Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: November 10

The Month of November

Day 10

72. Faith, Hope, and Love Gave the Martyrs Courage in Their Sufferings

(From the Life of the Holy Martyr Orestes)

When reading the lives of the holy martyrs, brethren, we see that they possessed extraordinary courage. No matter how terrible their sufferings were, they always endured them valiantly. They uttered neither cries nor groans, put their torturers to shame through their endurance, and found an opportunity, even during their torments, to praise and thank God. Tell me, brethren, what gave the martyrs this extraordinary courage and endurance, strength and fortitude, valor and magnanimity? We do not know what you will say in response, but for our part, we think that everything we have just mentioned was given to the martyrs solely by their firm faith in God, their steadfast hope in Him, and their fervent love for Him. You, of course, will now ask in turn: “From what can this be seen, and how can it be proven?” We will answer you with the following example.

The holy martyr Orestes, whose memory the Holy Church celebrates today, displayed extraordinary endurance and courage in his sufferings, as we see from his life, precisely because of his fervent love for God, his firm faith, and his steadfast hope in Him. Thus, the torturer first sought to turn Orestes away from Christ by promising him wealth and glory. Orestes, however, said to him: “Do not trouble yourself in vain: you will never entice me with earthly benefits, and your deceitful words are utterly futile. I love my Lord more than anything, and I would never exchange Him for any temporal honor. On the contrary, I am ready to endure every kind of torment for Him, and nothing is more precious to me than to obtain the grace of my Lord Christ.”

The governor began threatening Orestes with torments. In response to these threats, the latter said: “Do whatever you wish, but never hope to frighten me with torments. I believe that my Lord Jesus Christ is always with me and will always help me.”

After this, the governor carried out his threats. But because of his steadfast hope in the Lord, Orestes remained unshaken in his sufferings, like a rock. With hope in God, he endured the torments valiantly and astonished everyone by his endurance. The torments were then intensified, and Orestes, while undergoing them for a second time, conversed with God. The martyr was subsequently thrown into prison, but even this did not frighten him. There he said: “Lord, through my faith, hope, and love for You, I have given my entire self to You. Grant, therefore, that I too may finally be deemed worthy to be numbered among those who have suffered for You and inherited Your Kingdom.”

After his imprisonment came further threats and further torments, but neither the threats nor the torments accomplished anything. And so it ended with Orestes accepting death for Christ not only without fear, but also with joy.

Is it not true, brethren, that it was solely their fervent love for God, their firm faith, and their steadfast hope in God that inspired the martyrs in their sufferings, giving them courage and endurance amid their torments, transforming their sorrow into joy and their grief into gladness, and enabling the holy passion-bearers to rejoice and praise God even at the very time when their bodies were drenched in blood, hung up and scraped, thrown into fiery furnaces, or given over to be devoured by wild beasts?

Yes, truly, faith, hope, and love for God accomplish and continue to accomplish everything good for a person. They make a person holy, courageous, patient, capable of not losing heart in misfortunes, of despising everything vain and insignificant, and of living only for God and eternity. And if all this is so, what lesson, then, should we draw from it? Certainly, that we must imitate the martyrs in their faith, hope, and love for God, and ourselves advance in these virtues from strength to strength.

And let us indeed advance. In what way? Let us advance from strength to strength in faith, remembering the words of Scripture that without faith it is impossible to please God, and also that it is only through faith that we receive true knowledge of God and His works; that only through faith do we come to know His holy will; and, finally, that through faith alone we appropriate the merits of Christ the Savior for our justification before God.

Let us advance from strength to strength in hope in God as well, remembering for this purpose that “He Who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23); that “hope does not disappoint” (Romans 5:5); and that hope, according to the Apostle’s words, is for the soul “as an anchor, both sure and steadfast” (Hebrews 6:19).

Finally, let us advance from strength to strength in love for God, continually reflecting on God’s benefits toward us, on the fact that [God] [already] loved us first (1 John 4:19), that everything we have, we have received from God, and that “in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

As we advance from strength to strength in these Christian virtues, we too, of course, will not be deprived of their fruits, and we will be deemed worthy of God’s mercies through acquiring them. Amen.

Questions for Discussion 72:

1. By what means did the torturer first seek to turn the holy martyr Orestes away from Christ?

2. According to Orestes, what was more precious to him than anything else?

3. What did Orestes say that he believed?

4. Because of what did Orestes remain unshaken in his sufferings, like a rock?

5. Guided by what, according to his words to the Lord in prison, did Orestes give his entire self to Him?

 

Source: The Cheti-Minei: Homilies for Every Day of the Year (Book 1: September, October, November) by Archpriest Viktor Guryev. Publication of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos, 1896. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.