October: Day 30: Teaching 2: Holy Hieromartyr Zenobios and his sister Zenobia

 

October: Day 30: Teaching 2:
Holy Hieromartyr Zenobios and his sister Zenobia
 
(Sibling Love)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today, the Holy Church commemorates the sufferings of the Holy Hieromartyr Zenobios and his sister Zenobia. They were born in the Cappadocian city of Aegae to pious parents who raised them in the law of the Lord. They were orphaned early, but their parents' good teachings had already taken root in them, and they resolved to distribute their rich estate to the poor and live solely to serve God. The Lord accepted their sacrifice, and Zenobios received from the Lord the gift of miracles: through prayer and the laying on of hands, he healed the sick. Soon, his miracles and virtues brought him fame throughout the region, and the Christians of Aegae elected him bishop. 

Saint Zenobios zealously instructed his flock both by word and by the example of his holy life. But then the terrible Diocletianic Persecution broke out. A royal dignitary was sent to the city of Aegae to persuade Christians to renounce their faith and execute the disobedient. Many Christians had become famous for their martyrdom for Jesus Christ. Saint Zenobios was also summoned for interrogation. "I have no need to discuss this with you at length," the pagan dignitary told him. "Here is life or death for you: life if you worship our gods, death if you do not worship them. Choose!" "Life without Christ is death," the Bishop replied, "but bodily death for Christ's sake is eternal life. I wish to die here and live forever with Christ." "We shall see if your Christ will help you!" said the dignitary, and he ordered the Bishop to be severely beaten. 

Saint Zenobia, learning that her brother was suffering for Christ, hastened to the court and, standing before the torturer, cried out: “I am a Christian; I, like my brother, confess God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Order me to be tortured too; I wish to die the same death as my brother!” The royal official began to admonish the girl, urging her to renounce her faith, and presented her with the horror and shame of public execution. Saint Zenobia remained unyielding. Then the enraged pagan ordered both she and her brother to be placed on an iron grate beneath which coals burned. “What then? Does your Christ help you?” he asked the Martyrs, mocking their faith. “He is invisibly with us,” they replied. “He refreshes us with the dew of His grace, and we feel no torment.” They were removed from the grate and thrown into a cauldron of boiling tar. But protected by the Lord, they remained unharmed and sang a psalm of praise to God. Then they were handed over to be executed. 

The Martyrs went to their deaths with joy. "We thank You, O Lord," they cried, "that You have granted us to fight the good fight, to finish our course, to keep the faith. Make us partakers of Your glory, and number us among those who have pleased You, for You are good forever." A voice from heaven summoned them to eternal life and imperishable crowns, and they joyfully commended their souls to God.

II. What is most striking here is the sibling love that united the hearts of brother Zenobios and his sister Zenobia — the unanimity of their minds and hearts. What a brother does, so does a sister. A brother goes to suffer for Christ, and a sister follows suit. This is an example of how brothers and sisters should behave toward one another. This should be especially learned where there are many brothers and sisters.

But, truth be told, they rarely grow up in complete love and harmony, for quarrels, complaints about each other, a reluctance to serve each other, that's what usually happens in large families. And when they reach adulthood, they often become completely cold towards each other and live like strangers.

Not so, according to the spirit of our Lord's teaching. If all believers should be of one accord and mind, how much more so should brothers and sisters. They may differ in age, character, and ability, but when they reach maturity, their occupations and means of living — what matters that? — despite all their differences, they have much in common, binding them together in a single, close union. This commonality is the shared concern for attaining heaven and its joys, their labors for the Kingdom of Heaven. It is on this that they should focus their attention, and it is here that they should demonstrate their sibling love.

Every brother and sister should be concerned about one another: are they living a life pleasing to God, beneficial to their families? To the comfort of their parents and relatives? Is God's name glorified through their lives? Are they close to salvation? Everyone should notice each other's good qualities and imitate them, while correcting shortcomings in a brotherly, gentle manner. Who is closer to a brother than you, a sister or a brother? Tell him if he is not living as a Christian should, remind him of his Christian duty, of the calling he bears. Your brotherly word, spoken from a loving heart, cannot remain fruitless. Often, older brothers, out of love, strive to provide this or that pleasure to their younger brothers — of course, this cannot be strictly condemned. But you would do even better if you found more time to talk with them about Christ, to read the Gospel to them, the lives of the saints, if you gradually accustomed them to prayer, conversation with the Lord, to the temple of God.

Especially, brother and sister, try to set a good example for each other. See how Zenobias' brother Zenobios's example influenced her. Her brother faces torture and death for Christ, and her sister, imitating him, does the same. And teach each other goodness by your example — by example, teach your younger siblings the fear of God, obedience, love of prayer, church services, and reverent standing in church. Example is a great thing, it is more powerful than any words. Ah, how often a child seeks all this, but sees something completely different! If any brother or sister has younger siblings under their care, know that you will answer before the Lord if, while teaching them much, you deliberately keep silent about the salvation of the soul, and instead introduce them to the vanity of the world, to worldly amusements alone. It is unpleasant to see disagreements and quarrels between adult siblings living in the same family, leading to divisions. Why not live and work together – for each other? “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Psalm 132:1).

But today this harmony is becoming less and less evident. There is no love — the strong brother is unwilling to labor for the weak, the single man unwilling to let his daily labor go to the large family, and hence the desire to live only for oneself, hence the divisions. But is this pleasing to the Lord? Didn't He, on the contrary, teach us to love not only our brother, but every neighbor, even our enemy, and how to love him? To the point of living for him!

Sometimes pride causes much harm here. It is difficult for the younger brother to submit to the elder; he needs freedom, and so, even to his own detriment, division occurs again... But love of freedom does not always lead to good. Remember the Gospel parable of the prodigal son. Pride and the desire for power also cannot lead to good. Jesus Christ always condemned them. Once, the mother of James and John approached Christ the Savior with her sons, asking that they be appointed first in His Kingdom. But He said to them, "You do not know what you ask: whoever wants to be great among you must be servant of all. Whoever wants to be first among you must be servant of all," and He pointed to His own example. "Look at Me," He said to them, "I have not come to be served, but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:43, 44, 45). This is a lesson that brothers and sisters, both those living together and those apart, should take to heart. Oh, if the spirit of Christ reigned in our families, then there would be no discord, no quarrels, no strife, but rather the most ardent love, because everyone would seek not their own personal gain, but that which leads to the common good, the family good!

III. The love of the Holy Hieromartyr Zenobios and his sister Zenobia was founded on love for Christ, for Whom they suffered. May love for Christ unite today's brothers and sisters. Let us all strive to acquire it. Where there is love for Christ, there will be sibling love. Then it will be easy, pleasant, and comforting for brothers and sisters to live for one another, because here, in the person of brother and sister, everything will be done for Christ. Amen. 

 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.