St. Panteleimon the Great Martyr and Unmercenary (source)
"This I command you, to love one another." (John 15:17)
"The feast of a martyr is to imitate the martyr." [Quote of St. John Chrysostom]
The stars, my beloved, are not only contained in heaven, but our Church
has its own, and the stars of the Church are the Saints (Martyrs,
Confessors, Venerable Saints, Teachers and Fathers). The stars illumine
heaven, but the noetic firmament of the Church is also illumined by the
noetic stars, the Saints. They shine with their life, their virtues,
their wonders. And like in heaven "star differs from star according to
its radiance" (I Corinthians 15:41), thus among the Saints there are
differences. One star of great prominence is today's Saint, the Great
Martyr and Healer Panteleimon. Let's take courage to utter a few words,
weaving a humble encomium to his memory.
St. Panteleimon was born in the era of terrible persecutions against
Christianity, during the reign of Maximian (286-305AD), in a land whose
name brings forth tears, in a land which gave birth to so many of the
Saints and Martyrs: Asia Minor. Specifically, his homeland was Nicomedia
of Bithinia. There was his church, but on a dreadful day in August
1922, the children of Hagar reduced it to rubble. Today in Nicomedia,
the bells do not ring. I believe, however, that one day they will ring
there again!
His parents were nobles, aristocrats. His father was Eustorgios, an
idolater in the close court of the king. His mother, Euboule, was a
Christian according to tradition, and implanted in the heart of the
child the seed of the faith and of virtue. The Saint, however, had the
misfortune of losing his mother. Only those who have lost their mothers
can sense the loss which is left in a family by her absence.
However, the seed which his mother had sown within him was not lost. The
child grew, became a man and was noted for his goodness. His rich
father made provisions to send him to the best teachers, and even to the
famous professor of medicine, Euphrosynos. He studied near him,
excelled in his lessons and later finished as a great physician. He,
however, was still an idolater, and did not believe in Christ.
One encounter, however, changed his life. While he was still young, he
met a pious priest of Nicomedia, Ermolaos, who led him into the mystery
of Christianity . "If you wish to become a physician," he told him, "you
must know the first and greatest physician of souls and bodies, and
this is our Lord Jesus Christ!" He related His life and miracles, and
from then, the young man began to take care to believe.
The young physician wished to test if things said by Ermolaos were true.
And one day, as he was traveling through the countryside, he saw a
child who had died, and next to him was a serpent fleeing who had
poisoned him. He knelt beside the body, and lifted up his eyes on high
and said: "In the name of Jesus Christ, O child, arise, and you, O
beast, depart." And immediately, the child came to life, and the serpent
died. This event, along with others like it, strengthened within him
faith in Christ. He told this to Ermolaos, and was baptized.
The healings which he continued to work were many and are written in his
Synaxarion. Only one I will say, that he was serving as a physician in
Nicomedia, which had at that time, before the founding of
Constantinople, served as the first city of the nation. His fame had
spread. He healed with medical drugs, but there where science lifted up
its hands out of weakness, in those difficult situations, St.
Panteleimon prayed and said: "In the name of Jesus Christ...", and the
sick were healed wondrously. His successes however brought about the
wrath of his fellow doctors. They condemned him to the king, and thus he
was brought before him. Maximian tried to coerce him to become an
idolater and to sacrifice to the idols, but he stood immovable. And thus
began his martyrdom.
St. Panteleimon the Great Martyr and Unmercenary (source)
I will not relate his martyrdom in detail. The Saint's faith was great,
and he was victorious through fire, and the sword, and iron nails, and
ravenous beasts, and the wheel, and the sea, through everything. Many
believed in Christ, not just through his wondrous healings, but through
his manliness at the hour of his martyrdom. And aristocrats of the court
and courtiers and patricians of the highest ranks, in addition to
simple people came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because through
all of the Saint's wonders, I discern that the greatest thing was his
daily way of life: his love and his philanthropic offering, the
sacrifice of himself in order to help his neighbor, his virtuous and
chaste way of life, that which is sought of every Christian by the Lord.
In the end, according to the command of the emperor, the military guard
led him two kilometers outside of Nicomedia, and there, before the sun
had risen, around dawn, the lightning strike of the executioner's sword
cut off the head of the Saint. And then, instead of blood, milk poured
forth, according to the Synaxarion. And though his precious Relic was
laid in the earth, it became a treasury and spring of wonders, while his
holy soul flew to the heavenly mansions, to dwell among the Angels and
Archangels, and from there, to intercede for everyone, and especially
for his homeland of Nicomedia, that again she might see the glory of the
faith and that the bells might ring there joyously through a national
and religious resurrection.
As I said in the beginning, my beloved, "The feast of a martyr is to
imitate the martyr", as described by the sacred Chrysostom. Are we
celebrating a martyr? Then we should imitate him. Today, therefore, from
the world of the bodiless spirits beyond, the voice of St. Panteleimon
reaches us, and mystically speaks to the ears of our souls: "O
Christians who are honoring me, become my imitators!"
The Saints are the most clear sign that Christianity is not a utopia, a
theory, a philosophy, it is a reality, a harmonious life. They reveal
that Christianity crosses the ages and rules in all stations. The Saints
are the heroes of the faith and of virtue, the pinnacles of prototypes
worthy of imitation.
Today, St. Panteleimon compels us, as the teacher of all, and especially
those who are educated, rational, and who are scientists and
physicians. There is a false idea that is cultivated by the children of
darkness that science is not compatible with our faith. It is false, a
satanic lie. Because we see today's Saint was an educated and wise
scientist, and through this also believed in the Lord. And not only St.
Panteleimon, but many other Saints of the Church. And not only Saints of
the ancient eras, but many contemporary and great scientists of
national fame (physicians, chemists, mathematicians, physicists,
astronomers, and every specialty) believe in God and confess Christ. I
know of scientists in Athens who believe, fast and pray, and--it may
seem strange to you--arise at midnight to pray the prayer rope! I know
of a surgeon in "Evangelismos" Hospital who never takes up the scalpel
without kneeling to say: "Lord Jesus Christ, help me, the sinner."
Science, not of dimwits, but of great minds, kneels before the Crucified
One. In Germany, a surgeon wrote a book with the title: "Behind us
stands God", in other words, behind our science is found Christ, the
Physician of souls and bodies.
But the Saint is not just the teacher of learned scientists, but of all
Christians. He teaches us a lesson which is most simple, but also the
most difficult. It is the two words of the Nazarene, which we heard in
today's Gospel: "This I command you, to love one another." (John 15:17)
It is the lesson of love. And this is taught by St. Panteleimon, because
he applied this himself [in his own life]. Whatever he had, he offered,
and he became a servant of the people, and suggests to us that we
become benefactors, philanthropists and merciful in our social circles.
Because of this, I entreat you to be moved even more deeply to deeds of
love and philanthropy. Do not wait for everything from the government,
from others.
May God, through the intercessions of St. Panteleimon, protect our whole
people, that we might with peace and love worship our Lord Jesus Christ
unto the ages of ages. Amen.
(+) Bishop Avgoustinos
From a homily recorded in the old Church of St. Panteleimon in Florina on Saturday July 27th, 1968(source)
St. Panteleimon the Great Martyr and Unmercenary (source)
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercu on us and save us! Amen!