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THE SIXTH
MONTH IN THE NAME
OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, On this day died the holy father Abba Eustathius, Archbishop of the city of Antioch. This saint lived in the days of the Emperor Constantine the Great, and the whole world was filled completely with his divine teaching. And when the Council of the Saints assembled in the city of Nicea, this father was one of the presidents of the Council, and he agreed with the fathers, and they excommunicated and drove out Arius and his companions, who were ‘Awsabius of ‘Amid, and Nar’Isos, Bishop of the city of Nicea. And he proclaimed by the Holy Spirit the True Faith which the holy fathers of the Council proclaimed, and he drew up with them the Canon and the Law, which are written in the churches and are well known among all Christian peoples; and afterwards, the Council of the saints drew up the Law of the Church in their own countries. And the infidels who had been cut off from their Episcopal offices went forth, and after a few days they pretended that they wished to depart to Jerusalem. And they came into the city of Antioch and they gathered together in the house of a certain woman who was a harlot, and having promised to give her much money, they taught her to go into the church, and to speak lies against this saint. And she said unto the priests and the people, “This father hath committed fornication with me, and [this] is the boy, which I bare him, and he is his son.” And she took the money from them, and did as they had taught her. And those wicked men in their craftiness made a pact with that woman and accused her of speaking lies against the saint, and they debated with her, and said unto her, “Thou art a liar, and dost speak lies against this saint, and we will neither believe thee, nor accept thy word against him, unless thou takest an oath by the Holy Gospel that it is this saint who committed fornication with thee; if thou dost not swear we will not believe thee.” And the woman swore by the Holy Gospel, according as those wicked men had taught her. And thereupon those wicked men said, “Now that thou hast sworn an oath, the whole matter is complete.” And after this those wicked men passed judgment upon this saint, and they cut him off from his Episcopal office, and then they sent a letter to the Emperor Constantine, and they calumniated the saint to him, and said unto him, “Behold, the united priesthood have assembled against him, and they have cut him off from his office, because of the fornication which he committed; do what thou pleasest to him.” And Constantine thought that what they said was true, and he sent and banished this saint to the city of ‘Etrakes, and he died there in exile. Woe be unto the souls of those men who of their evil disposition separated the Son of God from His Godhead, and drove out this saint from his office, by means of the evil pretext which their teacher Satan had taught them. And they became associates of a harlot, and they entreated her so well that at length she uttered lies against the holy man, [saying] that he had committed fornication with her, and they made her swear [this] on the Holy Gospel. But God was not ignorant about her or them, for after they had driven the holy man into exile the woman fell sick of a severe sickness, which lasted a long time. And at length her body withered, and fell into utter decay; and she knew that the severe sickness which caused her tribulation had come because of the lies which she had uttered against the saint; and she drew nigh to death. And when her sickness increased she confessed before all the men of the city of Antioch, and said unto them, “Saint Eustathius is innocent of this charge. These wicked men gave me much money, and taught me to utter lies against him, and I swore an oath falsely on the Holy Gospel. The sin to which I swore I committed with another man whose name was Eustathius, like that of the saint, and those men taught me to swear the oath, and when I did so I thought in my heart of that Eustathius with whom I had committed fornication, though I uttered the name of this saint freely with my mouth.” And when she had confessed her sin before all the people of the city of Antioch, they were exceedingly sad. And at the time of the Eucharist, the priests of the city of Antioch omitted to mention the name of this saint, and when they had heard the confession of this woman, they mentioned the name of this saint at the time of the Eucharist. And Saint John, the Mouth of Gold (i.e. Chrysostom), praised this saint in many Homilies and writings which he pronounced on him on the day of his festival. Salutation to Eustathius.
Glory
be to God Who is glorified in His Saints.
Amen. |
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