When Failures Occur, One Should Not Become Faint-Hearted.
December 13
(The Miracle of the Holy Martyrs Eustratios and his Companions)
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
December 13
(The Miracle of the Holy Martyrs Eustratios and his Companions)
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
To glorify the saints, to the glory of His name, and to strengthen the faith of the weak, the Lord sometimes performs wondrous miracles. I present to your attention one such example:
Near Constantinople there was a monastery called Olympiou, in which a church was built in honor of the martyrs Auxentios, Eugenios, Mardarios, Eustratios, and Orestes. On the feast day of these Saints (December 13), the emperor and the patriarch were accustomed to come to Olympiou annually, and the former always brought gold with him and distributed it as needed by the brethren. But one day, on the eve of the Saints' feast, the weather turned very foul. Heavy rain poured down, a storm arose, and then a cold snap joined in, and neither the patriarch, nor the emperor, nor anyone else from the city came to the monastery. The monks, who lived solely on alms, became sad. After singing Vespers and the Canon, they even in church began to grumble against the Holy Martyrs, saying, "What will we eat now? What else can we do? Let us leave here, for we will die of hunger here!" Thus the fainthearted grumbled, but in vain. As soon as evening had fallen, the monastery gatekeeper entered the abbot's presence and said, "Father, bless me to bring into the monastery a man sent by the emperor with alms on two camels." The abbot blessed him, and behold, a man with an unusually bright face entered and said, "The emperor has sent you food and wine, take them." They took the food and wine and ate it; the remainder was put away. Almost immediately afterward, the gatekeeper announced that another man had arrived from the empress. They brought him in and took from him the fish and ten gold coins sent by the emperor's wife. Then the gatekeeper again announced the arrival of the patriarch. This man was not thin, but handed the abbot the church vessels sent by the primate and announced that the patriarch himself would be with them in the morning. Having accepted the gifts, the abbot asked the newcomers, "Are you staying here overnight or leaving?" "If there's room," the newcomers replied, "we'll stay here." Dismissing them to rest, the abbot asked them again, "And what are your names?" The one from the emperor identified himself as Auxentios; the emissary from the empress declared his name to be Eugenios; and the patriarch's messenger said his name was Mardarios.
The night passed, and morning came. The monks and their guests gathered in the church and began singing Matins. As it began, two more unknown men entered the church and joined the singers. When the service reached the reading of the lives of the holy martyrs being celebrated, the monks responded to the abbot's command to read them, "What for? You see that none of the people are here." They wanted to abandon the reading of the lives. But one of the newcomers begged permission to read, took the book, and began to read. When he reached the place where it was written: "Eustratios was shod in iron boots with sharp nails," he sighed and struck the church platform with the staff he had in his hand, and, lo and behold! the staff, thrust into the floor, immediately sprouted branches and became a green tree. The messengers from the emperor, empress, and patriarch standing behind the reader, as well as the one who came with the reader, said to him: "Why have you done this, Eustratios?" The reader exclaimed: "Oh, how small are my sufferings compared to God’s reward! What I have done, as you have seen, was to ensure that your festival would not be left without visitors." After this, all five became invisible. And the monks understood these wondrous newcomers were none other than the Holy Martyrs Orestes, Eugenios, Mardarios, Auxentios, and Eustratios, and they glorified God. Entering the inn after the service, the abbot found there a multitude of loaves and fish, and all the vessels were filled with oil. The great miracle was reported to the emperor and the patriarch, who hastened to the monastery. Then again everyone glorified God and the Holy Martyrs! Eustratius' staff was broken in a blessing. That same day, many healings of the sick took place.
Delighting ourselves, brethren, in the account of so marvelous a miracle of the martyrs, we can, at the same time, draw from its circumstances a lesson for our own edification. We see that while all was well with the monks of Olympiou, they themselves remained faithful to God; but when a small adversity appears, immediately all begin to grumble and prepare to flee, not knowing where. Is this not the same with many of us? While a person lives in happiness and comfort, all one hears from him is: ‘O, how merciful the Lord is to me!’ or: ‘No one is like God!’ But let there be any hindrance or misfortune for that same exclaiming person, even before any great sorrow, his faith disappears: he begins to stagger here and there, as one entirely without hope, or, worse still, sometimes he even murmurs against God. Is this right? You see for yourselves that it is not, for the above example clearly shows that the Lord often sends us temptations so that, after them, He may more gloriously reveal His holy name and manifest His mercy even more abundantly to us, the sinful.
Let us, brethren, be patient, and together, more often examine our moral state and discern whether we truly possess true, sincere faith, hope, and love for God, whether we are truly God-worshippers. Let us not give in to faintheartedness and despondency in sorrows, but in all the circumstances of our lives, whatever they may be, let us place all our hope in God and, with complete confidence, surrender ourselves to His holy will. See how omnipotent and merciful He is! See how inscrutable His ways are! Therefore, let us not henceforth offend Him with our lack of faith, but cast all our sorrow upon Him. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
Delighting ourselves, brethren, in the account of so marvelous a miracle of the martyrs, we can, at the same time, draw from its circumstances a lesson for our own edification. We see that while all was well with the monks of Olympiou, they themselves remained faithful to God; but when a small adversity appears, immediately all begin to grumble and prepare to flee, not knowing where. Is this not the same with many of us? While a person lives in happiness and comfort, all one hears from him is: ‘O, how merciful the Lord is to me!’ or: ‘No one is like God!’ But let there be any hindrance or misfortune for that same exclaiming person, even before any great sorrow, his faith disappears: he begins to stagger here and there, as one entirely without hope, or, worse still, sometimes he even murmurs against God. Is this right? You see for yourselves that it is not, for the above example clearly shows that the Lord often sends us temptations so that, after them, He may more gloriously reveal His holy name and manifest His mercy even more abundantly to us, the sinful.
Let us, brethren, be patient, and together, more often examine our moral state and discern whether we truly possess true, sincere faith, hope, and love for God, whether we are truly God-worshippers. Let us not give in to faintheartedness and despondency in sorrows, but in all the circumstances of our lives, whatever they may be, let us place all our hope in God and, with complete confidence, surrender ourselves to His holy will. See how omnipotent and merciful He is! See how inscrutable His ways are! Therefore, let us not henceforth offend Him with our lack of faith, but cast all our sorrow upon Him. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.