THE COMING MONTH, 2

The holy Hieromartyr Pancratius (Pancras) of Taormina (9th/22nd) was born in Antioch. As a young child he heard our Lord and Saviour preach, because his parents had heard of the teaching of the Lord and travelled to Palestine to hear Him. Later the three of them were baptised by St Peter when he was in Antioch. The young Pancratius went to Asia Minor where he took up the ascetical life, but again his paths crossed with those of the holy Apostle Peter, who brought him to the West and eventually consecrated him to be Bishop of Taormina in Sicily. Through his preaching and the gift of miracles that he had been granted he brought many to the Faith of Christ, baptised them and ordained clergy for them. Hearing of the success of the Christian mission in that place, the pagan general Aquilinus set out with a force against the city. As they approached, St Pancratius led his clergy and people out to meet them, armed only with the Cross. When the soldiers drew near to attack, darkness fell over the region, which put them to confusion and they fell upon each other and slew each other. Thus through the Cross, Pancratius delivered his city and his people from destruction. Later he died as a martyr, when he was stoned to death by pagans who were jealous of the success of his mission. His sacred relics were eventually taken to Rome. The church in London which bears the name St Pancras, the cemetery there and the even more famous (and beautiful) railway station are named for another St Pancras whose feastday is in May, but the St Pancras of Taormina was very much beloved in England in the Middle Ages because of the close contacts between Post-Conquest England and Norman Sicily. (Not every consequence of the Norman Conquest was disastrous!).

The holy Martyrs Cyricus and Julitta (15th /28th) celebrate on the same day as St Vladimir of Russia, although they lived many centuries before him. St Julitta was a woman of noble birth, living in the city of Iconium. She was a young widow with an only son, Cyricus, who was three years old at the time of their martyrdom. St Julitta brought her son up in the Christian Faith and taught him the tenets of that Faith as far as his tender years would allow. When the persecution of the Christians was raised under Diocletian, she moved from Iconium to the smaller town of Seleucia, thinking tat it would be safer for them. However, she was not saved from arrest and she and her young son were brought before magistrate. When he saw how firmly Julitta confessed her Faith, the magistrate thought to distress her and make her waver by taking up the infant Cyricus and seating him on his lap. He asked the boy who was the True God, and Cyricus boldly answered, “Christ.” He then slapped the magistrate and struggled to be free of him. This enraged the man and he threw Cyricus to the ground, kicking him down the steps on which is seat of judgment was raised. The boy’s skull was cracked and he gave up his soul as a glorious martyr. Seeing this, Julitta rejoiced in spirit, for she had been distressed by the thought that, had she been executed, the child might have been given to pagans to be raised, and she was glad instead to witness his receiving the crown of martyrdom. She herself was put to torture and eventually beheaded in A.D. 304.