The Passion of the Holy Martyr Patroclus

Memory of August 17 During the reign of Aurelian [Emperor Aurelian ruled from 270 to 275 C.E.] Christians were violently persecuted in Gaul and elsewhere.

Now there was an honest man in the city of Tricas, whose name was Patroclus, and he dwelt in the house that his parents had given him at the periphery of the city; and he was rich, and had much substance.

This man served God day and night, for he delighted in his holy law and led a strict Christian godly life; being well educated in the sciences, he always diligently read the holy Scriptures and bowed his knees in prayer every hour.

He ate only once a day, at the twelfth hour, and before he ate, he gave thanks and prayed to the Lord; and he distributed his goods to the needy, widows and orphans, and especially to the needy Christians who served the Lord with all their heart.

So great was his mercy that the poor considered him a distributor of heavenly treasures, for he did not lay up treasures on earth but in heaven and withdrew from all worldly pleasures, thinking only of seeking the Kingdom of heaven.

This holy man, who spent his life in the fear of God with fasting and prayer and all kinds of pleasing, received from the Lord authority to cast out demons, and was also given the grace to heal, so that he cast out unclean spirits with the power of Christ and healed people with every kind of disease.

Now the wicked king Aurelian, who was a cruel persecutor of the Christians, came from Senonius to Tricassin, and when he heard of Patroclus, he ordered him to be taken and brought to him.

"I have heard of your madness, that you have taken up false religion, and that you worship Him who has been blasphemed by men". But the saint answered nothing to these foolish words. Then Aurelian asked him, "What is your name?" The saint answered, "My name is Patroclus". Aurelian asked again,

"What religion do you have, and what god do you worship?" St. Patroclus replied, "I worship the living and true God, who dwells in the heavens and watches over the humble; I worship the God who knows everything before it happens".

"Stop this madness, and worship our gods, for we will reward you with honor and riches and your name will be glorified". The saint answered, "I know no god but the true God, who made heaven and earth and sea and all things visible and invisible".

Prove to us whether what thou sayest is true. And Patroclus said, All that I say is true; but as ye all perish in falsehood, ye will not believe the truth, for falsehood hateth the truth. And Aurelian said, I will betray thee to the fire, if thou offer not sacrifice to the gods.

And he said, Behold now, I will offer a sacrifice of praise, yea, I will offer myself a sacrifice unto my God, who hath delighted to call me to martyrdom for his holy name.

Then the king Aurelian was filled with wrath and ordered to put on the feet of the martyr iron fetters, burned on the fire; he also ordered to bind the hands of the saint from behind with iron chains, burned on the fire; then he ordered to throw the saint in the dungeon and keep there until he finds a way to destroy

The saint.

While in chains, the saint prayed to God, saying: "May your loving-kindness, please, be a comfort to me according to your word to your servant". (Ps. 118:76) And again: "I will be joyful and rejoice in your loving-kindness, for you have seen the affliction of my soul". - Ps. 30:8.

Three days later, King Aurelianus sat in his public court and ordered the martyr to be brought out of prison and brought before him for trial. When the saint was brought, the king said to him, "Holy man, go quickly, save yourself from death and sacrifice to the gods".

Our Lord hath delivered the souls of his servants from death for ever. He forsakeeth not them that trust in him. If thou wilt take anything of my substance, I will gladly give it thee; for I see that thou art poor.

"How dare you call me, Emperor, poor when I have countless treasures?"

If thou hast the riches of the world, which are fleeting, yet art poor, because thou hast not thyself, because thou hast not purchased in thy holy heart the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, therefore thou shalt be condemned of the righteous judge, God, to torment with thy father, the devil.

"You insult me so much that I cannot show you mercy".

"But woe to you, O Lord, whom I have worshipped since I was a boy, for you will go to the place of torment where Satan lives".

Behold, I know that thou art in my hand, and there is none to deliver out of my hand.

"My body is yours, but you cannot touch my soul, for no one has power over it except the One who created it. He said to us His servants, 'Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.

(Matthew 10:28) What is the meaning of this verse?

And the king said unto him, Have not our gods the same power? for they are true unto us, and they answer all things that are asked of them; and they have let thee live, thou enemy and blasphemer. And he said, What gods have ye?

Among our gods are the great Apollo, the mighty Zeus, and the mother of the gods, Diana.

[Emperor Aurelian, as a pagan, was convinced that the gods he believed in could foretell the future; he did not just intentionally mention

It's named after Apollo, who the ancient Greeks believed to be a fortune teller.

Many temples built by the ancient Greeks in honor of Apollo were at the same time considered famous oracles; the most famous was the Delphic oracle, the oracle in Orobia, on the island of Euboea and elsewhere; the ancient Greeks turned to the oracle for help in all serious and important cases, both personal and personal.

It goes without saying that the soothsayers to whom the Greeks turned for advice could not predict the future, as they always gave misleading and unclear answers.]

St. Patroclus said:

As for Apollos, whom you call a god, we have heard from our fathers that he was a shepherd for King Admetus of Thessaly.

He was an abomination, and an impious man, and a fornicator, and an adulterer, and a robber, and a sower of all evil, and a sower of enmity and strife, and a murderer, and a robber, and he died a shameful death, so that the earth could not receive his corpse.

Diana, who was called the mother of your gods, who did not know that she was a midday demon [Bes midi, literally "an infection that ravages at noon"; there may be a special disease, such as rabies, caused by the scorching rays of the southern sun (compare Ps. 90:6).]

"You blind men, unbelievers, and worshippers of idols! You are out of your mind!" the king said. "I have not been able to bear to hear you blaspheme.

And the witness said, Thou wicked torturer! thou art like a robber that slew an innocent man, and couldst not eat his flesh; and thou hast boasted that thou wouldest kill my flesh, and wouldest not eat it; and if thou hadst eaten my flesh, thou wouldest not have dared to hurt my soul.

After the saint said these words, Aurelian became very angry and ordered to cut the saint with a sword.

At the same time, Aurelian ordered his soldiers to cut the saint not on dry land, but somewhere in a marshy place, so that he could not be given to the usual human burial, but would be eaten by snakes, birds and beasts.

The soldiers took the holy martyr and led him to the bank of a river called the Sequoia, to cut the saint here in the swamp, on the bank of the river.

"Lord Jesus Christ, "do not let my body be buried in the mud, "but glorify your holy name, "so that your name may be glorified in the eyes of your enemies, "and so that the Gentiles may not say, "Where is their God?"

Hear my prayer, holy Lord, as you heard Moses and Aaron praying for your people and you parted the sea for them and led them (Israel) on dry land (Ex. 14:21-32)

Deliver me from my oppressors.

As soon as the saint prayed in such words, the eyes of the soldiers who had brought him darkened, so that they (the soldiers) did not see the martyr.

And when St. Patroclus came into the river, he went by the water, walking below the knees; and the river was very broad and deep, and also had much water from the rain; but the holy martyr went by it, not even descending to the knees; and when he had crossed the other bank, the martyr went up to the mountain that was there, and

He said:

The Lord keepeth the souls of his holy ones, and delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. And the soldiers, seeing the martyr whom they spoke of, were greatly afraid, for they feared that the king would think that they had let the condemned go at his will, and that he would put them to death.

Blessed be the God of this man, who delivered him out of our hand! And the soldiers said, He is not a man, but a ghost; for he is gone out of our sight.

And it came to pass, when the men had talked with one another, and had dared not return to the king, that a woman of the heathen, who had gone over the river in a boat, heard the conversation of the men, and saw their sorrow, and said unto them,

I saw a Christian man on the other side of the river, on the mountain, the one you're looking for. He was kneeling and praying to his God.

The soldiers, whose feet were so quick to shed innocent blood, went over the river in a boat and went up the mountain. They found it just as the woman had told them.

And he said: Lo! thou art worthy of death, for thou hast escaped from us, and behold, thou art in our hand again; and now thou shalt not escape from us, but thou shalt be put to death, and sacrifice unto our gods, if thou wilt live.

The soldiers said to him, "Which god do you have, the one born or the one created?" He said, "O falsehood, unbelief, madness, foolishness!

For he spoke, and it was made; he commanded, and it was created, the visible and the invisible.

He sent the Savior of the human race, his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who shed his holy blood for us to save us from destruction and eternal death and who rose from the dead on the third day and ascended into heaven in the presence of his disciples, and sent them, as he had promised, the Holy Spirit.

The spirit.

And he that believeth not the word shall not see life, but the wrath of God shall be upon him for ever.

For we know that whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord, and so are we. If we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

And as the saint spoke these words, the soldiers were enraged, and called the saint a blasphemer of their gods, and drew out their swords to cut him in pieces.

After this, the holy martyr Patroclus was cut off in the head. The soldiers took the head of the martyr and threw it at a distance from the body; then they left.

And there were two poor men of old, who had received alms from the hands of the saint, and who confessed the Christian faith, and they saw the death of the martyr, and heard his last words.

And when the soldiers were gone, they took the body of the martyr, and his head, with great fear, lest they should be seen of the wicked; and they hid the body and the head of the martyr until the evening, and afterwards they told all secretly to Eusebius, the chief of the city.

When night came, the protopresbyter came to the place (where the body of the martyr was hidden) with the deacon Liverius; they wrapped the holy body in a clean cloth, and they buried him that night, quietly and with a few candles, singing the appropriate psalm, fearing the pagans.

The holy martyr Patroclus died in the reign of Aurelianus in Rome, and among Christians in the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and honor with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.