On this day we commemorate the departure of St. Basilides and the Blessed Theodora
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen!
✞✞✞Saint Basilides, Martyr
=> In Church history, after St. George, St. Basilides is one among those who come first in honor from the martyrs. Even he was the leader and a teacher for and in the Era of Martyrs. Let’s see this from the beginning.
✞In the 3rd century the Roman Empire was administered from two cities, Rome itself and Antioch. The Emperor of the time was Numerianus (Numerian) and the princes and generals included the saints Basilides (whose sister was the emperor’s wife), Claudius (brother of Numerianus), Victor (Boctor – son of Martha), Macarius (son of Basilides), Abadir (Apater - son of the sister of Basilides), Theodore (the 3 Theodores), Eusebius (son of Basilides), Justus (Yostos - son of Emperor Numerianus), Apoli (Aboli - son of Justus)... and others.
✞The women included the saints Martha, Sophia, Iraya (Iraja/Herais – sister of Abadir), Theoclea (wife of Justus) and others. And the head of all these was St. Basilides. Because, at the time, there were many wars taking place in Persia, Quz and with Berbers, coincidently the Emperor got struck and died in combat.
✞And the throne of Rome was vacant. It was easy for St. Basilides or the other saints to take hold of the crown. But they simply left to do battle with enemies.
✞In those days, in Egypt, there was a strong man who herded goats and spoke to Satan from his childhood called Agripada (Agrippita). From the children the emperor bore, two were wicked girls and the smaller one, when no one was around, married Agripada (Agrippita) and called him Diocletian.
✞In Church history, after Satan, there is no name which is as evil. He was a man that slaughtered Christians. Seeing her younger sister, the elder, married a beast called Maximian and crowned him. And the world fell into the hands of these cruel men.
✞All the legions were counted in millions. When they saw what was done, they were angered. St. Basilides who saw this, gathered the princes, princesses and the generals and said, “This world with its glory will perish, so let us chose the greater, the Kingdom of Christ.” All of them, as if they were of one mind, were joyous and decided to leave behind their earthly honor.
Then, they gathered under one roof and started fasting and praying. They went outside for alms giving only. When the apostate saw this, and brimmed with over confidence. He found a reason to implement his old plan of eliminating Christians.
✞Because of the monk named Abba Agagios, he declared, “Churches will be razed and temples (of idol worship) will be opened.” He raised idols called Apollo and ‘Ardamis’.
And because of this declaration, started the torments of Christians.
*The earth was bathed with blood.
*The saints had none to bury them.
*Some were killed, some were burned, some were imprisoned and some fled. At this moment, St. Basilides, the forerunner in virtues, prayed for his kinfolk and himself.
✞St. Michael descended in glory and took him up to heaven. There, he acquainted him with the saints, showed him the splendor of the martyrs, got him blessed by the Lord, baptized him by the fountain of the water of life and returned him. And St. Basilides, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, stood before the Emperor.
✞The Emperor was terrified but the saint told him that he wanted to die for the name of his Creator. Though not successful, he [the Emperor] tried to persuade him. Then he imprisoned and sent him to Africa. A governor called Masrus tortured him.
✞When he was above all, he left it for Christ’s sake. They whipped him till his body was in pieces, laid him on a hot iron bed, trampled him, and crushed him with a mill. Since he had faith in his Creator, he endured all. They killed him twice but was raised.
Because of the miracles he performed, half of the population of the city converted form nonbelief and were martyred.✞Finally, on this day, when they beheaded him, blood and milk poured. And the angels filled the air to receive him. From the relatives of the princes, none was left, including the wife and children of St. Basilides. All passed away as martyrs.
Our Mother St. Theodora
=> This holy mother is a lady of patience. Her patience and kindness is admirable. Her story in some way is similar to that of Anba Marina.
St. Theodora was an Egyptian that was born and raised in Alexandria. She was sincere from her childhood. Even though she was an ascetic by heart, she accepted the husband that her parents brought and married him saying, “Yes.” For some time, she lived with her husband properly by partaking of the Holy Eucharist.
✞Because of her love for the Church she used to go there day and night. But, one day, a trial was waiting for her on the road. Suddenly, a man who wanted her for a long time for sin, because of her beauty, grabbed her.
✞She tried to fight him but he overpowered her. She screamed but no one was around to hear her. The man did what he wanted and left, after defiling her. It is not hard to comprehend how difficult it is for one pure young woman to endure this.
✞Also there can be no better reason than this to become a very ruthless person and to take revenge. But the Saint rose from the ground where she fell and wept bitterly. Enduring her pain, she left to the desert, not to return to her home again. She entered into a monastery and became a monk under a male name “Abba Theodore”. There was no nunnery around the area.
✞What was astounding was that she forgave that cruel man while in the monastery. After that she took the difficult penance for his sin. This is what the lives of the saints is, laying down one’s life for the foe (John 15.13). But her trials continued.
✞Thinking she was a man, they [the monks] threw her out saying, “You have impregnated a local woman.” They gave her a child to raise which she didn’t bore. Again, she accepted all these with praise and struggled in the hot desert for seven years. She raised the child. Then, they took her back after putting upon her a heavy penance. St. Theodora passed away on this day after laboring as such. And on the day of her passing, her honor was revealed.
May the merciful God, not deprive us of the patience and asceticism of the saints. And may He grant us from their blessings.
Post Top Ad
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
Feasts of Meskerem 11
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Post Bottom Ad
Author Details
Templatesyard is a blogger resources site is a provider of high quality blogger template with premium looking layout and robust design. The main mission of templatesyard is to provide the best quality blogger templates which are professionally designed and perfectlly seo optimized to deliver best result for your blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment