From September 15 until the Leavetaking, we sing “O come, let us worship and fall down before Christ. O son of God crucified in the flesh, save us who sing to Thee: Alleluia” at weekday Liturgies following the Little Entrance.
Before his Baptism, the Holy Great Martyr Eustáthios was named Plakidas (Πλακίδας). He was a Roman General in the reigns of Emperors Titus (79-81) and Trajan (98-117). Even before he came to know Christ, Plakidas devoted himself to charitable endeavors, helping the poor and destitute. Therefore, the Lord did not allow this virtuous pagan to continue in the darkness of idolatry.
One day, while hunting in a forest, he saw a remarkable stag which stopped now and then to stare at him. Plakidas pursued it on horseback, but could not catch up. The stag jumped over a chasm and stood on the other side facing him. Suddenly, Plakidas saw a radiant Cross between its antlers. The General was astonished to hear a voice coming from the Cross saying, “Why do you pursue me, Plakidas?”
“Who are You, Master?” asked Plakidas. The voice replied, “I am Jesus Christ, Whom you do not know, but by your good deeds, you honor me. I have appeared here on this creature for your sake, to draw you into the net of my love for mankind. It is not fitting that one as righteous as you should worship idols and remain ignorant of the truth. It was to save mankind that I came into the world.”
Plakidas cried out, “Lord, I believe that You are the God of Heaven and earth, the Creator of all things. Master, teach me what I should do.” Again the Lord replied, “Go to the bishop of your country and receive Baptism from him, and he will instruct you.”
Plakidas returned home and joyfully recounted everything to his wife Tatiana. She in turn told him of a strange dream she had the evening before, in which she had been told, “Tomorrow you, your husband and your sons shall come to me and know that I am the true God.” The couple then proceeded to do as they had been told.
They hastened to the Christian bishop, who baptized all their family, and then communed them with the Holy Mysteries. Plakidas was renamed Eustáthios, his wife was called Theopistē, and their children, Agapios and Theopistos.
On the following day, Saint Eustáthios went to the place of his miraculous conversion and there he gave thanks to the Lord for having called him to the path of salvation.
Saint Eustáthios received another a miraculous revelation. The Lord Himself predicted his impending tribulations: “Eustáthios, you shall suffer many misfortunes, as did Job, but in the end you will conquer the devil.”
Soon Saint Eustáthios was afflicted with misfortune: all of his servants died of the plague, and his cattle perished. Brought to ruin, but not despairing in spirit, Saint Eustáthios and his family secretly abandoned their home, to live in poverty unknown, humble, and poor.
They went to Egypt to board a ship bound for Jerusalem. During the voyage the Saint experienced more sorrow. Captivated by Theopistē's beauty, the ship owner cruelly set Eustáthios and his children ashore, keeping the wife for himself.
With great sadness the Saint continued on his way, and new calamity befell him. Coming to a tempestuous river, he went to carry his two sons across in turn. When he brought the first one across, the other was seized by a lion and was carried off into the wilderness. As he turned back to shore, a wolf dragged the other child into the forest.
Saint Eustáthios wept bitterly, but he realized that Divine Providence had sent him these misfortunes in order to test his endurance and devotion to God. Saint Eustáthios prepared himself for even more sorrows, knowing that one who endures temptations and has been tested will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him (James 1:12).
In the village of Badessos he found work and spent five years in ceaseless toil. Saint Eustáthios did not know at the time that by God's mercy, shepherds and farmers had rescued his sons, and they were living near him. He was also unaware that the impudent shipowner had been struck down with a terrible disease and died, leaving Saint Theopistē untouched. She lived in peace and freedom at the place where the ship landed.
During this time it had become difficult for Emperor Trajan to raise an army for Rome to deal with a rebellion, for the soldiers refused to go into battle without Plakidas. They advised Trajan to send men out to all the cities to search for him.
Antiochos and Akakios, who were friends of Plakidas, sought him in various places. Finally, they arrived in the village where Saint Eustáthios lived. The soldiers found him, but they did not recognize him. They began telling him about the person they sought, asking for his help and promising him a large reward. Saint Eustáthios recognized his friends right away, but he did not disclose his identity to them.
Borrowing money from one of his friends, he prepared a meal for his visitors. As they looked at him, they noticed that he resembled their former commander. When they saw a scar on his shoulder from a deep wound made by a sword, they realized that it was their friend who stood before them. They embraced him with tears and told him why they had been looking for him.
Saint Eustáthios returned to Rome with them and was restored to his former rank. Many new recruits were drafted into the army from all over the Empire. He did not know that the two young soldiers who served him, and whom he loved for their skill and daring, were actually his own sons. They did not realize that they were serving under the command of their own father, nor that they were brothers by birth.
While on campaign, the army led by Eustáthios halted at a certain place. One night, the brothers were talking in their tent. The elder spoke about his life, how he had lost his mother and brother, and how he had been parted from his father. The younger brother then realized that the other man was his own brother, and revealed how he had been rescued from the wolf.
A woman overheard their conversation, since their tent was pitched right next to her house, and she realized that these were her sons. Without identifying herself to them, but not wishing to be separated from them, she went to their general, Saint Eustáthios, and asked that he take her to Rome with him. She said she had been a prisoner, and wanted to go home. Then she came to recognize the general as her husband, and with tears she told him about herself, and about the two soldiers who were their sons. Thus, through God's great mercy, the entire family was reunited.
Soon thereafter, the rebellion was crushed, and Saint Eustáthios returned to Rome with honor and glory. Emperor Trajan had died in the meantime, and his successor Hadrian (117-138) wanted to celebrate the victory with a solemn sacrifice to their "gods." To everyone's amazement, Saint Eustáthios did not go to the pagan temple. The Emperor ordered them to find him and bring him to the temple.
“Why don’t you want to worship the gods?” the Emperor inquired. “You, above all others, should offer thanks to them. Not only did they preserve you in war and grant you victory, but they also helped you to find your wife and children.” Saint Eustáthios replied: “I am a Christian and I glorify and give thanks to Christ, and I offer sacrifice to Him. I owe my life to Him. I do not know or believe in any other God.”
Outraged, the Emperor ordered him to remove his military belt and brought Eustáthios and his family before him. They did not succeed in persuading the steadfast confessors of Christ to offer sacrifice to idols. The Saint's family was sentenced to be torn to pieces by wild beasts, but the animals would not touch the holy martyrs.
Then the cruel Emperor ordered that they be thrown alive into a red-hot brass bull, and Saint Eustáthios, his wife Theopistē, and their sons Agapios and Theopistos suffered martyrdom. Before being placed inside the bull, Saint Eustathios prayed, “Grant, O Lord, Thy grace to our relics, and grant a place in Thy Kingdom to all who call upon us, Though they call upon us when in danger on a river, or on the sea, we entreat Thee to come to their aid.”
Three days later, they opened the brass bull, and the bodies of the holy martyrs were found unscathed. Not one hair of their heads was singed, and their faces shone with an unearthly beauty. Many who witnessed this miracle came to believe in Christ. Some pious Christians buried the bodies of the Saints with all honor and reverence.
The Holy Right-believing Prince Michael of Chernigov, the son of Vsevolod Olgovich Chermny (+ 1212), was born in 1179 (or 1195). From his childhood Prince Michael was known for his piety and meekness. His health was very poor, but in 1186, trusting in God's mercy, he asked for the holy prayers of Saint Niketas the Stylite of Pereyaslavl (May 24), who was renowned as a fervent intercessor with the Lord. After receiving a wooden staff from the holy ascetic, Michael was healed right away.
In 1223 Prince Michael participated in a council of Russian princes at Kiev, debating whether to help the Polovetsians against the approaching Mongolian Tatar hordes. Upon the death of his uncle, Mstislav of Chernigov at the Battle at the Kalka River in 1223, Saint Michael became the Prince of Chernigov.
In 1225 he was invited to become the Prince of Novgorod. By his sense of justice, compassion, and firmness he won the love and respect of Novgorod's citizens. This was particularly important for the Novgorodians, since Michael's accession as Prince signified the reconciliation of Novgorod with the city of Vladimir’s Holy Great Prince George Vsevolodovich (+ February 4, 1238), whose wife was the Holy Martyr Agatha (+ February 4, 1238), Prince Michael's sister.
Saint Michael did not remain as Prince at Novgorod, and soon he returned to his native Chernigov. To the requests of the Novgorodians that he remain their Prince he replied that Chernigov and Novgorod ought to become kindred lands, and their inhabitants like brothers, and he would forge bonds of friendship for these cities.
The noble Prince diligently concerned himself with the building up of his appenage realm. But this was difficult for him in those troubled times. His activities provoked unrest in Kursk's Prince Oleg, and in 1227 civil strife almost broke out, but Metropolitan Cyril of Kiev reconciled them. In that same year Prince Michael peacefully resolved a dispute between Kiev's Great Prince Vladimir Rurikovich and the Prince of Galich. In 1235 Prince Michael occupied the throne of Kiev.
Troublesome times ensued. In 1238 the Mongol Tatars laid waste to Ryazan, Suzdal, and Vladimir. In 1239 they moved against southern Rus', ravaging the left bank of the Dniepr River, and the lands of Chernigov and Pereyaslavl. By the autumn of 1240 the Mongols were approaching Kiev. The khan’s emissaries proposed that Kiev surrender voluntarily, but the Prince would not negotiate with them.
Prince Michael rode to Hungary, hoping to persuade the Hungarian King Bela to organize allied forces to resist their common enemy. Saint Michael tried to recruit both Poland and the German Emperor into the struggle against the Mongols, but the moment for combined resistance was lost. Rus' was devastated, and then Hungary and Poland. With no foreign support, Prince Michael returned to the ruins of Kiev, and for a time he lived near the city on an island, and then he went back to Chernigov.
The Prince did not abandon hope in the possibility of an united Christian Europe against the Asiatic nomads. In 1245, at the Council of Lyons in France, his co-worker Metropolitan Peter (Akerovich) was sent as emissary by Prince Michael, calling for a crusade to march against the pagan Horde. Catholic Europe, in the persons of its chief spiritual leaders, the Roman Pope and the German Emperor, betrayed the interests of Christianity. The Pope was involved in a war with the German Emperor, and the Germans took advantage of the Mongol invasion to attack Rus' themselves.
In these circumstances affecting Christianity in general, there is a universal significance to the Confessor’s exploit of Saint Michael of Chernigov in the midst of the pagan Horde. In Rus' emissaries of the khan soon appeared, in order to make a census of the Russian population, and to levy taxes.
The Prince was ordered to make full submission to the Tatar khan, and the khan would grant a special charter for his realm. The emissaries told Prince Michael that he must journey to the Horde in order to confirm his right to rule the princedom under the khan’s charter. Seeing the sad plight of Rus', Prince Michael recognized the necessity of obeying the khan, but as a devout Christian he knew that he could not deny his faith before the pagans. He received a blessing from his Spiritual Father, Bishop John, to travel to the Horde and to become a true Confessor for Christ.
Accompanying Prince Michael on his trip to the Horde was his faithful friend and companion, the Boyar Theodore. At the Horde the khan was aware of Prince Michael’s attempts to organize an uprising against the Tatars in concert with Hungary and the other European powers, and the Prince's enemies had long sought an opportunity to destroy him.
In 1246 when Prince Michael and the Boyar Theodore arrived at the Horde, they were instructed on how to approach the khan: they must walk through fire to cleanse themselves of their evil intents, and worship the primal elements - the sun and fire, which the Mongols worshipped as gods. Responding to the priests who commanded them to participate in pagan rituals, the Holy Prince said, “A Christian worships God alone, the Creator of the world, and not creatures."
The khan was informed of the Russian Prince's intransigence, Batu’s attendant El’deg restated the terms: the Prince must obey the demands of the pagan priests, or be put to death. Prince Michael remained steadfast in his faith and declared: “I am prepared to submit to the khan, since God has entrusted him with the destiny of earthly kingdoms, but as a Christian, I cannot worship idols.”
Taking courage from the Lord's words: “Whosoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, and whosoever loses his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:25), the Holy Prince and his devoted Boyar prepared for their martyric death and received the Holy Mysteries, which their Spiritual Father had given them, foreseeing this possibility. The Tatar executioners seized the Prince and beat him savagely for a long time, until the ground ran crimson with his blood. Finally, Domanus, an apostate from Christianity, beheaded the Holy Martyr.
The Tatars deceitfully promised Saint Theodore great honor and his lord’s princely rank if he would perform the pagan ritual. Saint Theodore was not swayed by this, however, and he followed the example of his Prince. After horrible tortures, he was beheaded as well. The bodies of the holy Passion Bearers were tossed aside to be eaten by dogs, but the Lord preserved them for several days, until some faithful Christians could bury them secretly and with reverence.
Saint Theodore's exploit of a Confessor amazed even his executioners. Convinced of the Russian people’s steadfast fidelity to the Orthodox Faith, and their willingness to die gladly for Christ, the Tatar khans decided not to try God's patience as before, and they ceased requiring Russians to perform any pagan rituals at the Horde. But the struggle of the Russian nation and the Russian Church against the Mongol Yoke continued for a long time. During this struggle the Orthodox Church was adorned with many New Martyrs and Confessors. Great Prince Theodore was poisoned by the Mongols. Among those martyred were Saint Roman of Ryazan (+ 1270), Saint Michael of Tver (+ 1318), his sons Demetrios (+ 1325) and Alexander (+ 1339). All of them took courage from the example and holy prayers of Saint Michael of Chernigov, the Russian Protomartyr of the Horde.
On February 14, 1578, with the blessing of Metropolitan Anthony, Tsar Ivan the Terrible transferred their holy relics to the church which was dedicated to them in Moscow.
In 1770 the relics of Saints Michael and Theodore were brought to the Meeting of the Lord (Сретенский) cathedral, Since November 21, 1774, they have been kept in a secret place in Holy Archangels Cathedral in the Kremlin.
The Lives and Church Service of Saints Michael and Theodore were compiled in the middle of the XVI century by the renowned writer, Saint Zenobios of Otonsk (October 30).
The Prophet-King David wrote, "The generation of the upright shall be blessed (Psalm 111/112:2). This occurred in full measure for Saint Michael. He is at the head of many famous families in Russian history. His children and grandchildren continued Saint Michael's Christian service. The Church also numbers his daughter Saint Euphrosyne of Suzdal (September 25), and his grandson Saint Oleg of Briansk (September 20) among the Saints.
The Holy Martyrs and Confessors Michael and Theodore are commemorated on September 20 (the day of their martyric death); on February 14 (the Translation of their Holy Relics in 1578; and on the Sunday before August 26 (the Synaxis of the Moscow Saints).
Holy Prince Oleg Romanovich of Briansk (in Baptism Leontius) was grandson of the holy martyr Prince Michael of Chernigov. According to the chronicle histories, Prince Oleg together with his father, Prince Roman Mikhailovich of Briansk, participated in a war against Lithuania in 1274.
After 1274, he resigned as prince and became a monk with the name Basil at the Briansk monastery of Saints Peter and Paul, built through his generosity. The holy prince died at this monastery as a strict ascetic in the year 1285, and was buried in the monastery church.
Saint Hilarion was from Heraklion in Crete and his secular name was John. He had five other siblings, John, Polyzoes, George, and two sisters, whose names are unknown. His parents, Francis and Katherine, had raised him with diligence, and he had learned to read and write. When he was a young man, his uncle took him to Constantinople, promising to train him for some occupation.
Although John stayed with him for ten years, his uncle neglected to train him and did little else for him. That is why John was forced to leave his uncle’s house and get a job as the clerk of a merchant from the island of Chios, who came to trust John. One day, the merchant was obliged to leave his shop and travel back to Chios, placing John and another Orthodox Christian employee in charge of the business.
When he returned, the two employees gave their boss an accounting for the time that he was away. The merchant said that he had been cheated, because the money they collected did not correspond to the value of the goods that were sold. Although the merchant did not make an inventory before going to Chios, he estimated that the two clerks were short by thirty grosia. The other employee had been with the merchant for many years, and so all suspicion fell on John. He was told that there would be severe consequences if he did not return the money at once.
Knowing that he was innocent, John asked his uncle to help him, but his uncle refused to see him. In his despair he went to the palace, hoping to see the valide sultana, the Sultan’s mother. First, however, he met the Ethiopian eunuch, Mertzan Aga. It appears that John knew him and told him what had happened. The evil Aga seized this opportunity and told him that if he converted to Islam, he would not be liable to any punishment; moreover, he would receive many riches and honors.
In his fear and anxiety, John accepted. Then he was presented to the Sultan’s mother, who introduced him to the Sultan. Right away, John was circumcised, and was given Muslim clothing and other gifts. In addition, a certain hodja was appointed to instruct him in Islamic teachings.
Three days later, the young man came to himself and repented from his heart when he realized the gravity of his sin. He waited for an opportunity to escape, and after twelve days he managed to board a ship for the Crimea, where he remained for ten months. He knew no peace there because his conscience tormented him for his betrayal of Christ. Therefore, he decided that the only way he could atone for his sin was by the path of martyrdom. Returning to Constantinople, he consulted the renowned Spiritual Fathers, Elder Symeon and Elder Jeremiah. He told them of his intention to confess Christ in the place where he had denied Him. Instead, the Elders advised him to go to Mount Athos for a time.
John did exactly as he was told, and entered Ivḗron Monastery. The Fathers there sent him to the Skete of St. Anna to place himself under the guidance of Hieromonk Bessarion, who had prepared the New Martyr Luke (March 23) for his martyrdom the previous year. The Elder accepted him and gave him a Rule of strict asceticism and fasting. Soon he received the monastic tonsure with the name Hilarion.
One morning, Father Hilarion told his Elder that he was ready to confess Christ, Whom he had denied. The Elder blessed his good intention, and the Saint received the Holy Mysteries. They left for Constantinople together, and then Father Hilarion presented himself to the Aga at the palace.
“Three days after becoming a Muslim,” he said, “I repented of what I had done, and I abandoned the darkness of error and returned to the light of truth, so I curse your religion. I was a Christian, and now I am once more.”
Throwing his turban on the ground, he put on the black monastic skoufia he had concealed under his coat. Seeing the Saint’s resolve, the Aga ordered that he be tortured without mercy. His torments were so severe that all his bones were broken.
Saint Hilarion was beheaded on September 20, 1804, and received two incorruptible crowns from Christ: that of asceticism, and that of martyrdom.
Elder Bessarion was once invited to a Christian home and the children were brought to receive his blessing. One child, a little girl about eight years old, had been possessed by a demon. She turned black, made some erratic movements, and eventually she fell down as if she were dead.The Elder had some of the Saint’s blood with him, but before he could even anoint the girl with it, the demon came out of her, and the child stood up.