“Our heart is like the darkened earth;
the Gospel is like the sun enlightening and giving life to our hearts.
May the true sun of Thy righteousness shine in our hearts, O Lord!”
St. John of Kronstadt – My Life in Christ, pg. 241
Tryphon was born of poor parents in the village of Lampsacus in Phrygia. In his childhood he tended geese. From childhood he also had great grace from God, such that he was able to cure illnesses that afflicted people and livestock and to expel evil spirits. The Roman Empire at that time was ruled by the Emperor Gordian. His daughter went insane, and this caused the Emperor great sorrow. All the physicians were unable to help Gordiana. An evil spirit spoke through her and said that no one except Tryphon could cast him out. After many who were named Tryphon were summoned, by divine providence young Tryphon was also summoned. He was brought to Rome, and he healed the Emperor’s daughter. The Emperor lavished upon him many gifts, all of which Tryphon distributed to the poor upon his return. In his village this holy youth continued to tend geese and to pray to God. When Decius, the persecutor of Christians, was crowned emperor, St. Tryphon was tortured and cruelly tormented for Christ. He endured all his tortures with great joy, saying: “Oh, if only I could be made worthy to die by fire and torture for the name of the Lord and God, Jesus Christ!” The tortures did him no harm, and finally the tormentors sentenced him to be beheaded. Before his death he prayed to God, and he gave up his soul in 250.
They were prominent and wealthy citizens of Constantinople and lived a God-pleasing life and dedicated all their attention to the Christian upbringing of their sons, John and Arcadius. The two sons were in a shipwreck and deposited in two different areas on the shore. They each believed the other perished. Out of their grief for each other, they both became monks in different monasteries. After two years, their grieving parents came to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage to venerate the holy shrines. There the brothers met, and after that the parents met their children, all with the help of the clairvoyance of a certain spiritual father. Out of gratitude to God, Xenophon and Mary distributed their entire estate to the poor; and both of them were tonsured. The history of these four souls is touching, and it shows how the Lord wonderfully guides the fate of those who believe in him: how He permits pain and sorrow to come upon them so that later, having been yet more strengthened in faith, they may be led into still greater joy. They lived and reposed in the Lord in the fifth century.
The Christian receives great benefit from the Divine Mysteries, both in his soul and in his body, before he communes, at the time when he communes, and after he has communed. Before he communes, he must make the necessary preparation, that is, he must confess to his spiritual father, correct himself, feel compunction, acquire inner attention, guard himself from passionate thoughts as far as possible, and also from every other vice. Similarly, he must exercise self-restraint, pray, be inwardly awake, become more devout, and do every other kind of good deed, reflecting what awesome King he is about to receive within himself; especially if he considers that the grace which is given to him from Communion is proportionate to his preparation. It is evident that the more one makes such preparation, the more benefit he receives. Through holy Communion the mind is illumined, the intellect is brightened, all the powers of the soul are purified, the passions of the flesh are deadened,and the love for God is kindled. (Modern Orthodox Saints, pg. 81.)
The Lord loves us dearly, despite our sins, if only we will humble ourselves and love our enemies. He who loves not his enemies will never find peace, even though he were to be set down in paradise…