Persecution of Christians. Martyr of Christ from next door

It began to spread, and then it had enemies in the form of Jews who did not believe in Jesus Christ. The first Christians were Jews who followed Jesus Christ. The Jewish leaders were hostile to the Lord. At the very beginning, the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. Then, when the preaching of the apostles began to spread, persecution of the apostles and other Christians began.

The Jews could not come to terms with the power of the Romans and therefore did not like the Romans. The Roman procurators treated the Jews very cruelly, oppressed them with taxes and insulted their religious feelings.

In the year 67, the Jewish uprising against the Romans began. They were able to liberate Jerusalem from the Romans, but only temporarily. Most of the Christians took advantage of the freedom to leave and went to the city of Pella. In 70, the Romans brought new troops, which very brutally suppressed the rebels.

After 65 years, the Jews rebelled against the Romans again. This time Jerusalem was completely destroyed and it was ordered to walk through the streets with a plow as a sign that this was no longer a city, but a field. The Jews who survived fled to other countries. Later, on the ruins of Jerusalem, the small city of Elia Capitolina grew up.

The fall of the Jews and Jerusalem means that the great persecution of Christians by the Jews ceased.

Second Persecution by the pagans of the Roman Empire

St. Ignatius the God-Bearer, Bishop of Antioch

Saint Ignatius was a disciple of Saint John the Theologian. He was called a God-bearer because Jesus Christ Himself held him in His hands when He said the famous words: “If you do not turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” (). In addition, Saint Ignatius was like a vessel who always bore the name of God within himself. Around the year 70, he was ordained bishop of the Antiochian Church, which he ruled for more than 30 years.

In the year 107, Christians and their bishop refused to take part in the revelry and drunkenness that was organized on the occasion of the arrival of Emperor Trajan. For this, the emperor sent the bishop to Rome for execution with the words “Ignatius should be chained to the soldiers and sent to Rome to be devoured by wild beasts for the amusement of the people.” Saint Ignatius was sent to Rome. Antiochian Christians accompanied their bishop to the place of torment. Along the way, many churches sent their representatives to greet and encourage him and show him their attention and respect in every possible way. Along the way, Saint Ignatius wrote seven epistles to local churches. In these messages, the bishop urged to preserve the right faith and obey the divinely established hierarchy.

Saint Ignatius joyfully went to the amphitheater, repeating the name of Christ all the time. With a prayer to the Lord, he entered the arena. Then they released wild animals and they furiously tore the saint to pieces, leaving only a few bones of him. The Antiochian Christians, who accompanied their bishop to the place of torment, collected these bones with reverence, wrapped them as precious treasure and took them to their city.

The memory of the holy hieromartyr is celebrated on the day of his repose, December 20/January 2.

St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna

Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, together with Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer, was a disciple of the Apostle John the Theologian. The Apostle ordained him Bishop of Smyrna. He held this position for more than forty years and experienced many persecutions. He wrote many letters to Christians of neighboring Churches to strengthen them in the pure and right faith.

The holy martyr Polycarp lived to old age and was martyred during the persecution of the emperor Marcus Aurelius (second period of persecution, 161-187). He was burned at the stake on February 23, 167.

The memory of the holy hieromartyr Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna is celebrated on the day of his presentation, February 23/March 8.

Saint Justin, a Greek by origin, became interested in philosophy in his youth, listened to all the then known philosophical schools and did not find satisfaction in any of them. Having become acquainted with Christian teaching, he became convinced of its divine origin.

Having become a Christian, he defended Christians from the accusations and attacks of pagans. There are two well-known apologies written in defense of Christians, and several works that prove the superiority of Christianity over Judaism and paganism.

One of his opponents, who could not overcome him in disputes, denounced him to the Roman government, and he fearlessly and joyfully met his martyrdom on June 1, 166.

The memory of the holy martyr Justin, the Philosopher is celebrated on the day of his presentation, June 1/14.

Holy martyrs

Along with the martyrs in the Church of Christ there are many women, holy martyrs who suffered for the faith of Christ. Of the large number of Christian martyrs in the ancient church, the most remarkable are: Saints Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia, Great Martyr Catherine, Queen Augusta and Great Martyr Barbara.

St. Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia

The holy martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia lived in Rome in the 2nd century. Sophia was a Christian widow and raised her children in the spirit of the holy faith. Her three daughters were named after the three cardinal Christian virtues (1 Corinthians 13:13). The oldest was only 12 years old.

They were reported to Emperor Hadrian, who continued the persecution of Christians. They were called and beheaded in front of their mother. This was around 137. The mother was not executed and she was even able to bury her children. After three days, due to the shock she experienced, Saint Sophia died.

The memory of the holy martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia is celebrated on September 17/30.

Great Martyr Catherine and Queen Augusta

The Holy Great Martyr Catherine was born in Alexandria, came from a noble family and was distinguished by wisdom and beauty.

Saint Catherine wanted to marry only her equal. And then one old man told her about a young man who was better than her in everything. Having learned about Christ and Christian teaching, Saint Catherine accepted baptism.

At that time, Maximin, a representative of Emperor Diocletian (284-305), known for his cruel persecution of Christians, arrived in Alexandria. When Maximin called everyone to a pagan holiday, Saint Catherine fearlessly reproached him for worshiping pagan gods. Maximin imprisoned her for disrespect for the gods. After that, he gathered scientists to dissuade her. The scientists were unable to do this and admitted defeat.

Queen Augusta, the wife of Maximin, heard a lot about the beauty and wisdom of Catherine, wanted to see her, and after the meeting she herself also accepted Christianity. After this, she began to protect Saint Catherine. For everything, it was King Maximin who killed his wife Augusta.

Saint Catherine was first tortured with a wheel with sharp teeth, and then her head was cut off on November 24, 310.

The memory of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine is celebrated on the day of her repose, November 24/December 7.

St. Great Martyr Barbara

The Holy Great Martyr Barbara was born in Iliopolis, Phoenician. She was distinguished by her extraordinary intelligence and beauty. At her father's request, she lived in a tower specially built for her, away from her family and friends, with one teacher and several slaves.

One day, looking at the beautiful view from the tower and after much thought, she came to the idea of ​​a single Creator of the world. Later, when her father was away, she met Christians and converted to Christianity.

When her father found out about this, he gave her over to cruel torture. The torment had no effect on Varvara and she did not renounce her faith. Then the holy great martyr Barbara was sentenced to death and her head was cut off.

The memory of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara is celebrated on the day of her repose, December 4/December 17.

The holy apostle and archdeacon Stephen became the first martyr for Christ in 34 after R.X. and suffered at the age of about 30 years. Martyrs occupy a special place in the history of the formation of our Orthodox Church. Many saints and church teachers say that the blood of martyrdom is the seed on which the church tree grew.

The holy apostle and archdeacon Stephen became the first martyr for Christ in 34 after R.X. and suffered at the age of about 30 years. Martyrs occupy a special place in the history of the formation of our Orthodox Church. Many saints and church teachers say that the blood of martyrdom is the seed on which the church tree grew. In Russian it is a martyr, but in other languages ​​it is a witness, a witness that the Lord has risen, that He was on earth, He walked in a human body, performed miracles and was resurrected. The first martyr Stephen saw the Savior, communicated with the apostles, was himself an apostle of the seventy, and was the first deacon who was involved in the practical everyday affairs of the church and temple. The spiritual teaching for clergy says that a deacon is the ears, eyes, mouth and hands of a clergyman. The deacon is the first and most important assistant to the priest. When a deacon participates in the Divine service, it becomes more complete. Saint Stephen came from Jews who lived abroad, i.e. outside the Holy Land. Such Jews were called Hellenists, as they were influenced by the Greek culture that dominated the Roman Empire. After the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, the Church began to grow rapidly, and the need arose to take care of orphans, widows and the poor in general who had been baptized. The apostles suggested that Christians select seven worthy men to care for those in need. Having ordained these seven people as deacons (which means assistants, ministers), the apostles made them their closest assistants. Among the deacons, young Stefan stood out for his strong faith and gift of speech, called archdeacon - senior deacon. Soon the deacons, in addition to helping the poor, began to take an intimate part in prayers and divine services. The Lord chose this particular man to be the first martyr, and martyrdom is not just a coincidence of circumstances, but often the natural crown of a virtuous, especially zealous life of a Christian. Someone reaches the heights of spirituality thanks to bloodless torment and feats of prayer life. But those who shed blood directly for the confession of Christ, they are crowned with this feat for their special love for God. The first martyr Stephen was the first to initiate the martyrdom of faith; he did not think about or evaluate his actions, driven by ardent love for God, and he surpassed the natural fear of death and physical torment. Despite the real threat to his life, he believed in the Savior and accepted terrible torment. They were also shameful, because for the Jews, death by stoning, which the first martyr Stephen accepted, was a shameful execution in ancient Judea; serious sinners were subjected to this type of execution, but the great feat of martyrdom is possible only with Divine help. The blood of the first martyr Stephen was not shed in vain; after his death, persecution of Christians began in Jerusalem, from which they were forced to flee to different parts of the Holy Land and neighboring countries - the Christian faith began to spread throughout the Roman Empire.

I Sang Ok

Christian martyrs of our day

I was born in the city of Chong Jin, North Korea, where I lived for about 50 years. In 1996, by the grace of the Lord, I was able to immigrate to South Korea with my son.

I grew up in North Korea and lived without knowing God. For no reason whatsoever, I was sentenced to death, then was pardoned and sentenced to lifelong labor in a concentration camp for political prisoners. There I met North Korean Christians who are being horribly tortured in a concentration camp, and I would like to tell you about their lives.

Since I graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the Kim Il Sung Institute, in the concentration camp I was assigned to work in the financial department, and I began to deal with calculations and control of the production of six thousand political prisoners. Due to the specifics of my work, I could freely move around the territory of the concentration camp and visit different places.

One day my boss called me and very seriously told me: “From today you will work in a special factory where crazy idiots have gathered. These mentally ill idiots do not believe in the party and our leader Kim Jong Il, but believe in God, so be on your guard, when you go there. And under no circumstances look into their eyes, otherwise you, like them, will believe in God. But, look, the day I find out about this, your life will end immediately."

When I came and saw those people, I was very scared and surprised, because they did not look like people. They worked in a white-hot furnace with a temperature above 1500 degrees, and when I saw them moving, I thought that this was a bunch of some kind of animals, in the end, some kind of aliens, but by no means people. All of them did not have a hair on their heads, their faces were like skulls, all were completely toothless. Everyone's height was very low - 120, 130 cm. And when they moved, they looked like dwarfs pressed to the ground.

I came closer and looked at them. And she was amazed. All these people arrived at the concentration camp as healthy, normal-sized people, but due to 16-18 hours of hellish work without food or rest near a hot stove, due to the temperature and constant bullying and torture, their spine softened, bent, resulting in a hump , the body was all bent, and the chest was almost close to the stomach.

Everyone who was imprisoned in this plant had mutilated bodies, they all became freaks. I think that if a person was put under pressure and crushed, then even then the person they turned into would not come out.

The overseers constantly approached them and did not give any orders. They simply beat the workers without cause with whips made of cowhide.

These people who believed in Jesus Christ had no clothes. At first it seemed to me that they were dressed in black clothes, but as I came closer, I saw that they were only wearing rubber aprons. Burning, burning sparks and drops of burning hot metal burst out of the furnace onto their dry bodies, burning and burning the skin to such an extent that it was completely covered in wounds and burns and generally looked more like the skin of wild animals than human skin.

One day I saw something that is difficult to put into words, it was so disgusting, cruel and terrible. That afternoon, when I opened the factory door, there was dead silence inside. And so the guards gathered hundreds of prisoners in the middle of the hall and, with sparkling eyes, began to shout loudly. I felt very scared, and I did not dare to go inside, but continued to watch through the slightly open door.

The overseers began to shout: “If any of you decides and renounces faith in God, and promises to believe in the party and the leader, then we will immediately release him and he will live.” After which they began to beat people with whips and kicks. But none of the hundreds of these people said a word, and they all endured the blows of whips and boots in silence. I became scared and a desire appeared in my soul for at least one of them to come forward, and then these tortures would stop on him, otherwise they could beat him to death. Well, at least one would have decided. This is what my thoughts were about in those minutes. And, shaking with fear and horror, I watched as people who believed in Jesus Christ continued to remain silent.

Then the chief overseer approached them and chose 8 people at random and laid them on the ground. And all the guards pounced on them and began to furiously kick them, from which in a few moments the Christians turned into a bloody mess, with broken ridges and arms. And when they moaned, writhing in pain, their lips uttered a groan, but the groan was very strange.

At that moment I did not know who the Lord was and who God was. Only later did I learn that at that moment, when their bones and skulls were cracking and their muscles were torn from the blows, the sound, similar to a pitiful groan, was an appeal to the Lord, they cried out in the name of Jesus Christ.

I could not convey even a small part of the pain and suffering that actually happened. The jumping, frantic guards began to shout: “Now we will see which of us will live, you who believe in God, or we who believe in the leader and the party.” They brought boiling hot iron and poured it on the bloody mess of Christians, in an instant they melted alive, their bones burned, and only coals remained.

For the first time in my life, I saw how people turned into a pile of ashes before my eyes. I was so shocked that I immediately ran away from that place, and for a very long time I could not close my eyes, as the picture of people burning and turning into a pile of ash appeared before me again and again. I couldn't work, I couldn't sleep. I cried, screamed loudly, lost my mind remembering what happened.

Before that day, there was room in my soul for faith in the leader and the party, but after this incident I realized what I should believe in. At that place, I realized that a person must hold fast to the Lord. At that moment, I began to look for the God to whom my mother prayed throughout her life. I began to search for God with all my soul: “Those people died, burning, at the cost of their lives they believed in God! God, if You are in Heaven, save me...”. I cried out with my soul, in dreams and in reality I searched, searched and asked God. And so the Lord heard my sincere prayers.

Once a month there was a death penalty day in the concentration camp, and all 6,000 prisoners were put on the ground, and Christians who believed in God were put in the front row. But for all believers in God Who is in Heaven, a special order was given to Kim Jong Il so that all of them during their lifetime until the day of death did not look at the sky, so they were obliged to sit with their necks bowed to their knees and their heads on the ground. And after death, so that they would not see the sky, their necks were broken, their heads were tied to their bodies, and they were buried in a remote and dark place.

On that day, all the believers sat with their heads bowed between their knees in the front row, and everyone else sat behind them. Everyone was waiting to see who would be sentenced to death today. And then suddenly, in a loud voice, the head of the concentration camp calls my name.

At that moment it was like a heavy hammer blow to my head, my legs gave way, and the guards, taking me by the arms, led me to the middle. And when I stood in front of everyone, the boss said: “By the grace of the leader and the party, you can leave here, you are free.” At that moment, the believers sitting in front, having heard about my amnesty, raised their heads, as if they knew what had happened between me and God. I looked into their eyes; it seemed that they were sincerely and intensely asking, saying: “If you get out of here, tell the whole world about us.”

And their calling, pleading eyes still shine in my soul. And I believe that God heard my mother’s prayers for me and brought me out of that concentration camp, which you can only enter and leave only after death. I believe that God saved me. The Lord saved me and my son.

I cannot forget the look of those Christians from the North Korean concentration camp. And I think that they are martyrs for Christ in our generation.

Dear brothers and sisters! I wish you to thank God with all your heart that you live in a free country where you can believe in Jesus Christ! I ask you, be sure to pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for North Korea!!!

recorded by French radio company Mechond

How do they pray for North Korean Christian martyrs in the “Christian” church of the country neighboring Korea in the Moscow Patriarchate?

DECR Communications Service

On the day of the Nativity of Christ, the Divine Liturgy of Basil the Great was celebrated in the newly built Orthodox Holy Trinity Church in Pyongyang. In particular, representatives of the Russian diplomatic corps and diplomats from other Orthodox countries came to the church service. Thanks to the church built last August, all foreigners professing Orthodoxy living in the DPRK were able to celebrate the Nativity of Christ.

At the end of the service, which was performed by Korean clergy in Church Slavonic, the rector of the church, Father Theodore, congratulated the parishioners on the great holiday. Despite the frosty weather and strong wind, believers gathered after the service at a festive table in the open air, the Orthodoxy in North Korea website reports, citing ITAR-TASS.

The Holy Trinity Church, consecrated on August 13 by the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, was erected on the personal instructions of the leader of the DPRK Kim Jong Il. Construction began in 2003 with the active support of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Committee of the DPRK, as well as the Russian Embassy in this country. The Korean side fully financed the project. During the construction process, donations were received from various sources. Thus, church utensils were completely brought from Russia.

Konstantin Preobrazhensky

Korean security officers serve as MP deacons

Construction nears completion in Pyongyang (article written in early 2006 editor’s note) Patriarchal Church of the Life-Giving Trinity, although religion is prohibited in this country, and faith is considered a political crime. But Kim Jong Il made an exception for his Russian friend Putin and even kindly allocated about a million dollars from the budget of his impoverished country for construction. This gives him the right to be called “the Builder of this temple.”

Let us pray to the Lord for the builder of this temple! From now on the deacon will proclaim at every service.

Making the North Korean dictator an object of religious worship has never been possible before for any foreign president! The appearance of an MP temple in the capital of the DPRK is a sign of Kim Jong Il’s enormous personal friendship with Putin, in defiance of the Americans.

Kim was so kind that on this occasion he even founded a new government agency, the Orthodox Committee of the DPRK, although officially there has not been a single Orthodox believer in this country for more than half a century.

A delegation from this fake Committee recently traveled to Moscow. In the Patriarchate she visited only one department, except for the external church one. Which one would you think? On interaction with the armed forces and law enforcement agencies! I wonder what she needed there? It seems that Kim Jong Il considers the Patriarchate to be a paramilitary organization designed to solve special problems.

The appearance of the MP temple in Pyongyang creates a channel of secret contacts for both leaders, inaccessible to international control. After all, no one will know what messages the silent priests in black robes will bring to Pyongyang.

And at the Moscow Theological Seminary there are now four students from the DPRK. I wonder where they came from? After all, if they were real believers, they would be locked up at home. The answer suggests itself - from the North Korean Ministry of State Security. Kim Jong Il is creating an Orthodox Church in his own country following the Stalinist model, with the hands of the security officers.

But all officers of friendly intelligence services accredited in the Russian Federation are under the unobtrusive patronage of the Foreign Intelligence Service. They are invited to holiday homes, to closed meetings, banquets. I wonder, when leaving the Trinity-Sergius Lavra for Moscow, do North Korean seminarians say to their confessor like this: “Blessings, father, for a trip to the SVR Reception House, in Kolpachny Lane”? I wrote about this a year ago in an article "Spy Church" , which can be found on the Internet.

Now North Korean security officers-seminarians, having become deacons of the Moscow Patriarchate, are training at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Vladivostok. They say without embarrassment that they took up Orthodoxy on the orders of worldly authorities. This seems completely natural to them; they were not taught to think differently in the seminary.

“Orthodoxy is difficult and difficult for us, but our great leader, Comrade Kim Jong Il, decided to build an Orthodox church in Pyongyang,” Deacon Fedor told reporters.

“This is the sin of dual faith, for which the Lord punishes more than for unbelief. A Christian cannot worship the Lord and the powers of darkness at the same time,” Archpriest Mikhail Ardov explained to me. “In North Korea, the cult of the Kim family reigns, accompanied by wild rituals,” he continued, “Bishop of Vladivostok and Primorsky Benjamin should not have allowed North Korean double-religionists onto the threshold of the temple, even under the threat of being banned from the priesthood. This is precisely his episcopal duty, and not to carry out the orders of his superiors like a soldier. But he preferred the second, demonstrating Sergianism in action. It is noteworthy that the same Bishop Benjamin, being a professor at the Moscow Theological Academy, was famous as a strict zealot of Orthodoxy. His example shows why in the Moscow Patriarchy, in principle, cannot have good bishops.”

The foundation stone of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Pyongyang was consecrated in July 2003 by the current Metropolitan of Kaluga and Borovsk MP Clement. They say that Putin wants to make him Patriarch: it is no coincidence that he introduced Metropolitan Clement into the Public Chamber - a dangerous talking shop under the president, designed to replace civil society. For the weakening Patriarch Alexy II, for his retirement, they say, a luxurious villa is being built on the island of Valaam, and the construction site was first occupied by the Federal Security Service, the Ministry of Putin’s personal bodyguards, the former 9th Directorate of the KGB. After all, Alexy II is an important government official who oversees the loyalty of the nation.

Metropolitan Kliment, like all Putin’s nominees, is a member of the KGB. This can be seen from his biography from 1982 to 1990, he was the manager of the patriarchal parishes, first in Canada and then in the USA. During the Cold War, only a KGB agent could be appointed to this position. Like the head of every Soviet institution abroad, he was obliged to know exactly which of the priests subordinate to him were real and which were fake, from the KGB, so as not to punish them for mistakes in worship and absenteeism. And this is a state secret. But our Church is separated from the state. How can one entrust state secrets to a clergyman, a representative of a hostile environment? How can we guarantee that he won’t spill this secret? Only one recruitment, firmly putting a person on the hook of compromising materials, carefully collected or fabricated by the KGB. By that time, Metropolitan Clement was already considered a proven agent, since he was allowed to communicate with foreigners back in 1977 to participate in ecumenical meetings.

One of the important moments in the preaching of the Christian faith is that part of the patristic church traditions that speak of the martyrdom of the early Christians for their faith in Christ. A huge number of pages of Christian literature are covered with stories about the terrible torment and death of the faithful servants of Christ, whom the evil pagans destroyed in exorbitant numbers for preaching the word of God. And for good reason! For many centuries, such stories inflamed hearts, served as an example for preachers and missionaries, and convinced the masses of Christians of the truth of their teaching, for it was not in vain that Satan tormented their glorious predecessors at the hands of the pagans, anticipating his imminent death from the fiery service of the adherents of the church. Thus, the narrative of martyrdom in Christianity has always served as a powerful evidentiary and ideological basis in the church. If only because, according to church traditions, the apostles of Christ themselves ended their lives on the scaffold, with their heroic death simultaneously proving the truth of their testimony about miracles and the resurrection of their teacher and serving as an example for their followers to follow in the steadfastness of faith.

In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter, speaking to the people, declares: “This Jesus God raised up, of which we are all witnesses” (2:32). The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Christians of Corinth, seems to complement his words: “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is also in vain” (1 Cor. 15:14). Comparing these two statements, we can draw a very definite conclusion: if the twelve apostles, who directly followed Christ for about three years, really witnessed miracles and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, as described in the New Testament, then the teaching of Christians is the absolute truth in all respects the ensuing consequences - posthumous bliss for devotion to Christ and eternal torment for disbelief in him. Since church traditions say that all the apostles of Christ, with the exception of John the Theologian, the author of the fourth Gospel and the Apocalypse, died a violent death, accepting martyrdom for their faith. A person will never agree to give himself up to brutal death for a fictitious idea, knowing that he is telling a lie. For the sake of the triumph of the idea he has come up with, he can sacrifice property, certain goods in life, even his own health, but not his life. It is impossible to imagine a dozen very intelligent men who invented and launched such a complex, strong and durable mechanism as the Christian Church, suddenly went crazy and agreed to martyrdom for the sake of their own invention. As you know, people go crazy alone. So, one of two things. Either the apostles preached the pure truth; in this case, all unbelievers and pagans will face a very unenviable fate after death. Either their teaching is the greatest scam in the history of mankind; but how then to evaluate their martyrdom? As you can see, the issue is very important, requiring detailed consideration and study. There are often cases when people accept Christianity, struck by an irrefutable logical argument: the apostles could not become martyrs of Christ if they lied; therefore they spoke the truth; therefore, only in church repentance is the salvation of the soul. First of all, let’s find out from what sources the information about the martyrdom of the apostles comes. It is known quite reliably from the chronicles of the 1st century only about the execution of the apostles Peter and Paul. The other apostles were not included in the list, and the only source conveying information about their martyrdom for the faith is church tradition. Church tradition, as you know, is a very, very one-sided source. Many events described in legends are not only not confirmed by historical documents and their lists, but often contradict them. Consequently, the reliability of church tradition can be measured solely by the level of faith in each individual, since the authors of secular chronicles generally presented what happened impartially, without any need to hide or embellish anything. Thus, the texts of church traditions, compiled by people with a vested interest in the triumph of their faith, cannot be regarded as objective information. Many of these texts directly resemble a political order: they contain a clear intention to slander opponents and exalt representatives of their society. For example, pagans in church traditions are portrayed as evil people, intolerant of Christianity, with pronounced sadistic inclinations; they cruelly torture unfortunate Christians, calling them to renounce Christ, quarter them, impale them, fry them over low heat, torment them with the help of wild animals, and do all this in fruitless attempts to turn the poor martyrs away from the true faith, playing the role of the devil in flesh. However, nothing like this could happen for the simple reason that pagans are pagans (polytheists) because they recognize the right of every person to believe in any deity of their choice. And not even one. When the Christian community arose and began to expand in Rome, ordinary Roman pagan citizens quite willingly placed figurines of Christ on their home altars, believing that one more god would increase happiness and good luck. Some warriors from the retinue of the Russian pagan prince Svyatoslav were Christians, and the prince, as a true pagan, never prevented anyone from being baptized and did not demand from anyone to renounce the faith of Christ, although he believed (making a conclusion only for himself and not imposing his opinions) that “the Christian faith is a deformity.” In the mentality of a pagan, there is absolutely no prohibition of other faiths, since he himself reserves the right at any time to begin making sacrifices to some new deity if he considers this spiritual connection useful for himself. So, the conclusion is obvious: never and under no circumstances could the pagans subject Christians to persecution for their faith. In attempts to defend their point of view, church preachers most often refer to the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero, when Christians were exterminated in large numbers in circus arenas and on shameful crosses. However, when remembering Nero, it should be borne in mind that this worthy man was never a pagan. In the apt expression of G. Sienkiewicz (“Quo vadis”), Nero was a high priest, a god and an atheist all rolled into one. Not believing in any gods at all, he exalted exclusively his magnificent person, and in pursuit of the fame of an artist and the title of people's favorite, without hesitation he exterminated everyone who stood in his way. During the reign of Nero, the pagans of Rome suffered no less than Christians, and perhaps even more (it is enough to recall at least the mass of people who died in the fire of Rome, when the city, by the will of the emperor, burned almost to the ground). Torture and execution of people regardless of their religion were common under Nero. The persecution of the church by Nero was a purely political action that had no religious motives. The emperor was looking for scapegoats for his sins and Christians turned up, a sect at that time young and little-studied. If there were no Christians in Rome at that time, Nero would have blamed someone else for setting the city on fire, for example, the priests of Isis or the Cynic philosophers. Thus, the mass extermination of Christians by Nero cannot in any way be called discrimination on religious grounds. Executions were carried out not for faith in Christ, but indiscriminately, for belonging to a community that was outlawed. In addition, martyrdom implies voluntary death for an idea, when death can be avoided by hiding or renouncing one’s faith. In the case of the Roman Christians during the reign of Nero, they had no opportunity to do either one or the other. They were simply caught in batches and, without trial or investigation, without listening to any complaints, denials, apologies, or explanations, they were quickly sent to execution. Hardly a day passed between arrest and execution. At the same time, Nero was not interested in Christ or the principles of the doctrine of those executed. And even more so, he never convinced any Christian to betray their faith, promising in return to save their lives.

It turns out that in matters of historical objectivity, church traditions cannot be considered worthy of trust. Consequently, information about the “martyrdom” of the twelve witnesses of Christ can only be accepted with great reserve. It can be challenged with much greater success.

Let's assume for a moment that the apostles (or some part of them) actually died a violent death. But it’s not a fact what kind of faith it is. There were more than enough reasons for killing a person in those days when they had the vaguest idea of ​​humanism. First, let's take into account the crime situation of the 1st century AD, when robbers of all stripes ruled the high road, easily robbing travelers of both their wallets and their lives. Secondly, let us take into account interethnic hostility, remnants of which have survived to this day (and the apostles, if you believe the same legends, traveled long distances, preaching in the most remote areas from Judea). Thirdly, justice in ancient times was administered much more quickly than in our days, when investigators stooped to forensic examinations and investigative experiments, spending months, or even years, establishing the suspect’s involvement in a particular crime; then, for a quick reprisal against a suspect, one denunciation-accusation of theft or murder was enough, because there were not enough prisons, and keeping prisoners was a very expensive pleasure. Considering that of all the apostles, only Paul was a Roman citizen entitled to the court of Caesar, it is easy to assume that no one would stand on ceremony with others in a similar situation for long. Fourthly, let us remember that in ancient cities there were frequent unrest and riots, during which an incalculable number of people died, most often accidentally caught in the thick of events and trampled by the crowd. Finally, due to the insufficient knowledge of medicine by the doctors of those times, diseases devastated entire regions.

In a word, there were more than enough reasons for the death of one of the apostles. Considering the tolerance of pagans, which was mentioned above, it is difficult to imagine a picture of the killing of the apostles for faith in Christ in pagan countries. But this is exactly how church traditions describe the situation. For ideological reasons, church chroniclers were ready to portray any death of any of the apostles as martyrdom. For the edification of future generations. For the end justifies the means. This medal also has a flip side.

In the 1st century AD There have never been such advanced methods of personal identification as those used by modern intelligence services and public utility workers. There were no such delights of civilization as registration or Moscow registration, dossiers with fingerprints, passports with photographs and other means that would make it difficult for a person to move from one area to another. In those blessed times, they settled anywhere, without providing either certificates from the place of departure or permission from the Main Directorate of Architecture, simply erecting a house, digging a dugout, or entering someone else’s family as a spouse. The only source of information about any new person was only his story about himself, but it was almost impossible to verify such information if, moreover, the person changed his appearance and legend in the simplest ways, such as shaving or repainting his beard, shaving his head bald, his Jewish the accent passed off as Asia Minor or Thracian. There was a Jew, Matthew; he became a Greek, Athenogenes, from an unknown village in such a distance (fortunately, the Greek language in those days was international, and even Galilean fishermen spoke Koine (colloquial Greek), lived quietly to a ripe old age and died a natural death surrounded by loving family members. Is such a scenario possible? Doesn't it contradict logic? Not at all. Therefore, this version has a right to exist. Having done his job, the Moor can leave. Having released his fantastic work “to the people”, presented as an eyewitness testimony, the “witness” himself could well escape further responsibility by disappearing into an unknown direction, changing his appearance, name and nationality. Perhaps even after spreading rumors about his martyrdom in the name of Christ somewhere in India, Ethiopia or the land of the Scythians. It should be borne in mind that in those days there were no other media except rumors and gossip, which were willingly believed by those who wanted to believe in them. In the book “The Divine Claudius and His Wife Massalina,” Robert Graves wonderfully described the mechanism of the spread of rumors, especially in a country like Palestine, where systematically, with enviable consistency, information appeared about the next “messiah,” “prophet,” or “miracle worker.”

“The emotional impact of Christianity is so strong primarily because its adherents claim that Yeshua, or Jesus, rose from the dead, which has not happened to any other people, except in legends; After he was crucified, he visited friends, apparently not suffering at all from his not very pleasant experiences, ate and drank with them to prove his bodily essence, and then ascended to heaven in a blaze of glory. And it cannot be proven that all this is fiction, because immediately after his execution an earthquake began and the large stone with which the entrance to the cave where the body was laid was blocked was moved to the side. The guards fled in horror, and when they returned, the corpse had disappeared; Apparently, he was kidnapped. Once such rumors appear in the East, you cannot stop them, and to prove their absurdity in a state edict does not respect oneself” (R. Graves).

Let us remind ourselves that church tradition is primarily an ideological document, and its veracity should be verified in the light of the historical chronicles of secular chroniclers. It is hardly possible to accuse them of bias: even though they were not Christians or had a dislike for this teaching, the authors of secular documents carefully recorded all the events that took place for posterity, mentioning among them events related to the Christian church as having taken place. However, there are no non-church historical documents confirming the facts of the martyrdom of the apostles. We can rightfully call such one-sided coverage of the events of the 1st century by church writers a falsification. Therefore, the “testimonies” of the apostles, allegedly seeing the risen Christ, for which they allegedly gave their lives, can equally well be called a blatant lie and a scam, for which they could easily evade responsibility when the time came to leave the scene. And not just leave, but leave slamming the door.

We can consider separately an example of how myths about the heroism of the faith of the apostles were created and inflated. Let's say, according to one of the church traditions, the Apostle Andrew the First-Called in the 1st century AD. preached Christianity to the ancient Russians. Through the Caucasus, he allegedly penetrated into the Northern Black Sea region, from where he reached all the way to the outskirts of modern Kyiv, simultaneously baptizing people and casting out demons from the possessed. Subsequently, he fell into the hands of pagan enemies, who forced him to renounce his faith in Christ and, in response to his proud refusal to do so, crucified him on an X-shaped cross, which has since been called “St. Andrew’s.” Let's face it, this is a beautiful legend. Full of emotions, heroism, and also adding to the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church, allegedly founded almost a thousand years before the official baptism of Rus' by Prince Vladimir. Several years ago, archaeologists explored interesting finds in southern Russia. These were underground temples or monasteries located in caves. The characteristic wall paintings in these rooms directly indicate that Christian services were once held here. Archaeologists dated the finds to the 2nd-3rd centuries. AD It is unclear why representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church considered this fact to be direct evidence that the founder of Christianity in Rus' was the Apostle Andrew himself. In reality, this cannot be evidence of the apostle’s activity in Rus', even indirectly. The only thing that can be stated, based on the conclusions made by archaeologists, is that in the first centuries AD. Christian missionaries actually penetrated into the territory of what is now Russia. But nothing more. Perhaps they acted alone, or perhaps in whole groups. It is even possible that some of them pretended to be the Apostle Andrew to make their preaching more convincing. It is equally likely that some of the preachers were simply Greeks with the true Greek name "Andrew", since Christianity in Greece became widespread already in the 50-60s of the 1st century AD. As we see, there are prerequisites for creating a legend about the missionary work of Andrew the First-Called himself among the Russians. But one cannot shamelessly present a theory as a fait accompli. Christian preachers are absolutely categorical in their statements. There is an elementary political move.

So, what do we have in the bottom line? Only a fairly reliable mention of the execution of the apostles Peter and Paul in 67 AD. Although church traditions also serve as the source of information here, in any case, the story that Peter was executed among the Roman Christians during Nero’s repressions seems quite logical. The years of his stay in Rome generally coincide with the time of mass executions, and with their end there is no more information about the life of the apostle. However, the very scene of Peter’s death in the legend looks completely unrealistic. In particular, church writers claim that Peter was personally condemned and sentenced to death by Emperor Nero himself for his pious life and refusal to renounce his faith. In fact, there is not a single documentary evidence that Nero ever met with the supreme apostle; most likely, the emperor had no idea at all who the Jew Peter was. In addition, as mentioned above, the unbelieving emperor was completely uninterested in the religious beliefs of his subjects, and outlawed Roman Christians merely as scapegoats for the burning of Rome, and not for their faith. It is unlikely that Nero, who was busy only with writing poems and performing in theaters, had even the slightest idea about the personalities of Christ, his apostles, and the teachings they taught.

Further, the legend paints a majestic picture of Peter’s procession to the place of execution, when along the way he allegedly signed the sign of the cross to everyone he met and sent a blessing to “the city and the world.” At this point there is a completely reasonable objection. Captured by Roman special forces in the general crowd of Christians, Peter most likely headed to the place of execution in the same crowd, not standing out from it in any way and not having any opportunity to make speeches along the way. Roman legionnaires generally did not have the habit of showing any leniency towards those arrested, moreover, those sentenced to death, or entering into negotiations with them. For the same reason, it seems completely incredible that Peter’s request to be crucified upside down or his solemn speech addressed to the executioners seems completely incredible. The Romans took the execution of convicts very seriously; they put this matter on stream; the crucifixion of a person took place in a matter of seconds, on the move, especially when a large mass of people had to be executed. In addition, it should be remembered that the Romans were great lawyers, and carried out the sentence in strict accordance with the established rules, and, therefore, Peter could not have been nailed to the cross in a non-statutory position. Finally, let us once again draw attention to the fact that the execution of Christians was massive. This means that no one had the time or desire to interrogate those arrested on suspicion of belonging to a Christian sect, much less force them, if possible, to renounce their faith. It is possible that in the general crowd of repressed people, not only Christians died, but also pagans who were captured by mistake, simply because at the time of the arrest they were close to the site of the special operation. But justice, we repeat, in those days was administered quickly and without delay. The then judicial system could not afford lengthy proceedings with suspects and keep them in prison for a long time, periodically calling them in for interrogation and carefully delving into all the intricacies of the case. They received an order, grabbed him, drove him in and killed him. That's all. No person no problem. Thus, it becomes clear that the death of the Apostle Peter, as well as the death of his fellow believers in Rome, cannot be called “martyrdom for the faith,” since they all fell victim to the most ordinary political intrigues without any religious background.

There is even less information about the execution of the Apostle Paul. The biblical book “The Acts of the Apostles” ends on a very positive note: Paul lives in Rome, does not tolerate any oppression, and easily preaches his faith. And this was in a pagan environment, when, according to Christian logic, the evil worshipers of demon gods had to torment him daily in attempts to force him to renounce the faith of Christ! It turns out that nothing of the kind happened. The execution of Paul, again according to church traditions, took place during the same political repressions of the second half of the 60s. Remembering the pagan mentality, which did not allow the oppression of Gentiles, we should also take into account the Roman laws, according to which no person (especially a Roman citizen, like Paul!) could be sentenced to death for preaching any religion. Consequently, the official charge brought against Paul at his trial could in no way relate to his religious beliefs. Most likely, he was accused of some political or criminal crime, outside the context of his religion, and the court's decision could no longer be changed. As the Romans of that time said, “dura lex, sed lex” (“the law is harsh, but it is the law” in Latin)). In this case, his renunciation of faith (if there was one) was no longer taken into account by the court. This means that it is quite logical to assume that Paul, realizing that his execution was inevitable, simply chose to die as a Christian, thereby finally playing into the hands of his fellow believers, which allowed them to make him a “martyr for the faith” and spread this rumor among Christian communities throughout empires. Finally, the fate of the Apostle John the Theologian, who lived a long and quite happy life and died a natural death in old age, convincingly proves that in the formative years of Christianity it was quite possible to avoid “martyrdom” without changing one’s religious beliefs.

So, everything is clear with the apostles. It turned out that they could well have deliberately created a legend about the resurrection of Christ and created a church machine, without fear of subsequently “responsible for their words.” Because, as it turns out, their imaginary “martyrdom for the faith” is nothing more than a propaganda device of their associates. Now let us examine cases of genuine martyrdom of Christians of later generations, people who sincerely believed in those rumors and fictions that they themselves did not create and about the falsity of which they had not the slightest idea, accepting them as the pure truth. However, was this really martyrdom? In general, for what reason did cases of persecution of Christians by pagans occur? First, let's open the Bible and look at the position of Abrahamic monotheism in relation to the shrines of other religions. In the book of Exodus (34:12) we read: “Destroy their altars, smash their pillars, cut down their sacred groves, and burn the images of their gods with fire.” “Destroy their altars, and break in pieces their pillars, and burn their groves with fire, and break in pieces the images of their gods, and destroy their name from that place,” echoes the book of Deuteronomy (12:3). “As all gods are the tongue of demons” (“All the gods of the pagans are demons” (glorified)), the author of the 95th Psalm confirms the same idea (v. 5).

Since the books of the Old Testament were (and are) revered by Christians as sacred and inspired by God (2 Tim. 3:16), such a view of other faiths was widely developed in Christianity. The Acts of the Apostles contains quite picturesque pictures of the struggle of the early Christians with pagan beliefs, which later formed the basis for the activities of the medieval Catholic Inquisition. For example, chapter 19 tells of the activities of the Apostle Paul in the city of Ephesus, when he caused popular outrage with statements that “those made by human hands are not gods.” The meaning of this story, compiled by Christian ideologists of the 1st century AD, is that the troublemakers were Ephesian artisans who made money by making statues of pagan deities, for whom the truth-seeking Paul allegedly ruined their business. But we have already learned to separate the wheat from the chaff, in other words, to look at the real events behind the veil of ideologically consistent tales, and we can draw a certain conclusion: popular indignation followed the blasphemous speeches of Paul, who reviled foreign faiths and foreign gods. The same chapter also talks about the mass burning of pagan books, committed by the same Apostle Paul. Thus, it becomes clear that if in some cases Christians were subjected to persecution and even death by pagans, it was not at all for their religion and its preaching, but for a disrespectful, sometimes even downright boorish attitude towards other people's shrines. The pagans, on the contrary, as mentioned above, treated the person of Christ with a certain degree of respect, since among Christians their teacher was proclaimed a god. The reasons why this happened will be discussed below, but for now it is enough for us to learn one simple truth: people who visited foreign lands and found themselves in the area of ​​​​other customs and traditions, openly expressing their contempt for these traditions and beliefs, were extremely unpopular with masters who were humanly offended to listen to nasty things about their gods and watch the defamation of their shrines. Even before the baptism of Rus', the Russian embassy and merchants who visited Constantinople, their first duty was to worship Christ as the local ruler of the world. In response, Christians paid the pagans with black ingratitude, showing all possible signs of disrespect for the gods, for which they sometimes paid with their lives and were elevated to the rank of “holy martyrs” by their fellow believers and propagandists.

In light of all of the above, it becomes clear that Christianity was in fact nothing more than a large-scale scam, the dogma of which turned out to be most adapted to all segments of the population of the Roman Empire: slaves and commoners were promised posthumous bliss for patience and obedience to their masters; the gentlemen, in turn, under the tutelage of the highest authority of the “king of heaven” fell into the category of “God’s anointed.” Paganism as a set of folk beliefs turned out to be much less suitable for partnership with state power. It is for this reason that, starting from the 4th century. AD, Christianity gradually received the status of a state religion, and from that time on the blood of pagans began to flow abundantly, exterminated by Christians solely for their refusal to accept the new faith and remaining faithful to the ancient gods. However, it is somehow not customary to remember the hosts of pagan martyrs killed by the meek servants of Christ. And even more so, canonize them.

Understanding that the apostles of Christ were neither witnesses of the “resurrected” Christ, much less martyrs for faith in him, let us figure out how this scam arose and along what path it developed until it acquired clear features, finally materializing in the Christian church under the control of "chosen priesthood" In order to gain the greatest understanding of how Christianity arose and what it is as a religion, one should, perhaps, first of all, pay close attention to the religious and political situation of the time and the area where it was first announced to astonished humanity “ good news" of the twelve apostles.

From the angry words of Jeremiah’s prophecies it follows that until the Babylonian captivity, the Jews secretly but very zealously worshiped the Goddess of Heaven (presumably Ishtar Astarte). It is unlikely that they stopped doing this later, at least some of them. The Babylonian captivity of Israel ended in the 6th century BC, and already in the 4th century BC. Palestine was conquered by Alexander the Great (331 BC). The Middle East was Hellenized, as was Egypt (by the time of the rise of Christianity, spoken Greek - Koine - was almost more widespread in Israel than Aramaic). Greece, Palestine and Egypt became a kind of “cultural triangle” of Hellenism. There is no doubt that European and Egyptian myths were widespread in Israel. However, the close contact of Jews with the cultures of the peoples of Europe, Africa and Asia began much earlier. During the Babylonian captivity, the Jews found themselves scattered throughout almost the entire territory of the vast empire of Nebuchadnezzar, and subsequently the state of the powerful Persian kings. Even earlier (approximately 1,000 years before the emergence of Christianity), as F. Brenier notes in the book “Jews and the Talmud,” “the dispersion began during the reign of Solomon, who spread Jewish colonies even to Spain (Tarshish) and to Ethiopia (Ophir), obliged to supply his gold, ivory and precious wood. (1 Samuel 9:26-28; 10:22).” It is also known about the existence of a large Jewish colony on the Isthmus of Corinth, founded by settlers from Judea in the first half of the 1st millennium BC.

About 100 years before the advent of Christianity, Israel was conquered by the Romans (63 BC). The Roman occupation once again served as a kind of “wide gate” for the penetration of Western culture and Western beliefs into Palestine.

There is no doubt that some of the Jews, under the influence of some pagan religions, held onto the belief in reincarnation (the Talmud speaks at length about reincarnation; for example, Jesus of Nazareth is the new incarnation of the prophet Isaiah, Samson is the new incarnation of Japheth, Isaac is the new incarnation of Eve, etc. .d.). It is no less likely that the Jewish belief in the general resurrection is a revised view of the reincarnation of souls in the Jewish tradition. In Celtic mythology, which borrowed a lot from the religions of the ancient Greeks and Italians, there is a whole “divine trinity”. Her second person is God Esus (Latin pronunciation of the name Jesus). Its symbol is a bull (in the Jewish tradition a sacrificial animal; Jesus in the New Testament is called “the sacrifice for our sins”). Sacrifices were offered to him HANGED FROM A TREE. The first person of the “trinity” is the god Teutates, the eldest and most powerful of them (analogous to the Christian “heavenly father”). Third person god Taranis, god of fire, lightning and storms, who accepted victims burned in fire (the Christian “holy spirit” is identified with both fire and stormy wind). Esus is one of the incarnations of the “horned god,” the son of the Great Goddess, whom the Italians called Dianus (from the Latin divanus “divine”), and the Greeks called Dionysus. According to ancient Greek myths, Dionysus was in mortal danger, but, being the son of Zeus (the father god), he was spared from death: Zeus sewed Dionysus into his thigh, and then his second birth took place (analogous to the biblical Resurrection of Christ, which Christians symbolically identify with subjective experience of “co-resurrection with Christ”, “new birth”, “birth from above”). The name “Jesus” in ancient Egyptian pronunciation sounds approximately like “Isus” or “Isis”, that is, it has a common root with the name of Isis (the Egyptian Mother Goddess). Isis wife of Osiris, who rose from the dead. The resurrection of Osiris took place with the active participation of Isis. The name of Isis and the theme of the resurrection from the dead are very closely related.

The Egyptian origin of the name Jesus (Yeshua) is also supported by the fact that this name is never mentioned among the Jews of the pre-Egyptian period, which began shortly before the death of Jacob (Israel) and ended with the exodus of the Israelites from the ancient country of Kemt under the leadership of Moshe (Moses). Thus, for the first time we encounter the name Jesus in the biblical book “Exodus” - this was the name of the disciple and future successor to the power of Moses. It is quite obvious that this name passed into the Hebrew language precisely from the Egyptian, but in the Hebrew pronunciation Yeshua it was given a new meaning: “salvation by Yahweh.” Christianity was initially artificially attached to the Jewish tradition, since the first Christians were Jews. Initially, they also converted Jews, their compatriots, to Christianity; from here their conversations about the “heavenly father”, visits to synagogues and constant quoting of the Old Testament become clear. However, when the “limit” was exhausted, in other words, when there were no Jews left in Judea who could still join the Christians, they declared: “From now on we are going to the pagans. They will hear." Let us pay attention to the texts of the “Acts of the Apostles,” which say that the pagans accepted Christianity much more willingly than the Jews.

Latest publications on related topics

Christian martyrs who suffered in the East since the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks were translated from modern Greek by priest Peter Solovyov, St. Petersburg. 1862.

The book is posted in its entirety here >>> (PDF )

On the third Sunday after the Feast of Pentecost, the Church of Christ celebrates the memory of all the newly-minted martyrs who suffered in the East since the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks (1453).

At the hands of the godless Turks, 11 patriarchs of Constantinople, more than 100 bishops and hundreds of thousands of priests, monks and laity were killed. All Orthodox Christians who suffered martyrdom for the faith after 1453 - the year of the fall of Constantinople - are called New Martyrs to this day. There are thousands and thousands of them. New Martyrs (Greek: Νεομάρτυρες) - glorified martyrs who suffered in the East (in the Ottoman Empire) after the fall of Byzantium (among them: Greeks, Russians, Serbs, Bulgarians, Albanians, Rumuns). The names and lives of about three hundred of them are known. Rev. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain and St. Macarius of Corinth considered the new martyrs so important for the Church - its construction and the salvation of its flock - that they compiled and published in 1799 a voluminous work on the new martyrs, The New Martyrology. Contains the lives and sufferings of 86 new martyrs who suffered from 1492 to 1838. Of these, the lives of 16 Athos martyrs were translated into Russian and placed in the second part of the “Athos Patericon”, and the lives of the remaining 70 martyrs were translated and published by St. P. Solovyov under the title “Christian martyrs who suffered in the East since the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks” (St. Petersburg, 1862). Two lives of St. St. Petersburg have not been translated into Russian. Matrona of Chios and Saint John of Zichon. Their memory is celebrated collectively on the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost.

Troparion to the Council of the New Martyrs of Christ after the Capture of Constantinople , ch. 3:

New martyrs, / who overthrew the ancient delusion with a firm struggle, / lifted up the faith of the Orthodox, / having despised the lawless service, / boldly preached Christ, / the perfect God, / and now they incessantly pray / to grant us great mercy.

Kontakion, ch. 1:

Rejoice mysteriously, O Church of Christ, / seeing your sons, new martyrs, / standing around your table in relics, / like a new planting of olive trees, / and cry out to the Creator of all: / You are the affirmation of martyrs, O Christ.

Below, as a supplement, we place other materials on the topic of veneration of the New Martyrs who suffered in the East since the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks.

K. Kavarnos

The significance of new martyrs in the life of the Orthodox Church

I

The question of the significance of new martyrs in the life of the Orthodox Church is very important. We know about this both from the legacy of the great theologians of the past, such as the enlightener Eugene Voulgaris (1716-1806) and Rev. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain, and from the legacy of prominent theologians of modern times, for example, Archbishop of Athens (1923-38) Chrysostomos Papadopoulos. Their works related to the issue of the new martyrs make this issue exhaustively clear.

Voulgaris writes a lot about the new martyrs in his letter to the French Jansenist Pierre Leclerc. This message is called “On the Saints and Miracles of the Orthodox Church after the Schism” (first published by Andreas Koromelas /Athens, 1844/). In this letter, Voulgaris emphasizes that the Orthodox Church, from the time of the schism (1054) to the present day, has revealed countless martyrs and other saints equal to the saints of the first centuries. Speaking about their significance, he notes that the Orthodox Church “grows and is famous” for them (p. 68). The Church is decorated with them and works miracles. Eugene lists the most famous new martyrs of that time (pp. 28-31) and says to Leclerc: “These are only a small fraction of the saints recently revealed among us ... and there are many more” (p. 31). In his listing, he first of all names the priest Peter, who suffered for his faith in 1453, shortly after the fall of Constantinople.

Rev. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain and his mentor St. Macarius of Corinth considered the new martyrs so important for the Church - its construction and the salvation of its flock - that they compiled and published a voluminous work on the new martyrs: “The New Martyrology” (third edition /Athens, 1961/). In it they collected the lives of eighty-five new martyrs, from 1492 to almost the year of publication of the book, first printed in 1799. The New Martyrology also contains services to some of the new martyrs.

Rev. Nicodemus wrote a wonderful prologue to this book, in which he examines in detail the significance of the new martyrs. Here he identifies five critical aspects, and covers each of them in detail, dealing with the topic of the new martyrs in a surprisingly detailed and edifying way, with stunning spiritual depth. Below we will look in more detail at these five aspects and how each of them is revealed by Rev. Nicodemus.

The book of Archbishop Chrysostomos Papadopoulos “New Martyrs” (third edition /Athens, Tinos Publishing House, 1970/), first published in 1934, is quite brief, but contains a lot of information about the new martyrs and valuable reflections on their significance. It contains the lives of one hundred and thirty martyrs, from 1453 to the mid-19th century. Here is, perhaps, the most significant of the statements of Archbishop Chrysostom about the significance of the new martyrs: “Under the Turkish yoke, in the years after the capture of Constantinople, the Orthodox Church and Her faithful children endured persecution, similar to the persecution of the first centuries of Christianity... The Church fought for the salvation of its children and the strengthening them in faith. And in this struggle of the Orthodox Church, the new martyrs play a very important role. That is why, annually glorifying their memory, she says: “Like radiant suns in the night of slavery, like unshakable anchors during times of unrest, you shone to the ends of the earth, O holy New Martyr, kindling love in the faithful and strengthening hearts wavering in faith.” pp. 130-31).

II

Before we talk in more detail about the significance of the new martyrs, let us touch on several points relating to the martyrs of our Church. This will help us better understand the meaning of the new martyrs.

Martyrs, old and new, belong to one of the categories of saints clearly distinguished in the writings of the Greek Church Fathers and hymn writers. The other five categories are: apostles, prophets, saints, saints and righteous. (Monks and nuns who have achieved holiness are called venerables. Lay men and women who have achieved holiness in worldly life without suffering martyrdom are called righteous. In a broader sense, all saints are called righteous.) It is worth noting that the great ascetic fathers, for example, St. Peter of Damascus (8th century, see Philokalia of Athena, 1960, volume 3, p. 51) and Rev. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain (see “Fourteen Epistles of Paul” Venice, 1819, p. 384), naming the six categories of saints, the martyrs are named immediately after the apostles, who are placed first. Often they are named in the same order in church hymns, as, for example, in the following troparion of the Octoechos: “Apostles, martyrs and prophets, saints, reverends and righteous ones, who have accomplished a good deed and kept the faith, having boldness towards the Savior, for us the One, For it is good, pray for our souls to be saved, we pray.”

Primacy is given to the apostles and martyrs for the reason that without the preaching of the apostles Christianity would not have spread in the world, and without the blood of the martyrs the Orthodox Church would not have strengthened and lived for centuries.

Each of the six categories of saints that I have listed represents a Christian's path to achieving holiness. Those who went through the path of martyrdom became saints. The path of martyrdom is true and complete repentance, sincere confession before a virtuous and experienced spiritual father, fasting, vigil, unceasing prayer, worthy communion and bold confession of the Orthodox Faith before anti-Christian tyrants and persecutors. The number of martyrs is large and probably reaches tens of thousands. The path of martyrdom, which directly leads to salvation and holiness, if a Christian follows it faithfully to the end, opens only during persecution of Christians and when circumstances call for it. After these preliminary remarks about the martyrs, it is appropriate to talk about the new martyrs before moving on to a detailed analysis of their significance in the life of the Church.

III

All Orthodox Christians who suffered martyrdom for the faith after 1453 - the year of the fall of Constantinople - are called new martyrs to this day. There are thousands and thousands of them. The names and lives of about two hundred of them are known. Among them are men, mostly young, but also old people, monks, priests and bishops, women and children. Among the laity, the best known are the new martyrs George of Chios (†1807) and George of Ioannina (†1838), among the monastics - the Equal-to-the-Apostles Hieromartyr Cosmas Aitolos (†1779) and the Venerable Martyr Philotheus of Athens (†1589). Of the bishops, the most famous is Hieromartyr Gregory V, Patriarch of Constantinople (†1821).

All the new martyrs, whose lives are described by Greek church writers, with rare exceptions, are Greeks. (I am referring to the above-mentioned works of Eugene Voulgaris, Chrysostomos Papadopoulos, St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain and St. Macarius of Corinth, as well as the “New Lemonar” by St. Nikephoros of Chios and “Saints of the Orthodox Church” by Sophronius Evstratiadis). They all suffered at the hands of the Turks. In the 20th century, a huge number of new martyrs appeared: Greeks, Bulgarians, Russians, Serbs and others. For their Orthodox faith, they suffered terrible torture and death at the hands of godless communists.

IV

So, let us proceed to a more detailed and comprehensive consideration of the significance of the new martyrs in the life of the Orthodox Church. In his prologue to the New Martyrology, Rev. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain gives five reasons why God wants “new martyrs to appear in our time.”

“Firstly, so that the entire Orthodox faith may be renewed. Secondly, so that those of little faith will not be justified on the Day of Judgment. Thirdly, so that the martyrs serve as glory and adornment of the Orthodox Church, and as a testimony against heretics and their shame. Fourthly, in order to serve as an example of long-suffering for all Orthodox Christians suffering under the heavy yoke of tyranny,” that is, from tyrannical power, such as the Turkish yoke. “And fifthly, so that they instill courage and perseverance in the hearts of all Christians forced by circumstances to accept martyrdom, especially those who were on the verge of apostasy from the Orthodox faith, so that they would follow their example.”

Rev. Nicodemus examines each of these reasons in detail, thus revealing the significance of the new martyrs. In his prologue to the New Martyrology, he devoted many pages to this topic, but I will give only the most important points.

This is what Rev. says. Nicodemus on how the new martyrs serve the renewal of the Orthodox Faith:

“Modern Christians read in church history about the torment and suffering that Demetrius, George, Theodora and Jacob, the great and glorious martyrs of the first centuries of the Church, who stood unshakably in the Faith from the time of Christ until Constantine the Great, endured in the name of Christ. They, in the simplicity of their faith, do not doubt the truth of the tradition of the Church about the martyrs, for faith, as the Apostle Paul says, is “the revelation of things hoped for, the revelation of things not seen” (Heb. 11: 1). With the passage of years that have passed since the time of the first martyrs, some, if not disbelief, then at least doubt and confusion may arise. How could they [the martyrs], just weak, infirm people, endure such terrible torment?

And so the new martyrs, raising their voices in the midst of this world, eradicate all such mistrust and confusion in the hearts of Christians, instilling and renewing in them unshakable faith in the martyrs of the past. And, just as rain brings trees scorched by drought back to life, as new feathers renew an aging eagle - “your youth will be renewed like an eagle” (as the prophet David says /Psalm 102:5/); so these newly-minted martyrs strengthen and renew the weakened, withered, dilapidated faith of Christians of our days” (p. 10).

“It is for this reason that today’s Christians do not doubt the exploits of the martyrs of the past, seeing how new Georges, new Demetrios, new Theodores appear in the world, and not only in name, but in everything similar to the ancient martyrs” (pp. 10-11) .

“Finally, the new martyrs renew the preaching of St. apostles They testify to the truth of the Holy Gospel and the Divinity of Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God, consubstantial with His Beginning Father, and proclaim the great mystery of the Holy Trinity. In other words, they capture the Orthodox Faith of Christians, and not only with words, but with the terrible torment they endured, with their blood and martyrdom.”

Moving on to the second aspect of the significance of the new martyrs for the Orthodox Church, Rev. Nicodemus emphasizes the missionary role they play for non-believers. In this regard, it should be especially noted that the Orthodox Church has always carried out missionary work both in the Byzantine era and later, to the present day. The New Martyrs are, in their way, one of the most important missionaries of the post-Byzantine era. This is how Rev. explains it. Nicodemus: “Almost all the new martyrs, born and raised among many infidels, testified with great courage before their rulers and judges that the Christian Faith is right and true. They firmly confessed Jesus Christ as the Son of God, true God, Wisdom and Word of God, through whom all things came into being (John 1:3). And they testified to this confession not only with their blood, but even more so with the many miracles that God performed through them, both during their torment and after their death” (pp. 11-12).

The third important aspect of the significance of the new martyrs for the life of the Orthodox Church, according to Rev. Nicodemus, this is that they represent the shame and refutation of heresies, and evidence of the truth of the Orthodox Church. He says: “These new martyrs are the glory and praise of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the shame of the heterodox, for in addition to other slander that the enemies have spewed against the Church, they also slander that no new saints or martyrs have appeared in it.

May they be put to shame when they see in this book [the “New Martyrology”] that the Eastern Orthodox Church follows the right path and has increased not with one, not two, not three, but with a whole host of new martyrs. (We do not touch upon the newly-minted reverend fathers who have shone forth at different times in the modern era of the Eastern Orthodox Church, for the purpose of this work is different). These new martyrs stand on a par with the martyrs of antiquity, not inferior to them either in the boldness of their confession of faith before tyrants, or in the signs and wonders they showed. They are equal in everything to the martyrs of the first centuries.”

Speaking about the future of the Rev. Nicodemus expresses confidence that the Orthodox Church will continue to reveal new martyrs until the end of the world. And this is truly so, for Christ, the Bridegroom of the Orthodox Church, is alive and always remains in unity with His Bride (Church), according to His promise: “And lo, I am with you all the days, even to the end of the age. Amen" (Matt. 28:20).

This refutes the false claims of the heterodox - the Romans and Protestants - that the Orthodox have no new saints and martyrs. This confirms that the Orthodox Church is “the treasury of the grace of the Holy Spirit and that its dogmas are divine and right.” For, continues the Rev. Nicodemus, “a mother is known by her child, just as a tree is known by her fruit” (p. 14).

The fourth aspect of the meaning of the new martyrs according to St. Nicodemus, as we already mentioned, is an example of the long-suffering that they represent. He talks about it like this:

“These new martyrs are examples of long-suffering for all Orthodox Christians who suffer under the yoke of tyranny. I remain silent, let the martyrs themselves speak. So what are they saying?

“O our beloved and dear brothers, the chosen people of our Lord Jesus Christ, in your adversities learn patience from us, your brothers. Having courageously endured torment from the infidels, we have inherited the eternal Kingdom and were numbered with the holy martyrs of antiquity. And if, in the name of Christ, endure With gratitude, beatings, imprisonment, hard labor, deprivation, unbearable taxes and other torments to which the authorities subject you, as voluntary martyrs you will approach God. For, as the inspired Chrysostom says: “martyrdom is judged not only by its accomplishment, but also by its intention.” . A person does not become a martyr because he was beheaded, but when he expresses the determination to accept martyrdom, even if he does not suffer martyrdom. "" (In other words, martyrdom is not just death at the hands of the tormentors, but the conscious intention to suffer for the faith, even even if it did not result in martyrdom).

Rev. Nicodemus continues, speaking through the mouths of the new martyrs: “So, if you become voluntary martyrs, you will be numbered among us, and will dwell in bright and spacious abodes, in abodes of peace and joy” (p. 14).

The new martyrs give many instructions to Christians under the yoke of tyranny. In this short article I will give only the most instructive points:

“Remember that our Master Christ, who sent you out as sheep among the wild beasts, commanded you to be wise as serpents (Matthew 10:16). Why is that? Because, just as a snake strives to cover and preserve its head before other members, so that it is not crushed by the enemy, so you, brothers, quickly abandon all your property and become beggars; It is better to lose life itself than to retreat even a little from your holy faith and renounce the sweetest name of Christ and our God, Who alone is our Head, Glory and Salvation in this century and the century to come.

However, in order to acquire firmness in faith, it is appropriate to lead a Christian life in faith, doing good deeds. For, just as righteous and holy faith gives birth to and strengthens righteous and holy life, so holy life gives birth to and strengthens holy faith, and both complement each other, as Chrysostom said. And we see that those who are corrupted by a life full of impurity, passions and vices reject Christ or fall into destructive errors.

If you lead a Christian life, then you will not only observe the Orthodox Faith, not only will you be saved from blasphemy against the holy name and Faith of Christ,... but you will also encourage the infidels to turn to it when they see the light of your good deeds, as the Lord said: “So let it be enlightened your light is before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Rev. Nicodemus continues to talk about the importance for Christians of suffering for Christ, and not just believing in Him. He says: “Remember, brethren, that, as the Apostle Paul says, we Christians have been given the gift not only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for Christ: “For it has been given to you, even in Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to to suffer for Him” (Phil. 1:29).

Do you see, beloved, that you endure beatings, prisons, shackles, losses, reproaches, deprivation of property and other cruel misfortunes not only for your sins, but for your faith and in the name of Christ? Do you see that all this is a blessing? What are these gifts and honors of grace? They keep you from all kinds of sins. These sufferings purify and enlighten you, just as fire purifies and enlightens gold, “like gold in a furnace, test them” (Wisdom 3:6). They show you that you are true, unfalse children and disciples of Jesus Christ; His lawful children. “Who is the son, who is not punished by his father?” (Heb. 12:7). Simply put, through these sufferings you are glorified with Christ and in Christ “for as long as we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him” (Rom. 8:17). They acquire gifts of grace, “for which no eye has seen, nor an ear heard, nor has the heart of man sighed” (1 Cor. 2:9).

Now we come to the fifth and final meaning of the new martyrs for today's Orthodox Christians. Rev. Nicodemus talks a lot about this. This meaning lies in the fact that the new martyrs “set an example of courage and perseverance for all Christians forced by circumstances to accept martyrdom, especially for those who were on the verge of apostasy from the Orthodox faith” (p. 10).

And again Rev. Nicodemus speaks on behalf of the new martyrs: “If it happens that the infidels envy you, slander you, do you harm, or in other ways force you to reject Christ and accept their faith, beware, O sweet brethren, for the love of Christ, who redeemed us with the blood His. Take care for the priceless salvation of your souls. Beware of departing from your Orthodox faith and accepting their [heretical] faith.”

“Be not blind, and do not prefer darkness to light, lies to truth, hell to heaven, damnation to Paradise. Never deviate from the holy faith, which converts believers from people to angels, from inhabitants of earth to inhabitants of heaven, from beings of the flesh into sons of God by grace, heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven” (p. 18).

“And again, brethren, never yield or reject the most humble and sweetest Jesus Christ, the true Son of God and God, even if they subject you to many torments... For renouncing Christ with one word or a simple nod separates you from His Kingdom and dooms you to eternal suffering...

In this, imitate us [the new martyrs], who did not renounce our faith with a single word...

Do not be afraid of torment, for it kills only the body, but is unable to kill the soul, and, on the contrary, gives it life. The Lord Himself encourages you, saying: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul” (Matthew 10:28).

Shall I tell you, brothers, what you should be afraid of? Rejecting Christ and not confessing Him openly. This is the only thing worthy of fear. For if you reject Christ, woe to you! Christ will reject you on Judgment Day. For, as He Himself says: “Whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:33). (pp. 20-21).

The words that Rev. Nicodemus puts into the mouths of the new martyrs faithfully convey the spirit (phronema) of the new martyrs - the spirit of their thoughts and words. Rev. Nicodemus knew some of them personally, and he himself set them on the path of martyrdom. So is St. Macarius, mentor Rev. Nicodemus and co-author of the New Martyrology, knew many of the new martyrs closely and prepared them for martyrdom. They took refuge in his hermitage on the island of Chios, seeking his instructions, for they considered him a saint. Macarius left them in the monastery for many days, instructing, encouraging, confessing, teaching fasting, vigil and prayer. We know from the life of St. Macarius, written by his friend, the great teacher of faith Athanasius Parios, the names of three new martyrs who were his students: Polydorus of Cyprus, Demetrius of the Peloponnese and Theodore of Byzantium. The lives of Polydorus and Theodore of Byzantium and services to them are included in the New Martyrology. St. Macarius probably compiled their lives, while the services were compiled by St. Nicodemus.

The last passage from the New Martyrology, written on behalf of the new martyrs, is connected precisely with these three martyrs. It mentions the denial of Christ. The fact is that all three of these martyrs converted to the Muslim faith, but then changed their minds and experienced pangs of conscience because of their renunciation of Christ. Remembering the words of the Savior, “Whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven,” they sought to accept martyrdom in order to atone for their sin. Just as they rejected Christ before the Turks, so they should have firmly confessed their faith in Christ before them and endure any torment and even death for their bold confession. That's exactly what they did.

Those five meanings of the new martyrs for the life of the Greek Orthodox Church, which Rev. cites. Nicodemus help us understand the miraculous steadfastness of the Greek people in Orthodoxy, despite centuries of persecution by the Turks.

V

We can add a few more meanings to the mentioned prep. Nicodemus. One of them, very important, is the holy relics of the new martyrs, valued by the faithful of the Orthodox Church more than gold, for they heal ailments of the body and soul, especially those that are beyond the control of medicine. The most important recent example of this is the relics of the recently discovered new martyrs from Fermi (Lesbos): Raphael, Nicholas and Irene. Their relics were discovered thirty years ago during excavations. Pious Christians who have read the book “The Great Sign” by Blessed Photius Kontoglou and other books on this issue do not at all doubt the authenticity of the relics, although in the case of the discovery of ancient relics doubts often arise, such as, for example, doubts about the authenticity of the head of the Apostle Andrew, transferred by the Vatican to the Greek Church about 25 years ago. In general, since the new martyrs are not so distant from us in time and the information about their martyrdom is much more abundant and reliable than information about the martyrs of antiquity, there is usually no doubt about the authenticity of their relics.

In addition, the new martyrs inspired leading church writers and hymnographers to create deeply repentant and very soul-helping works. An example of this is the works cited above: “New Martyrology” by St. Macarius of Corinth and Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain and “New Limonar” of St. Nikephoros of Chios. These books contain both the lives of many new martyrs and services to many of them.

These works not only enriched Orthodox hagiography and liturgy, but also served to bring forth new ascetics of Orthodoxy, inspired by the examples of the glorified new martyrs.

Services to the new martyrs, collected by those inspired by the examples of the glorified new martyrs.

The services to the new martyrs, collected in the “New Martyrology”, “New Limonar” and other works, form the poetic and musical part of their lives. In these services, with sublime verses and corresponding rhythm and melody, we glorify the God-bearing new martyrs. We glorify them for their courageous witness to Orthodoxy and the virtues they demonstrated.

The New Martyrs, like all other saints, do not need our glorification. They have already been glorified and rewarded by the Almighty, and abide with Him in eternal divine glory and grace. However, we should glorify them so that, through the example of faith, patience and asceticism of the saints, we become imbued with love for their virtues and strive to acquire them ourselves.

In the same way, the new martyrs contribute to the decoration of the Church with new icons with their images and new churches consecrated in their honor. The best icons with images of new martyrs are the icons of St. Kosma Aitolos, St. George of Ioannina, and the newly-discovered saints of Fermi: Raphael, Nicholas and Irene.

Icons and temples to the new martyrs, their lives and services not only enrich and adorn the Orthodox Church and serve as models of virtue, they also remind us that the path of martyrdom was followed not only by many Christians of the first centuries, but also by many Christians of modern times.

The icons of the new martyrs speak in a clear, understandable language: modern clothing, purity of face, a halo of holiness over the head and a cross, a symbol of martyrdom, in the right hand - all this tells us that, having accepted martyrdom, they became vessels of divine grace, were cleansed of all sins and sanctified. The well-known troparion of dismissal (apolytikion) in honor of the holy martyrs tells us about this with appropriate sublimity: “Thy martyrs, O Lord, in their suffering received crowns from Thee our God: having Thy strength, I have overthrown the tormentors, crushed and the demons of weak insolence: those Save our souls with your prayers."

From this chant we learn that having undergone martyrdom, the martyrs received strength from God, with which they defeated their tormentors, who forced them to renounce the faith, and put to shame the arrogant demonic temptation to humble themselves in the face of force. It also tells us that all the martyrs, both old and new, pray to God for the salvation of our souls. And this is very important, for, as the Apostle James writes, “the prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much in haste” (James 5:16). With this in mind, pious Christians unite with the martyrs, both old and new, with their love, which the Apostle Paul calls “the bond of perfection” (Col. 3:14) and with the veneration they show them.

Translation prepared by br. Alexander in the city of St. Peter, Russia

“Orthodox Life” (Supplement to “Orthodox Rus'”), No. 2 (590), February 1999, Part 1-12.

***

Letter from Rev. Athanasius of Paria (†1813) to one student regarding veneration of the New Martyrs before their glorification

My beloved brother in Christ, rejoice in the Lord!

1. You wrote to me that recently, on the day of memory of St. John the Theologian, you and your friends had a conversation about the new martyrs, and that some of them, not only those who knew little, but also scientists, argued that the holy martyrs cannot be venerated without the permission of the Great Church, and you seemed to want to object, but you were embarrassed, afraid , as if their words were not true. You write that you wrote this to me so that I would laugh, but I did not laugh at it because although those who express such judgments are worthy of laughter, the topic itself is not funny, but decent and holy. Therefore I was more distressed; I was especially upset by the fact that educated people speak like uneducated and illiterate people. Where have these “scientists” read about this, and where has it been heard in the Church of God, that the holy martyrs await the earthly judgment of their martyrdom, so that this earthly judgment testifies to those who sealed their end with the confession of the holy faith and whose hero Christ immediately and immediately vouchsafed a heavenly crown?

2. What else is a holiday if not the pleasure, glorification and honoring of the celebrated saint, if not the desire to have him before God as our intercessor and intercessor, in order to receive from God the healing of our soul from passions? What else could a holiday be besides this? Probably these wise men, so as not to call them by any dissonant name, have never heard that as soon as the head of the martyr falls to the ground, the Christians present, rejoicing with all their souls and hearts, glorifying God and pleasing the martyr, with extreme reverence divide between his bloody clothes and even the ropes with which he was tied or hanged. Even the land that was stained with his blood is taken and preserved by Christians with all honor, wanting to have ready help for their needs.

3. And all this is done by Christians everywhere, and they venerate, glorify, and honor the victim without any official permission of the Great Church. Therefore, these “scientists” speak the same nonsense as the unscientists.

The more knowledge they have, the more laughter they deserve when they repeat the opinions of unscientists. This church permission is required and given, brother, only in relation to saints whose holiness is not known to everyone. The Church, having made an exact inquiry and convinced from the life and miracles of the saint that God glorified him, assures all Christians with its ecclesiastical authority that such and such a father is holy and anyone who wishes can freely celebrate his memory. In addition, read in the “Tomos of Love” the speech of Patriarch Philotheus about Saint Gregory Palamas, and you will learn from there that he, as the Patriarch of Constantinople, decrees that the monks of his monastery freely celebrate the memory of Gregory before the conciliar decree. And they not only celebrated his memory, as he says, but also brought his icon to the feast of the triumph of Orthodoxy in the great church, even before he was canonized by the Church. After all, those who celebrated the memory of the venerable husbands and wives, since they knew andx [during their lifetime] as saints, they were not condemned as lawbreakers.

4. Will these most uneducated people therefore prevent the victorious, divine and holy martyrs from being given immediately and on the spot the honor that is due and due to them? And don’t these madmen really think that it is not only fair - and extremely fair - to honor and celebrate the memory of those who labored well, but that it is also very useful, since such veneration warms the souls of believers and encourages them to imitate. To confirm the truth of what has been said, one does not have to go far and look for where the memory of the new martyrs is celebrated without the official permission of the Great Church. Even today in the church of St. George, the memory of the martyr Theophilus of Zakynthos is celebrated, whose service was composed immediately after his death by the wise George Koressius, during whose days this martyr suffered. After him, Nikita of Nizirsky subsequently suffered, and the teacher Athanasius Iviritis, aka Lindossky, who was present at his death, who became an eyewitness of his exploits, immediately composed a service for him and for many years then celebrated the day of his memory in the church of St. Nicholas "in the Swamp", as many people worthy of trust testify to this. I am surprised at your reverence that you did not give these examples to silence those who say the opposite of the truth. After all, they are incompetent regarding the canonical church order in comparison with those wisest men whom I mentioned, i.e. compared to Coressius and Athanasius. That friend of yours who dares to say that those who renounced the faith but atone for their sin with the blood of martyrdom are not martyrs speaks out in the same way with this absurdity. But, it seems, those who think this way do not value the judgment of the Universal Church, and, being corrupted, want to confirm only their own opinion. Is it really true, in their opinion, that neither James of Persia, nor Meirax of Egypt, nor Pancharius of Rome and countless other martyrs are saints, and the Church does not know what she is doing? May he who deprives the martyrs of divine glory not see the glory of the martyrs!

I wrote all this to you now because you told me about what happened to you. I have written and spoken a lot on this topic before.

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