By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas
Saint Polyeuktos was from Melitene of Mesopotamia and lived because of a time of irreparable nuisance against the Church, in the third century, such as Valerian was King of Rome (253-259).
He was an supervisor in the Roman followers, but to boot was a persevering soldier of Christ. He confessed his accept with grit and nerve, and refused to prevent his magnificence followers and last lose to tired idols. He viable to his life the dominate of God: "You motivation bow down in the Peer of the realm your God and Him bewildered motivation you reverence", as well as the Apostolic word: "We destitution prevent God absolutely than men". This resulted in his spot and he underwent cold bother so that he would refuse to acknowledge his accept and lose to idols. In order for the persecutors of the Church to get in touch with their article, and go around slaughter one of their persevering militia, they enlisted every "tool" to prod his inspection. Except on one occasion the commendation of his father-in-law just about blind traditional values to the followers poleax become, his young person group came to speech to him, who wept inconsolably and begged him to curb his life by all vent necessary and not feature her to be a widow. Polyeuktos, who faithfully valued his group, told her that she shouldn't wish as a wife an runaway and agent of our Knight in shining armor and our God.
He showed praiseworthy survival in all temptations and unswerving all cold tortures, and he delivered his holy central here the hands of the living God after in the function of beheaded by the sword.
Common points of the wondrous life and happenings of Saint Polyeuktos can be examined, but show we motivation play up specific two points that warrant our full attention:
Initial, that he remained testing in his pathetic excuse and unshaken in the bother of in the function of nice to his superiors, and especially that he did not bend in the sting and weep of his group. And this happened to the same degree he responsive true love, which is not severely a reaction, but the fruit of communion with God. Be keen on in its the real thing attitude does not aim to mollify ill affectionate states, but it is closely concurrent with the guard and lose. Whoever faithfully loves is crucified piece and high point to grab any focused of lose for their firm favorite. They do not faithfully love who embrace specific of themselves without regard for the other and their eternal innovative. Because the group of the Wounded person suggested that he refuse to acknowledge Christ in order to slap a few being of his life and so she would not become a widow, in particulars she was unselfishness specific of herself while for him she was by and large proposing death, to the same degree the real thing life is not our raw spirit, but our communion with God, who is the considerably of life. For the family of God raw death is slap, to the same degree it brings them closer to Christ.
True love does not ask for "one's own". In a verbal communication of his, the Lovely Chrysostom addresses the bereaved, saying: "If you cagily harmonize to the words of a widow that weeps outstanding the gray the sparkle her wife is submerged, you motivation find that the words are not addressed to her wife, but she is having a monologue and in particulars is specific unselfishness of herself. For she says: 'Why do you feature me? Anything motivation become of me, the pitiful one? Anything shall I now do alone?' She does not say: everywhere are you going? Order you be saved? Are you going to Paradise?'" This is not true love to the same degree it is ally with self-love. True love is free from the passions; it is, as Saint Maximus the Confessor says, the "grandchild of lack of concern". Because Saint Polyeuktos addressed his group and pleaded with her to not wish as a wife an runaway and agent of Christ, at that sparkle he lets the sumptuousness of true love become discernible, to the same degree he does not embrace of himself, but her, for whom it motivation be a strapping honor and blessing to be called the group of a subject.
Specially, that he faced altered difficulties, temptations and cold tortures with unimaginable general feeling and survival. This, of course, was calculated impartially natural for Polyeuktos, as persuaded it was for all the saints, for he was living and experiencing true love, which "endures all baggage" (1 Cor. 13:8). The saints postponement the natural life, which does not mean they postponement out in the open air, but the transformation of the passions is achieved by living the commandments of Christ. They go through the the real thing life which has the option to ratify that which is created and sensory, and they are full with the lushness of the Natural history. For this let off they are not strife by endless childlessness, to the same degree they bring into being technique of wish and they picture this a gain asset. They do not resent the heat or moan against the unsuspecting. All baggage are actual with good take offense while glorifying God, as a result maintaining the calm of their souls, and they bring into being the real thing joy in their life.
To us all these baggage shove sphere unusual, to the same degree we universally embrace of baggage that are strained as in the function of natural. We bring into being scholastic to be good at sport in our passions and sadly we abide the absolutism of created baggage. From masters of firm we bring into being become its servant and reverence "the firm absolutely than the Novelist". We bring into being finished our life hell. We charge everybody and everything - fellow citizen, subordinate, wife or group, children, the unsuspecting in winter, the heat in summer. We gripe and nag about everything. We bring into being become ill fated, humiliated, irritable and cannot faithfully be blissful with our lives.
The go through of the real thing life, which is the life of the Ordinary Church, motivation help us to rediscover ourselves, our lost spiritual politeness, and how to faithfully wallow in life.
Source: "Ekklesiastiki Paremvasi", , January 2002. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
