1. St Martyr Nikephoros ☦️
In the great city of Syrian Antioch, there lived a certain priest named Sapricius and a simple citizen named Nicephorus. They loved each other so much and were so close that some considered them brothers.
After many years of such friendship, the devil, who hated everything good, became envious of them and sowed such weeds of enmity in them that they did not even want to meet each other on the road: so they hated each other; and as much as love and friendship had previously reigned between them, so much later, through the action of Satan, hatred and enmity boiled up between them.
Having lived in such hatred and enmity with each other for quite a long time, Nicephorus, having come to his senses and realizing that this enmity was being sown by the devil, began to ask his friends and neighbors to go to the priest Sapricius and beg him to forgive him, a repentant one, and to love him with the same love; but the priest did not want to abandon his enmity against him.
Then Nicephorus again sent other friends with the same request, but the presbyter would not listen to them either. He also rejected the messengers a third time and did not listen to their prayers, and thus did not bow to mercy in order to forgive a brother humbly seeking forgiveness. On the contrary, having hardened his heart, he remained inexorable, forgetting the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, who said: “Forgive, and you will be forgiven” ( Luke 6:37 ); and also: “Therefore if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has aught against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift... For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you” ( Matt. 5:23-24 , Matt. 6:14 ).
Then Nicephorus, seeing that Sapricius the priest did not want to accept the intercession for him, went to him himself and, falling at his feet, said to him:
- Forgive me, Father, for the Lord's sake forgive me.
But Sapricius didn't even glance at him; he was an unmerciful man and had neither the love nor the fear of the Lord; being a Christian and a priest, he should have forgiven his brother without being asked. Having received no forgiveness, Nicephorus left him shamed and rejected.
At this time - during the reign of Valerian and Gallienus 1288 - Sapricius was also captured as a Christian and presented to the hegemon for torture.
The hegemon asked:
- What is your name?
“I am called Sapricius,” he answered.
"What is your family?" asked the hegemon.
“I am a Christian,” answered Saprikiy.
"Are you a cleric?" the hegemon asked again.
“I am a priest,” answered Saprikiy. Then the hegemon said:
Our kings, the rulers of this land and of all the Roman territories, Valerian and Gallienus, have commanded that those who call themselves Christians should offer sacrifices to the immortal gods; and whoever disdains and rejects the king's command, let him know that after all manner of torments, he will be condemned to a grievous death.
After these words, Saprikiy, standing before the hegemon, said:
- O Hegemon! We Christians have a King - Christ God, for He alone is the True God and Creator of heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them; all pagan gods are demons, and may they be destroyed from the face of the earth; as the works of human hands, they can help no one.
Then the enraged hegemon ordered him to be stretched on the wheel and mercilessly tortured. During this ordeal, Sapricius said to the hegemon:
“You have power over my body, but over my soul you have no power: only Jesus Christ, who created it, has power over it.
After this, Saprikiy courageously endured all the torments inflicted on him.
Seeing him unyielding, the cruel judge issued the following death sentence against him:
"We command that Presbyter Sapricius, who disdained the royal command and did not wish to offer sacrifices to the immortal gods and abandon Christian error, be beheaded with the sword."
While Saprikiy was going to execution, hoping to receive the heavenly crown of martyrdom, blessed Nicephorus, hearing about this, hastened to meet him and, falling at his feet, said:
- Martyr of Christ, forgive me, I have sinned before you!
He did not answer him anything, since his heart was still filled with demonic malice.
On the further way to the place of execution, Saint Nicephorus again fell at the feet of Sapricius, saying:
- Martyr of Christ, forgive me for what I have sinned against you as a man; behold, a crown from Christ is given to you from heaven, because you did not reject Him, but confessed His holy name before many.
Sapricius, blinded by hatred and hard-hearted to forgiveness, remained implacable, showing no sign of forgiving him. He didn't even utter a word to his comrade who pleaded with him, so much so that even the torturers themselves were amazed at Sapricius's cruelty and said to Nicephorus:
"We've never seen such a madman as you. Now he's going to his death, and you beg him even more fervently: how can he possibly harm you in any way after his death? And why do you need to make peace with someone who's about to die?"
To this Saint Nicephorus answered them:
“You do not know what I ask of the confessor of Christ, but God knows.
When they came to the place where Sapricius was to be beheaded with a sword, Saint Nicephorus again addressed him:
"I beg you, martyr of Christ," he said, "forgive me if I have sinned against you in any way as a human being. It is written: 'Ask, and it will be given you' ( Matthew 7:7 )—so I beg you, and so grant me forgiveness."
But his hard-hearted friend Sapricius did not bow to such prayers; he did not recall the words of the Lord: "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart… Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" ( Matthew 22:37, 39 ); but, closing the ears of his heart and body, he remained like a deaf adder, rejecting the prayer of him who adjured him. Thus, Sapricius did not heed the Gospel that says, that he who forgives his neighbor will himself be forgiven, and he did not heed the words of the Lord: "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you again" ( Matthew 7:2 ). This is why the Lord, the righteous Judge, in His just judgment, withdrew His grace from Sapricius, and he immediately fell away from the Lord and was deprived of the crown of martyrdom he had woven for himself.
When the torturers said to Sapricius: “Bend your knees so that we can cut off your head,” he said to them:
- Why do you want to behead me?
The warriors responded to this:
- Because you did not want to offer sacrifices to the gods and disobeyed the royal command for the sake of a certain man called Christ.
Hearing this, the accursed Saprikiy said to them:
“Do not kill me, for I will do what the kings command: I will worship the gods and sacrifice to them.
Thus did hatred blind Sapricius's heart! It tore him away from the grace of God, and he, previously tormented and yet not having rejected Christ, now, instead of receiving the martyr's crown of glory, renounced eternal life and became an apostate.
Hearing these insane words of Saprikiy, Nicephorus began to beg him with tears in his eyes:
"Do not do this, O beloved brother! Do not deny our Lord Jesus Christ! Do not destroy the heavenly crown you wove for yourself amid your suffering! Behold, at the door stands the Lord Christ, Who will appear to you again and reward you with eternal life for this temporary death you have come to accept in this place."
Sapricius did not listen to his prayers: he was rushing towards eternal death, losing at the same time that endless life which he was supposed to receive through one blow of the sword.
Saint Nicephorus, seeing that Sapricius had completely fallen away from the holy faith and had turned away from Christ, the True God, began to cry out to the tormentors in a loud voice:
“I am a Christian and I believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, Whom Sapricius rejected; therefore, behead me instead of Sapricius.”
The soldiers, not daring to kill him without the order of the hegemon, were very surprised that he voluntarily gave himself up to death, completely freely exclaiming:
“I am a Christian and I will not sacrifice to your gods!”
Then one of the torturers, coming to the hegemon, announced to him that Sapricius had promised to offer a sacrifice to the gods, but there was someone, he added, who wished to die for the so-called Christ, and therefore loudly exclaimed:
“I am a Christian, I will not sacrifice to your gods and I will not obey the king’s commands!”
Hearing this, the governor ordered Sapricius to be released and Nicephorus to be beheaded in his place. Thus was the holy martyr martyred for Christ on the ninth day of February 1289 , and, rejoicing, he departed to Christ the Lord, to receive the crown of victory from His right hand and to appear before Him among the holy martyrs who glorify the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the One God in Trinity, to whom be honor and worship, glory and dominion forever. Amen.
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2. About two brothers, Titus the priest and Evagrius the deacon, who were at enmity with each other☦️
There were two brothers in spirit, Evagrius the Deacon and Titus the Priest. They had a great and sincere love for each other, so that everyone marveled at their unanimity and boundless love. But the devil, who hates goodness and always roars like a lion, seeking someone to devour, sowed enmity between them, instilling such hatred in them that they refused to even look at each other. Many times the brothers begged them to be reconciled, but they would not listen.
When Evagrius stood in the church and Titus walked with the censer, Evagrius would run away from the incense; if Evagrius didn't, Titus would pass by without censing. And so they dwelt for a long time in the darkness of sin. They approached the Holy Mysteries—Titus without asking forgiveness, and Evagrius in anger. The enemy had armed them to this extent.
One day, this Titus fell gravely ill, and, lying near death, he began to lament his sin and sent humbly to the deacon, saying, "Forgive me, brother, for God's sake, for being angry with you." Evagrius responded with harsh words and curses. The elders, seeing that Titus was dying, brought Evagrius by force, so that he might make peace with his brother. The sick man, seeing his brother, raised himself slightly, fell prostrate at his feet, and tearfully said, "Forgive me, Father, and bless me." He, unmerciful and cruel, refused before us all, saying, "I never wish to be reconciled with him, neither in this life nor in the next." Having said this, he broke free from the elders' grasp and suddenly collapsed. We wanted to raise him, but we saw that he was already dead, and we could neither straighten his arms nor close his mouth, as if he had long since died. The sick man soon got up, as if he had never been ill.
And we were horrified by the sudden death of one and the quick healing of the other, and with much weeping we buried Evagrius, his mouth and eyes still open, and his arms stretched out.
Then we asked Titus, "What happened?" Titus told us this: "I saw," he said, "angels withdrawing from me and weeping for my soul, and demons rejoicing at my anger, and then I began to pray to my brother to forgive me. When you brought him to me, I saw an unmerciful angel holding a flaming spear, and when Evagrius did not forgive me, he struck him, and he fell dead, but he gave me his hand and raised me up." We, hearing this, feared God, who said, "Forgive, and you will be forgiven." For the Lord said, "Everyone who is angry with his brother without cause will be subject to judgment." Ephraim says, "If anyone should happen to die in enmity, then an inexorable judgment awaits such a person."
And if this Evagrius, for the sake of Saints Anthony and Theodosius, does not receive forgiveness, then woe to him, overcome by such a passion!
To Polycarp . Beware of her, brother, and give no place to the demon of wrath: whoever submits to him is enslaved by him. But go quickly and worship him who has enmity against you, lest you be handed over to an unmerciful angel. May the Lord also preserve you from all wrath. He said, "Let not the sun go down on your wrath." Glory to Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever!
Sources:
1. https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Dmitrij_Rostovskij/zhitija-svjatykh/139
2. https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Zhitija_svjatykh/kievo-pecherskiy_paterik/23