The Holy Martyrs Trophimus and Theophilus and Their Companions.
They all suffered in Lycia during the
reign of Emperor Dioceletian. Because they would not, in any way,
deny Christ nor offer sacrifices to the idols, they were subjected to
various tortures: they were beaten with stones; they were scrapped
with sharp irons; their knees were broken; and finally, so tortured,
they were more dead than alive and were thrown into the fire. The
power of God preserved them and they remained unharmed. They were
then taken out and beheaded. The Lord glorified them both on earth
and in His heavenly kingdom. They suffered honorably in Lycia in the
year 308 A.D.
The Holy Martyrs Appolinaris and Vitalis, Bishops of Ravenna.
Apollinarius was a disciple of the
Apostle Peter and was born in the city of Antioch. St. Peter took
Apollinarius with him from Antioch to Rome and, in Rome, consecrated
him as the bishop of Ravenna. Arriving in Ravenna, Apollinarius
entered the home of the soldier Ireneaus, whose son he healed of
blindness and through that converted his entire household to the
Faith of Christ. He also cured the wife of the military commander of
Ravenna of a terrible malady and baptized his entire household. At
the wish of the military commander, Apollinarius remained in his
home. There they constructed a small domestic chapel. Apollinarius
remained there for twelve years preaching the Good News and baptizing
unbelievers. On many occasions he was cruelly tortured by the pagan
elders but the all-powerful right hand of the Lord sustained and
saved him. Finally, he was sentenced to exile in Illyria in the
Balkans. The boat upon which Apollinarius traveled was shipwrecked in
a storm and sunk and of all the passengers aboard only St.
Apollinarius, along with two soldiers and three of his clerics, was
saved. Being miraculously saved, the soldiers believed in the power
of Apollinarius' God and were baptized. Apollinarius then went to
preach the Holy Gospel throughout all the Balkans descending as far
as the Danube river. After this, he set out for Thrace where, under
great pressure, he also spread the Gospel of the Lord. After three
years of labor in the Balkans he was again banished to Italy. He
arrived in Ravenna where all the faithful exceedingly rejoiced at his
return. Hearing about this, the pagan elder wrote to Emperor
Vespasian about Apollinarius as being a magician and asked him
whether they should give him over to death as an enemy of their gods.
The emperor replied that they should not kill him but only ask him to
offer sacrifice to the gods or to banish him from the city for, says
the emperor: "It is not dignified to seek revenge against anyone
for the gods, for they themselves can avenge against their own
enemies if they are angered". In spite of this order from the
emperor the pagans attacked Apollinarius and pierced him with knives.
This servant of God died of severe wounds and was received into the
Kingdom of God. The relics of St. Apollinarius repose in the church
dedicated to him in Ravenna, Italy.Our Holy Father Sharbel (Joseph) Makhluf.
St. Sharbel was a Lebanese monk, born in a small mountain village and ordained in 1858. Devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, he spent the last twenty-three years of his life as a hermit. Despite temptations to wealth and comfort, Saint Sharbel taught the value of poverty, self-sacrifice and prayer by the way he lived his life. This optional memorial is new to the USA liturgical calendar and was inscribed on July 24, 2004.
Repose of Our Holy Father Basil (Hopko), Bishop of Midila.
Respectably Taken From the:
"The Prologue of Ohrid"
by St. Nikolai of Zica, Serbia(Velimirovic
&
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