August 31 / August 18
1. The Venerable John of Rila
This great ascetic and saint of the Orthodox Church was born near Sofia, Bulgaria, in the town of Skrino, during the reign of King Boris. He was of poor but honorable parents. After the death of his parents, John was tonsured a monk and withdrew to a mountain wilderness, where he lived a life of strict asceticism in a cave. There he endured many assaults, both from demons and men, robbers and his own relatives. Eventually, he moved to Mount Rila and settled in a hollow tree. He fed only on herbs and beans, which according to God’s providence began to grow in the vicinity. For many years he did not see a man’s face until (again, by God’s providence) he was discovered by shepherds who were seeking their lost sheep. Thus the saint became known to the people, and they began to come to him, seeking help in sickness and in sufferings. Even the Bulgarian King Peter visited John and sought counsel from him. Many who were zealots for the spiritual life settled in the proximity of John. A church and monastery were soon built nearby. St. John reposed peacefully in the Lord on August 18, 946, at the age of seventy. After his death, he appeared to his disciples. At first, his relics were transported to Sofia, then to Hungary, then to Trnovo, and finally to the Monastery of Rila, where they repose today. Through the centuries, the Monastery of Rila has been a beacon of light, a place of miracle-working power, and a spiritual comfort for the Christian people of Bulgaria, especially during the difficult time of bondage under the Turks.
2. The Holy Martyrs Florus and Laurus, of Illyria (2nd c.)
Florus and Laurus were brothers in the flesh, in the spirit and in vocation. Both were zealous Christians, and were stonecutters by occupation. They lived in Illyria. A pagan prince hired them for the building of a temple to the idols. It happened that, during their work, a piece of stone flew and struck the eye of the pagan priest Merentius’s son, who was observing the work of the builders with curiosity. Seeing his son blind and bloody, the pagan priest began to shout at Florus and Laurus and wanted to beat them. Then the holy brothers said to him that if he would believe in the God in whom they believed, his son would be healed. The pagan priest promised. Florus and Laurus prayed with tears to the one, living Lord God, and traced the sign of the Cross over the child’s injured eye. The child was immediately healed, and his eye became whole, just as it had been. Then Merentius and his son were baptized. Shortly after that, both suffered for Christ, being tortured by fire. When they completed the temple, Florus and Laurus placed a cross on it, summoned all Chris- tians and consecrated it in the name of the Lord Jesus, with an all-night vigil of hymn- singing. Hearing of this, the Illyrian deputy burned many of those Christians, and had Florus and Laurus themselves thrown into a well. He then filled it with dirt to suffocate them. Their relics were later revealed and translated to Constantinople. These two wonderful brothers suffered and were martyred for Christ and glorified by Him, in the second century.
3. The Hieromartyr Emilian, Bishop of Trebia in Umbria and others (ca. 300)
Emilian was born in Armenia. Seeking martyrdom, he traveled to Italy to preach Christ during the reign of Diocletian. He was elected bishop of Trevi. As a result of the many miracles worked by God during the time of Emilian’s torture, approximately one thousand pagans came to believe in Christ. He was slain by the sword, with Hilarion, his spiritual father, and two brothers, Dionysius and Hermippus.
- Martyrs Hermes, Serapion, and Polyaenus, of Rome (2nd ).
- John (674) and George (683), patriarchs of Constantinople.
- Macarius, abbot of the Pelecete Monastery (Bithynia) (840).
- Christodulus the Philosopher, called “the Ossetian,” of Georgia (12th c.).
- Barnabas and his nephew St. Sophronius, monks, of Mt. Mela near Trebizond (13th c.).
- Christopher, abbot, of Mt. Mela Monastery (1694).
- . New Monk-martyr Demetrius the Vlach, of Samarina (Pindos), at Ioannina (1808).
- Sophronius of St. Anne’s Skete, Mt. Athos (18th c.).
- . New Hieromartyrs Augustine, archimandrite, of Orans Monastery, and Nicholas, archpriest, of Nizhni-Novgorod, and 15 people with them (1918).
- (Greek : Martyr Juliana, near Strobilus. Martyr Leo, drowned near Myra in Lycia).
HYMN OF PRAISE
The Holy Martyrs Florus and Laurus
One mother gave birth to two sons, two saints;
Blessed is such a mother that pleases God.
Wondrous Florus and Laurus cut through stone,
And corrected the souls of men with the Cross.
What a chisel is to stone, the Cross is to the soul;
As they were hewn by the Cross, they also perished for it.
The pagan priest saw a miracle never before seen:
An eye destroyed, and then healed!
An unheard-of miracle! For him, that was enough,
And he was baptized with the
Cross and became a martyr.
Wondrous Florus and Laurus built an idolatrous temple,
But in their hearts glorified Christ God.
The brothers finished the new pagan temple,
But topped it with a cross, and lo! it was a Christian church!
With hymns of praise to Christ they filled it,
And with the beauty of candles and pure incense.
One man is truly similar to another,
But one is humble, the other haughty.
They are much alike, in body and attire,
But much unlike in mind and spirit.
In one is Christ and pure holiness,
In the other, devilish suffering and emptiness.
May our bodies, given us by God,
Be temples of the Living Spirit of God,
Through the powerful prayers of the God-pleasers,
The brothers Florus and Laurus, the holy martyrs.
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