The Holy Martyr Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata
Eusebius did great things to expose
Arianism. When the throne of Antioch became vacant, Meletius was
elected patriarch at the insistence of Eusebius. Meletius was a great
beacon of the Church who, after his death, was found worthy of great
praise by St. John Chrysostom. However, the Arians quickly banished
Meletius from Antioch. When Constantine's pernicious son Constantius
died another much worse than he was crowned, Julian the Apostate.
During the time of Julian's persecution of Christians, St. Eusebius
removed his clerical attire and donned a soldier's uniform so that,
under the guise of a soldier, he visited the persecuted Church
throughout Syria, Phoenicia and Palestine strengthening the Orthodox
Faith everywhere and installing the necessary priests and deacons and
other clergy and, in some places, bishops. Following the stormy death
of Julian, St. Eusebius counseled Meletius to convene a Council in
Antioch in 361 A.D. at which twenty-seven hierarchs were present and
the Arian heresy was condemned once more and the Faith of Orthodoxy
was proclaimed in the same manner as it was expressed at the First
Ecumenical Council [Nicea 325 A.D]. Along with Meletius and Eusebius,
St. Pelagius of Laodicea the famous ascetic and chaste one, made a
great impact at the Council of Antioch. This Council was held during
the reign of the pious Emperor Jovian. However, Emperor Jovian soon
died and the wicked Valens was crowned and again the persecution of
Orthodoxy ensued. St. Meletius was exiled to Armenia, Eusebius exiled
to Thrace and Pelagius exiled to Arabia. After Valens, Gratian was
crowned emperor and it was he who granted freedom to the Church and
recalled the exiled hierarchs to their former sees. Thus, they
returned: Meletius to Antioch, Eusebius to Samosata and Pelagius to
Laodicea. At this time, many dioceses and many parishes were widowed
and Eusebius zealously hurried to find and to give to the people
canonical shepherds. When he came to the town of Doliche to enthrone
the newly elected bishop Marinus and to denounce the heresy of Arius,
which was strong in this town, a fanatical heretic hurled a ceramic
tile at Eusebius' head and mortally wounded him. This great zealot,
saint and martyr of Orthodoxy died to live eternally in the
blessedness of Paradise. He suffered in the year 379 A.D.
Respectably Taken From the:
"The Prologue of Ohrid"
by St. Nikolai of Zica,
Serbia(Velimirovic)
No comments:
Post a Comment