By Fr. George Dorbarakis
These Saints lived when the emperor was Numerian (around the end of the 3rd century A.D.). Chrysanthos had a father who was a senator from Alexandria, named Polemon, while Daria was from Athens. Because Chrysanthos was initiated into divine things by some Christian, he was baptized and preached Christ with boldness, with the result that his own father imprisoned him. However, since he did not yield but remained firm and unmoved in his faith, his father sent and brought from Athens a beautiful and fair maiden, named Daria, in order to marry her to him, so that through his love for her he might move him away from the faith of the Christians. But Daria, instead of persuading Chrysanthos, was rather persuaded, and abandoning the impiety of idolatry, she accepted baptism. Indeed, they agreed that both of them would preserve their virginity.
When the fact of Daria’s conversion also became known, they were accused before the prefect Cellerinus, who handed them over for examination to the tribune Claudius the prefect. He then punished them with many kinds of tortures, but when he saw them overcoming them and not yielding, he himself changed and believed in Christ, together with his wife Hilaria and their two children, Jason and Maurus, as also happened with the soldiers under their command, who later also received the crown of martyrdom, on the nineteenth day of the month of March. And Claudius himself, after being tied to a stone and thrown into the sea, met his end, while his children and his soldiers were beheaded. Saints Chrysanthos and Daria were thrown into a pit, and after earth was thrown over them, they were buried alive, and thus they received the end of their martyrdom.
It is not only Saint Philothei the Athenian who constitutes an ornament and adornment of the city of Athens, but much earlier than her Saint Daria also shines and adorns the city. For Athens was precisely the birthplace of both. And although the Holy Hymnographer could not make any comparison between these two great women martyrs, since he lived before the time of Saint Philothei, we are certain that both Athenian women rejoice and exult before the throne of our Lord Jesus Christ, crowned with the double crown of ascetic struggle and martyrdom. In Saint Daria, perhaps the crown of asceticism shines even more, because she was also glorified by the struggle of virginity through the unique manner of her white marriage with Saint Chrysanthos. And it is something worth emphasizing here: although Daria was not even a Christian, she is persuaded by the words of her husband Chrysanthos, believes in Christ, dedicates herself to Him completely, and even gives her blood for His sake. How well-disposed she must have been, how ready for the faith of Christ, to be persuaded by her husband about something that seems and is beyond the natural order of things: virginity within marriage and martyrdom by blood! And how powerful the words of Chrysanthos must have been, what a radiant personality he must have had, in order to persuade a young girl to such an undertaking! His words must literally have been golden, that is, filled with the Spirit of God, so as to penetrate into the heart of the young Daria. “You yield to your beloved, who leads you as a bride to Christ, O all-wise one, having abandoned the love of the flesh through sacred faith” (Ode 3). “You brought to Christ, O blessed Chrysanthos, the glorious Daria by your golden words, who accomplished contests and shamed the tyrants” (Kathisma of Ode 3).
The poetic cause of the wonders of this great personality called Chrysanthos was, according to the Hymnographer, his fervent love for the Lord. This love, literally an eros for Christ, was that which gave him wings to surpass whatever is considered natural, acceptable, and lawful: marriage, the love of the charms of this life, the enjoyment of the pleasures of life. “You were wounded by the sweetest eros, O martyr, of the One who created you, and having disregarded the pleasures of life, you gave the whole inclination of your heart, O Chrysanthos, to the One you desired most eagerly” (Ode 1). And it is a truth that our Church continually emphasizes: no one can detach himself from the beautiful things of this life unless there exists something else more beautiful and more powerful as a force of attraction, which is nothing other than the faith of Christ. It is as if someone has beautiful garments to wear, but before infinitely more beautiful ones he chooses the latter. And indeed Saint Joseph the Hymnographer presents it this way: “The Maker clothed you with a garment woven by divine grace from above, an incorrupt robe, since you kept your body spotless, O blessed one, and He crowned you as a victor” (Ode 4).
The love of Saint Chrysanthos and Saint Daria for Christ was that which kept their resolve firm even in the face of tortures. This love was strengthened, of course, by the very grace and power of God, since “without Him man can do nothing.” That is, the will of God strengthened their love for Christ, so that they both kept their relationship pure and did not falter before the sufferings. “Having, by the will of God, overcome the passions of the flesh, Chrysanthos and Daria quenched the fire of punishments by the dew of the Spirit” (Ode 8). In this way they reached the grace-filled state of the Three Children in the fiery furnace of the Old Testament. “With firmness of mind, O blessed one, having opposed the foolish tyrant, you endured the tearing of the body. And though you were kindled by flames, you were not consumed, O Chrysanthos, chanting with the Children: Bless the Lord, all works of the Lord” (Ode 8).
Therefore, the estimation of the Holy Hymnographer for the Saints is not strange: they are like pure treasures which the Creator has dedicated to His heavenly Temple, existing in infinite glory. “Having avoided the union of the flesh through the union of the soul, you were shown to be pure treasures of the Almighty and were dedicated to the heavenly Temple” (Ode 8). “You were lifted up to infinite glory, O martyr Chrysanthos and Daria, and you stand crowned before the Almighty Word, interceding for us who always call you blessed” (Ode 9).
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.