Eastern Rite - Tenth Sunday After Pentecost and the Feasts of the Procession with the Holy Relics of the Life-Giving Cross, Seven Holy Martyred Maccabees, Their Mother Solome and Their Teacher Eleazar

Today is the Tenth Sunday After Pentecost and the Feasts of the Procession with the Holy Relics of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, and of the Seven Holy Martyred Maccabees, Their Mother Solome and Their Teacher Eleazar.

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The origin of this Feast is explained in the Greek Horologion of 1897: “Because of the illnesses which occur during the month of August, it was customary at Constantinople to carry the Precious Wood of the Cross in procession throughout the city for its sanctification, and to deliver it from sickness.”

On the eve (July 31), the Cross was removed from the imperial treasury and placed it upon the Holy Table of the Great Church of Hagia Sophia (which is dedicated to Christ, the Wisdom of God). From August 1 until the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, there was a procession throughout the entire the city, and then the Cross was placed where all the people could venerate it.

In the Russian Church, this Feast is combined with the remembrance of the Baptism of Rus on August 1, 988. In the “The order of services for the holy, catholic, and apostolic Great Church of the Dormition,” which was compiled in 1627 by order of Patriarch Philaret of Moscow and All Rus, there is a similar explanation of the Feast: "On the day of the Procession of the Precious Cross there is a Cross Procession with the Sanctification of Water, for the enlightenment of the people, in all the towns and places."

Knowledge of the day of the actual Baptism of Rus is preserved in the Chronicles of the XVI century: “The Baptism of the Great Prince Vlodomyr of Kyiv and of all Rus took place on August 1.”

In the current practice of the Russian Church, the service of the Lesser Sanctification of Water on August 1 takes place either before or after Liturgy. Because of the Blessing of Water, this first Feast of the Savior in August is sometimes called “the Savior of the Water.” Along with the Blessing of Water, there may also be a Blessing of Honey (thus it is also called “the Savior of the Honey),” because, on this day, the newly-gathered honey is blessed and tasted.

Troparion — Tone 1

O Lord, save Your people, / and bless Your inheritance! / Grant victories to the Christian Faithful / over their adversaries. / And by virtue of the Cross, / preserve Your habitation!

Kontakion — Tone 4

As You were voluntarily crucified for our sake, / grant mercy to those who are called by Your name; / make all Orthodox Christians glad by Your power, / granting them victories over their adversaries, / by bestowing on them the invincible trophy, Your weapon of peace!

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The seven holy Maccabee martyrs Abim, Antonius, Gurias, Eleazar, Eusebonus, Alimus and Marcellus, their mother Solomonia and their teacher Eleazar suffered in the year 166 before Christ under the impious Syrian king Antiochus IV Epiphanes. This foolish ruler loved pagan and Hellenistic customs and held Jewish customs in contempt. He did everything possible to turn people from the Law of Moses and from their covenant with God. He desecrated the Temple of the Lord, placed a statue of the pagan god Zeus there, and forced the Jews to worship it. Many people abandoned the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but there were also those who continued to believe that the Savior would come.

A ninety-year-old elder, the scribe and teacher Eleazar was brought to trial for his faithfulness to the Mosaic Law. He suffered tortures and died at Jerusalem.

The disciples of Saint Eleazar, the seven Maccabee brothers and their mother Solomonia, also displayed great courage. They were brought to trial in Antioch by King Antiochus Epiphanes. They fearlessly acknowledged themselves as followers of the True God, and refused to eat pig’s flesh, which was forbidden by the Law.

The eldest brother acted as spokesmen for the rest, saying that they preferred to die rather than break the Law. He was subjected to fierce tortures in sight of his brothers and their mother. His tongue was cut out, he was scalped, and his hands and feet were cut off. Then a cauldron and a large frying pan were heated, and the first brother was thrown into the frying pan, and he died.

The next five brothers were tortured one after the other. The seventh and youngest brother was the last one left alive. Antiochus suggested to Saint Solomonia to persuade the boy to obey him so that her last son at least would be spared. Instead, the brave mother told him to imitate the courage of his brothers.

The child upbraided the king and was tortured even more cruelly than his brothers had been. After all her seven children had died, Saint Solomonia, stood over their bodies, raised up her hands in prayer to God and died.

The martyric death of the Maccabee brothers inspired Judas Maccabeus, and he led a revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes. With God’s help, he gained the victory and then purified the Temple at Jerusalem. He also threw down the altars which the pagans had set up in the streets. All these events are related in the Second Book of Maccabees (Ch. 8-10).

Various Fathers of the Church preached sermons on the seven Maccabees, including Saint Cyprian of Carthage, Saint Ambrose of Milan, Saint Gregory Nazianzus and Saint John Chrysostom.

Troparion — Tone 7

Let us praise the seven Maccabees, / with their mother Salome and their teacher Eleazar; / they were splendid in lawful contest / as guardians of the teachings of the Law. / Now as Christ’s holy martyrs they ceaselessly intercede for the world.

Kontakion — Tone 2

Seven pillars of the Wisdom of God / and seven lampstands of the divine Light, / all-wise Maccabees, greatest of the martyrs before the time of the martyrs, / with them ask the God of all to save those who honour you.

(This same Troparion and Kontakion are used in commemorating the associated Saints, below.)

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Saint Solomonia was the mother of the seven Maccabee brothers. She encouraged her sons to remain faithful to the Law of God even when threatened with death.

This admirable mother is honoured and remembered for her great courage, for she watched all seven of her sons die in a single day. May we also be faithful to God’s commandments and the traditions of the Church.

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Saint Eleazar lived in the second century before Christ and was a scribe. At the age of ninety he voluntarily endured torture and death rather than violate the Law of God by eating swine’s flesh. By suffering death for the Law of Moses, he left young men, and the whole nation, an example of virtue and courage.

The story of Eleazar is found in II Maccabees, chapter 6.