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The Miracle of St Euphemia the Martyr

St Euphemia the Martyr is celebrated twice a year in the Orthodox Church. The Feast that is approaching this week on the 11th of July is the miracle of her relics that decided the 4th Ecumenical Council, held in Chalcedon, 451 AD. 
 
The second Feast, on September 16th, celebrates her repose as a martyr. The Feast that is upon us always coincides with the Sunday commemorating the Fathers of the 4th Ecumenical Council. This year it will be celebrated next Sunday, on the 18th of July. In the Greek tradition, this particular Sunday falls between the 13th and 19th of July. The Slavic tradition does not have a separate Sunday for the 4th Ecumenical Council, instead celebrating the Fathers of the first six Ecumenical Councils on that same Sunday.
 
St Euphemia came from a Christian home. She was from Chalcedon which is a city on the banks of the Bosphorus across Constantinople. One day in the year 304 AD, the governor of Chalcedon, Priscus who was a pagan, gave an order that all the inhabitants of Chalcedon and the surrounding region appear at a pagan festival to worship and offer sacrifice to an idol named Ares. 
 
Anyone who refused to offer sacrifice would face severe torture and possible death. St Euphemia was among 49 other Christians who were apprehended in a house where they all were hiding from the authorities. At that secret house they gathered for worship. 
 
St Euphemia was the youngest of these Christians who were arrested. She endured horrific and agonizing tortures for refusal to worship the pagan idol, instead confessing her faith in Christ. Some of these tortures included: being tied to a wheel containing sharp knives and being placed in a hot furnace. 
 
At first, two soldiers named Sosthenes and Victor were ordered to bring the Saint to the furnace. However, they saw two Angels in the midst of the flames and refused to carry out the order. For their defiance, the Proconsul ordered them to be thrown into an arena and be eaten by the wild beasts. The two soldiers prayed to God to accept them into His Heavenly Kingdom and so they entered eternal life without being ravished by the beasts. 
 
Two other soldiers carried St Euphemia to the furnace but when she was thrown in, she remained unharmed. This is reminiscent to the Holy Three Youths in the Book of Daniel. This reading is heard on Holy Saturday morning. 
 
Martyr, you are held in good repute by all, as per your name. You withstood wild animals, like the Prophet Daniel of old. And by grace you defied the fire; and every other torture you bravely bore. You were awarded the wreath of victory, which never wilts or fades. Then with joy rose to Him for whom you longed. Therefore, we all call you blessed and we honor you (Festal Sticheron of Vespers).
 
Eventually she gave up her soul to God when a wild beast bit her on the leg and she bled to death. At the time of her death a great earthquake occurred which enabled her parents to retrieve her body and bury it near Chalcedon. The moment of her death parallels to that of Christ on the Cross: and Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split (Mt 27:50-51). 
 
Years later a church was built over the grave of St Euphemia. It was at this very church that the 4th Ecumenical Council was held. On July 11, the Church celebrates the miracle that occurred at that Council. At that Council, there was a dispute between the Monophysites, Miaphysites and the Dyophysites. 
 
The Monophysites believed in the complete absorption of Christ’s manhood in his single divine nature. The Miaphysites who were similar to Monophysites, believed that the person of Jesus Christ was from two natures, divine and human, and that after His Incarnation, there was a synthesis of the two natures of Christ, human and divine to make one incarnate nature. Both sides could not come to a mutual understanding, therefore, they decided by the recommendation of the Patriarch of Constantinople, Anatolius, to submit their own confessions or tomes to the Holy Spirit, through the great martyr Euphemia. 
 
On the other hand, the Dyophysites believed that Jesus Christ is one Hypostasis, one Person in two natures, divine and human. Jesus Christ is fully divine and fully human. There is no synthesis of natures, no half-God, half-man, rather one Person in two natures. Each side wrote their tomes on separate scrolls and sealed them. They opened up the grave and retrieved St Euphemia’s coffin, placing both scrolls on her bosom. After three days and three nights of intense prayer and fasting, they dug up the grave and opened her coffin, finding the Tome of the Dyophysites in her right hand and that of the Monophysites at her feet. 
 
Then the great miracle occurred: St Euphemia as though she was alive, raised her hand and gave the true Tome to Patriarch Anatolius. Thus, St Euphemia confirmed the Orthodox confession, the Dyophysites and exposed the tome of the Monophysites as heresy. The former are known as the Chalcedonian Orthodox, the latter are the Non-Chalcedonians or Oriental Orthodox Christians.
 
Martyr, inside your casket were placed the Tomes of Faith of the Orthodox and heretics. The one, which the Fathers published correctly, being inspired from above, remained there, cradled in your arms. You trampled the other one, which belonged to the heretics, whom you embarrassed, being false and opposed to God. Now invited by the Ecumenical Patriarch, we have assembled here today to praise you and honor you. And celebrating your sacred memory solemnly we rejoice. Please pray to the Savior, and beseech Him that He grant the great mercy to the world (from the Ainoi of Matins).
 
The Non-Chalcedonians are the: Armenians, Coptics, Syriacs, Malankara Syriacs, and Ethiopians. The Dyophysites, or Chalcedonian Orthodox Christians are the Eastern Orthodox Churches: Greeks, Russians, Antiochians, Bulgarians, and Romanians, to name a few.
 
The relics of St Euphemia were later transferred to Constantinople around 620 AD as a result of the siege of Chalcedon by the Persians in 617 AD.
 
O Martyr, you were adorned with virtue and illumined in mind. You pour fragrance into the hearts of the faithful. You rose from the East like bright shining star. You gathered around you the Council of the holy Fathers, through the descent of the Holy Spirit. We pray you never cease imploring the Lord on our behalf, O all-lauded Euphemia, for the salvation of our souls (Festal Apolytikion). 
 

-John Athanasatos 

A graduate of Long Island University, College of Pharmacy, and Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, John works to share the richness and beauty of the Orthodox Faith with the wider community.

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