Day 15: Teaching 1:
Holy Great Martyr Niketas the Goth
(Sorrows Must be Borne with Magnanimity)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
(Sorrows Must be Borne with Magnanimity)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
I. The now glorified Holy Great Martyr Niketas, was a Goth by birth, lived on the banks of the Danube and, having accepted the Christian faith, spread it among the Goths. At that time, there was an internecine war among the Goths. Two Goth kings, Fritigern and Athanaric, competed for power. Fritigern was a Christian, and Athanaric worshiped idols. Fritigern was defeated, fled to Greece, and, having gathered an army here, returned to the banks of the Danube. The military banners of his regiments were decorated with the sign of the cross. Having defeated Athanaric and taken the throne, Fritigern began to convert his subjects to the Christian faith. Bishop Ulfilas contributed to this matter by inventing the Gothic alphabet, and likewise Niketas by preaching and the example of a holy life.
But the peace of the Gothic people did not last long. Athanaric the pagan, having defeated Fritigern, a Christian, took power from him and began to cruelly persecute Christians. The preacher of the Christian faith, Niketas, who fearlessly denounced Athanaric in order to instruct and convert him to the path of truth and goodness, was seized and, after severe suffering, endured by him without a murmur and magnanimously, was burned alive. His body, remaining unharmed in the fire, was thrown out without burial. One of his friends went, in the dead of night, to look for the body of the martyr and, having found it by the light shining over it, carried it to his homeland, to the Cilician country, and here the body of Niketas, placed in a church, became famous for miraculous healings.
II. The Holy Great Martyr Niketas, who endured grievous suffering for Christ without complaint, serves for us, brethren, as a living teacher of the truth that sorrows must be endured magnanimously, without complaint, with complete devotion to the Providence of God, which allowed these sorrows.
A. If the sorrows that burden us come from our sins: then they must be borne magnanimously for two reasons.
a) First, because sorrows in such a case are inevitable. Sorrows follow sins hand in hand. No natural force, no wisdom can separate sorrows from sins. They are connected with each other as closely as it is natural for actions to be connected with their causes. Where there is rain, there is mud; where there is sin, there is sorrow. "Sorrow and distress come upon every soul of man that does evil" (Rom. 2:9), says the Apostle Paul. You see in what a close union sin is with sorrows. And consequently, where sins are permitted, sorrows are inevitable. And therefore those who have had the misfortune to fall into sin must make it their absolute duty to bear magnanimously the sorrows that have befallen them.
b) Secondly, deserved sorrows must be endured magnanimously because they prevent greater sorrows, sorrows awaiting us on the other side of the grave, i.e. the torments of Gehenna. For what we suffer punishment in this life, we will not be punished in the future. God is just, and does not punish twice for the same crime. Therefore, it is not without reason that Christians who have allowed themselves to make mistakes sometimes ask God to punish them in this life and have mercy on them in the future. And there is no doubt that it is better to suffer temporary sorrows for sins, sorrows in this life, than eternal, endless sorrows in the future life. Moreover, magnanimous endurance of sorrows can serve to quickly end sorrows.
It may easily happen that the merciful Lord, seeing our magnanimity, our humility, our patience in enduring the sorrows that have befallen us, will forgive us in His goodness our sins, will cease our sorrows and will pour out consolation in our hearts. Once, by the action of God, the greatest sorrows befell the king of Israel David for his sins. He had to leave the royal chambers and go as an exile, in fear, on foot, barefoot, under reproaches (2 Kings 2:15, 16). But since King David endured all this with amazing magnanimity and patience, God soon took pity on the royal exile and ceased his sorrows, returning to him the throne, and power, and glory.
B. Sorrows that are not deserved, but sent or permitted by God to test our faith, to increase our sanctification, must be endured magnanimously for the following reasons.
a) Firstly, the sorrows we are talking about must be endured magnanimously in imitation of Christ the Savior, the apostles and other holy saints of God. Jesus Christ courageously endured all the troubles that He encountered throughout His life. The Savior endured the very sufferings of the cross, even death, magnanimously, to the highest degree. The Apostle Paul not only patiently endured the sorrows that oppressed him, but also rejoiced in his sufferings. "I rejoice in my sufferings" (Col. 1:24), he wrote to the Colossians.
b) Secondly, sorrows sent by God must be endured magnanimously, so as not to lose the great spiritual benefit for which sorrows are sent to us. A plaster applied to wounds has its effect when the patient patiently wears it on the wounds. Otherwise, the best plaster, prematurely thrown off the wound, will do no good to the patient. The same can be said about sorrows. Impatient endurance of sorrows can make them ineffective, powerless to achieve the beneficial goal for which they are sent to us by the most wise Providence.
c) Moreover, sorrows must be endured magnanimously because they are necessary on the path to spiritual salvation. "We must through many sorrows enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22), says Holy Scripture.
d) Finally, we must endure adversity out of gratitude to God, who sends us sorrows, because the Lord God sends sorrows especially to those whom He loves. "If you endure chastening," says the Apostle Paul, "God deals with you as with sons" (Heb. 12:7). The earthly Father bestows gifts upon His beloved children, but the heavenly Father showers His beloved children, Christians, with sorrows. "Whom God loves He chastens," says Holy Scripture. "And He scourges every son whom He accepts" (Rom. 12:6).
III. The reasons that prompt us to magnanimously endure sorrows are obvious. Let us be prudent and just. If it pleases God to visit us with sorrows, then let us endure them magnanimously, patiently, without complaint, like the now glorified Holy Great Martyr Niketas. Such wise endurance of sorrows will reward us a hundredfold, if not in this life, then certainly in the next. Amen.
Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
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