April: Day 4: Holy Martyrs Agathopodas and Theodoulos

April: Day 4:*
Holy Martyrs Agathopodas and Theodoulos
 
(Do Not Give What is Holy to Ridicule)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. During the reign of Diocletian and Maximian, there lived in the Greek city of Thessaloniki, or Thessalonica, two clergymen, the elder Agathopodas and a youth named Theodoulos, whose memory the Holy Church celebrates today.

The first of them was a Deacon, the second fulfilled the office of Reader in the Church; and both led an honest, virtuous life, entirely devoted to the Lord. God, in His mercy, granted Theodoulos miraculous power: he helped those suffering from various illnesses and converted many pagans to Christ.

Suddenly a persecution of Christians began. An order was sent to Thessaloniki, as to all the cities that belonged to the Roman Empire, to force everyone to worship idols. Instruments of execution were placed in the city square to intimidate those who disobeyed. Some Christians then secretly left the city and hid from the persecution of the pagans; others could not withstand the fear of torture and renounced their faith; but many remained in Thessaloniki, calmly awaiting their fate. Among them were Agathopodas and Theodoulos. They prayed incessantly in the temple of God. They were seized, thrown into prison, and then, after a few days, brought to the city governor, Faustinus, for interrogation.

After futile admonitions to renounce Christ and sacrifice to idols, the Holy Martyrs were given over to torture, which they endured calmly, continuing to confess the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The governor then began to demand that Theodoulos bring and give him Christian books. To this Theodoulos replied:

“If I could think that you want to know the truth and renounce your errors, then, of course, I would gladly bring you the books of the Prophets and Apostles; but, knowing that you have an evil intent, I will not give you God's gift.”

Seeing the futility of his efforts and the unwavering firmness of the Martyrs, the governor condemned them to death and ordered them to be drowned in the sea. In vain did their friends and acquaintances beg the Christians to consent to the sacrifice and thus save their lives. The sentence was carried out on them, and with prayer on their lips they gave up their souls to God. The waves washed up the bodies of both martyrs on the shore, and their friends buried them honorably.

II. Let us pay attention, brethren, to the answer of Saint Theodoulos to the tormentor, when he demanded that he hand over the Church books: "Knowing your evil intentions, I will not give you God’s gift."

a) "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you" (Matthew 7:6), commanded the Lord Jesus Christ to the Apostles. There are people who are decidedly impious, bitter opponents of the truth, from whom one can only expect a malicious attitude towards the word of truth. Just as the dogs, if they were given sacrificial meat, would not understand that it is holy to the Lord, and with brutal greed they would destroy it, as well as all carrion and uncleanness, so these depraved people equally mock, equally ridicule everything that people consider sacred to themselves, in which they believe, as in the truth of God; in the same way, of course, they will relate to the faith of Christ, to the sanctity of the Gospel truth. And just as swine are not able to appreciate the value of pearls and, of course, trample them underfoot, but pounce on carrion and filth as on the best food; so these wicked people trample the pearls of Christ's truth with their malicious, blasphemous mockery, and recognize and preach false teachings as the truth. Such people should not preach the Christian faith, because they can only harm the truth preached.

b) But not only this: preaching the truth to such people is dangerous for the preachers themselves. Just as pigs, having trampled under their feet the pearls thrown before them, can become enraged and, turning around, tear to pieces those who threw the pearls to them; so the malicious enemies of the truth can not only ridicule the truth, but also raise persecution against its preachers. This is what actually happened when the Apostles spread the Christian faith, and that is why they often had to shake the dust off their feet in those cities where they noticed in the population a decidedly hostile attitude towards the faith in Christ that they preached.

III. This lesson of Christ's Apostles should always be remembered, brethren, by us as well. Of course, not each of us has the task in life of preaching the truth of Christ among unbelievers, of affirming it in the hearts of the weak in faith and defending it from the enemies of the faith and the Church of Christ. But each of us very often has to enter into a conversation about the subjects of faith with people of different thinking. And so, in these cases it is necessary to be guided not only by the desire to defend the truth and the readiness to testify to our faith, but also by reasoning whether it is not better for the truth of Christ itself and our faith to avoid the conversation. For it sometimes happens that we encounter people from whom one can only expect blasphemous mockery of the sanctity of our faith. And then we must remember in general that we must reason and converse about the subjects of our holy and precious faith with complete reverence, without passionate irritability, without the selfish desire to dispute the opponent and gain victory over him, but only with holy zeal for the truth and for the salvation of our neighbor. Let us remember, brethren, that the anger of man is in no case the fulfillment of the will of God (James 1:20). Amen.

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Notes:

* In the Greek Churches, the Holy Martyrs Agathopodas and Theodoulos are celebrated on April 4th, while in the Slavic Churches they are celebrated on April 5th, which is why they are placed in the original text under April 5th, but here in this translation it is placed under April 4th to conform to the Greek calendar.