April: Day 24: Teaching 1:
Holy Martyr Savvas the General and His Companions
(On the Reasons That Motivate Us To Love Our Neighbors)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
Holy Martyr Savvas the General and His Companions
(On the Reasons That Motivate Us To Love Our Neighbors)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
I. The Holy Martyr Savvas, whose memory is celebrated today, was a Goth by birth, and was a Stratelates, or Military General, under the Roman Emperor Aurelian in the 3rd century. Having accepted the true faith and becoming a zealous servant of Christ, he "visited Christians imprisoned in prison, helped them with alms, and exhorted them to patience and steadfastness." Aurelian, having learned that Savvas was a Christian, summoned him to trial. Savvas boldly confessed his faith and, having removed the insignia of his military rank, threw them down and declared that he was ready to suffer for the name of Christ. He was subjected to terrible tortures: they beat him cruelly, scorched his wounds with fire, and lowered him into a cauldron of boiling resin. But the Lord guarded and protected His faithful servant. Strengthened by power from above, Savvas bravely endured the suffering and emerged unharmed from the boiling resin. Seeing this miracle, seventy soldiers believed and began to loudly confess Jesus Christ. By order of the emperor, they were executed and joyfully accepted death for their faith.
The Holy Martyr Savvas was taken to prison, where at night, during prayer, the Lord Himself appeared to him. Filled with new strength, Saint Savvas endured even more terrible tortures and was finally drowned in the river.
II. Saint Savvas the Stratelates, who visited prisons and helped both in word and deed the holy martyrs for Christ imprisoned in them, despite the great danger to himself, teaches us, brethren, Christian love for one another.
Love for one's neighbors, sincere, perfect, from the heart, is a rare phenomenon. The history of the human race treasures examples of love, willingly records them, but, unfortunately, it rarely encounters such great people for whom all neighbors are brothers, friends. Egoism, self-love are found everywhere, and experiences of love for neighbors must be sought for a long time. They are easy to find only among the saints of God, especially among the ancient Christians.
This does not bring honor to people, and especially to us Christians. We must tear out the coarse heart from ourselves, and acquire a good heart and try in every way to kindle in our souls the sacred fire of love for our neighbors. Important reasons prompt us to do this.
a) The first reason that prompts us to love our neighbors is that we are of the same nature as our neighbors. We all consist of soul and body, all are created beautifully, sublimely, in the image and likeness of God. We have the same fundamental laws of mind and morality. We all enjoy the attention of our neighbors to us, we all find the contempt shown to us by others burdensome. Hunger, cold, poverty are sensitive and unbearable for each of us. What does it follow from this that we are of the same nature as our neighbors? That we must love our neighbors, according to the law of the unity of our nature. This law is very strong, for even animals love their own kind. How can we, people, not love people like us? We, the glory of nature by our gifts, must be the glory of nature also by fulfilling her laws.
b) The second reason that motivates us to love our neighbors is that we are all children of God and brothers in the Lord. We have one Father in heaven – God. Millions of people scattered over the face of the earth are members of one great family, whose head is the Holy Trinity. God loves us all, provides for us all, feeds and waters us all, teaches us all how to live, how to achieve well-being on earth and how to acquire eternal blessedness in heaven. Since we are children of God and brothers in the Lord, we must love one another, as it is natural for brothers to love each other. People think ill of a person who does not love his own brother. This presupposes extreme malice of heart. What should be said about us if we do not love our neighbors – brothers in the Lord? One cannot help but reproach us for the gloomy cruelty of heart that excludes us from the number of God's children and friends of mankind.
c) But the main reason that motivates us to love our neighbors is the will of God: God wants us to love our neighbors. And we must certainly fulfill the will of our Creator and Lord of the universe. Where does God command us to love our neighbors? In the Holy Gospel. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30), says Jesus Christ. And this commandment is so important that it ranks second after the commandment to love God. And the Evangelist John the Theologian notes that without fulfilling the commandment to love one’s neighbor, it is impossible to fulfill the commandment to love God. “If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar” (1 John 4:20). Therefore, so that we do not become guilty before God, so that we do not remain with hearts alien to obedience and love for God our Creator, our King, we must increase love for our neighbors, if we have it, and if we do not have it, then we must, with the help of God’s grace, arouse it in our hearts.
II. Let us remember, dear ones! that we are all of a single essence, that we are brothers in the Lord, that the love for our neighbors is prescribed to us by the law of God, and remembering this, let us adorn our lives with love for our neighbors. This adornment will lend greatness to our nature, will bring joy to our neighbors, and will be a delight to the angels and to our Creator, our God. Amen.
Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
