Holy Apostle Philemon and Sts Apphia, Archippus and Onesimus
Philemon is addressed in the Epistle of the holy Apostle Paul that bears his name. He was a nobleman from Colossae; Apphia was his wife. Archippus was Bishop of Colossae. All three were disciples of the Apostle Paul. Onesimus was a pagan slave of Philemon, who stole from his master and fled to Rome. There St Paul led him to faith in Christ, and wrote the Epistle to Philemon, urging Onesimus’ master to forgive him and take him back as a brother in Christ. This Philemon did, and Onesimus later became a bishop. In Greece he is venerated as the patron Saint of the imprisoned. All of these holy followers of Christ died as martyrs, stoned to death by pagans.
Holy Apostles of the Seventy Philemon, Archippus, Onesimus, and the Martyr Apphia
109
The Holy Apostles Philemon and his wife Apphia lived in the city of Colossae in Phrygia. After being baptised by the holy Apostle Paul, they converted their house into a house of prayer where Christians gathered for worship. Saint Paul addressed his Epistle to Philemon to them, sending blessings to Philemon, beloved Apphia, and Archippus their fellow soldier, and to the church in their house. Saint Archippus also lived at Colossae and ministered as a bishop there. Saint Onesimus was the runaway slave of Philemon who fled to Rome, met the imprisoned Apostle Paul, was baptised by him, and was then sent back to his master with the letter we now know as the Epistle to Philemon. After serving the apostles, Onesimus was made a bishop and preached the Gospel in Spain, Carpetania, Colossae, and Patras, eventually occupying the bishop's throne at Ephesus after the Apostle Timothy.
Saints Philemon, Apphia, and Archippus all received the crown of martyrdom during the persecution of Nero (54 to 68). During a pagan festival an enraged crowd rushed into the Christian church while services were going on. The three remained while the rest fled, and the pagans seized them, scourged them, and stoned them to death. Saint Onesimus was arrested in the year 109 under the Emperor Trajan, held in prison eighteen days, and then sent to Puteoli, where he was stoned and beheaded for confessing Christ.
Holy Martyr Cecilia of Rome
Saint Cecilia was born in Rome in the third century to wealthy and illustrious parents who were idolaters. Hearing the Gospel preached, she came to believe in Christ and vowed to preserve her virginity. Although her parents gave her in marriage to a noble pagan named Valerian, she persuaded her husband to respect her vow, and she converted both Valerian and his brother Tiberius to Christ. The two brothers devoted themselves to burying the bodies of martyred Christians, for which they were arrested and put to death.
After the death of her husband and his brother, Saint Cecilia continued preaching the Gospel and converted some four hundred persons, who were baptised by Pope Urban. The prefect Almachius sought to confiscate her property, but learning that she had already given it away to the poor, he ordered her execution. They tried to suffocate her in the steam of her own bath house, but she remained unharmed. The executioner then struck her with a sword three times but failed to behead her, and she lived for three days, instructing those who came to her, before she gave up her soul. She is venerated in both East and West as a patroness of sacred music.
Saint Iakovos of Borovichi, Wonderworker of Novgorod
1540
Saint Iakovos of Borovichi took upon himself the arduous podvig of foolishness for Christ in his youth. Most of the details of his earthly life are unknown, for he hid his ascetic struggles from human eyes, but the Lord glorified him after his death. According to tradition, in the year 1540, on the third day of Pascha, a large block of ice floated up against the current along the River Msta to the village of Borovichi in the Novgorod district, and on this block of ice stood an oak coffin without a lid in which the body of a youth lay. The peasants pushed the floe back into the river with poles, but it returned to the shore three times.
That night the youth appeared in a dream to the elders of the village and said: I am also a Christian just like you. Do not push me away. My name is Iakovos, and I bear the name of the Apostle James, the brother of the Lord. The villagers placed the relics first in a chapel, then in 1544 transferred them to the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit. Many miracles of healing followed at the saint's tomb, and the annual commemoration of Saint Iakovos was established. His principal feast is 23 October, marking the translation of his relics, while 22 November is also kept in some calendars as a commemoration of the wonderworker.
Saint Michael the Soldier of Potuka, Bulgaria
Saint Michael the Soldier was among the first of the Bulgarians to embrace Christianity. He lived in the city of Potuka during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Michael III (855 to 867) and from his youth gave himself to prayer, almsgiving, and the reading of the Scriptures. He served with distinction in the army, but he was greater in his spiritual warfare than in his bodily one, for he kept the commandments of Christ amid the dangers of military life.
According to tradition, while returning home after a successful campaign, he passed through the Raipha wilderness and rescued the inhabitants of a city from a vast beast that had emerged from a lake and was devouring children offered to it as a sacrifice. After slaying the creature he preached the Gospel to the people, turning them from demon worship and from human sacrifice. Soon after his return home Saint Michael surrendered his soul to the Lord, and many miracles were worked at his tomb. The transfer of his relics from Potuka to Trnovo took place in 1206, and at the beginning of the nineteenth century they were transferred to Wallachia.
Holy Martyrs Cecilia, Valerian, Tiburtius and Maximus, at Rome
3rd c.
Saint Cecilia was born to a prominent pagan family in Rome. In her youth she secretly became a disciple of Christ. When her parents betrothed her to a young man named Valerian, she brought him to faith in Christ and persuaded him that they should live in virginity. Valerian was baptised by Pope Urban, and in his turn went on to bring his brother Tiburtius to the Faith. At the time, Christians in Rome were being violently persecuted, many to the point of martyrdom; Cecilia, her husband, and his brother made it their work to go out by night and secretly give pious burial to the martyrs and give charitable help to their families. Eventually, this was discovered, and the two brothers were in their own turn arrested and condemned as Christians. At the moment of their beheading, the Roman officer Maximus saw heaven open and angels come to receive their souls; he, along with several other onlookers, confessed Christ, and in his turn died under torture. Finally, Cecilia herself was arrested and, after faithfully enduring various tortures, was beheaded. Because St Cecilia is described in her first biography as a lover of music, she is honored as patroness of church music in the West, and is often shown playing the organ.
Holy Prince and Passion-Bearer Peter Yaropolk
1086
“Saint Peter Yaropolk, the son of Grand Prince Iziaslav Yaroslavovich, took part in all his father’s campaigns as an obedient son, and went with him into exile. The meek and humble Prince had much to suffer from the members of his family, but he always forgave them. Every day he earnestly prayed to be counted worthy of holy death, like Saints Boris and Gleb (24 July), in order to be cleansed of his many sins by the shedding of his blood and to be freed from the vanity of this world. He was assasinated on 21 November 1086.” (Synaxarion)
The term ‘Passion-bearer’ is used in the Russian Church for Saints who, though they were not killed for their faith and are thus not strictly Martyrs, suffered death with resignation and in the spirit of the Gospel. Saints Boris and Gleb are the first and model Passion-bearers.
Holy Grand Prince and Martyr Michael of Tver
1318
He was born in Tver in 1272 to Prince Yaroslav Yaroslavovich, who was the brother of St Alexander Nevsky (November 23). Michael was brought up in the faith by his mother, who later became a nun. Such was his fervor that from childhood he was certain that he must end his life either as a monk or a martyr. He succeeded his brother as Prince of Tver in 1285, and later became Grand Prince of Vladimir, the Russian capital during the Mongol conquest.
When Prince Michael lost the throne of Vladimir through the plotting of his kinsman Prince George, his advisers urged him to go to war against George; but he preferred to lose power rather than to subject his people to bloodshed. When George attacked Tver itself, Michael took up arms to defend it, and was victorious. One of his prisoners was Princess Agatha, George’s wife and the sister of the Tatar Khan. When she died in captivity, the full wrath of both George and the Tatars was aroused against Michael. The Prince knew that the only way to avert catastrophe for his people was to go to the Golden Horde to be judged at the Khan’s court. Michael’s kinsmen and advisors knew that such a course would surely lead to his death, but none were able to dissuade him from going to save his people.
Michael was kept prisoner with a wooden yoke around his neck, and subjected to many humiliations by the Tatars. But as he awaited his sentence he remained calm, spending his days in chanting the Church services and the Psalms. On the night of 21-22 November he had a revelation of his impending death. He attended the Liturgy, took Communion, and embraced his family. Then, opening the Psalter, he read the words Cast thy burden on the Lord, and He will sustain thee: He will never permit the righteous to be moved (Ps 54). He then calmly greeted his kinsman George and his minions, who pounced on the Prince and ran him through with swords. Prince Michael’s relics were returned to Moscow, then translated to Tver in 1320. When the city was besieged in 1549, St Michael appeared to the inhabitants in the form of a mounted knight, armed for battle.