23 MARZO feste santi e memorie

23 MARZO feste santi e memorie

Saint NICON, originaire de Naples, prêtre et martyr en Sicile avec CENT NONANTE-NEUF disciples lors de la persécution de Dèce (251). (Office traduit en français par le père Denis Guillaume au tome III des Ménées.) The Monk Martyr Nikon was born at Neapolis (Naples). His father was a pagan, and his mother a Christian. He was not baptized, but his mother secretly instructed him in the tenets of Christianity. Nikon was still a pagan when he reached adulthood. He served as a soldier, and showed unusual courage and strength.

Once, Nikon and his military company were surrounded by enemies. In deadly peril, he remembered the Christian precepts of his mother and, signing himself with the Sign of the Cross, he prayed to God, vowing to be baptized if he were saved. Filled with unusual strength, he killed many of the enemy, and put the rest to flight.

He managed to return home, giving thanks to God for preserving his life. With the blessing of his mother, he set off in search of a priest. This was no easy thing to do in a time of persecution. St Nikon took a ship to the island of Chios. He went up on a high mountain and spent eight days in fasting and prayer, entreating the Lord to help him.

An angel of God appeared to St Nikon in a dream, showing him the way. St Nikon went to Mount Ganos, where many monks were hidden, headed by Theodosius the Bishop of Cyzicus. St Nikon received from the bishop both the mystery of Baptism and the angelic schema (i.e., monastic tonsure). Living in the cave church, St Nikon became an example for all the brethren.

When St Nikon had lived on the mountain for three years, an angel revealed to the bishop that St Nikon should be consecrated bishop, and should move to the province of Sicily with all the monks. Bishop Theodosius obeyed the angel, and then died after he had entrusted the 190 monks to St Nikon. After he buried Bishop Theodosius, St Nikon sailed to Sicily with the brethren, and so was saved from approaching barbarians.

By God's grace, St Nikon came to his native city Neapolis. He found his mother still alive, and he remained with her for the final day of her life. His mother collapsed on his chest with tears of joy and kissed him. Making a prostration to the ground, she said, "I give thanks to You, O Lord, for You have permitted me to see my son as a monk, and as a bishop. Now, my Lord, hear Your servant, and receive my soul." When she had finished this prayer, the righteous woman died. Those present glorified God and buried her with psalmody.

Rumors of St Nikon's arrival spread through the city, and ten soldiers, his former companions, came to see him. After conversing with the saint they believed and were baptized, and went with him to Sicily. Having arrived on the island, St Nikon settled with the monks in a desolate area, called Gigia, near the river Asinum.

Many years passed, and there was another persecution against Christians. Quintilian, the governor of Sicily, was informed that Bishop Nikon was living nearby with many monks. All 199 monks were seized and beheaded, but they left St Nikon alive in order to torture him.

They burned him with fire, yet he remained unharmed. They tied him to the tails of wild horses to be dragged over the ground, but the horses would not budge from the spot. They cut out the saint's tongue, threw him off a high cliff, and finally beheaded him. The body of the hieromartyr Nikon was left in a field to be eaten by wild beasts and birds.

A certain shepherd, possessed by an evil spirit, went to that place, and finding the body of the saint, he immediately fell to the ground on his face. The unclean spirit, vanquished by the power of the saint, had thrown him to the ground and gone out from him with a loud shriek: "Woe is me, woe is me, where can I flee from Nikon?"

The healed shepherd related this to the people. The bishop of the city of Messina also learned of this, then he and his clergy buried the bodies of St Nikon and his disciples

Troparion — Tone 4

By your ascetic way of life / you conquered the crafty one, Holy Father Nikon. / By virtue of your holy life you became a rule and model to your disciples, / and with them you struggled for the Faith in the West. / You have all attained glory in heaven.

Kontakion — Tone 8

Of like discipline with the Ascetics, and rivaling the holy Athletes in zeal, / you were offered to the Lord through martyrdom, steadfast and righteous Martyrs. / As your sure guide you had the glorious Nikon; / fighting together with him you sang: Alleluia.

 

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Martyr Lydia in Illyria   Holy Martyrs Lydia, Philetus, Macedonius and Theoprepius, and those with them: St Philetus was a dignitary at the court of the emperor Hadrian (117-138), a persecutor of Christians. For openly confessing his faith in Christ the Savior, St Philetus was brought to trial with his wife St Lydia and their sons Macedonius and Theoprepius. By Hadrian's order, St Philetus was sent with his family to Illyria to the military governor Amphilochius to be tortured.

Amphilochius gave orders to suspend them from a tree and to torture them with knives. After this, they were locked up in prison with the jailer Cronides, who believed in Christ. An angel came to them by night and eased their sufferings.

On the following day the martyrs were plunged into a cauldron of boiling oil, but the oil cooled instantly, and the saints remained unharmed. The military governor Amphilochius was so astonished at this miracle that he himself believed in Christ and went into the boiling oil saying, "Lord, Jesus Christ, help me!" and he remained unharmed. The tortures were repeated when the emperor Hadrian came to Illyria. They threw the holy martyrs into the boiling oil again and again, but by the power of God they remained alive.

The humiliated emperor returned to Rome, and the holy martyrs gave thanks to God, then they surrendered their holy souls to Him.

Saint FIDELE, martyr en Afrique.

Saint DOMETIOS de Phrygie, martyr sous Julien l'Apostat (entre 360 et 363). Il Menologio bizantino edito per ordine dell'imperatore Basilio TI così afferma: "Dometius Christi martyr, tyrannidem exercente Juliano Apostata, fuit e Phrygia oriundus". Il Martirologio Romano, che ricorda Domezio al 23 marzo, lascia vagamente intendere che il suo martirio avvenne in Cesarea di Palestina. Egli stesso avrebbe provocato il proprio arresto, attaccando gli errori del paganesimo in una pubblica riunione in onore degli dei. Ebbe prigione, tortura, decapitazione.
Altre fonti agiografiche bizantine aggiungono a Domezio dei compagni, che nel Martirologio Romano sono elencati nella seguente successione: Pelagia, Aquila, Eparchio, Teodosia; ma tale elenco, con l'aiuto della lezione dei sinassari, è da emendare così: Pelagia, Aquila " eparca " (non, dunque, nome di persona, Eparchio, ma di autorità e dignità, come governatore) e Teodosio (non Teodosia).

Saint MAIDOC (MO-MHAEDOG), higoumène en Irlande (Vème siècle).

Saint FELIX et VINGT compagnons, martyrs en Afrique (Vème siècle).

Saints CRESCENT, prêtre, LIBERAT, médecin, martyrs en Afrique avec la femme et les deux fils de saint Libérat, ainsi qu'au autre enfant, par la main des Vandales ariens lors de la persécution de Hunéric (484).

Saint VICTORIEN, proconsul de Carthage, DEUX autres martyrs, et deux marchands tous deux nommés FRUMENCE, martyrs en Afrique par la main des Vandales ariens lors de la persécution de Hunéric (484).

Saint PEAUX, Irlandais de nation, ermite à Hennebont en Bretagne (VIème siècle).

Saint REVERT, ermite près de Rennes en Bretagne (VIème siècle).

Saint BENOÎT, moine en Campanie (550).

Saint EUSEBE, évêque du Tricastin (vers 600). 
Saint ETHILWALD, ermite à Ripon en Angleterre (699).

Saint FELIX, moine et thaumaturge au monastère du Mont-Cassin (vers l'an 1000). 

 


Saint NICON, abbé de la Laure des Grottes de Kiev (1088). (Tropaire et kondakion traduits en français par le père Denis Guillaume au tome III du Supplément aux Ménées.)  Saint Nikon of the Kiev Caves was the first disciple and fellow-ascetic of St Anthony (July 10), the founder of the Kiev Caves monastery, to which he came as a priest. At the monastery he tonsured all the new monks, and among their number was St Theodosius of the Caves (May 3 and August 14).

For tonsuring the favorites of the Great Prince Izyaslav, Sts Barlaam (November 19) and Ephraim (January 28 ), St Nikon brought the wrath of the prince down upon himself, but he refused to force the new monks to leave the monastery. The princess calmed Izyaslav, and he left St Nikon in peace.

When the number of brethren in the monastery had increased, St Nikon desired to go into seclusion and live as a hesychast. He went to the Tmutarakan peninsula (on the eastern banks of the Kerchensk straits) and settled in an unpopulated spot. When news of his holy life and spiritual gifts spread throughout the region, many gathered about him, wishing to follow his example. Thus a monastery and a church were founded in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos.

When he returned to the Kiev Caves monastery, St Nikon was obedient to St Theodosius as his spiritual Father. According to St Nestor the Chronicler (October 27), when St Theodosius had to go somewhere, he entrusted all the brethren to the care of St Nikon. Sometimes he asked St Nikon to offer instruction to the brethren in place of himself. Often, when St Nikon was binding books, St Theodosius sat near him and spun the thread for the binding.

When Prince Svyatoslav drove out his brother Izyaslav from Kiev, St Nikon returned to the monastery he founded. He returned under the igumen Stephen. When St Stephen (April 27) left the Kiev Caves monastery, St Nikon was chosen as igumen of the monastery. He toiled much to adorn his monastery with spiritual books and icons. He died at a great old age (+ 1088) and was buried in the Near Caves of St Anthony.



Saint PACÔME, fondateur du monastère de Nerekhta dans la région de Kostroma et thaumaturge (1384). (Office traduit en français par le père Denis Guillaume au tome III du Supplément aux Ménées à la date du 21 mars.)

Saint BASSIAN, archevêque de Rostov (1481).

Saint BASILE, pieux apprenti d'un commerçant de Mangazéïa en Sibérie occidentale, martyr par la main de son patron sur un soupçon injuste de vol et thaumaturge (1602). (Tropaire et cathismes des matines traduits en français par le père Denis Guillaume au tome XIII du Supplément aux Ménées à la date du 22 mars.)

Saint LUC, domestique de profession, martyr à Mytilène par la main des Musulmans (1802).

Saint MACAIRE, prêtre, martyr par la main des Communistes (Russie 1931).

Saints BASILE, prêtre, ANASTASE, moine, et ALEXIS, laïque, martyrs par la main des Communistes (Russie 1938).

Saint SERGE, confesseur (Russie 1948).

Venerable Sergius (Srebryansky), the New Confessor of Tve