June: Day 13: Holy Martyr Aquilina of Byblos

June: Day 13:
Holy Martyr Aquilina of Byblos
 
(Lessons From Her Life: Love of Prayer and Patience Are the Great Virtues of a Christian)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The soul of the twelve-year-old Holy Martyr Aquilina, whose memory is celebrated today, matured early for the highest spiritual feat, prepared for the feat by the Christian upbringing she received from her parents (who lived in the 3rd century in the Phoenician city of Byblos or Vivlos). Worthy fruit was borne by the Christian teachings with which God-loving people hastened first of all to nourish the soul of their child from the earliest age. And it is good for them that they did not neglect this holy work, did not postpone it until unknown future days. They died, but their ten-year-old orphan had already managed to receive into her soul the faith of Christ, the pledge of immortal life, the pledge and union with her parents in the eternal Kingdom of God.

Thus, at the age of ten, Aquilina was left an orphan. Although she lived in a city where there were already many Christians at the end of the third century, many of her friends were children of pagans. Aquilina, who remembered her mother’s instructions well, was attentive and zealous in fulfilling them; “she especially loved to pray to God,” love for Whom her mother knew how to instill in her heart with the first awakening of consciousness. One can imagine how astonished the young Christian was when she learned that her friends did not know the true God, that they were being instilled with the worship of idols. She tried to convince them of the falsity of such worship; she constantly spoke to them about the God Whom she herself had been taught to worship, and about the Christian teaching in which her parents had raised her.

Meanwhile, at this time (293) a cruel persecution of Christians was taking place. One day, having overheard Aquilina talking with her friends about Christ, a pagan who was in the service of the Roman governor denounced Aquilina, who was then 12 years old. The governor (Volusian) summoned Aquilina and demanded that she offer a sacrifice to the gods, threatening her with torture if she did not fulfill his will. But she resolutely refused. Enlightened from above, she, with an unchildlike mind, refuted the worship of idols.

"But where is your God, Aquilina! Why doesn’t He come to deliver you?" the ruler asked the young confessor at the time when she was already being tortured.

"My God is with me, Christ the Savior. It is He who sends me patience... and the more you torment me, the more He will give me patience and strength," answered the Martyr. And with unchildlike firmness she continued to endure terrible torments, during which, finally, exhausted, she fell to the ground. Believing that she was dead, they carried her out of the city. At night, miraculously healed of her wounds, Aquilina began to thank God and prayed to Him that He would send her a quick end. Having risen, she went to the city and in the morning appeared at the ruler's house.

Having explained this miracle as magic, which was generally attributed to Christians, the ruler ordered Aquilina to be put to death. But before they could bring the Martyr to the place of execution, she, in the midst of prayer, peacefully gave up her soul to God.

II. The Holy Martyr Aquilina teaches us, brethren, two lessons for imitation: love for prayer and marvelous patience in sorrows, with which she was adorned, being only 12 years old.

a) Prayer is a reverent and sweet lifting up of the mind and heart to God, not known to all as it should be. Some find in it not only no spiritual pleasure, but even experience boredom during the holy brief prayers in the morning and evening. For others, however, such as the saints, the prayerful vigilance for the greater part of the day is a greatest delight for their God-loving souls. Yet this wondrous gift is not granted to them at once, but only after many labors.

“Prayer,” says a contemporary teacher of spiritual life (Bishop Theophan of Tambov), who recently passed away in the Lord, “is not some one-time, intermittent action, but a constant and continuous state of the spirit, just as breathing and the beating of the heart are constant and continuous in the body. One must work tirelessly in prayer, zealously striving to attain, like the promised land, the burning of the spirit, with sober attention to God. Work in prayer, and pray for everything, pray most of all for this highest limit of prayer – the burning of the spirit, and you will surely receive what you seek.”

“Do not think that this is some kind of state unattainable for worldly people: no, it is, of course, a high state, but attainable for everyone. After all, everyone sometimes feels, during prayer, surges of warmth and zeal, when the soul, renouncing everything, goes deep into itself and fervently prays to God. It is this, which happens from time to time, as if an inspiration of the spirit of prayer, that must be brought to a constant state - then the limit of prayer will be reached.”

"The means to this is prayerful labor. When wood is rubbed against wood, they warm up and give off fire. So, when the soul is rubbed in prayerful labor, it will finally give off prayerful fire. Prayerful labor consists of the proper performance of prayer, with attention and feeling, the reverent performance of ordinary prayers, the training of the soul to ascend to God through divine contemplation, the conversion of everything to the glory of God and frequent invocations to God from the heart."

“We pray in the morning and in the evening: but the gap between morning and evening is significant. If one only turns to God during these times, then even if someone prays fervently, during the day and night their mind will again scatter, and at the time of prayer, the soul will once more become cold and empty, as before. Even if you fervently pray again; but if you become cold and scatter once more, what benefit is there? This will mean – to create and to destroy, to create and to destroy: it is only work. If we make it our rule – not only to perform, with attention and feeling, the prayer rule in the morning and evening, but also to engage daily in divine contemplation, to turn every deed for God’s glory, and to frequently call upon God from the heart with brief prayers, for example: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, through the prayers of Your most pure Mother and all the Saints, have mercy on me," then we will fill this long interval, from the morning prayer to the evening prayer and back, with frequent appeals to God, frequent prayerful actions. Although this will not be unceasing prayer, it will be a prayer very often repeated, which the more often it is repeated, the closer it will come to being unceasing.” (Words of His Grace Theophan, Bishop of Tambov).

b) Another lesson from the life of the Holy Martyr Aquilina is that a Christian, following the example of this Martyr, who suffered terrible torments for Christ even at a very young age, must endure them with the patience with which the now glorified Holy Martyr is adorned. “The more you torment me for Christ the Savior,” she answered her tormentor, “the more He will give me patience and strength.” This is where the Holy Martyr received the wondrous strength for her patience; this is from Whom she expected a reward for her patience.

The Holy Fathers and Teachers of the Church do not find words to adequately praise the virtue of patience. Thus, one of the ancient teachers of the Church described the power and significance of the Christian virtue of patience in the following way. “God,” he says, “is our reliable guarantee in patience. If you entrust to His power the injustice you have experienced, He is its avenger; if you deliver into His hands the harm done to you, He is the rewarder; if sorrow, He is the healer; if death, He is the resurrector of life. And how great is the scope for patience - to make God your debtor! For patience carefully watches everything that pleases God, and steadfastly follows all His commandments. Patience strengthens faith, governs the world, promotes love, teaches modesty, awaits repentance, imposes the seal of confession, strengthens the flesh, preserves the spirit, bridles the tongue, stays the hand stretched out to violence, tramples down temptations, drives away seductions; it perfects martyrdom, consoles the poor, teaches the rich moderation, shortens the time of the sick, and does not tire the healthy. It delights the believer, attracts the heathen to the faith, makes the servant pleasing to the master, and the master to God. Patience strengthens the woman and makes the man perfect; it is lovely in a child, praiseworthy in a youth, worthy of admiration in an old man. In general, in every sex and at every age it is praiseworthy" (Tertullian in the work "On Patience").

III. May God, rich in His mercies, help us, through the prayers of the Holy Martyr Aquilina, to acquire the gift of prayer and Christian patience, without which it is impossible to attain the Kingdom of God. 

 

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