduced to a simple struggle between good and evil, life can tell us much about what lies beyond good and evil. It can speak to us of spiritual perfection. And life does, indeed, speak quite clearly to us Christians through the lips, lives, and lucidity of the Saints and Martyrs, if we heed what they tell us with childlike wonderment.

GREAT ART THOU O LORD AND MARVELLOUS ARE THY WORKS AND WORDS CANNOT SUFFICE TO SING THE PRAISES OF THY WONDERS