January 24, 2025

January: Day 24: Venerable Xenia of Rome


January: Day 24:
Venerable Xenia of Rome

 
(The Feat of Virginity)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Venerable Xenia, now being glorified, in the world known as Eusebia, was the daughter of noble and wealthy parents who lived in Rome, and from her very childhood loved Christ and wished to devote her whole life to serving Him. But when she learned that her parents were arranging her marriage with a young man equal to her in wealth and nobility, and learned that they would not allow her to refuse a union with him, Eusebia judged according to the word of the Apostle, that "it is not right in the sight of God to listen to men more than to God" (Acts 4:19), and on the eve of the wedding celebration, when everything in the house was prepared for her entry into a new, even more brilliant than before life, she, at night, with two slaves devoted to her, hid from her parents' house, taking with her some valuable things that belonged to her.

They set off by water and landed on the almost deserted island of Kos, near the city of Halicarnassus. It was difficult for them to live there at first, given their unfamiliarity, youth and inexperience. But the Lord sent them a chance meeting with a worthy ascetic, the abbot of the Monastery of Saint Andrew, Paul of Mylasa, and he advised them to move to the city of Mylasa, in Caria, where they could live under his guidance. From then on, Eusebia took the name of Xenia (which means "foreigner"), in order to more easily hide from the searches of people who knew her by the name of Eusebia. Over time, Xenia founded a monastery, took monastic vows and was appointed a deaconess. She became famous for her unusually strict ascetic life, and before reaching old age, she died peacefully in 450. Soon after her, her devoted servants also died and were buried at the feet of their mistress.

II. Venerable Xenia, who renounced married life, combined with wealth and worldly pleasures, for the purpose of serving God, serves us as an example of “Christian virginity”, which is much better than marriage, if it is preserved in purity.

a) Do you want to learn from the word of God that virginity is not only possible for many to keep, but also desirable for all? Hear the word of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians: “I will that all men be as I am” (I Cor. 7:7). What does it mean: “as I am?” – He explains this further in the same epistle: “Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?... Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ” (9:5, 12), – that is, he deprived himself of the help and consolations of the marital state, in order to be more freely engaged in preaching the gospel. Consequently, the Apostle would also wish for everyone to devote themselves to the service of God and piety in virginity.

b) Do you want to see the high reward prepared for virginity by God? Look with the eyes of the seer John: “And I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him an hundred and forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written on their foreheads.” He heard them “singing a new song before the throne of God, and no one could learn the song but these.” Who are these? – you ask. He answers: “These are they which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins; these shall follow the Lamb wherever he shall go: these are they bought of men, the firstfruits of God and of the Lamb” (Rev. 14:1-4).

c) You see the excellent dignity of virginity. Be curious to know what virginity is and how this virtue is accomplished.

Everyone, from his own experience, knows virginity as a natural state preceding marriage, not having experienced the mysteries of marriage, not having awakened to the knowledge of them. But this is only an imperfect beginning of what we are now discussing. It is still only the grass of the lily, and not the flower; only the blossom of the apple tree, and not the fragrant apple. Virginity of infancy, by the very fact that it is simply a natural state, is not a matter of freedom, nor the fruit of a feat, and consequently is not yet a virtue.

Virginity, as a feat, as a virtue, as the flower of purity, as the fruit of chastity, as the path to perfection, appears when a person, at an age, according to the usual course of bodily nature more or less disposed to marriage, without indulging in the attraction of nature, without being carried away by custom, examples, pleasures and needs of community life, decides not to join marriage, but to observe virginity forever.

But as he who strives  will "not crowned unless he competes according to the rules" (2 Tim. 2:5), so he who decides on the feat of virginity must know, always remember and observe the main law of this feat, which consists in the fact that the feat of virginity is undertaken and endured for God. He who runs the course of virginal life not to this goal, he does not run to the crown. For this reason, a virgin withdraws from marriage, so that a special inclination to an earthly being does not delay or distort his striving for God. According to this striving with all the power of the mind and love for the Lord, and according to the direction of all activity to pleasing Him, the virgin soul is called the bride of the Heavenly Bridegroom.

III. The Lord Himself warned us that not everyone is capable of being celibate: “Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given” (Matt. 19:11). He Himself called to the feat of celibacy not everyone, but only those who are capable, to whom this gift has been given: “He who is able to accept it, let him accept it” (Matt. 19:11).

We speak to everyone about virginity so that both married and unmarried people, from the high beauty of virginity, from the average comeliness of an honorable and immaculate marriage, with a careful and caring eye may discern the unseemliness of that state which neither the golden talent of virginity nor the silver talent of marriage cultivates faithfully according to the will of the Lord. Virginity and marriage are not for everyone, but chastity (i.e. purity of morals, piety) is for everyone. “For the saving grace of God has appeared to all people, that, having rejected ungodliness and worldly lusts, we may live chastely, righteously and piously in the present age.” - What does “chastely” mean? Either in the purity of virginity, or in the honor of marriage, in both cases, with “the denial of worldly lusts,” and especially “fleshly lusts which war against the soul” (1 Pet. 2:11). Only thus can those living in the present age “look for the blessed hope” in the future (Titus 2:13). Amen.
 
Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
 

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