The Holy Martyr the Illustrious Euphemia.
Saint Euphemia is commemorated on
September 16, the day on which she was martyred. On this day,
however, is commemorated the miracle surrounding her honorable
relics, which was manifested at the time of the Fourth Ecumenical
Council in Chalcedon. This Council was convened during the reign of
Emperor Marcian and the Empress Pulcheria in the year 451 A.D., after
the death of Emperor Theodosius the Younger. The reason for summoning
this Council was the heresy of Dioscorus, the Patriarch of Alexandria
and Eutyches, an Archimandrite from Constantinople, who spread the
false teaching that in Christ the Lord there were not two natures,
divine and human, but only one, a divine nature. At this Council
Anatolius, Patriarch of Constantinople, and Juvenal, Patriarch of
Jerusalem, played the most prominent roles. Because a conclusion
could not be reached through debates and testimonies from either
side, Patriarch Anatolius motioned that the Orthodox and the heretics
write down their confessions of faith and then place them in the
sarcophagus where the relics of St. Euphemia reposed. They all agreed
to this. Therefore, the two confessions of faith were written and
placed on the bosom of the great female martyr. The sarcophagus was
closed, sealed with the emperor's seal and military guards were
appointed. All of them spent three days in prayer and fasting. When
they opened the sarcophagus on the fourth day, they saw the Orthodox
confession of faith in the right hand of the saint and the heretical
confession of faith under her feet. Thus the dispute, through the
power of God, was decided in favor of Orthodoxy. During the reign of
Emperor Heraclius, the relics of St. Euphemia were translated from
Chalcedon to Constantinople to the church dedicated to her near the
Hippodrome. The iconoclastic Emperor Leo the Isaurian ordered that
these relics be tossed into the sea but, in a miraculous manner, the
sarcophagus was translated to the island of Lemnos and placed in the
church of the great female martyr Glyceria. Then, during the reign of
the Empress Irene, the sarcophagus with the relics of St. Euphemia
was again returned to Constantinople to its former place. Blood
flowed from these relics from time to time which helped those who
were ill or in misery.
The Passing of Olga, Princess of Kiev, baptized Helen
Helena, was a great Russian princess
who, before her baptism, was called Olga. Olga was the wife of Prince
Igor. Patriarch Polyeuctus baptized her in Constantinople. She was
very zealous for the Orthodox Faith in Russia. She entered into
eternal rest in the year 969 A.D.
Respectably Taken From the:
"The Prologue of Ohrid"
by St. Nikolai of Zica, Serbia(Velimirovic)
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