My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
On the 30th of December, Our Holy Orthodox Church Commemorates
the holy Martyr ANYSIA, of Thessalonike, Greece.
Saint Anysia, the holy and Venerable Martyr of Christ, lived during the reign of the pagan Roman Emperor Maximian [286-305 A.D.]. The daughter of pious and rich parents, she hailed from Thessalonike. With the death of her parents, Anysia distributed her wealth among the poor. She lived a God-pleasing life of silence, compunction, and fulfilling the Divine Commandments. She occupied herself with FASTING, TEARS, AND MORTIFYING THE PASSIONS. Deeming the joys of youth as deceitful temptations, though she was yet a young woman, she still yearned to be older. She thought to herself, "When pondering upon the length of time remaining until old age sets in, it fills me with sadness for so many years separate me from heaven!"
Then, one day, as was her custom, the fair Anysia proceeded to the church, when she encountered a soldier of the idol madness. He arrested Anysia and dragged her to the altar of the idols, aiming to compel her to sacrifice to demons. The Saint, however, stood her ground and refused to worship the sun. She confessed Christ and then spat upon the face of that blackguard. In a passion, that abominable soldier drew his sword and ran the virgin through her side. Thus, the blessed Anysia, endured this unjust slaughter and received the unfading crown of martyrdom.
On the 30th of December we commemorate the Venerable THEODORA of Caesarea in Cappadocia.
Saint Theodora lived during the reign of the ICONOCLAST [one who rejects veneration of icons and a destroyer of icons] Emperor Leo III [717-741 A.D.], who was engulfed in the darkness of impiety. Worse than his father Leo III, Emperor Constantine V [741-775 A.D.], violently implemented his father’s ICONOCLASM policies. Constantine was excessively cruel in his dealings with monastics, compelling them to leave their holy communities and marry. [Please note: Leo IV supported ICONOCLASM, but only demonstrated active persecution of the ICONOPHILES (Friends or lovers of icons and who venerate them] in August 780 A.D., when a number of his court officials were beaten, tonsured, and cast into prison. His reign was brief and the transitional period between the height of ICONOCLASM under his father and the RESTORATION of the holy icons under his widow IRENE, who acted as REGENT for their only son and heir, a very young Constantine VI. The First Iconoclastic period: 730-787 A.D. The Second iconoclastic period: 813-843 A.D.]
Saint Theodora was the scion of a splendid and distinguished family. Her father, Theophilos, held the rank of Patrician. The Saint’s mother, also named Theodora, had suffered from barrenness, for many years. Saddened, and afflicted that she was unable to conceive, she entreated God and the Most Holy Theotokos to grant her a child. After she had procured the favor by the intercession of Saint Anna, the mother of the Virgin Mary, God hearkened to her petition and bestowed a daughter. Theorda, whose name means "GIFT OF GOD." When the young Theodora arrived at an age of discretion, she was led to the Church of Saint Anna and dedicated to the attached Women’s Monastery in that area of Rigidion. As one divinely consecrated, the young Theodora was instructed in a God-fearing and orderly manner by the Egumeni (Abbess), who also taught her Sacred Scripture.
Saint Theodora, from childhood, conducted her life in a God-pleasing manner, however, the evil one could not endure to see himself trampled upon by this young woman. Therefore, he stirred up Emperor Leo III, who was completely under his influence, to seek a wife for his grandson, Caesar Christopher. Besieged by the Emperor’s men, the young woman, not yet tonsured, was compelled to accompany them to the Capital. Once Theodora was in Constantinople, whe was unable to resist; therefore, nuptial preparations were begun. Though this was the Emperor’s plan, yet God would dispose otherwise–as the Almighty has often done in the past. One such example took place upon the arrival of Abram and Sara in Egypt. While in the capital, she preserved her virginity blamelessly. Her only desire continued to be for the heavenly Bridegroom, Christ.
During the preparations for the wedding, when all hope of escaping marriage seemed to vanish, the Scythians attacked the borders of the Byzantine Empire. With this imminent threat at hand, Caesar Christopher, the would-be bridegroom, went to combat this barbaric horde. While in combat Christopher suffered a mortal wound and died. When Theodora received the news of his death, she perceived God’s foreknowledge and intervention. Theodora then bade farewell to all things transitory and vain. She took a ship and returned to her Monastery. When her escape became known, one of Christopher’s brothers searched for her at the Monastery. However, when he found her and beheld that she had received the holy Tonsure and wore an old and tattered rasso, he withdrew and never troubled her again. Finally, Mother Theodora was completely free. She then took on contests of endurance, so mortifying her flesh, she blunted the bodily appetites by her diet which consisted solely of an ounce, or eight drams of bread. She had only one garment, a coarse hair shirt. Her bedding, covered on top with coase material, had stones placed underneath, so her sleep would be short and uncomfortable. By frequent all-night prayer vigils, she would roll back the night of the passions and attain unto the daylight of dispassion.
The blessed woman not only endured these hardships that surpassed nature but also devised new tests of endurance, so she might tread the path of voluntary martyrdom. Saint Theodora wore chains, the weight of which, bruising and wasting her body members, covered her with wounds. Thereby, Saint Theodora wore away her flesh in the wrestling ground and stadium of the virtues. After many years of struggle, distinguished in all the virtues, the ever-memorable one was translated to that ageless and blessed life. [Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church]
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 