March: Day 6:
Holy Forty-Two Great Martyrs of Amorium
(What Does Loyalty to Christ Consist Of?)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
Holy Forty-Two Great Martyrs of Amorium
(What Does Loyalty to Christ Consist Of?)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
I. The Holy Forty-Two Great Martyrs of Amorium: Constantine, Aetios, Theophilos, Theodore, Melissenos, Kallistos and others, whose memory is celebrated today, were famous military leaders of the Greek Emperor Theophilos. During the siege of the city of Amorium in Asia Minor in Phrygia by the Saracens, due to the treason of one of the Ammorite leaders, they were taken prisoner by the enemy. They languished in captivity in chains for seven years. Here they were repeatedly persuaded to accept the Mohammedan faith, but when the prisoners said that they were ready to endure torture and death rather than renounce the Christian faith, their heads were cut off and thrown into the Euphrates River. This was in 847. But the bodies of the Holy Martyrs soon appeared on the bank of the river with their heads clinging to them, and were buried by Christians. The traitor through whom the Martyrs perished was not left unpunished. “You have betrayed your fatherland, you can easily betray us too,” the Saracens told him, and they killed him.
II. The Holy Martyrs of Amorium teach us, brethren, to be faithful to Christ even to death, not only natural, but even violent martyrdom.
Therefore, let us talk this time about what it means to be faithful to Christ.
As Christians, we readily call ourselves faithful, and in this name we place the hope of salvation, since, on the contrary, we imagine the name of an unbeliever to be both hateful and destructive. And rightly so. Such a way of thinking is evangelical and apostolic. "What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?" asks the Apostle (2 Cor. 6:15). And since the commonality of the faithful is salvation, according to the word of Jesus Christ Himself: "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16), then the opposite commonality of the unbeliever must be destruction.
But, in order not to deceive ourselves, we must carefully consider the question: who has the full right to be called faithful, and therefore do we have this right?
Will anyone say: I have every right to be called faithful, because I believe in the Christian teaching about God? I am afraid that the Apostle will make a strong objection to such a one: "You believe that there is one God; you do well: even the demons believe and tremble" (James 2:19). However, no one calls them faithful.
You see that the question, apparently simple, becomes more difficult as you delve deeper into its investigation. Strengthen your attention to overcome the difficulty.
Applying the property of our language to the spirit of the Gospel teaching, it seems, without fear of error, that we can recognize in the complete concept of faith three subordinate concepts: confidence, trust, and fidelity.
a) When the Apostle says that "without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Heb. 11:6): by this he points especially to the initial part of faith, to confidence in the truths of the knowledge of God, to the faith of the mind.
b) But when the same Apostle says in another place about Abraham, that he believed in God "who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; 18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed" (Rom. 4:17, 18): here we have not the simple faith of the mind, but a deeper and stronger faith of the heart; this is the unconditional devotion of man to God, an unlimited confidence in the promises of grace, which has no need of any guarantee of arguments and assurances; this is a decisive direction of the soul to the Divine, as if naturally meeting with the grace of God. Here belongs the faith which accepts the saving power of the mysteries, and, in special cases, is marked by miraculous gifts.
c) But that this kind of faith, even miraculous, can sometimes be incomplete, unjustifying and unsaving, is not allowed to be doubted by the truly fearsome saying of Christ: "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Have we not prophesied in Your name, and in Your name driven out demons, and in Your name done many mighty works?' And then will I confess to them, 'I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness'" (Matt. 7:22, 23).
So, a necessary complement to faith, so that it may be justifying and saving, must be fidelity. Fidelity to God and Christ in the unchanging confession of the Orthodox faith, fidelity to the commandments of God, consisting in their unslothful fulfillment, fidelity in relation to the mysteries, gifts, services, in their saving and zealous use according to God's intention, to the glory of God.
III. If you wish to truly belong to the number of the faithful, in whom the word of Christ must be fulfilled: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved," then believe not only mentally that God exists, that He rewards those who seek Him, that by His ineffable love for mankind He sent His Only-begotten Son to earth to reveal to us the way of salvation, and His Holy Spirit to grant us grace and sanctify us; not only without inquiring reason, but with confidence accept the inexplicable mysteries of faith. Surrender yourself to faith with all your soul and with all your life, so that faith is the main thought of your life, and your whole life an expression of faith. Finally, be faithful to the Heavenly King, to Whom, in addition to belonging by natural right, as the Creator and Lord of all, you also voluntarily entered into service when you entered Christianity. Be then unfailingly and constantly faithful to His name, His commands, His service, His gifts and talents, which He entrusts to us, "each according to his own ability" (Matt. 25:15).
Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
