July: Day 23: Teaching 2: Holy Hieromartyr Apollinaris, Bishop of Ravenna

July: Day 23: Teaching 2:
Holy Hieromartyr Apollinaris, Bishop of Ravenna
 
(What Does It Mean To Believe in the Savior?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint Apollinaris, whose memory is now celebrated together with the Martyrs Trophimos and Theophanes, came from Antioch to Rome with the Apostle Peter and was made Bishop of Ravenna by him. Arriving here, Apollinaris stayed with a soldier, Irenaeus, and preached to him about Jesus Christ. Irenaeus said: “My son is blind; if you preach the truth, heal him, and I will believe in your God.” Apollinaris ordered the blind youth to be called and, in front of all his household, having blessed him with the cross, he said loudly: “O God, omnipresent! Bring the knowledge of Your Son into this city and let not only the fleshly but also the spiritual eyes of these people be enlightened; let people know You and Your Son Jesus Christ.” He had barely finished praying when the youth regained his sight and fell with his parents at the feet of Apollinaris. Irenaeus was baptized with his entire household. 

The wife of a tribune of Ravenna, suffering from a serious illness, could not be cured by the most skilled doctors. The tribune, on the advice of Irenaeus, called Apollinaris to him. Apollinaris, entering, said loudly to the tribune: "May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ rest upon you." Then, approaching the sick wife of the tribune, Apollinaris took her by the hand and said: "In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, rise and believe in Him." And the sick woman immediately rose from her bed, exclaiming: "There is no other God except the One whom you preach." From that moment she was completely cured, and the tribune with his entire family believed and were baptized. 

Many of the city's inhabitants secretly came to Apollinaris, listened to his teachings, accepted the Christian faith, and brought their children, asking Apollinaris to instruct them in the faith. Thus, the tribune's house became a church, where the believers prayed and took part in the Holy Mysteries, and Apollinaris ordained priests and deacons. The city governor, upon learning of this, subjected Apollinaris to torture. The Saint was carried out of the city almost lifeless, and a devout woman hid him in her house. After wandering through various countries, Apollinaris returned to Ravenna, and here, after enduring new sufferings, he was finally left in peace and lived to a peaceful death, having governed the Ravenna Church for 28 years.

II. The Holy Hieromartyr Apollinaris, who performed miraculous healings by the sign of the cross and the invocation of the almighty name of Jesus Christ, can truly serve as a living example of faith in the Savior.

What a great word it is, “faith in the Savior,” if by its power a believing Christian can accomplish such wondrous deeds.

Let us talk this time about what it means to believe in the Savior.

To believe in the Savior, do you think, perhaps means only to be able to read correctly in the Creed those words where it speaks of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; or to have a correct concept of Him in our minds? Such faith is also possessed by those frivolous unbelievers who know much about Jesus Christ, and who speak much about Christ out of habit, without heartfelt conviction in what they say. The words of those who believe in this way are the words of the Pharisees, like sounding brass. Thus do the demons believe in Christ our Savior, according to the word of Scripture, and they tremble from this faith, from the consciousness of the power of Christ punishing them.

Faith in Christ the Savior, true faith, is a strong heartfelt conviction in His boundless perfections, in His boundless love for us, in His mighty saving power – true faith is at the same time an active, life-long striving of all the powers of our soul towards Christ and salvation. Such faith inevitably penetrates the entire being of the believer: from the mind it passes into the heart, from the heart into activity, into the entire inner and outer life of the believer.

Faith in Christ the Savior, true faith, is a divine flame that embraces the entire soul to its very depths, enlivens, inspires and elevates a person.

In order to understand more clearly what it means to believe properly in Christ the Savior, imagine that you, while sailing, have suffered shipwreck at sea and, thrown a victim to the stormy waves, are tossed about in despair, seeing no help from anywhere, exhausted by the last of your strength, ready at any moment to plunge into the bottomless depths of the sea. But behold, you see a brave swimmer swimming in the distance to your aid, at the risk of his own life, he swims up to you and saves you. What feelings would you have for this savior of yours? Or again. Behold, you are a grave criminal; a just royal court has sentenced you to death. Behold, you are already standing at the pillory, and a shameful execution is about to be carried out upon you. But here comes the king's son from the crowd, having asked for your forgiveness from his father the king, approaches you, declares forgiveness, gives you complete freedom and offers you all the favors you could wish for. How would you feel in relation to this benefactor? This feeling of selfless gratitude, love and devotion to your benefactor would be something similar to faith in Christ our Savior - our Savior not from temporary death, but from eternal death, who has granted us not material, temporary blessings, but spiritual, eternal blessings.

The Old Testament righteous were saved by such faith. For example, Abraham, who did not hesitate for a single moment to sacrifice his son Isaac to God, for he believed that God was able to raise his son from the dead; Moses, the lawgiver, who by faith performed great signs and wonders among the people of God; and other holy great men and prophets, “who by faith conquered kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in war, put to flight the armies of the foreigners” (Heb. 11:32).

III. Behold, my brethren, what a saving faith! Another will say that he believes in Christ; but why does he think and speak so little of Him? And why does he become distracted even in prayer, when conversing with Christ, and often himself does not know what he is saying? Another will say that he believes in Christ, but why does he not refrain from that which Christ does not love, that which Christ forbids us? Why does he often insult Christ his Savior by his inattention to His holy commandments? Why does he swear and lie; why does he offend his neighbors, his brothers and children of Christ, even his own blood relatives, even his father and mother? Why does he behave outrageously, steal, rob, slander, secretly and openly denounce all the imaginary and real weaknesses of his neighbor, in order to destroy him and then gloat at the sight of his destruction, etc., etc.? Is this how faith in God and in Christ our Savior should be manifested in our lives? Amen.  

 

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