September: Day 19:
Holy Martyrs Trophimos, Sabbatios and Dorymedon
(Every Christian Must Carry His Own Cross)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
Holy Martyrs Trophimos, Sabbatios and Dorymedon
(Every Christian Must Carry His Own Cross)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
I. The Holy Martyrs Trophimos, Sabbatios and Dorymedon, whose memory is celebrated today, suffered in the 3rd century. Once, when the pagans were celebrating their feast day in Pisidian Antioch with special solemnity, two Christians, Trophimos and Sabbatios, looked at them with sadness and prayed to God to turn the erring to the path of truth. They were seized and sent to the governor Atticus. The governor offered them to renounce Christ and ordered them to be tortured for their disobedience. Sabbatios died from torture, and Trophimos was sent to Phrygia to the governor Dionysius, who was famous for his art of torturing Christians. The Saint was beaten with sinews, cut and his wounds were sprinkled with salt; but he endured all the tortures and only repeated: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” After the torture, the Saint was thrown into prison. Here the Christian senator Dorymedon began to visit him. Having learned of this, Dionysius demanded that Dorymedon renounce Christianity, but having received a refusal, he ordered that he and Trophimos be thrown to the beasts to be eaten. The beasts did not touch the Saints, and they were then beheaded with a sword.
II. Brothers and sisters in the Lord! The Holy Martyrs Trophimos, Sabbatios and Dorymedon meekly took up their cross, the cross of the most cruel torments for their faithfulness to Christ, and following Him they inherited eternal life.
And we must, according to the commandment of Christ, bear our cross.
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matt. 16:24), says the Lord to all His followers. The Apostle also commands the same, saying: “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts” (Gal. 5:24). The holy fathers, ascetics and passion-bearers of Christ instill the same in us, not only by word, but also by their example; for all of them, as true disciples of the Savior, bore their crosses, often heavy ones – all of them crucified their flesh with its passions and lusts, and were subjected to various sorrows and torments for the sake of Christ and their eternal salvation. Therefore, we, brethren, caring for the salvation of our souls, let us, according to the commandment of God, take up our crosses and with complete self-denial follow Christ along the path of salvation.
To accomplish such a feat we do not need to do anything that exceeds our strength or is incompatible with our position in society. For example, we do not need to leave our homes and families, flee to another country, distribute all our property to the poor and lead a beggarly life in extreme humiliation or confess our Christian faith before our tormentors, as the holy martyrs and other saints of God were forced to do. No, such crosses were necessary for them and, perhaps, only they could bear them; but we, according to the commandment of the Savior, must take up our crosses, i.e., we must give ourselves to such labors and sacrifices that are necessary for our salvation, according to the state of our spirit and our position in life - we must reject that to which our corrupt flesh draws us, and that can be harmful to our souls.
a) You, beloved brethren in Christ, may be addicted to earthly wealth, you think only about acquiring it and use all sorts of means for this, even unclean ones, and besides, you are very stingy and not compassionate towards the poor. This is very harmful for your soul and can destroy you forever: "For the love of money," says the apostle, "is the root of all evil" (1 Tim. 6:10). So, if you want to save yourself from evils and eternal destruction, then take up your cross, forsake and crucify in yourself the passion of covetousness. It would be good if you could distribute all your possessions to the poor and devote yourself entirely to serving the Lord; but if you cannot do this because of your family and other circumstances, then at least do not set your heart on wealth when it flows to you (Ps. 61:11), and even more so do not hide it in vain in your treasury, but use it for the common good and willingly distribute it to the poor. By doing this, you will be saved: "And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home" (Luke 16:9).
b) You, my brethren in the Lord, may be intemperate in food and drink, you are very fond of carnal pleasures and lead a dissipated life. This is very harmful to your soul and can destroy you forever: for gluttony is the same as idolatry, and those who do carnal deeds will not inherit the kingdom of God, says the apostle (Phil. 3:19; Gal. 5:19-21). So, if you want to attain this kingdom and save your soul from destruction, then take up your cross - leave carnal indulgence, destroy lust in yourself. For this it would be useful for you to withdraw from the world and all its delights and give yourself to strict fasting and hermit-like solitude in some desert; – but if for some reason you cannot do this, then at least avoid those places and societies in which you can be subject to temptation, and when circumstances make it necessary to visit them, then in every way protect yourself from temptation and do not be carried away by what can harm your soul; while in your home, observe moderation in everything, tame your carnal desires and earnestly pray to the Lord to help you overcome them and succeed in virtue. By doing this, you will be saved: "He who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him," says the apostle (1 John 5:18); but whoever overcomes the world with its temptations and sins, the Savior promises a seat with Him on the throne of His glory (Rev. 3:21).
c) Each of us, brethren, must mortify within ourselves the passions that draw us to sin, each must renounce that which hinders the salvation of his soul, and follow Christ by imitating His life, by fulfilling His holy commandments. This will be our own cross for each of us – a saving cross, since everything that we do for the sake of Christ, even a cup of cold water given in His name, all this will have its reward at the judgment of God (Mark 10:40–42).
III. Brothers and sisters in the Lord! Let us love those crosses which we must take upon ourselves, according to the commandment of the Savior. Jesus Christ bore the great and most grievous cross solely for the sake of our salvation: shall we then refuse to bear our small crosses, in order to become worthy of salvation? No, as disciples of the Crucified One, let us willingly take up our crosses and follow Him; and lest we should grow weary under them, let us pray to the Lord that He may help us by His all-powerful grace to bear them unceasingly and to follow unceasingly in His footsteps. He once said: "When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself" (John 12:32). Let us cry out to Him from the depths of our hearts: Draw us to Yourself, O Lord, draw us along the way of Your cross, so that we may suffer with You, and be glorified with You (Rom. 8:17)! Amen!
Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
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