December: Day 28: Holy 20,000 Martyrs Burned in Nicomedia

December: Day 28:
Holy 20,000 Martyrs Burned in Nicomedia
 
(On the Means Against the Horrors of Death)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. When the Emperor Maximian, who wanted to eradicate the Christian faith, learned that many Christians had gathered in the large Nicomedia temple on the eve of the feast of the Nativity, he ordered the temple to be surrounded. The Christians were offered either to die or to sacrifice to idols, but they answered that they "did not fear death." Then he ordered the temple to be set on fire, and all the Christians in the temple, 20,000 in number, died as martyrs in the fire. This was in 302 A.D.

II. This is how the ancient Christians did not fear death! This is how all of them, 20,000 in number, joyfully accepted a fiery death, so as not to be separated from Christ and not to be deprived of eternal life.

Christian brethren! Let us consider how, by what means, we can achieve such a blessed state of the ancient Christians not to fear death.

(a) The first remedy against the horrors of death is a pious life, which undoubtedly distinguished the first Christians. And in the course of life it is difficult when the conscience vividly imagines some offense inflicted on one's neighbor, but it must be a hundredfold heavier at death, when the conscience itself becomes incomparably more alive and purer. The fading gaze, of necessity, then seeks something to rest on: judge what this calm must be like when it is presented with a whole series of victims of its own cruelty or deceit! And are these not those terrible phantoms which often torment the dying with their apparitions? We are accustomed to explain their torments by the sufferings of the body, but is the body to blame for everything? Ah, how different, completely different, we would hear from many dying people, if their tongue, bound by the bonds of death, were given to be loosened and proclaim to us the terrible truth! Sufferings of the body have happened even to righteous people, but their soul departed to the Lord in peace. Why? Was it not because it lived with the Lord in peace? Was it not because their conscience, being completely peaceful, pacified the body, and the soul, being free from the burdens of sin, therefore rose comfortably above the earth and soared to heaven? As is life, so is death!

b) The second most reliable remedy against the horrors of death is love for God. It is not difficult to guess how this remedy operates and wherein lies its strength. Look at a son who loves his father and has been separated from him for a long time! He is ready to endure everything in order to return to his father's house; he does not look at the fury of the sea waves, nor the height of the mountains, nor at other dangers. So a man who loves his Lord joyfully hurries to the doors of the grave, despite their narrowness and gloom; for he knows that this is the only way to return to his father's house. But without this love for the heavenly Father, without this childish attachment to the heavenly fatherland, the transition to another world must necessarily be difficult and unpleasant. How can one go in peace where one would not want to go forever? How can one appear before that God Who was either forgotten or insulted all his life? In that case, a dying sinner is like a slave who is caught in flight and is forcibly returned to his master. Is it possible not to tremble and not to suffer in soul?

c) The third remedy against the horrors of death is a living faith in the Redeemer. It is bad, brethren, very bad to have no faith even in the continuation of life; but it is a hundred times worse at death. During life, many things, it seems, can take the place of faith, and, unfortunately, they do for many; but at death, alas, nothing can take its place! The minutes of death are obviously the most important and decisive: can one then rely on oneself, on one’s courage, on one’s wisdom, even on virtue itself? Here we disappear from the world and the world from us; here is the end of the world for everyone, the terrible judgment for everyone! Therefore, higher, omnipotent help is needed; not an intercessor, not an angel, but the Lord Himself is needed. Only His name does heaven and earth listen to, only before Him do hell and all the spirits of evil tremble, therefore only with living faith in Him can we pass through the terrible abyss of corruption in the world and emerge unstumbling into the freedom of the children of God.

d) The fourth cause that removes the horrors of death is the gifts of the Holy Spirit, bestowed upon the deceased in the mysteries of the Holy Church. It is not difficult to understand the action of this cause. How can the angel of death lay heavy hands on one in whom he sees the Spirit of God? If the breath of cool air alleviates the sufferings of the sick, and the breath of the lips of a mother or a friend sweetens the languor of one lying on the deathbed then what relief cannot the grace-filled breath of the Spirit of God produce? And can it not overshadow, in the moments of death, the soul that was faithful to it during its life? O, blessed, a hundred times blessed are the dead who die in this way “in the Lord!” The Spirit Himself says that they “shall rest from their labors” (Rev. 14:13).

And such blessedness, brethren, one might say, would be given to each of us without any effort on our part, if we did not deprive ourselves of it. For, with all the importance of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, His grace descends into the soul of each of us at the very beginning of our life - in the Mystery of Baptism. At the same time, in the Mystery of Chrismation, we are visibly sealed with the seal of the Holy Spirit. And throughout life, in all the other mysteries, through the prayers of the Church and her shepherds, we receive the grace of the Spirit. Thus, we Christians are all Spirit-bearers from birth, and therefore we ourselves have within ourselves a great remedy against the fears of death. Why then do we tremble for the most part before it? Because, without the oil of good thoughts and deeds, the fire of the Holy Spirit is soon extinguished in us from the breath of passions, and the seal of deliverance fades and is erased in the soul from the touch of the waves of the sea of life; because we are filled with the spirit of peace, which, even during our life, often turns into a whirlwind and tosses us about like dust and stalks, and at death, even more so, cannot help but burst into a stormy breath, shaking our entire mortal frame.

e) The last parting word during death, driving away its horrors, is the spiritual contemplation of Jesus Christ before death. “He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and I will manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21), says the Lord. What could be clearer, more definite and decisive than this promise? Love the Lord – and you will see the Lord! How He appears to those who love Him, neither I can say, nor do you need to know in advance: this is the mystery of the Appearing One, which He Himself reveals during His visit. But what is certain is that, having seen Him, you will forget all the beauty of the world, and will joyfully hasten to Him, to the abode of His Father, even if you have to go there by the way of the cross. O, the Lord knows how to “draw after Him” (Song of Songs 1:3)! Witnesses are all the holy men of God, who, having seen the Lord in their souls, went to death, as a bridegroom goes to marriage.

In order to signify this invisible manifestation of His for some who are worthy, and for others who are less able to replace it, the Lord appears at the bedside of almost every sick person, and visibly in His Body and Blood. If only we knew how to make use of this Theophany! If only we would hasten to receive the Lord here and be illuminated by the light of His face, before the light in our eyes fades, open our mouths and hearts for Him, before they are forever closed by illness! But what happens? They look at the priest carrying the cup of life as if he were an angel of death, and therefore try not to see him as long as possible! They receive the Body and Blood of the Lord when they can no longer receive anything, and thus do not meet, but one might say stumble over their Savior! O Lord, are You not here for this very reason lying especially for “the fall of many in Israel and for a sign that is spoken against” (Luke 1:35)? In such a sign, about which it is impossible to say with certainty what it serves for those who receive it - for eternal life, or for judgment and condemnation? Truly, here are revealed "the thoughts of many hearts" (Luke 2:35); it is clear what life was like, and what one must expect after death!

III. Therefore, whoever wants a fearless end to life, be righteous, pious, believe in the Redeemer, do not quench the Spirit, and if you have lost Him, acquire the Spirit, and strive to be worthy of seeing the Savior. Amen.  

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