Today, on Saturday of the First Week of Lent, the Church celebrates the memory of the miracle of the holy Great Martyr Theodore Tyrone, during the reign of Julian the Criminal, who, being a pagan emperor, was against the fasting of Christians. Therefore, when Lent was approaching, he ordered the prefect of Constantinople to remove all food from the marketplace and to leave only idolaters, so that Christians would be forced to feed on them. Then St. Theodore appeared in a vision to Patriarch Eudoxius and revealed Julian's plan to him, at the same time instructing him that Christians should use huts instead of other food.
The Great Martyr Theodore is another historical testimony of man's inner strength and the gifts he possesses by the blessing of God.
Also today we celebrate the memory of the Holy Martyr Nikon and his 199 disciples, as well as the Holy Great Martyr Luke of Adrianople, who was martyred in 1802 in Mytilini.
St. Nikon came from Naples, Italy, and was born around the end of the 3rd century A.D. century. century. His Christian mother taught him the Holy Gospel, and he was noted for his achievements in literature and military prowess.
Disdaining brilliant professional prospects in the Roman army, he traveled to the island of Chios, where he took on the monastic form, moved spiritually in patience and humility and became hegumen of a great monastery.
After the death of his parents he returned to his homeland and together with 199 of his spiritual children finally became a hermit in Sicily. The reputation and virtues of the saint aroused the hatred of the local governor, who ordered the arrest and trial of all members of the brotherhood.
There they were asked to renounce Christ, treated in humiliating ways and presented with dilemmas, but they all answered with equal unanimity that nothing could separate them from the love of the Lord. Thus, in 250 A.D., they were all brought to martyrdom together and deservedly received the crown of eternity and the blessing of the Triune God.
The Holy Lent we are experiencing is a great opportunity to ascend and cultivate virtues. Therefore, we must set aside lustfulness and labor in the path of virtue, the pinnacle of which is humility, discernment and love. Through love and forgiveness toward all, the grace of God is attracted and will overshadow us.
Both the martyrs of the first centuries and the so-called New Martyrs during the Turkish rule show the way of correct confession of the Faith up to bloody martyrdom.
We modern Christians experience the agony of conscience every day, sensitively and militantly. The criterion for our actions and choices is motivation and spring, that own us.
Bishop Grigoriou of Mesaori
The Great Martyr Theodore is another historical testimony of man's inner strength and the gifts he possesses by the blessing of God.
Also today we celebrate the memory of the Holy Martyr Nikon and his 199 disciples, as well as the Holy Great Martyr Luke of Adrianople, who was martyred in 1802 in Mytilini.
St. Nikon came from Naples, Italy, and was born around the end of the 3rd century A.D. century. century. His Christian mother taught him the Holy Gospel, and he was noted for his achievements in literature and military prowess.
Disdaining brilliant professional prospects in the Roman army, he traveled to the island of Chios, where he took on the monastic form, moved spiritually in patience and humility and became hegumen of a great monastery.
After the death of his parents he returned to his homeland and together with 199 of his spiritual children finally became a hermit in Sicily. The reputation and virtues of the saint aroused the hatred of the local governor, who ordered the arrest and trial of all members of the brotherhood.
There they were asked to renounce Christ, treated in humiliating ways and presented with dilemmas, but they all answered with equal unanimity that nothing could separate them from the love of the Lord. Thus, in 250 A.D., they were all brought to martyrdom together and deservedly received the crown of eternity and the blessing of the Triune God.
The Holy Lent we are experiencing is a great opportunity to ascend and cultivate virtues. Therefore, we must set aside lustfulness and labor in the path of virtue, the pinnacle of which is humility, discernment and love. Through love and forgiveness toward all, the grace of God is attracted and will overshadow us.
Both the martyrs of the first centuries and the so-called New Martyrs during the Turkish rule show the way of correct confession of the Faith up to bloody martyrdom.
We modern Christians experience the agony of conscience every day, sensitively and militantly. The criterion for our actions and choices is motivation and spring, that own us.
Bishop Grigoriou of Mesaori
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