By Fr. George Dorbarakis
1. Of these saints, Samonas and Gurias suffered martyrdom during the reign of Diocletian and Antonius the duke. Gurias was from the village of Sargokitia, while Samonas was from Ganada. They were accused of persuading people not to sacrifice to idols. Therefore, each of them was immediately hung by one hand, while a large stone was placed beneath his feet as a weight. They remained suspended in this manner from the ninth hour of the morning until the twelfth hour, at noon. Then they were taken down and thrown into a dark place in the prison. After their feet had been tightly fastened to a wooden block, they remained there for four months, suffering from hunger, thirst, and bonds. After this, their persecutors brought them out again. They hung Saint Samonas by one foot until his knee was dislocated, and then by his head, from the seventh hour of the morning until the eleventh. Saint Gurias, however, they left alone, because he was half-dead and appeared to be dead. At dawn the following day, after bringing them outside, they put them to death by the punishment of the sword. Abibus, who was a deacon, was accused during the reign of Emperor Licinius of teaching the word of the Lord in the regions and villages. He was hung and beaten, after which they released him and questioned him again about his faith. Because he did not yield to the will of the tyrant, they placed him in a fire, putting a strap in his mouth as if he were a murderer. And thus he completed his martyrdom.
2. We shall begin in reverse order, and somewhat strangely. From what we hear and understand about the situation into which our homeland has fallen, Europe's powerful figures—perhaps others as well?—apparently consider us “finished” and “dead.” Having most likely planned our economic destruction, and with us also having been trapped to a considerable extent by the economic “prosperity” that they convinced us we possessed, and having found us spiritually lax, so that we did not remain steadfast in the evangelical self-control that strengthens individuals and peoples, they are now tightening the “vice” of economic austerity measures around us, to such an extent that many have reached a state of destitution. Apparently, they will throw us away like a “squeezed lemon,” considering that we have no room for change or for the “correct” course, as they see it, for our country, having already taken everything that we consider worthwhile. A reputable German magazine has already revealed that the powerful Eurozone country, Germany, has devised a plan to return us to the drachma. So, in their eyes, we are “living dead.” It is as though, or rather, we might say, they are trying to put us into a tomb while we are still alive.
What does all this have to do with the Saints whose feast we celebrate today? At first glance, nothing. But when one considers what our Church hymns about them in their Service, the connection is substantial and significant. What do we mean? Saint Theophanes, the Hymnographer of the Saints, repeatedly praises a remarkable miracle performed by these three in the region of Edessa in Asia, where their holy remains are also located. The miracle concerned a young woman who suffered unjust punishment at the hands of a Goth. Apparently, in order to take revenge on the young woman, the Goth shut her alive inside a tomb. One can understand the tragedy of her martyrdom. This young woman, however, had faith in God and in the Saints, whose power she knew. She therefore began to call upon them in faith, just as her mother also did, earnestly entreating the Lord and the Saints. And the miracle took place. The Saints heard their prayers and supplications—since “God has granted the souls of the martyrs, as a grace, to behold in the mind the things that take place here”—and, through the boldness they have before God, they interceded for her deliverance. As a result, they saved the young woman and returned her to her mother. “They saved the maiden who had been cast alive into a tomb”; “fulfilling the request, they saved the girl, taking vengeance upon the lawless Goth.” And not only this: they handed this Goth, who had disregarded their intervention and shown contempt for them, over to destruction, as a murderer and a merciless man: “And they handed over to destruction this most impious man who had disregarded them, as a murderer and a merciless man.”
The Holy Hymnographer also draws a parallel from the Old Testament. He recalls the Holy Prophet Habakkuk, who was transported by God to Babylon to give food to the Prophet Daniel, who was in the lions' den. In a similar manner, then, the Saints, sent by God into the “pit” of the tomb, save the young woman and return her to her mother. “Formerly Habakkuk was lifted through the air at the Master's command; but through you, O divinely inspired ones, the maiden who was being tyrannized over is restored to the one who nurtured her.”
We believe the connection is self-evident. The powerful, who, because of their prioritization of money, are like the “Goth” of the miracle, may wish to put us into a tomb as living dead, but we have our faith in God and in the Saints. The power of God is greater than all others. It can be set in motion immediately and provide a solution “out of nowhere,” from the tomb of some saints, for example, provided, of course, that the necessary condition we have mentioned is present: faith in God and our turning to His Saints. God saved the young woman from the tomb then. God will also save us from our own peculiar “tomb” now. We are waiting. We believe it!
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
