October: Day 13: Holy Martyrs Karpos and Papylos

October: Day 13:
Holy Martyrs Karpos and Papylos

(The Fight Against the Clergy of the Church)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. One of the most severe persecutions against Christians in the first centuries of Christianity was the persecution of the Roman Emperor Decius, 250 years after the birth of Christ. The main attention of the tormentors was then directed at the shepherds of the Church, and therefore at that time many, many Christian bishops and clergymen in general suffered. Then the outstanding primates of the main churches ended their lives as martyrs: the Roman bishop Fabian, the Antiochian bishop Babylas, the Jerusalem bishop Alexander. Then the Bishop of the Church at Thyatira in Asia Minor, Karpos, with the deacon Papylos and others, who are remembered today, died as martyrs. What did not the furious torturers do to the holy presbyters Karpos and Papylos: they led them naked in chains through the city, with iron chains on their necks, and drove them from city to city, tied to fast horses, and beat them with thorny rods, and burned their bodies with candles, sprinkling the wounds with salt; in a word, the torturer Valerius, by order of Decius, tried in every possible way to turn the martyrs away from Christianity; but the pillars of the church in Asia Minor proved unshakable. Karpos and Papylos were finally beheaded with the sword.

II. a) Why did the Emperor Decius, like all the worst persecutors of Christians, rise up with such malicious force against the clergy of the Church – bishops, priests and deacons? It is very clear: because the clergy were the true shepherds of the Church: they were the leaders and representatives of Christians in their communities; they were the main guardians and disseminators of the Christian faith; they were the guardians and leaders of their flock; they were, so to speak, the foremost fighters for the faith. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will scatter,” reasoned the zealous persecutors of Christians, and they acted in this way.

b) Is this not how the overt and secret enemies of Christianity act to this day? Who is most hateful to them? The clergy. With them, say the unbelievers in their madness and blindness, a meeting can be unfavorable. This is with the clergy, who often carry the most pure body and blood of Christ on their chests and rush to the sick or dying?! Only demons find it unpleasant to meet Christ and His servants, as well as those who, having departed from Christ, serve the flesh, the world and the devil.

Against whom does the evil spirit of wickedness, or the so-called spirit of the times, living and acting in today’s evil society, fight most of all, if not against the clergy – priests, etc.

How many reproaches and accusations a priest has to listen to even now, often quite undeservedly, for this, for that, and for the costume adopted for the clergy, and for ignorance of all the petty and vain proprieties of the world, and for the way of providing for oneself from one's labors, sanctified by the ecclesiastical canons of all times, and for their religiosity and piety, as if a true servant of the Church of God cannot be unreligious, and for lack of sympathy with fashionable teachings and customs, as if one could sympathize with something that is harmful to the religious and moral life of the flock and that reveals its falsehood by constant change. A priest goes about in poor, worn-out, shabby clothes, testifying to his need, and this is held against the priest, calling him a slob for this. A priest goes in new, clean clothes, and he is accused of dandyism! If one priest is guilty of something, they put his guilt on everyone and say: "all priests are like that"! How many of the most caustic sayings the malicious world has invented against the priests of God, whose moral life, despite inevitable shortcomings, stands incomparably higher than the majority of people. These are not words, but deeds and life itself. True are the words of our Savior, spoken in the persons of the apostles and about all the successors of their ministry, the shepherds of the Church of Christ: "You will be hated by all for My name's sake... For a disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. If they have persecuted Me they will persecuted you. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call his own household?"

Christian brethren, guided by the spirit of truth and love! When you hear, my brethren, abuse and blasphemy against the clergy of God, assume that these speeches are from an evil spirit, that these speeches are from the enemies of the Church of Christ, who are eternally fighting against it, even, apparently, in peaceful times of the Church.

c) We do not say that clergymen always and in our time do not deserve reproach, that they are always and in everything right, that they are all holy - God save us from such self-praise and pharisaical exaltation! There are, unfortunately, many dark spots in clergymen of the Church; these spots, as is known, are even more visible on white than on dark and gray, we will say even more: what is forgivable for a layman cannot be forgiven for a clergyman. But still it must be said that in clergymen of the Church we must respect their high sacred calling, their honor and gracious gifts given to them by God, their rights and high duties, and perhaps even some merits before God and before people ... And it is not for us to judge our spiritual fathers; there are judges and superiors over them - elders; and most importantly, there is the Supreme Judge-Chief Shepherd, the Lord, above them, Who watches over them from heaven and knows how and with what to punish His unworthy servants. “Vengeance is mine” (I am their avenger); “I will repay” (I will take revenge on them), the Lord says about unworthy shepherds.

III. My beloved brethren! Be vigilant over yourselves, lest you fall into the nets of the spirit of malice, which hates the servants of Christ for the sole reason that they are servants of God. Do not join those who are ready to listen to and spread every evil rumor about the shepherds of the Church. Remember, for every word, especially a false, slanderous, malicious word, we will one day give a strict answer on the day of judgment, great and terrible. Respect your shepherds as servants of Christ, and remember that by this you show love to Jesus Christ Himself.

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