April 11 / March 29

Saint Mark, Confessor and Bishop of Arethusa in Syria (364) and those with him.

We are told about Mark’s suffering by St. Gregory the Theologian and by Blessed Theodoretus. According to these reports, during Emperor Constantine’s reign, Mark destroyed a pagan temple and converted many to the Christian Faith. When Julian ascended the throne and shortly thereafter apostatized from the Faith of Christ, some citizens of Arethusa also denied Christ and reverted to paganism. Then they rose up against Mark because he had destroyed their temple, seeking that he either rebuild the temple or pay a large sum of money. Since the aged Mark refused to do either of the two, he was flogged, mocked, and dragged through the streets. After that, they severed his ears with a fine but strong thread. They then stripped him, smeared him with honey, and left him tied to a tree in the heat of summer to be bitten by wasps, mosquitoes, and hornets. The martyr of Christ endured all without complaint. Mark was very old, but his countenance shone like an angel. The pagans reduced the price for their temple even more and finally sought from Mark an insignificant sum. This he could have easily given, but he refused to give even one coin for this purpose. His patience made an enormous impression on the citizens, gaining him their admiration and pity. They then lowered the cost of the temple to practically nothing, in order to allow him to live. Finally, they permitted him to go free, and one by one they all received instruction from him and returned to the Christian Faith. At the same time, in the city of Heliopolis at the foot of Mount Lebanon, the deacon Cyril suffered for a similar act. During the time when Christianity enjoyed freedom, Cyril destroyed some idols, and was later brutally tortured under Julian the Apostate. So embittered were the pagans against him that, when they killed him, they ripped him open with their teeth and tore out his entrails. The same day on which St. Cyril suffered, many others also suffered. The spiteful pagans carved their bodies into pieces, mixed them with barley, and fed them to the swine. Punishment reached them swiftly: all of their teeth fell out and an unbearable stench came forth from their mouths.

The Venerable John the Hermit, of Egypt (4th c.)

John was the son of Juliana, a Christian woman in Armenia. As a young boy, he left his mother and withdrew into the wilderness, completely aflame with love for Christ the Lord. In the wilderness, he first surrendered himself to the guidance of a spiritual director, Pharmutius, who had been found so worthy before God that an angel brought him bread daily. Later, the young John departed and withdrew into solitude. He lowered himself into a dry well, where he spent ten years in fasting, prayer, and vigils. St. Pharmutius brought bread from the angel and gave it to him. So that the young John would not become proud, the angel of God did not give bread to him personally, but rather through his spiritual father Pharmutius. After ten years of difficult ascetic labors in the well, St. John reposed in the Lord. His relics revealed themselves to be wonderworking. He lived and was glorified by God and men in the fourth century.

• Diadochus, bishop of Photike in Epirus (ca. 486).
• Eustasius, abbot, of Luxeuil (7th c.).
• Eustathius the Confessor, bishop of Kios in Bithynia (9th c.).
• Jonah (1480) and Mark (15th c.) of the Pskov Caves Monastery.
• New Martyrs Priest Paul Voinarsky, and brothers Paul and Alexis Kiryan, of Crimea (1919).

HYMN OF PRAISE

The Lord, Hero of Heroes

The Heroic Lord gathers all heroes,
All who can maintain the Faith
And remain faithful to God unto death, 
And who can endure sufferings,
Offering thanksgiving to God,
Being proud of their sufferings;
And who can forgive others,
And receive insults as praise;
And who can still instruct others
To return from the sinful path to righteousness
With a sorrowful, compassionate soul;
And who can be merciful,
And rejoice in the joy of others,
And cry with a weeping heart;
And who can restrain themselves
From evil deeds, words and thoughts,
From over-indulging in drink and food;
Who do not please their bodies,
But consider them to be temporary chariots
From which they struggle on the battlefield,
To preserve their God-given souls,
To preserve the Christian Faith,
So that they might enter the city of Paradise,
Wherein is the Kingdom of the Lord of Heroes,
Wherein, with heroes, the Hero reigns,
With heroes not of this world.

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