August 11

S. V. Bulgakov, Handbook for Church Servers

The Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Euplus.

The Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Euplus suffered for the Christian faith in the year 304. He lived in the city of Catania (in Sicily) during the persecution of Christians under Diocletian. Being a deacon, Euplus fearlessly preached the Gospel, gathered the people around him and enlightened them by the light of the Christian faith. "Having mighty wisdom and unshakable thought", he "armed with faith" destroyed "the temple of idols" and converted many to Christ. The Christian physicians seized him in one hut during the time when he read the Gospel there. With the strength of convictions and severe tortures they tried to defeat the inflexibility of the deacon, but he, rejoicing, suffered "wounds and illnesses and all kinds of torment". Then he was led off to prison, tormented there with hunger and thirst and, finally, condemned to death. The good Euplus carried his Gospel hung around his neck, which he began to read at the place of execution. Praying to God, the martyr joyfully bent his head under the sword.

Kontakion, tone 1.

When the love of Christ was your only defense, You stood in the midst of your fight and said I endure this struggle willingly and with confidenceYou rejoiced, Euplus, to offer your head to the sword // And so complete your course(Text translation: Holy Myrrh-bearing Women Monastery)

2. The Martyrs Sosanna (Susanna) the virgin and those with her.

The Martyrs Sosanna (Susanna) virgin and those with her: Gaius, Pope of Rome, Gabinius, presbyter and father of Susanna, Maximus, comes (head of a division), Claudius his brother and his wife Prepedigna, their sons Alexander and Cuby, suffered during the reign of Diocletian in 295 and 296. St. Susanna was the only daughter of the Roman presbyter Gabinius, a relative of Diocletian. Brought up in the spirit of Christianity and according to the rules of Christian piety, she was trained also in various secular sciences. With her external beauty, being an intelligent and educated girl, she was known for her strict chastity, deep faith and burning love for Christ. As a fervent follower of the Savior and her love for virginity, the chaste Susanna refused the offer from Diocletian of marriage to Galerius (who was related to the emperor). Diocletian, in order to win her over to this marriage, ordered her to live in his palace and charged his spouse, the queen Serene, to convince her. But the queen herself was secretly a Christian and rejoiced at the unshakable determination of Susanna. Having found out from the queen about the firmness of Susanna, Diocletian gave permission to his son Maximinian to dishonor Susanna, for this purpose ordered her to leave his father's house. Appearing at night to Susanna, Maximinian found her praying and, to fulfill his obscene desires, wanted to approach her, but, seeing a holy angel with a large halo over her, ran from the palace in fear and told Diocletian what he had seen. Then Diocletian sent a severe persecutor of Christians, by the name of Macedonius, to mercilessly beat the holy martyr with a cane if she did not bow down to the idol. St. Susanna remained unshakable. Informed about it by Macedonius, Diocletian gave him the inhuman cruel command to truncate the Holy Virgin by the sword in her parent's home. Her father and his brother Pope Gaius (or Caius) soon after her death also accepted a martyr's death. St. Claudius, uncle of Susanna, having accepted holy baptism together with his wife and two sons, devoted himself to serving his brothers in the faith interned in prisons, hidden in the mountains and deserts, and helped them with his property. His brother Maximus followed his example. All of them were banished to the prison in Ostia and there were burnt. The relics of St. Susanna with the relics of her father are in the church dedicated to her name in Rome; the relics of Pope Gaius are also in Rome in the church dedicated to his name.

The Venerable Martyrs Basil and Theodore of the Kiev Caves.

They struggled as monks in the Kiev Monastery of the Caves in the 16th century and were tied together by a close friendship. St. Theodore, who distributed his rich estate to the poor, subsequently, being tempted by the devil, began to feel sorry about it. The Venerable Basil, a hieromonk, delivered him of the passion of the love of money through his prayers and instructions. Both monks died from the wounds inflicted on them by the Prince Mstislav Sviatopolksky, who suspected them of greedy concealment of treasures found by them, (1098). Their relics lay in St. Anthony Caves. They have a special service.

The Venerable Passarion.

Founder of one of the Jerusalem monasteries, a chorepiscop in Palestine and a guide to the Venerable Euthymius, he struggled during the first half of the fifth century.

The Venerable Nephon, Patriarch of Constantinople.

He was born in Greece of distinguished parents and in youth he accepted monasticism in Epidauros. From here after the death of his Starets Anthony he left for Mount Athos, where he led a strict monastic life, occupied with writing icons. For his own education and for his own wondrous ascetic efforts and morally-good life he was elected Metropolitan of Salonica and in this rank was revealed as a firm defender of Orthodoxy and truly the father of his sheep; then he twice occupied the patriarchal cathedra in Constantinople, and later became the bishop of Wallachia. From here, yearning for silence, he again left for Mount Athos and settled in Vatopedi Monastery, where, hiding his rank, he performed a lower duty. He died at the beginning of the 16th century. His relics are in the Arges Monastery in Wallachia.

S. V. Bulgakov, Handbook for Church Servers, 2nd ed., 1274 pp/ (Kharkov, 1900) pp 278-9/ Translated by Archpriest Eugene D. Tarris (c) 7/19/2001. All rights reserved.

Troparion and Kontakion take from the Menologian for windows if not otherwise attributed.

Posted with Permission from the Translator




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