August: Day 26: Teaching 1: Holy Martyrs Adrian and Natalia

August: Day 26: Teaching 1:
Holy Martyrs Adrian and Natalia
 
(On Modern Women Raised Without Christian Piety)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Martyrs Adrian and Natalia, celebrated today by the Holy Church, were a married couple and were united in marriage for only one year. They lived during the reign of Emperor Maximian, in Bithynia of Nicomedia. This emperor, having raised a persecution of Christians, promised rewards to those who would indicate Christians in hiding or would bring them themselves. Many denunciations were made. At this time, according to a denunciation, 23 Christians were arrested in a cave near Nicomedia. They were tortured, then forced to worship idols. Among others, Adrian was captured. The emperor ordered that he be thrown into prison. One of Adrian's servants reported to Natalia that her husband was imprisoned. Natalia was frightened, but when she learned that Adrian was suffering for Christ, she rejoiced, because she herself was a secret Christian, and hastened to him in prison with words of encouragement: “Blessed are you, my lord, that you have believed in Christ. You are acquiring a great treasure. Do not lament your youth and beauty: our mortal body is food for worms; do not think about wealth: it will not bring benefit on the day of the Dread Judgment. Only good deeds and faith are accepted by God.” Saint Adrian told his wife to go home, and promised to inform her of the time of his execution. 

Having learned of this time, he himself, released from prison through the intercessions of the martyrs, hastened to his home to inform his wife. But Natalia, thinking that Adrian had renounced Christ, did not want to let him into the house, saying: “Go away from me, apostate!” 

“I did not flee from suffering, but came to call you — to witness our end,” Adrian said to Natalia, knocking on the door. 

Saint Natalia opened the door. “Blessed are you among women!” Adrian said to her. “Truly you are a loving wife. You are a companion of the martyrs, although you do not endure torture.” 

Saint Adrian was tortured cruelly. “Have pity on yourself, call upon our gods,” Maximian urged Adrian. 

“Let your gods tell me with their own lips what benefit they promise me; then I will bow to them; and if they cannot speak, then why bow to them?” answered Adrian. 

Saint Natalia did not stop encouraging her husband. The Holy Martyrs’ hands and feet were beaten on the anvil. Natalia asked that the torturers begin with her husband, and she herself helped her husband place his feet and hands on the anvil. After this, the bodies of the martyrs were to be burned by being thrown into the furnace. But suddenly a terrible storm arose and a heavy rain began to fall. The servants scattered, and many of them were struck by lightning. Natalia took the hand of Adrian and kept it in her home. The chief of the imperial army wished to marry her, but upon learning this, she fled to Byzantium. There, in a dream, Adrian appeared to her and said that she would soon be comforted by the Lord. Indeed, the Saint soon passed away. The relics of Saint Adrian are located in Rome, in the church bearing his name.

II. Brethren! What a high ideal of a true Christian woman is presented to us in Saint Natalia.

a) Do you not recall, brethren, the contrasting images of women that have been so widely discussed and written about lately? The natural modesty of the female sex is cast aside; masculine manners are adopted; there is an insatiable pursuit of various teachings, without considering whether these are necessary for them, whether they are beneficial, or whether these teachings relate to the responsibilities that lie ahead. There is negligence towards the family home, a desire for early independence, audacious words spoken against the mother, a wish to free themselves from paternal authority, a resentment towards any form of authority, and, ultimately, a cooling of affection towards the Church — the Church of the Lord, which has called women forth from bondage and unveiled to them a high calling. Surely, such women and maidens will not be wept over at their graves, or if they are, it will be with tears of sorrow devoid of hope.

b) About such women and maidens it must be said that in general their whole life goes on an abnormal path. In most cases, such girls marry not out of favor, but out of unforgivable frivolity or crude calculation. Therefore, from the very first time, this life together, this necessary dependence on her husband, will become hateful to a maiden. Marriage ties seem to her to be heavy fetters. Children are an unnecessary burden for her, an obstacle in life, and if she apparently loves them, she loves them for herself, for her vanity, and pours into them her emptiness, the corruption of her heart. Such a woman may seize a few wicked pleasures; but life will certainly make her feel that her statutes cannot be trampled upon with impunity, and her death will no longer evoke hot tears either in her husband or in her children.

III. The life of the heart, rooted in moral beauty and the purity of chastity, influences the women around her in such a way that, in its presence, they do not allow a single immodest word to be spoken. A vivid religious sentiment, of which the female heart can be an excellent conduit both at home and in society, the unwavering feelings of a wife and mother, a complete dedication to the upbringing of children, and the feelings of Christian love characterized by mercy and compassion for suffering humanity – this is where the true calling and true virtue of the Christian woman reside. 

 

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