July: Day 31: Holy Righteous Eudokimos

July: Day 31:
Holy Righteous Eudokimos
 
(On the Means of Preserving Chastity)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint Eudokimos, whose memory is celebrated today, was born in the ninth century in Cappadocia to pious parents Basil and Eudokia. His pious parents also taught their son piety. He was a warrior, but his favorite activities were fasting, prayer, reading sacred books, and the most diligent assistance to the poor, widows, and orphans. Burning with love for God, he desired the highest perfection in spiritual life, and so gave a vow of chastity before God. His chastity extended to the point that he avoided even talking with women. Of women, he conversed only with his mother. Such a strict manner of his behavior made him known to the Emperor Theophanes, who appointed him commander in the Charsianon region. The new high position of service did not change the good pious direction in Eudokimos, he therefore succeeded even more in Christian exploits. But he did not live long on earth, and he had barely reached the age of 33 when he peacefully gave up his soul to God. 

For the holiness of his life, the Lord glorified Righteous Eudokimos with miracles after his death, and his body with incorruptibility. The fame of the miracles reached Constantinople, where his parents lived and were still alive. His mother went to the burial place of his body, to the Charsianon region, and wanted to transfer the relics of her son to the capital, but the inhabitants of that place were sorry to part with such a treasure, and they did not give up the holy relics. However, they could not keep them for long. Some time passed and the relics of Righteous Eudokimos were nevertheless transferred to Constantinople while his parents were still alive, who built a church in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos, where they placed the relics of their son, in a coffin bound in silver. These sacred relics were seen 300 years later by our Russian traveler Anthony, who was in Constantinople, and among other sights, he mentions the relics of the Righteous Eudokimos, which he saw with his own eyes and about which he said that the righteous man lay in a silver coffin, as if alive.

II. Such are the fruits of Christian chastity! Chastity is a great virtue. Keeping the soul and body pure is a feat worthy of a great reward, it is a sacrifice most favorable to Christ, Who is purer than the sun and brighter than any light. Happy is he who has acquired this virtue! What are the means of preserving chastity?

a) First, the awareness that chastity is pleasing to God and brings all who observe this virtue closer to Him. “Who are you?” asked Saint Gregory the Theologian, having seen in a dream two virgins of extraordinary beauty, who expressed the purest and most ardent love for him. “One of us is ‘purity’ and the other ‘chastity’,” they answered, “we stand before the King Christ and delight in the beauty of the heavenly virgins.” You see how close to God the chaste are in that life. All who thirsted for true piety strove first of all for chastity. That is why all the saints were necessarily chaste. They understood that a servant of the purest and holiest God must certainly be pure in both soul and body, only then will he be a worthy servant of Him. They understood that “nothing unclean can enter the Kingdom of Heaven,” which is why they cared first and foremost about cleanliness.

b) The second means of preserving chastity is to imitate the saints, who were ready to make any sacrifice to preserve their chastity. They often parted with all the joys of life in order to keep themselves pure.

Venerable Alexios, the Man of God, for this purpose he hid from home on the night after his marriage, left his young wife, parents, wealth, fame, luxury, and bliss. Others even sacrificed their lives to preserve their chastity, to remain pure in soul and body.

The Holy Martyr Potamiana decided to be thrown into a cauldron of boiling tar rather than give herself up to the hands and seductions of her pagan master, to whom she was a slave. 

And another martyr, a married Christian woman, whose beauty seduced the lustful tormentor of Christians, did this to preserve her chastity. She persuaded several of the warriors sent for her to wait under the pretext that she needed to attend to her garments, while in the meantime, she went to her chamber, took a sword, and pierced her own abdomen with it. 

Thus did the saints cherish their chastity, thus did they uphold the purity of their soul and body so strictly.

c) Thirdly, a correct view of the body of a Christian also contributes to the preservation of chastity. What is the body of a Christian? "It is the temple of the Holy Spirit," it is the dwelling of God Himself; to defile this body is to defile the house of God. "And if anyone destroys the temple of God," says the Apostle, "God will destroy him." We see what honor is bestowed upon the Christian body after his death. Incense is offered before it, it is surrounded by burning lamps, it is bowed to, kissed, eulogies are sung, it is carried before icons, and a cross is placed on the grave. Why is this so? Again for the same reason, that it is the dwelling of the Holy Spirit, it has been sanctified in the waters of baptism, and subsequently, through the action of anointing, it has been repeatedly sanctified by heavenly Divine nourishment – the Body and Blood of Christ; it participated with the soul in its struggles for the sake of the Heavenly Kingdom. The saints all knew this, which is why they cherished their purity and innocence so dearly. Moreover, they loved Jesus Christ so fervently that they feared even to think of any sinful sensual pleasures; their joy, their comfort, the treasure of their hearts was Christ, to Him they directed all their desires, for Him they fought against all impure movements in their flesh, and sought to live in the spirit, striving for heavenly wisdom, rather than earthly.

d) In the fourth place, the representation of the terrifying fate of those who violate chastity also significantly deters one from such violations. Why do all violators of chastity and all who condone it not think about their future fate? What does the Apostle say about such individuals? "Do not be deceived: neither fornicators nor adulterers will inherit the kingdom of God." And in the Apocalypse, they are depicted as burning in a lake of fire. In the future, the loss of the Kingdom of God is Gehenna. But what about the present? Often, there is a disruption of health, of one’s means, a loss of God’s favor, the loss of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and deprivation of the prayers of the Mother of God, and of one's holy guardian angel. Indeed, every person living in bodily impurity is like a corpse, exuding a foul odor – they repel all that is holy, they are in alliance with the enemy, they are a dwelling place of all uncleanness. 

"Just as smoke drives away bees," says Saint Basil the Great, "so does sin drive away from us our guardian angel." 

"He who, through his wicked life," said the Angel of God to the great Abba Pachomios, "has made himself dead to God and virtue, stinks a thousand times worse than a dead body." 

"Why do you stand here and weep?" once asked Saint Nephon, a bishop of Christ, to a young man who was standing at the gates of a house and crying. "I," answered the young man, "am the angel sent by God to guard the man who has been in this wretched house for several days. I stand here because I cannot approach the sinner, and I weep because I have lost hope of bringing him back to the path of repentance." 

Such is the outcome of a life sullied by carnal impurities.

One should think more and more often about these pernicious consequences of those who lead their lives according to the movement of the senses. And most of all, one should think more often about the fire of Gehenna, which will burn such people. By this remembrance many have been saved from this sin; the saints also resorted to this means when the temptations of the flesh came upon them. What did the Venerable Martinian, overcome by the flesh, do? He made a fire of brushwood, lit it, and threw himself into the middle of it with tears, saying: “If you can, unfortunate one, bear this temporary flame, then you will also bear the fire of Gehenna, which awaits you for the sin of the flesh,” and by this reminder of the fire of Gehenna he conquered his passion. And another saint brought his finger to a lighted candle at a time when his carnal passion was burning him, and at the same time, clearly imagining the ferocity of the fire of Gehenna, which would burn fornicators, he restrained himself from sin.

e) Finally, in order not to fall into carnal sin, one must avoid occasions for this sin - everything that can lead to this sin; one must avoid friends, companions, societies alien to the spirit of chastity, one must avoid tempting places, reading books that describe carnal love with all its embellishments, spectacles, songs, unchaste dances, immodest conversations. We have heard that the Righteous Eudokimos even avoided conversations with the opposite sex. Let those inclined to violate their chastity reflect more often on their high calling, on the promises of baptism, on how such a sin offends Christ the Savior – they should think more frequently about the brevity of life, about the hour of death, but most of all, in moments of temptation, they should pray with greater diligence and fervor, for prayer will save us.

III. May the Lord, through the prayers of the Holy Righteous Eudokimos, His saint, help us all to lead our lives in chastity, Christian piety, purity of spirit, mind and heart, in kindness, meekness, humility and mercy.

 

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