Holy Martyrs Urban, Theodore, Medimnus and the eighty companions
The Holy Martyrs Urban, Theodore and Medimnus were presbyters and deacons at Constantinople, and with them suffered eighty other clergy, in the days of the Arian persecution under the emperor Valens in the latter part of the fourth century. After the death of the holy Patriarch Eudoxius, the Orthodox of the imperial city, deprived of a true shepherd, sent these eighty clergymen to the emperor at Nicomedia, beseeching him with all reverence to permit the election of an Orthodox bishop in place of the Arian intruder Eudoxius. Valens, refusing to hear them and inflamed with anger that the men of the capital still clung to the faith of Nicaea, secretly commanded the eparch Modestus to put them all to death. Modestus, fearing the Orthodox population of the city, devised a treacherous plan: he placed them all on board a single ship at sea, ostensibly to send them into exile, set fire to the vessel, and at the same time ordered that the ship be set adrift in a heavy storm. The ship caught fire on the open sea between Nicomedia and Bithynia, and the eighty holy men, lifting up their hymns of thanksgiving, gave up their souls to God in the flames. Saint Basil the Great records the event in one of his homilies as an example of the cruelty of the Arian heresy and of the courage of those who stood firm for the Orthodox faith. Their memory is honoured on the fifth of September.
Holy Prophet Zachariah and Righteous Elizabeth, parents of John the Forerunner
The Holy Prophet Zachariah and the Righteous Elizabeth were the parents of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord, John. They were both of the priestly lineage of Aaron: Zachariah, the son of Berechiah, was a priest of the eighth course at the Jerusalem Temple, and Elizabeth was the sister of Saint Anna, the mother of the Most Holy Theotokos. According to the Gospel of Luke they were righteous before God, walking in all the commandments of the Lord blamelessly, and yet they were childless and well advanced in years. Once, while Zachariah was burning incense in the sanctuary, the archangel Gabriel appeared to him on the right side of the altar and announced that his prayer had been heard: his wife Elizabeth would bear him a son, John, who would be great in the sight of the Lord and would go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias. Because Zachariah doubted, he was struck mute until the day of John's birth. Elizabeth conceived in her old age, and during her pregnancy received the visit of her young kinswoman Mary, the Theotokos, at whose greeting the child in her own womb leapt for joy and she herself was filled with the Holy Spirit. After the birth and circumcision of the child, Zachariah, regaining his speech, prophesied the song known as the Benedictus. According to ancient tradition, when Herod sent his soldiers to slaughter the infants of Bethlehem, Elizabeth fled with John into the desert, where a mountain opened to receive them. Elizabeth reposed forty days later in the wilderness, and an angel cared for the child. Zachariah, refusing to disclose the whereabouts of his son to Herod's soldiers, was murdered by them between the porch and the altar of the Temple, fulfilling the words of the Lord in the Gospels concerning the blood of righteous Zachariah son of Barachias.
Holy and Glorious Prophet Zacharias, Father of St John the Baptist
Much of his story is told in the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel. The Synaxarion continues:
‘After the birth of Christ, Zacharias plainly declared the virginity of Mary and showed her truly to be the Mother of God; for he appointed her a place in that part of the Temple reserved for the virgins and so brought upon himself the hatred of the priests and levites.
‘When John was six months old, Zacharias hid him and his mother in a cave beyond the Jordan because King Herod, hearing of the birth in Bethlehem of the king of the Jews and fearing a rival of his own worldly power, sent soldiers to kill all the male children of Bethlehem. His enemies seized this opportunity to denounce Zacharias to Herod, who had him pursued and put to death within the precinct of the Temple, at the very place the Mother of God abode for a witnes to her virginity. As the Prophet’s blood flowed within the sanctuary, it signified the withdrawing of the divine Presence. Priests came to take up his body and they buried him with his fathers. From that moment signs and prodigies occurred in the Temple, indicating that the rites of the Law would soon be abolished. No longer would the priests behold the angels of God, or have the grace of prophecy; no longer would they be able to deliver oracles or enlighten the people upon the dark places of holy Scripture, as they had been wont to do.’
Saint Peter the Patrician, of Galatia
Saint Peter the Patrician was a Byzantine nobleman of Galatia who lived in the seventh and eighth centuries. He held the high rank of patrician at the imperial court of Constantinople, served the empire with distinction, and married a virtuous woman with whom he had two sons. After many years in the world, having brought up his children in piety and in the fear of God, both he and his wife agreed to forsake the affairs of state for the sake of Christ. With the consent of his wife, who herself entered a women's monastery, Saint Peter renounced his honours and possessions, distributed his wealth to the poor, and went to a monastery at Olympus in Bithynia, where he received the angelic schema and lived in obedience and great humility. He afterwards withdrew to a remote cave near the city of Atroa, and from there to the holy mountains of Asia Minor, leading a life of strict abstinence, fasting and unceasing prayer. By the gift of the Holy Spirit he received discernment and the working of healings, and many came to him for spiritual counsel. After thirty-four years of monastic struggle he reposed in peace at a great age, around the year 854. He is to be distinguished from the historian Peter the Patrician of the sixth century. The Orthodox Church remembers him on the fifth of September together with the holy Prophet Zachariah.
Holy Hieromartyr Athanasius of Brest-Litovsk
1649
“Saint Athanasius was born in the province of Minsk in 1596, the same year as the false Union of Brest-Litovsk was concluded between Rome and some Russian bishops. His father was a Lithuanian nobleman of modest means, but Athanasius acquired a breadth and depth of learning that were exceptional at that time. Besides modern and ancient languages and the writings of the holy Fathers, he was familiar with the works of Western philosophers and theologians.
“In 1627, after spending several years as a private tutor, he became a monk at the Monastery of Khutyn near Orsha in Little Russia. This monastery was independent of the Polish occupying forces and, by tradition, deeply committed to the preservation of Orthodoxy, so that it was able to offer great encouragement to the Orthodox people in the face of Roman Catholic propaganda. Athanasius went on to follow his monastic path in other renowned monasteries, and was ordained priest. The Metropolitan of Kiev, Peter Moghila, gave him the task of restoring the Monastery of Kupyatitsk. In obedience to a divine revelation, Athanasius set out for Moscow, a long and dangerous journey through territory under Polish occupation, in order to ask for financial assistance for the restoration, and to acquaint the Tsar with the fate intended for the Orthodox Church in the lands to the south-west of Russia. He was successful in his quest and with the help of the Mother of God, the restoration works were begun. Two years later, Athanasius was appointed Abbot of the Monastery of St Symeon the Stylite in Brest-Litovsk. From then on, he was to be a resolute and tireless fighter against Roman proselytism, clothed in Orthodox rites and customs known as the Unia. For the next eight years, by prayer, preaching and through his writings, the Saint devoted all his strength to refuting the false Union, and to bringing back to the holy sheep-fold of Christ those who had strayed.
“The population of the occupied territories was brutally treated by the Polish soldiers and colonists, nor did the Jesuit missionaries, for their part, abstain from any measure that might serve to lead the peoples of Little Russia to accept their faith. In this situation, Saint Athanasius decided to petition the King of Poland, Vladislav IV, that the Orthodox be treated with more humanity. The King was moved by his request and issued a decree forbidding the abuses that had occurred, but his officials ignored it. The condition of the Orthodox in Warsaw was particularly bad. It was not unknown for the Poles and Uniates to set fire to Orthodox churches on feast days when they were full of the faithful, just as had happened in the time of the great Persecutions.
“Athanasius kept up the fight, aided and comforted by none but the Mother of God, and in 1643, following a new revelation, he again appealed for redress on behalf of the Orthodox to the Polish Council of State. He received a favourable hearing and the Orthodox were granted some legal protection. But certain Orthodox men of rank, fearing for their privileges, claimed that the Saint was mad and succeeded in having him deprived of his abbacy, deposed from the priesthood and sent to Kiev to answer before a church court.
“The humble Athanasius was completely exonerated and restored to his position, but he did not have peace for long, since persecution of the Orthodox soon began again. He drew up a petition intended for the King of Poland, but was arrested and thrown into prison before he was able to complete it. He was released after three years’ detention but, in 1648, a persecution broke out that was more terrible than ever before. So bloody was it that the people of Little Russia rose up and demanded the departure of the Polish-Lithuanian army and the restoration of Russian territory to the Tsar. The Polish authorities immediately arrested the rebel leaders and prominent Orthodox dignitaries. Saint Athanasius was imprisoned, and endured physical and mental torments of all kinds at the hands of his gaolers and of the Roman Catholic authorities, but he never ceased to cry, ‘Anathema to the Union!’ After being tortured with red-hot coals, he was flayed and burnt alive. As he was still not dead, his executioners shot him.
“They threw his decapitated corpse into a pit, where it was found some time later incorrupt. In the years that followed, the relics of the holy Martyr worked many miracles.” (Synaxarion)
Holy Martyrs Abda the bishop, Hormizd and Sunin of Persia
4th c
Saint Abda lived in Persia during the reign of the Emperor Theodosius II and of the Persian king Yazgerd I; as bishop of the Christians there, he labored tirelessly to care for his own flock and bring the pagans to Christ. One day, full of zeal, he entered the temple at which the king made sacrifice, overturned the sacred fire and set the temple on fire. The enraged king forbade the worship of the Christian God, ordered the destruction of all the churches and monasteries, and arrested all of the clergy. Abda was brought before the king and ordered to rebuild the pagan temple; when he refused, he was cruelly and lengthily tortured until he gave up his soul to God. This was the beginning of a thirty-year period of terrible persecution for Christians in Persia.
Saint Hormizd was the son of a Persian governor who became a Christian in his youth. For this, his father condemned him to labor as a naked camel-herder in the desert. Some time later, the King sent Hormizd a linen tunic, promising to restore him to favor if he would return to the religion of the Persians. The Saint tore up the tunic and retured it to the king, for which he was executed.
Saint Sunin was a high Persian official who turned to Christ and was rewarded with a crown of martyrdom.