May: Day 29: Teaching 1: Holy Martyr Theodosia of Tyre

 

May: Day 29: Teaching 1:
Holy Martyr Theodosia of Tyre

(Christian Consolation at the Death of Those Dear To Us)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Martyr Theodosia, who is celebrated today, was born in the city of Tyre and was raised in a pious family. She was 18 years old when the last persecution of Christians began in Caesarea in Palestine. Despite her youth, she already had firm faith in her heart. She fearlessly visited the martyrs for the faith who were languishing in prison, and once, when those who confessed Christ were in the court of the ruler Urban, she approached them, bowed down and begged them to remember her when they would be before God. For this they seized her, scourged her entire body and threw her into the sea. This was in 308.

On the night after her martyrdom, Theodosia appeared in a dream to her parents, in a blaze of glory, and consoled them, persuading them not to grieve for her, who was rejoicing in the Kingdom of God.

The relics of Saint Theodosia were subsequently transferred to Constantinople, and parts of them are located in the West in different places.

II. Saint Theodosia, who appeared after her death in the radiance of glory to console her grieving parents, whom she undoubtedly consoled, reminds us of the truth that a Christian, losing people near and dear to his heart, can have spiritual consolation in his grief.

This is the consolation we receive from the Christian faith.

a) Our faith clearly states that God Himself gives life to all, that in Him “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:25, 28), that He “puts to death and makes alive” (1 Samuel 2:6), and that “not one bird falls on the ground without the will of our Father, but to us even the hairs are all numbered” (Matt. 10:29, 30). And from these words we clearly see that it is God who gives those dear to our heart when they are born, that God also takes them from us when they die, and that without God’s will or without God’s permission no man is born or dies.

But if, as we must firmly believe, God Himself takes from us those dear to our hearts, then their taking, no matter how necessary they may seem - whether for us, or for our family, or for the place and rank they occupy in society - must always be the result of God's greatest love for us and for them, for can we think that God would not prolong their lives if it were necessary for us or for them? Did He really take them in order, for example, not to give them time to repent and correct their lives? Did He really take them in order to wound our hearts and amuse Himself with our tears? It would be madness to think so about the Lord God! The Lord, whose mercy is boundless, is the Father of mankind.

b) Indeed, the person whose death we mourn, while remaining alive, could have been subjected to some very unfortunate fate, for example, a very long and serious illness, in which case death would have been the greatest “blessing” for both him and us. And does not God, Who sees everything in the future as clearly as in the present, show us the greatest love if He takes away from us in advance someone dear to us, freeing him from a misfortune that could have led him and us into some sins and deprived us of eternal blessedness?

Also, could it not happen that a man, whose death we mourn because he was very dear or necessary to us, should, while living, fall into an impious life and become a stumbling block and a shame to us and to his family, and prepare for himself eternal destruction? Countless examples fully prove that this, unfortunately, is very possible. King Solomon ascended the throne of his father David with a most beautiful heart. He vividly felt the need of the constant help of the Almighty Ruler of the World, God, and in order to govern the people of his kingdom according to His holy will, he prayed to Him with all his heart for wisdom and strength. God with special favor looked upon his prayer, and granted him such intelligence as He did not give to any man either before or after him. But this Solomon, who in the blooming years of his life was so wise, so loved the Lord, and so faithfully walked in the right paths of holy David, his father, in his old age fell first into vile lust, and then into the most shameful idolatry. Even the best and most intelligent people can fall so deeply!

But what happened to Solomon, or something similar, could have happened to one or another of our dear or necessary people, if the Lord God had not taken them from this life to another life beforehand. Therefore, it is very beneficial that the Lord took them to Himself before they could lose their souls and perish. We must thank God for calling them to Himself, and not sin with our complaints about His wise care for us.

c) Besides the consolations mentioned concerning the death of our dear ones, our holy faith gives us a new consolation, namely, that we are not parting with them forever, that after death we will see them again, and that then we will be inseparable. Jesus Christ clearly said: “The hour is coming, when all who are in the graves will hear the voice of the Son of God, and having heard they will live” (John 5:25). This life is generally very short, it will pass very quickly, and then the Lord will resurrect, at His second coming, all of us, no matter at what time anyone died, so that all of us, as the Holy Apostle says, “the dead in Christ and the living who remain, will be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (Thessaloniki 4:16, 17). At that time we will all see each other again, and the greater our love was, the more sorrowful we felt the temporary separation, the more joy we will feel at our new meeting.

III. Therefore, eternal thanksgiving to the Heavenly Father for bringing us into the light of our faith, which fully assures us that He Himself takes from us those dear to our hearts; that He takes them from us for nothing else than His love and wisdom, for the true good of them and of us, and that after the lapse of some time, at any rate a very short one, we shall see each other again, and shall no longer fear any separation! Eternal thanksgiving to the Heavenly Father for such truths that are very comforting to us! Amen. 

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