👉🏾👉🏾👉🏾#Saint #Arsema
Dear followers of the Orthodox teachings on John's Repentance website .we greet you with the peace of the Lord. Today, based on the topic mentioned above, we present to you the following important lesson. We encourage everyone to read it carefully and learn from it.
Tahsas 6, 2018 A.D.
✍🏾 The martyr Saint Arsema is commemorated annually for the migration of her holy body, as well as the dedication of her church and shrine, in the regions of Armenia, Cilicia, Syria, Antioch, and Egypt.
Saint Arsema was born to Saint Theodoros and Saint Athnosiya her righteous parents. They were saints adorned with godly conduct and praised for their good works. They devoted themselves to fasting, prayer, almsgiving, and tithes, and were diligent in every spiritual labor.
Despite their righteous life, they were deeply sorrowful because they had no children until old age. Saint Athnosiya, like Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel, went to church morning and evening, weeping before God. Their unceasing prayer was that God would grant them a child.
God, who fulfills the desires of the faithful, heard her prayer and appointed the Archbishop of Caesarea to intercede for her. The God instructed Lydianos to pray for her. Through God’s mercy, Saint Arsema was born to her father Saint Theodoros and her mother Saint Athanasius.
According to the account of her martyrdom, her family belonged to a noble priestly lineage who served God with sincerity and faithfulness.
✍🏾The martyr Saint Arsema was among the holy women who diligently learned the Holy Scriptures from her family. She did not keep knowledge in words alone, but translated what she learned into righteous practice and devoted herself continually to prayer and spiritual discipline.
✍🏾During the time of this great martyr, the pagan king who ruled Armenia was called Dertads. In direct opposition to the command of God given to Moses:
👉🏾 “You shall not make for yourself molten gods”(Exodus 34:17)this king worshiped the sun as an idol.
✍🏾He persecuted the Christians of his time and issued a decree, saying:
👉🏾“You must worship the god that I worship. If you refuse, you will be punished for disobeying my command.”
✍🏾The cruel King Dirtads inflicted severe suffering and torture upon twenty-seven Christians because they refused to obey his command. These faithful believers fulfilled the word of our Lord, who said:
✍🏾“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.”
👉🏾For this reason, they were beaten and subjected to great cruelty, because they would not bow down to the idol that the king worshiped.
✍🏾Saint Arsema, who witnessed their suffering and steadfast faith, was deeply strengthened by their example. According to the account of her life, she began to live a life of spiritual struggle and holy courage, imitating their endurance.
✍🏾At the age of twenty, Saint Arsema openly rebuked the king’s injustice and boldly confessed the divinity of God, standing together with the martyrs who were suffering for the sake of Christ.
✍🏾The king’s servant, amazed by her courage, beauty , and the wisdom of her words, did not dare harm the young woman who willingly accepted martyrdom. Instead, he brought her, together with the twenty-seven Christians, to the king’s palace.
✍🏾When the king saw Saint Arsema, of whom much had been spoken, he was captivated by her beauty and eloquence. Being ruled by earthly desire, he sought her for his own pleasure and begged her to become his wife. He attempted to deceive her by offering gold, silver, and the riches of this world.
✍🏾But Saint Arsema, knowing that bodily beauty is temporary and that worldly wealth is vain and passing, remained firm in her holy resolve and answered the king, saying:
👉🏾“I am the bride of Christ the King, and I do not desire the perishable wealth and pleasures of this world.”
Continues 👇🏾