By Fr. George Dorbarakis
1. Saint Niketas lived during the reign of Constantine the Great. He was born and raised in the land of the barbarian Goths, beyond the River Ister. He had dealings with the barbarians, but he was a Christian, coming from a good and wealthy family. He was arrested by Athanaric, the ruler of the Goths, because of his faith in Christ, and after they had cruelly tortured him by beating him, they cast him into the fire, and thus he brought his martyrdom to completion.
2. Saint Niketas belongs among those martyrs who may be described as “fire-bearing conquerors,” since, as his Synaxarion relates, he brought his martyrdom to completion in the fire. He had the same experience as the three holy youths of the Old Testament, the same experience as Saint Polycarp of Smyrna, and as a multitude of other holy martyrs, with the difference that God, in His unfathomable counsels, did not save him from the fire, but permitted the fire to become the means by which he would bring his martyrdom to completion and, through it, be led to the refreshment of Paradise. Thus, concerning him, the words were fulfilled: “We went through fire and water, and You brought us out into refreshment.” Now he rejoices, crowned, dwelling in the Church Triumphant together with the other martyrs of the Lord, resting as though in a tranquil harbor and now interceding in love for us, who are still tossed about upon the stormy sea of this present life.
“You were moored in a tranquil harbor, having found rest from your labors, and as a crown-bearer you dance in Paradise with the Martyrs of Christ.”
The Hymnographer also takes this opportunity once again to remind us that the splendor of his garments, symbolically speaking, is due to the red color of his blood. His blood wove his honorable tunic:
“You steadfastly endured the tortures, and you clothed yourself, as a martyr, in an honorable tunic woven from your own blood.”
This blessedness of Paradise, which the Holy Great Martyr has enjoyed from the moment of his martyrdom onward, was also the power that enabled him, together with the grace of God, to endure all his tortures successfully. What we mean is that if the Saint was able to endure, and indeed “with joy,” the many severe sufferings he underwent, it was because his mind was fixed upon the theoria of his Lord and upon the beauty of the gifts He offers to those who conquer their enemies. As our ecclesiastical poet expresses it so vividly:
“Delighting in the theoria of the Lord, and delighting in His splendors, the Martyr did not feel his sufferings, but cried out with joy: Glory to Your power, O Lord.”
We have also reminded ourselves on another occasion that this shifting of the mind from sufferings to their outcome — the crowning bestowed by the Lord — constitutes the most important method for confronting all the painful experiences of life. This was something emphasized by the greatest of the saints, the Venerable Anthony, who said, as recorded by the Great Athanasius in his Life, that one must not allow oneself to become trapped by the problem, but should look toward the solution. One should live amid problems “as though one had already conquered.”
This method has also been recognized by modern psychologists: namely, that in order for a person to free himself from life's difficulties, from the distress caused by thoughts that continually revolve around the problem, he must redirect his thoughts toward something beyond the problem. For the Christian, this constitutes a reality confirmed daily through his spiritual struggle. For this is also the secret of the spiritual life: by the grace of God, one must exercise control over his thoughts so as to cultivate right thoughts. And right thoughts are above all those that have the Lord Jesus Christ and the grace that He continually bestows as their center.
This is the proposal of our Church for confronting not only the problems of the spiritual life, but also the problems of everyday life, especially those connected with the crisis of our age. In other words: let us not remain focused solely on our problems, because this can overwhelm us and tear us apart. Let our minds look toward the Lord, toward the solution that He provides for each of His faithful, and this will give us the strength and patience to face everything.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
