By Fr. George Dorbarakis
With the Holy Virgin-Martyr Myrope, the word of the Apostle Paul is confirmed once again: “The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” The hardships of the present life do not “equal” the glory that will be revealed to us in the life to come. Indeed, if one compares the tortures the Saint endured with the glory she now possesses before the Lord Jesus Christ, one would say that the least are set against the greatest. The Hymnographer of the Saint, expressing this very faith of our Church, presents her in a striking and radiant way: “O noble martyr Myrope, incorrupt Bride of Christ, now standing before Him as beautiful and all-fair, bearing upon your flesh the marks of your martyrdom like radiant and transparent gems, and wearing, as a queen, the porphyry of your blood.” A queen, then, “reigning together with Him,” is Saint Myrope — wearing the precious porphyry of royalty and the shining gems: such is her image in the Kingdom of God.
The hymns of our Church, using her name as a “tool,” offer a complete interpretation of her life in Christ, both during her earthly life and after her martyric end. Beginning with the concrete event by which she was named “Myrope” — that is, her receiving the holy myrrh from the tomb of Saint Hermione and giving it abundantly to the faithful (“Receiving the myrrh reverently, you richly supplied it to all the faithful from the divine tomb of Hermione, and from this you received your name, O all-revered Myrope”) — they then raise this myrrh to a spiritual level, proclaiming that by her Christ-centered life and her wondrous martyrdom she herself became myrrh, offered to Christ (“You brought myrrh to Christ, with your spotless virginity, and the sweat of your labors, having lived divinely, O all-revered Myrope, then also your blood, and your whole self as a perfect offering and immaculate sacrifice.”). They then extend this even further, connecting it with the exuding of myrrh from her own tomb, by which she has sanctified the faithful of later generations (“Bearing your name in truth, O Champion Myrope, you pour forth abundant myrrh of graces, with your miracles, and you distribute them to all who are in need and who seek them, who come with faith and reverence to your all-revered reliquary, which, O Martyr, holds your sacred dust.”).
The Hymnographer does not simply state, in a general way, that Myrope herself became spiritual myrrh through her holy life. As one well acquainted with the spiritual life, he delves deeper and reveals to us — through divine illumination — the Saint’s inner struggle, by which she sought to root out everything impassioned and unclean produced by the carnal mindset, so that the grace of God might shine forth in her being. “Running, O Christ, to the fragrance of Your myrrhs, the all-wondrous Myrope mortified the foul passions of the flesh through self-control, watchfulness, and prayer, and purifying her soul with painful tears, she hastened into the arena of contest.” This is the spiritual reality our Church continually emphasizes: no one can taste Christ or feel Him in his being unless he struggles “lawfully” — that is, with the exercise of self-control and the keeping of His commandments. This is the prerequisite for being ready for martyrdom, like Saint Myrope. Thus we understand what the Church constantly proclaims: that we must always be ready even for martyrdom, as long as we do not abandon the spiritual struggle.
We cannot fail to bring to light one especially inspired image used by our Hymnographer, who connects the feast of the Saint with the supernatural event of Christmas, which we expect soon to celebrate in splendor: “The star that guided the Magi brought them, bearing gifts, to You, O Christ God, the noetic Sun of righteousness, who became an infant for our sake. And the light of the divine law, having guided the all-pure virgin Myrope, brought her before You, who sit at the right hand of the Father, bringing as gifts, in place of gold, the brightness of her virginity; in place of frankincense, as her name declares, the myrrh of her virtues; and in place of myrrh, her willing death for Your sake.”
This offering of gifts by Saint Myrope to our incarnate God is the only offering we, too, should keep in mind as Christmas approaches. Christ desires nothing else from us as a gift for His feast except our virtues. And this in reality means the offering of our repentance, the placing before Him of our sins so that He may cleanse them. It is exactly what He asked of Saint Jerome when he struggled with what gift to offer Christ for Christmas: “Your sins, Jerome, that I may cleanse them.”
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
