September: Day 4: Teaching 1:
Holy Hieromartyr Babylas
(On the Veneration of Spiritual Mentors)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
(On the Veneration of Spiritual Mentors)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
I. The Holy Hieromartyr Babylas, whose memory is celebrated today, was Bishop in Antioch during the persecution by Decius. Decius, having arranged a feast in honor of the idols and having sacrificed the Persian prince who was his hostage, wanted to enter the Christian temple in order to desecrate it. At that time, Saint Babylas was celebrating a service in the temple. He did not let the emperor into the temple. The emperor was afraid to insist, because there were many Christians in the temple. The next day he ordered the temple to be burned and Saint Babylas brought before him.
"Do you know what evil you have done and what punishment you deserve, having insulted the royal name?" the emperor said to Babylas.
Babylas answered: "I did not insult the royal name, but only restrained the one who wanted to desecrate the sanctuary of God! The Heavenly King Himself commanded me to protect the flock given to me from wolves."
“You will receive forgiveness if you worship our gods,” the emperor continued.
“I am ready to accept execution, but I will not turn away from God. I would like to lead you out of the darkness and save you from Gehenna, which you are preparing for yourself and to which you call others.”
Hearing about the arrest of Babylas for trial, three brothers, his disciples, came to the court: the youths Urban, Prilidian and Epolonius. “Whose children are these?” asked the emperor.
“Mine in spirit,” answered Babylas.
“Do you have a mother?” the emperor asked the youths.
“Yes,” they answered, “but we love Babylas more than our mother, because he cares about the salvation of our souls.”
They found their Christodoula. She said that the youths were her children, but she gave them to Babylas so that he would lead them to the kingdom of heaven. The emperor ordered the mother to be beaten, and began to caress the children, and then beat them for disobedience, and finally, together with Babylas, they were tied to a tree, and burned with fire.
"What good is it that you give yourself and your children to death?" the emperor said to Babylas. "You should have taken care that they did not perish in the bloom of youth."
The Holy Hieromartyr answered: "You, emperor, should have taken care of the benefit of your state and fought the enemies of your people, but you persecute and torture us, innocent of anything."
The emperor became angry and ordered that all four martyrs be beheaded. This was in 251. By order of Julian the Apostate, the relics of the Holy Martyrs were removed from Daphne, where they rested. But during the departure of the relics, lightning fell on the temple of the idol Apollo and turned it to ashes.
II. From the life of the Holy Hieromartyr Babylas we saw, brethren, a lofty example of the veneration of spiritual shepherds: the holy youth and brothers Urban, Prilidian and Epolonius answered, as you will recall, to the tormentor that they love their spiritual mentor - the holy bishop Babylas more than their mother, because he cares about the salvation of their souls!
Let the example of these holy youth-martyrs teach us all to honor our spiritual shepherds, for they care for the salvation of our souls. And the word of God, and the teaching of the Fathers of the Church, and the lives of the saints teach us this truth.
a) The word of God defines in detail how reverence for spiritual mentors should be expressed.
Believers must accept them as messengers of God: “Let everyone consider us as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1), teaches the Apostle Paul;
Christians must heed and follow their instructions: “Obey your leaders and be submissive, for they watch over your souls as those who must give an account, so that they may do this with joy and not with groaning, for this is not profitable for you,” teaches the same great apostle (Heb. 13-17);
Christians should follow their example: “I beseech you, imitate me, just as I imitate Christ” (1 Cor. 4-16), says the Holy Apostle Paul;
They are obliged to imitate their faith: “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you, and considering the outcome of their life, imitate their faith” (Heb. 13:7);
They must honor and respect them: “Let the presbyters who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine” (1 Tim. 5-17);
Their duty is to pray for them: “I beseech you, brethren, by our Lord Christ and by the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me" (Rom. 15:30). "Pray for us,” teaches the Holy Apostle Paul (Heb. 13:18);
True Christians always clearly and definitely recognize their duty to provide for the maintenance of their spiritual shepherds: “Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches” (Gal. 6:6). Scripture says: "Do not muzzle the ox while he treads out the grain; and the laborer is worthy of his wages" (1 Tim. 1:18). Sending out the twelve apostles to preach, Christ said to them: “Take neither gold, nor silver, nor copper in your belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two coats, nor shoes, nor a staff. For the laborer is worthy of his food” (Matt. 10:10).
b) Similar instructions are given by the Holy Fathers of the Church. Thus, Saint John Chrysostom writes: “Teachers must surpass fathers according to the flesh, must be more zealous than them. But children must also have love for them. 'Obey,' says the Holy Apostle Paul, 'your leaders and be submissive, for they watch over your souls as those who must give an account' (Heb. 13:17). Tell me, then, why, when your teacher is subject to such a dangerous responsibility, do you not even want to listen to him, and moreover, for your own benefit? Even if everything that concerns him is in order, he is anxious until everything that concerns you is in order, and gives a double account. Imagine how much he needs to work and take care of each of his subordinates. What honor can you give him, what service that would be tantamount to such dangers? You cannot offer anything equal; you have not yet laid down your life for him, but he lays down his life for you. But if he does not lay it down here at the request of circumstances, he will destroy it there, and you do not want to obey him even in words!"
"Whoever honors the priest," teaches the same Holy Father of the Church, "will gradually honor God: but whoever began to despise the priest will gradually come to insult God. 'He who receives you,' said the Lord, 'receives Me' (Matt. 10:40); 'give honor to His priests,' it is said in another place (Num. 18:8). The Jews began to despise God because they despised Moses, because they threw stones at him. Whoever reveres the priest will reverence God even more."
“Even if the priest were impious,” teaches the same golden-tongued teacher, “God, seeing that out of reverence for Him you honor even one unworthy of honor, will Himself reward you. If he who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet, as the Lord says, will receive a prophet’s reward (Matt. 10:41); then, of course, he who respects a priest, listens to him and obeys him, will also receive a reward. If in the matter of hospitality, when you do not know whom you are receiving, you receive such a reward; then you will receive it even more when you obey him whom the Lord has commanded you to obey.”
“Do you not know,” asks the same Father of the Church, “what a priest is? He is an angel of the Lord. Does he speak his own words? If you despise him, then you despise not him, but God, who ordained him.”
c) A very living example of deep respect and gratitude to a spiritual mentor is, among other things, Saint Symeon the Stylite, whose memory the Church celebrated two days ago. Saint Symeon was the son of a farmer. In his youth, in the summer he tended his father's sheep, and in the winter he helped him with the household chores. Despite all this, he had the leisure to go to church services.
One Sunday, young Symeon came to the Liturgy with his parents. Reverently listening to the reading and singing, he focused with particular attention on the words of the Gospel, from which the Savior’s Sermon on the Mount about the nine beatitudes was being read. But since he did not understand the meaning of this sermon, he turned to the elder standing next to him and asked: “What does this mean: blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are they who mourn, etc.?” (Matt. 5:3-11). The elder explained what he did not understand and had such an effect on thirteen-year-old Symeon that he was immediately inflamed with the desire to attain the kingdom of heaven according to the teaching of the Gospel beatitudes.
Feeling how much he owed the elder for his admonition, Symeon, upon leaving the church, fell at his feet and, expressing his gratitude, said, among other things: “You are my father, you are my mother, you are the teacher of piety and the leader of my salvation!” Symeon always kept a pleasant memory of this incident in his youth, and already in old age, telling about it to blessed Theodoret, he spoke with gratitude about his good mentor.
III. Therefore, my beloved brethren, knowing how great, responsible and necessary is the service of our spiritual shepherds, let us honor them in every way, that is, love them, obey them in spiritual matters and provide possible assistance to their holy service, remembering that he who does not honor the spiritual shepherd does not honor Christ Himself. Amen.
Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
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