26th October: Memory of the holy Great martyr Demetrius, the Myrobilite and Wonderworker (beginning of the Fourth century) Commemoration of the Great Earthquake at Constantinople in 740, during the reign of Leo the Isaurian Demetrius, Christs glorious martyr, a native of Thessalonica, lived under Emperors Diocletian and Maximian, and suffered for the faith around the beginning of the Fourth century. Because of the numerous cures obtained at his tomb by those who, with faith, implored his universally known power, the governor of Illyricum, Leontios, in 412-413 destroyed the small shelter where his body was found and which was situated in the enclosure of the public and the stadium. He purified the place, raised the ground level, and built a church there, thus honoring by the splendor of the edifice and the magnificence of the religious articles, the Saint and citizen of Thessalonica. The hymnographers relate that during Maximians passage to Thessalonica, the Saint was seized and thrown into prison. One day Maximian came to assist at the games which were held in the city. A famous gladiator named Lyaios, of barbarian origin and favored by the Emperor, came to boast in the center of the stadium and to provoke the inhabitants of the city into a fight with him. A young man named Nestor, giving in to Saint Demetrius prayers, went down into the stadium and left the barbarian gladiator stretched out on the ground dead. Maximian was very sad because of it. Having known who was the cause of it, he ordered Demetrius and Nestor killed at one and the same time. The Great Earthquake took place in Constantinople around 740, under Leo the Isaurian, the first of the Iconoclast Emperors. (Source: rongolini) Apolytikion: Ἦχος γ’. Μέγαν εὕρατο ἐv τοῖς κιvδύvοις, σὲ ὑπέρμαχοv, ἡ οἰκουμένη, Ἀθλοφόρε τὰ ἔθνη τροπούμενον. Ὡς οὖν Λυαίου καθεῖλες τὴν ἔπαρσιν, ἐν τῷ σταδίῳ θαῤῥύvας τὸν Νέστορα, οὕτως Ἅγιε, Μεγαλομάρτυς Δημήτριε, Χριστὸν τὸν Θεὸν ἱκέτευε, δωρήσασθαι ἡμῖν τὸ μέγα ἔλεος. https://youtube/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=fqmGJIqc4pE#t=2
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 19:05:01 +0000
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