John 21:1-14 (Matins)
2 Timothy 2:1-10
John 15:17-16:2

Among the Lions

Here, Jesus prophesies that the bloody worship of the Jews will keep moving towards its logical extreme: human sacrifice, reminiscent of Baal worship. Elsewhere "Jesus taught an innumerable multitude of people so [great] that they trampled one another":

The lost sheep of the House of Israel, having committed to blood-sacrifice so long ago, are moving inexorably toward a bloody reckoning. "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold" (William Butler Yates, The Second Coming). This thought-world, so hateful to God, will be destroyed. Not the whole world, mind you, but the Jewish lifeworld. Truly, the reversal that the Incarnation had promised, the restoration of the true worship of God, is nearing completion. And Enochic religion — the religion of the Kingdom of Heaven, of angels ascending and descending upon the sons and daughters of men, of the surety of eternal life — would be reclaimed and lived once again. And the words,

would once again be sovereign and final.

This primacy, this singularity, enraged the Roman emperors, who jealously guarded their gods. And the most severe Roman persecution of Christians was on account of this rage known as the Diocletian Persecution (early fourth century). But that term is shorthand, for Diocletian (r. 284-305) ruled with a co-emperor, Maximian (r. 286-305), a general who scorched the earth and took no prisoners. It was said that "Diocletian was the brains and Maximian the brawn," expressed among their several imperial titles: Diocletian was to be styled Jovius (Jove, the king of the gods), and Maximian, Herculius (Hercules, Jove's "strong man" subordinate). These names hold our interest, for they reveal a deep personal commitment, even identity, with the Classical gods. Outlandish? Well, within their inner urgings they had it right — to be like God — but they suffered the wrong orientation. For this is a kind of Theosis, but a perversion of Theosis.

Into this dangerous world was born a son to an illustrious pagan family in the Roman Province of Bythinia and Pontus, the city of Nicomedia, about fifty miles east of Constantinople. His name was Panteleon (b. 275), translated literally "among all lions," but loosely rendered, "first among lions," a name undoubtedly chosen by his pagan father.

Today is the feast of St. Panteleimon, healer, unmercenary, and great martyr. He is particularly close to the Russian Orthodox Church as the namesake of the Russian Church's only monastery on Mt. Athos and the place where Panteleimon's head has found peace and is venerated. We remember him each week during the Proskomedia in the fifth particle of the third prosphoron.

As we have seen, this was a tumultuous period for Christians. Panteleon's mother, St. Eubula, catechized her son in the faith but died when the boy was still young. Soon he fell into the orbit of his pagan father, Eustorgius, and conformed to the world. His father saw to a first-rate education, and eventually he would study under the renowned physician Euphrosinos. The boy quickly excelled mastering all that was set before him, and before long he came to the attention of the emperor Maximian (284-305), who planned to appoint him imperial physician.

Meantime, the hieromartyrs Hermolaos, Hermippos, and Hermocrates, who had survived the Massacre of the 20,000 in the year 303, were living nearby. By twists and turns, Panteleon became acquainted with St. Hermolaos, who picked up where St. Eubula had left off, and soon the young man's heart burned within him as before. In time, Panteleon made himself a vessel acceptable to God, which the Lord filled with power and grace. One day the saint found a dead child on the street bitten by an asp which lay right beside the still-warm body. Stricken by the sight, Pantoleon prayed ardently to the Lord Jesus that the child be revived and the snake destroyed. And it came to pass exactly as Panteleon petitioned. Right then, he resolved to be baptized. Soon another miracle was done through Panteleon, this time before the eyes of Eustorgius, his father. And they both were baptized by St. Hermolaos with Panteleon choosing to alter the spelling of his name slightly: Panteleimon, but rendering an almost opposite meaning: "all-merciful" (pan-eleison). His new name referred both to God and to the one who had become God's vessel and instrument.

The saint would become a veritable font of miracles as God's chosen instrument, inevitably showing the pagan physicians around him to be incompetents. For people of every ailment flocked to him alone. His rivals bitterly complained, and their complaint came to the attention of Maximian, who rightly interpreted all this as a belittling of his gods. And when a paralytic was healed right before the emperor's eyes, he ordered the healed man to be executed and St. Panteleimon to be fed to wild beasts as a spectacle to be enjoyed by pagans. But the animals came up gently and licked the young man's feet fulfilling Eustorgius' prophecy: he would indeed be first among the lions. The spectators cried out, "Great is the God of the Christians!" The enraged Maximian ordered the soldiers to stab these men willy-nilly and to cut off the head of Panteleimon.

So the soldiers led the saint to an olive tree and bound him. One soldier struck him with a sword, but the sword became soft like wax. Soon a voice was heard from above summoning Panteleimon to the Heavenly Kingdom. All who were present heard the voice, and the soldiers fell to their knees begging forgiveness and refusing the emperor's command. But Panteleimon admonished them not to rebel against God, and with tears in their eyes, they gave the saint a parting kiss and removed his head. The body was thrown into a great fire but remained unharmed. Relics of the passion-bearer were distributed throughout the world with his head finding rest many centuries later at the Russian Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos, which bears his name.

And how did God respond to these emperors who would play god? They would encounter a God chosen vessel at a place called the Milvian Bridge. Only a few few year's after Panteleimon's execution, Maximian's son Maxientius took the field in arms on October 28, 312, a red-letter date, for on that day a rival emperor Constantine I and all his army (according to Eusebius) looked up and saw emblazoned across the sky a great Cross with words written on it:

Constantine, of course, did conquer. The next year he would issue the Edict of Milan decriminalizing Christianity. And he would become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire in 324.

Let us offer our festal prayer to the Greatmartyr and Healer and ask shall we be "first among the lions" or shall we be "all-merciful"? The answer to this most basic question depends upon our vocation. By turns God needs both lions and healers, both fierce generals and gentle hearts full of compassion. Therefore, let us pray, let us watch and listen for God's holy promptings, and, above all, let us be faithful to His ways. Soon you will know, and the question then will be yours. Which do you want? God or the world?

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.