August 8 / July 26
1. The Hieromartyrs Hermolaus, Hermippus, and Hermocrates, at Nicomedia (305) Hermolaus was a priest in Nicomedia during the reign of Emperor Maximian. He was among the two thousand martyrs who the emperor condemned to be burned with their church (December 28). Somehow, Hermolaus and two other priests, Hermippas and Hermocrates, escaped death. Hermolaus later baptized St. Pan- Panteleimon (July 27), with whom he was brought to trial, tortured, and finally beheaded. Hermippas and Hermocrates suffered with them, and all were crowned with wreaths of victory and glory in the Kingdom of Christ. They honorably suffered in about 305.
2. The Venerable Martyr Parasceva of Rome (2nd c.)
Parasceva was born in Rome of Christian parents, and from her youth was instructed in the Faith of Christ. With great fervor, St. Parasceva endeavored to fulfill all the commandments of God. Believing firmly and living according to her faith, Parasceva directed others on the path of salvation and in the pious life. When her parents died, Parasceva distributed all of her property to the poor and was tonsured a nun. As a nun, she preached the Christian Faith with even greater zeal, not hiding from anyone, even though at that time the Roman authorities were conducting a bloody persecution against the Christian Faith. Then the pernicious Jews denounced St. Parasceva for preaching a forbidden faith and she was brought to trial before Emperor Antoninus. All the flatteries of the emperor did not shake the faith of this handmaiden of God. They then subjected her to torture by fire, and placed a red-hot helmet on her head. The Lord miraculously saved her, and Parasceva was freed, and left Rome. She continued traveling from city to city to convert pagans to the true Faith. She was brought before princes and judges in two more cities and was tortured for her Lord, at which time she worked great miracles and, by the power of God, quickly recovered from her pains and wounds. The pagans, as always, ascribed her miracles to magic and her swift recoveries to the mercy of their gods. St. Parasceva once said to the prince who was torturing her: “O Prince, it is not your gods who have healed me, but my Christ, the true God.” Finally, a certain Prince Tarasius beheaded her with the sword. Thus, this saint gloriously ended her fruitful life. Her relics were later translated to Constantinople. She suffered honorably for Christ in the second century.
3. The Venerable Moses the Ugrian, of the Kiev Caves (1043)
He was at the court of the young Russian Prince Boris. When the godless Svyatopolk murdered Boris, Moses escaped and fled to Kiev. A little later he was taken to Poland, by the Polish King Boleslav, as a slave— and was sold there for a thousand gold coins to the young and depraved widow of one of Boleslav’s commanders who had been slain. This wicked woman tempted Moses to commit fornication but Moses would not be tempted, for he had vowed to live chastely before the Lord. She then suggested marriage to him, but he rejected that as well. Moses then secretly received the monastic tonsure from an Athonite monk, and appeared before his owner in the monastic habit. She bound him, and ordered that he be flogged and castrated. Altogether, this shameful woman’s oppression of him lasted for five years—five years of pain and torture! Then King Boleslav was slain unexpectedly in an uprising, during which this woman was also killed. Moses was now free to go to Kiev, where at the Monastery of St. Anthony he devoted his life to prayer and stillness. Having completely conquered shameful vice in himself, Moses assisted many others to be saved from it. His holy relics have helped many (see the life of St. John the Much-suffering, July 8). After ten years of silence in the Monastery of the Caves, St. Moses found rest on July 26, 1043, and took up his abode in the eternal, virginal, Kingdom of Christ.
- Martyr Oriozela of Reuma, near the Bosphorus (ca. 250).
- Virgin-martyr Jerusalem, near the Bosphorus (3rd ).
- Gerontius, founder of St. Anne’s Skete, Mt. Athos (13th c.).
- Sava III, archbishop of Serbia (1316).
- Iakov of Atka Island and Ikogmute, missionary priest to the Yup’ik on the Yukon River (1867).
- Isaac, hieromonk of Svyatogorsk Monastery (1903).
- Theodosius of the Caucasus (1948).
- Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Of Emvolon” in
- (Greek : St. Ignatius, monk, of Mt. Steirion).
HYMN OF PRAISE
Saint Moses the Ugrian
Moses vowed purity before God,
And free in the spirit, in spite of his shackles,
Replied to the rich and loathsome woman,
Who was shackled by passion and a slave to debauchery:
“What man has ever, by heeding a woman,
Saved his own, passion-enslaved soul?
Because of a woman, Adam was expelled from Paradise.
Because of Delilah, Samson perished without glory.
Solomon the all-wise, was seduced by a woman
And lowered himself to idolatrous foolishness.
Herod’s head was charmed by a woman,
And he cut off the honorable head of John the Forerunner.
I am God’s servant, O woman, leave me alone!
Seek a companion for yourself in the world.
I will not submit to your will;
I see no happiness in a bond with you.
O woman, I must be pure in body:
That is my sacred duty before the Lord!
Neither flattery, nor gold, nor all of your power,
Shall lead me astray in either mind or body.
The Lord is Almighty: He will help me.
Only pure water bubbles forth in Paradise.
God is the God of purity;
He has created us pure.
He desires us to be pure and, as pure,
He saves us—
Purity, O woman,
is the glory of a Christian!”
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