HYACINTH OF ROME

1 The name Hyacinth was popular in Russia. This is evidenced, for example, by the surname of the famous goalkeeper Akinfeev.

2 Saint Hyacinth lived in Rome at the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries and served at the imperial court. Christianity was still a rarity at that time. Apparently, Hyacinth therefore managed to conceal his faith for a long time. But one day, he was forced to attend a court banquet anyway.

3 This meant a pagan sacrifice. The saint refused. The price for secret Christianity was cruel. Hyacinth was executed, and his body remained unburied. But it remained incorrupt, “guarded by an angel,” according to the Vita. He was later transported to his hometown of Caesarea. Hence the saint’s other name: Hyacinth of Cappadocia.

4 The saint’s example teaches us that the usual course of events is suddenly interrupted, and we must respond in our Christian confession. Therefore, we should develop a prayerful readiness for this.

5 And furthermore: From the life of Saint Gregory the Great, who is recognized in Orthodoxy as the author of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, we learn that he once prayed for Emperor Trajan during the liturgical celebration. The ancient Christians valued Trajan for his justice and military virtues. The Lord revealed to Gregory that Trajan had been forgiven. But from then on, He forbade him from such daring commemorations.

6 Saint Hyacinth of Rome is known to have served and suffered under Trajan. Wasn’t he, like the Lord in the Gospel, praying for his executioner, thus adding his powerful intercession to the Bloodless Sacrifice?