#Feasts of #Hedar_29
✞✞✞On this day we commemorate the Myriads of Martyrs, Saint Peter the Seal of the Martyrs, and Saint Clement of Rome✞✞✞
✞✞✞In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen!✞✞✞
✞✞✞The Holy Martyrs✞✞✞
=>The Church on this day, Hedar 29 (December 8), holds the feast of all the Martyrs. Abba Giorgis of Gasicha, the holy scholar, in the Horologium regarding them states,
“Fighters, bright stars,
The Church’s lights/candles.”
✞In the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was administered from two cities, Rome itself and Antioch. And the Emperor of the time was Numerianus (Numerian). The princes and his generals included the Saints Basilides (whose sister was the emperor’s wife), Claudius (brother of Numerianus), Victor (Boctor – son of Martha), Macarius (son of Basilides), Abadir (Apater - son of the sister of Basilides), Theodore (the 3 Theodores), Eusebius (son of Basilides), Justus (Yostos - son of Emperor Numerianus), Apoli (Aboli - son of Justus)... and others.
✞The women included the Saints Martha, Sophia, Iraya (Iraja/Herais – sister of Abadir), Theoclea (wife of Justus) and others. And the prime of all these was St. Basilides. Because, at the time, there were many wars taking place in Persia, Quz and with the Berbers, coincidently the Emperor was struck and died in one of the combat.
✞And the throne of Rome became vacant. And it was easy for St. Basilides or the other Saints to take hold of the crown. However, they simply left to do battle with enemies.
✞And in those days, in Egypt, there was a strong man who herded goats and spoke to Satan since his childhood called Agripada (Agrippita). From the children the emperor had bore, two were wicked girls and the younger one, when no one was around, married Agripada (Agrippita) and called him Diocletian.
✞In Church history, after Satan, there is no name that is as evil [as Diocletian]. He was a man that slaughtered Christians. Seeing her younger sister, the elder, married a beast called Maximian and crowned him as well. And the world fell into the hands of these cruel men.
✞And at that time, all the legions [of Rome] were counted in millions. And when they saw what was done, they were angered. St. Basilides who saw this, gathered the princes, princesses, and the generals and said, “This world with its glory will perish, so let us chose the greater, the Kingdom of Christ.” Hence, all of them, as if they were of one mind, were joyous, and decided to leave behind their earthly honor.
✞Then, they gathered under one roof and started fasting and praying. They only went outside for alms giving. When the apostate saw this, he brimmed with over confidence, and he found a reason to implement his old plan of eliminating Christians.
✞And because of the monk named Abba Agagios, he declared, “Churches will be razed and temples (of idol worship) will be opened.” Thus, he raised idols called Apollo and ‘Ardamis’.
✞And because of this declaration, the tribulation of Christians began.
*The earth was bathed with blood.
*And the Saints had none to bury them.
*Some were killed, some were burned, some were imprisoned and some fled.
✞Church history was not written on parchment with a reed pen. Rather it was written using the blood of the martyrs as ink, their bones as a writing implement and their skin as parchment. The price the Martyrs paid for their Faith was grand.
✞Hence, called, “Fighters, bright stars, the church’s lights/candles,” they gave light while they burned and melted. Though martyrdom started in the Old Testament and will continue to the Second Coming of Christ, what is known as the Era of the Martyrs/Persecution was a period from 150 – 312 A.D.✞Particularly, because the years from the 270s to 312 were very harsh, the blood of Forty Seven Million (47,000,000) Christians was shed on earth. And the secret behind [the persistence of] the Martyrs was the Word of the Gospel, the Lord’s sermons and life, and nothing else. (Matt. 10:16, Mark 13:9, Luke 12:4, John 16:1, Rom. 8:35, Rev. 2:9)
