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 26th of October the Holy Orthodox Church Commemorates
the Holy Martyr DEMETRIOS THE MYRRH-STREAMER.
Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn. Third Tone
A GREAT champion hath the whole world found thee to be when
in grave perils; for thou dost put to flight the heather, O victorious
one. As thou didst humble Lyaeus’s arrogance and gavest
boldness to Nestor in the stadium, thus, O holy Great Martyr
Demetrios, do thou entreat Christ God that we granted great mercy.
Kontakion Hymn. Second Tone
GOD, Who hath given thee invincible strength, O Demetrios, hath
adorned the Church with the royal purple of the streams of thy
blood and hath kept they city unharmed, for thou art the support
thereof.
This glorious and Wondeeworking Saint was born in the city of Thessaloniki of well-born and devout parents. They begged God for a child, these childless parents and God answered their prayers by giving them a son. Demetrios was their only son, and was, because of this, most carefully cherished and educated. His father was the military commander of Thessaloniki, and, when he died, the pagan Roman emperor made Demetrios commander in his place. In doing this, the pagan emperor Maximian, a fierce enemy of Christ, commended him to persecute and to exterminate the Christians of Thessaloniki. Demetrios not only disobeyed the emperor: he openly confessed and preached Christ the Lord in the city. Hearing of this, the emperor was furious with Demetrios and, at one time, on his way back from a war against the Sarmathians, went to Thessaloniki especially to look into the matter. The pagan emperor, therefore, summoned Demetrios and questioned him about his faith. Demetrios proclaimed openly before the emperor that he was indeed a Christian, and furthermore denounced the emperor’s idolatry. The enraged emperor cast him into a subterranean prison (located in the ancient Roman baths beneath what is now his basilica. Knowing what was awaiting him, Demetrios gave his good to his faithful servant Lupus, to give away to the poor, and went off to prison, glad that suffering for Christ was to be his lot. In the prison, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: ‘Peace be with thee, sufferer for Christ; be brave and strong!’ Emperor Maximian arranged for games and gladiatorial combats to take place i the amphitheater of the city. He brought with him a man of gigantic stature and Herculean strength called Lyaios, a Vandal by origin. Such was this man’s strength and skill in single combat that no one could withstand him. There was in the city a young Christian called Nestor (Nestoras), who observing the empty pride of hte emperors in the victories of his champion, made up his mind to show him that real power belonged to Christ alone. He ran to the baths where Saint Demetrios was imprisoned and asked for the protection of his prayer in going to confront the giant. The Holy Martyr made the sign of the Cross on the brow and the heart of the boy, and sent him like David before Goliath. He reached the amphitheater just as the heralds were crying out on all sides for any who would stand against Lyaios. Advancing towards the emperor, Nestor threw his tunic to the ground and shouted, "God of Demetrios help me!" In the first encountered, at the very moment the giant rushed upon him, Nstor slipped aside and stabbed him to the heart with his dagger. There was uproar and amazement at the marvel, and people asked themselves how a mere boy, relying neither on strength nor weapons, could so suddenly have brought down the giant barbarian. The emperor flew into a rage and ordered the immediate arrest of Nestor and his beheading outside the city. He had heard Nestor calling upon the God of Demetrios and, supposing the Saint had used some kind of witchcraft. Maximian ordered his soldiers to go and thrust Demetrios through with their lances, without trial, in the depths of his prison cell. There were some Christians, including Demetrios’s servant Lupus, present at his martyrdom, and when the soldiers had gone, they reverently buried the Saint’s body.
It was God’s will that the grace with which He filled Saint Demetrios should remain active even after his death. this is why He caused to flow from his body a myron with a delightful aroma, which had the property of healing all who took it as an unction, with faith in the intercession of the Saint. Time and time again, during sixteen hundred years, Saint Demetrios has given proof of his benevolent care for the city of Thessaloniki and its inhabitants. He has defended them from the attacks of barbarians, he has preserved them from plague and famine, healed the sick and comforted the afflicted, {REsoures: The Synaxarion: The Lives of the Saints Of the Orthodox Church, Vol. 1 and The Prologue from Ochrid}
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
+ Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +
With sincere agape in Christ’s Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
