ELEUTHERIUS AT CONSTANTINOPLE

Saint Eleutherius suffered for Christ under Maximian Galerius (293–311). His special veneration in the Ancient Church is evidenced by the fact that already under the Christian Emperor Arcadius (395–408), that is, just a century after his martyrdom, a Church was dedicated to the saint in Constantinople. For this reason, the saint is often called Eleutherius of Constantinople. In our time, Eleutherius is one of the great forgotten saints.

He should be distinguished from another holy bishop and martyr of the same name, who suffered for Christ with Saints Anthia and Caribus during the reign of Hadrian (117–138). Their memory is also celebrated on this day.

The saint was a friend of Emperor Maximian Galerius (293–311), under whom Christians were brutally persecuted. Knowing about Christ, but not being enlightened by the light of baptism. Eleutherius retired to his estate.

So he prayed in a secret place in fulfillment of the words of the Gospel: “When you pray, go into your room and, having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6). ,6). Eleutherius took the words of the Lord from the Sermon on the Mount literally. He lived by secret prayer and faith.

Soon, a wandering preacher-presbyter enlightened Eleutherius with the light of holy baptism. God is light, and everything connected with him is filled with light, and the mysticism of light and fire.

“I have come to bring down fire on the earth, and how I wish it would already be kindled,” says Jesus in the Gospel (Luke 12:49).

Then one of the servants reported to the emperor that the real reason for the saint’s removal was not illness, as they thought, but the confession of the Christian faith. Hearing this, Maximian himself, as the life tells, or through his immediate servants, which is also very likely, sent an embassy from Nicomedia - the then residence of the Eastern emperors - with orders to understand what had happened.

Any questions became unnecessary when the messengers discovered a prayer room in Eleutherius’s home. Deprived of any idols or images of the emperor, she immediately forced the messengers to remember that Christians are “atheists and atheists.” After all, they do not worship numerous gods and do not consider the emperor “lord”!

The peculiarity of what happened next is that, unlike the overwhelming majority of the lives of martyrs, the Emperor did not apply threats to his Christian servant at all, but friendly persuasion. It turned out that he truly appreciated and loved his servant as a human being and was his friend. “But a man’s enemies are his own household” (Matt. 10:36).

Not giving in to persuasion, Eleutherius “stubbornly, senselessly and fanatically,” as it seemed to the Roman pagans, for example, Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161–180) in his “Diaries,” chose life over death. For to succumb to the persuasion of family and friends and to renounce the faith meant true death. Let us remember that the Ancient Church called the days of the martyrdom of saints “birthdays”.

The name “Eleutherius” is translated from Greek as “free”. According to the Bible, freedom is the inability to choose evil and commit sin. Only One Man was completely free. His name is Jesus the Lord. Through the prayers of Saint Eleutherius, may he grant us protection from the seductive atheism of those closest to us. May the Lord Jesus preserve us from such a difficult and wicked time.