{"id":10212,"date":"2021-07-05T22:30:16","date_gmt":"2021-07-06T02:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stpeterorthodoxchurch.com\/?p=10212"},"modified":"2021-07-05T22:30:16","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T02:30:16","slug":"st-peter-news-july-6-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stpeterorthodoxchurch.com\/st-peter-news-july-6-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Peter News July 6, 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

Third Sunday after Pentecost<\/h2>\n

Third Sunday of Matthew<\/h2>\n

Euphemia the Great Martyr, The All-Praised Olga, Equal-to-the-Apostles, Princess of Kiev, Nektarios the New Martyr, Nicodemos the New Martyr of Mt. Athos<\/h4>\n

Who was the Great Martyr Euphemia?<\/h4>\n
\n\"Great\n<\/div>\n

Saint Euphemia lived in the 3rd century AD. She was the daughter of pious parents. Her father was a senator named Philophronos and her mother was Theodosia. She was born in Chalcedon, located across the Bosporus from the city of Byzantium (modern-day Istanbul). From her youth she dedicated her life to Christ and practiced the virtues of prayer, fasting and chastity.<\/p>\n

The governor of Chalcedon, Priscus, had made a decree that all of the inhabitants of the city take part in sacrifices to the pagan god Ares. Euphemia was discovered with other Christians who were hiding in a house and worshiping the Christian God, in defiance of the governor’s orders. Because of their refusal to sacrifice, they were tortured for a number of days, and then handed over to the Emperor for further torture. Euphemia, the youngest among them, was separated from her companions in the hope that she betray Christ if she was on her own. She was promised worldy riches but refused to deny Christ. She was subjected to particularly harsh torments, including the wheel, in hopes of breaking her spirit but the wheel miraculously stopped and an Angel of the Lord ministered to her wounds.<\/p>\n

The govenor then ordered that the saint be cast into a fiery furnace. Two soldiers, Victor and Sosthenes, led her to the furnace, but seeing to fearsome angels in the flames, refused to carry out the order of the governor and became believers in the God Whom Euphemia worshipped. Boldly confessing that they too were Christians, Victor and Sosthenes bravely went to suffering. They were cast into the arena to be eaten by wild beasts. During their martyrdom, they cried out for mercy to God, asking Him to receive them into the Heavenly Kingdom. A heavenly Voice answered their cries, and they entered into eternal life. The beasts, however, did not even touch their bodies.<\/p>\n

Saint Euphemia, cast into the fire by other soldiers, remained unharmed. Ascribing this to sorcery, the governor gave orders to dig out a new pit, and filling it with knives, he had it covered over with earth and grass, so that the martyr would not notice the preparation for her execution but here too she remained unhurt.<\/p>\n

Finally, they sentenced her to be devoured by wild beasts at the circus. Before her martyrdom, Saint Euphemia implored God to deem her worthy to suffer terribly for His Name but when she was cast into the arena, none of the wild beasts attacked her. Finally, one of the she-bears gave her a small wound on the leg, from which flowed the pure blood of the martyr, and immediately the holy Great Martyr Euphemia gave her spirit to the Lord. During this time there was an earthquake, and both the guards and the spectators ran in terror, so that the parents of the saint were able to take up her body and reverently bury it not far from Chalcedon.<\/p>\n

A majestic church was afterwards built over the grave of the Great Martyr Euphemia.<\/p>\n

Source: The Orthodox Wiki website<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Services This Week<\/h2>\n