MARTYR HESYCHIOS OF ANTIOCH

The memory of the holy martyr Hesychios of Antioch is celebrated on May 23 (10). In 303, the Roman Emperor Maximian Galerius issued a decree stating that any soldier who refused to sacrifice to idols was expelled from the army and deprived of the right to wear a military uniform.

Hesychios was a paladin, that is, a high-ranking military official, in Antioch. A convinced Christian, he immediately resigned. However, his social position was too high for the pagans to simply let him go.

Hesychios was personally asked to perform an idol sacrifice. The saint refused and was drowned in the Orontes River with a millstone around his neck.

In the life of the holy martyr, the question of honor in the Christian sense is clearly posed. From the perspective of the pagan Roman authorities, Christian warriors who refused to renounce and return to paganism were condemned to dishonor. The symbol of this dishonor was slave clothing.

But Christ, as recent research shows, was very popular and loved in the Roman army, even among pagans. It is surprising that fearless warriors, professionals, and experts in military affairs preferred the ideal of the Great Sufferer to many potential commanders and heroes.

At that time, the conviction was growing among the ranks of Roman soldiers that suffering without guilt made one a partaker of the truth and a participant in true and eternal glory. The martyrdom of Saint Hesychios, and of many others, became the harbinger of a great prophetic change which, by God’s mysterious predestination, soon led to the Christianization of the entire Roman Empire.