October: Day 25: Holy Martyrs Markianos and Martyrios

October: Day 25:
Holy Martyrs Markianos and Martyrios

(Why Are Some People So Afraid of Death?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Martyrs Markianos and Martyrios, whose memory is celebrated today, were a Reader and a Subdeacon, and at the same time both were Notaries, i.e. special officials for ecclesiastical and civil affairs, under the Patriarch of Constantinople Paul. They suffered in the fourth century under the Emperor Constantius, son of Constantine the Great, who was drawn into the heresy of Arius. The Patriarch was exiled to Armenia and tortured there because he did not accept Arianism. They tried to persuade Markianos and Martyrios to accept the heresy, offering them bishoprics and large estates; but the Saints did not dare to betray the true faith under any circumstances. Then they were condemned to death.

The Holy Martyrs Markianos and Martyrios went to their painful death with great joy when they were sentenced to death for confessing the holy faith! "They desired death more than life for Christ's sake," says the narrator of their martyrdom. "When they were taken and brought to the place of beheading, they asked for a little time to pray, and raising their eyes and hands up, they said: 'Lord God, who alone created our hearts, understanding all our deeds, receive in peace the souls of Your servants. For Your sake we are put to death, and are considered as sheep for the slaughter. We rejoice, for by such a death we depart from this life for Your name's sake. Make us worthy, therefore, to be partakers of eternal life with You, our life.' Thus praying, when they said 'Amen,' the Saints bowed their heads under the sword, and were beheaded by the impious Arians for confessing the Divinity of Jesus Christ."

II. The painful end of the Martyrs Markianos and Martyrios, who went to their deaths with the greatest joy for their faithfulness to Christ, prompts us to ask: Why do some Christians fear death so much? This question is worth answering, and we wish to give the best answer we can.

a) The first reason why some Christians are very afraid of death is their strong attachment to earthly life. They live only an earthly life, and all their views, all their desires are limited to earthly life alone. They think about eternal life very rarely and very little. Therefore, when such people, attached to earthly life, see that they must part with earthly life, then this, naturally, brings them into the greatest fear.

b) The second reason why some Christians are so afraid of death is that they have an incorrect concept of God's perfections. They say: "Who knows what the Lord God will be like to me after death!" But it is not proper to speak like that. He will be to us in exactly the same way as we are in this life in relation to Him. The Lord Himself says: "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him" (John 14:23).

c) The third reason for the excessive fear of death of some Christians is that they believe many false or unfounded tales about the state of people at death. They say: "Such and such a person lived piously for about seventy years, and at death was completely abandoned by God; he died in the greatest torment." Such a tale is very blasphemous. "Only the death of a sinner is cruel" (Psalm 33:22). And the torments before death can easily occur not from abandonment by God, but from the natural course of illness and the destruction of the physical structure. The Lord God assures us with an oath that He does not desire death, i.e. eternal destruction, even for a sinner, will He therefore abandon a righteous man? The Lord God clearly shows signs of His favor even to the greatest sinner in the last minutes of his life, if he turns to Him with true repentance. Will He abandon in the last moments a righteous man who has lived his whole life piously? No! God does not and cannot act like that. “He will call upon Me,” He says of the righteous man, “and I will answer him. I am with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and glorify him” (Psalm 90:15).

d) The fourth reason why some Christians are very afraid of death is that they have wrong ideas about preparing for death. Everyone should, when they become ill, call a priest, confess their sins and, without waiting for the illness to get worse, partake of the Holy Mysteries, in order to more easily endure the last struggle. Having cleansed their souls with sincere and heartfelt repentance and having received the pledge of eternal life in their acceptance of the Body and Blood of Christ, a Christian should not fear death.

d) A further reason for the excessive and groundless fear of death of many Christians is that they see in their death nothing other than a thief of all their temporal blessings, a murderer of their life. But we Christians must look at death in a completely different way. Death for us is a quiet, peaceful sleep, ending all our labors, sorrows and fears. It is a friend who brings us the joyful news that we are entering our true homeland, our true life. “We must await the departure from this life,” says Saint Ephraim the Syrian, "with the joy that is characteristic of one called from the mines or from exile to the heavenly kingdom, following the example of the apostle: 'I have a desire to be released and to be with Christ' (Phil. 1:23). The fact that, when we die, we leave the body should not disturb us: when we leave our body, we act almost the same way as polite people do, throwing off their outer clothing when they go to present themselves to their venerable superior. Our bodies do not disappear through death, but are renewed.”

e) Finally, the last reason why some are too afraid of death is that they have no confidence, either in the merits of Jesus Christ, as He came to earth precisely to deliver us from death (1 Corinthians 1:8), or in His love for us, while He is “always the same, yesterday and today and forever,” always desiring to save us; or in His power, while He is “the Lord Almighty” (Revelation 1:8). This is a state of unbelief. Such a state should not belong to a Christian.

III. Thus, whoever wishes to remove the fear of death from himself must remove from himself attachment to earthly life and its blessings, acquire a correct understanding of God's perfections, not love absurd tales about the state of people at death, acquire a correct understanding of preparation for death and adhere to it, honor death for what it is, always exercise himself in fulfilling God's will, and especially in trusting in the merits of Jesus Christ, in His love and omnipotence.

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