The Passion of the Holy Martyr Jeremiah
Memorial 31 May During the persecution of Christians during the reign of the wicked Roman emperor Antoninus, a nobleman named Sevastian was appointed by the emperor to torture Christians.
In the history of the Christian Church, this city is known as the place of exile of St. John the Baptist (see his life on November 13th, although some understand it as the city of Comana, which was in Cappadocia.)
"A decree has been sent to me from the emperor of Rome, Antoninus, ordering all Christians to offer sacrifices to the gods of Rome, and if they refuse to do so, they will be subjected to many fierce torments. Therefore, you too, Jeremiah, offer a sacrifice to the gods, and you will be a friend of the king, and you will be rewarded with great honors. Obey me, or else I will give your soul and body to torments".
"I am a soldier of the heavenly and immortal King of Christ, whose kingdom has no end; therefore I will not obey the command of the mortal and wicked king, whose reign is short-lived, while the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ is unchangeable forever, whoever believes in him will inherit eternal life.
I have served him in secret, but now I serve him openly; the devil cannot overcome me; but thou hast power over my body only, and that by the permission of God; and over my soul no one has power, save God alone, who will give me patience and keep me harmless for ever.
What joy, what pleasure, what life, if I forsake my Maker, and worship demons? Surely it is not joy, but sorrow; it is not pleasure, but sorrow; it is not life, but eternal death. And the prince said, I see that thou art very wise. And the saint said, I am wise of the Lord, my God, in whom I trust, and whom I serve with all diligence: for him am I willing to suffer, and willing to die with joy.
And the prince said, I am ready to spare thee, and to have mercy upon thee, in thy old age and in thy wisdom. And the saint said, I seek not thy mercy, but the mercy of God, who giveth wisdom to his servants by his Holy Spirit. And the prince said, Doest thou then prefer life to death? And the saint said, This is not death, but eternal life, if I bear patiently the torments appointed by thee.
And the king commanded, and they broke the holy man's face with stones, and smote him in the mouth, and plucked the skin from off his face. And the holy man said, Blessed be my God, for his favour is with me. And the king said to the soldier, Why dost thou not take thy garment, as all the soldiers take it?
And the prince commanded that they should kindle a fire in the furnace, and cast into it the martyr of Christ. And the third day they opened the furnace, and found the saint alive and unharmed, and glorifying God, because the fire had not touched his body.
And the prince called a sorcerer, and commanded him to give poison to Jeremiah; and the holy man prayed to God, and drank the poisoned drink, and suffered no hurt, according to the word of the Lord Jesus Christ, who said, If they drink anything that is deadly, it will not hurt them. (Mark 16:18) The sorcerer prepared an even more dangerous poison, and gave it to the martyr, saying, If thou sufferest nothing from this poison, I will forsake my sorcery, and believe in the crucified God whom thou servest.
And when Jeremiah had tasted the poison, and drunk it to the bottom, he suffered no hurt, but remained sound and unharmed. Then the magician cried, Thou hast overcome me, Jeremiah, thou hast overcome and overcome me, thou servant of Christ, thou hast delivered my perishing soul from hell, and hast induced me to serve God.
As an old statue made of iron, when it is forged, is renewed, so am I renewed in soul, though I have grown old in sins and wickedness, renewed in turning to the living God, who abides forever. O God of heaven, the only true God, who delivered me from the seduction of the devil and the filth of idolatry through Thy servant Jeremiah, receive me a repentant sinner, and have mercy on me a penitent.
And when he cried, the prince was filled with wrath, and commanded to cut off his head, and the sorcerer was cut off, having been baptized in his own blood, and the new Christian and martyr turned to Christ God, for whom he laid down his life, and the holy prince Jeremiah was ordered to be tormented without mercy, having his veins pulled out from all over his body.
"I feel no pain at all from the torment; for as a knife cuts through a vein, it drains the blood and gives health to the body; so I, taking the drainage of the veins from my body, am made more and more healthy in the faith of Christ". Then the tormentor ordered to cast the saint into a pot filled with boiling oil.
"I do not feel pain or do your will, but I will do the will of my heavenly Father, to whom I offer myself as a clean sacrifice, for he is the Lord of our souls and bodies". As the saint spoke, the martyr ordered his bitter vinegar mixed with bile to be poured into his throat. The martyr said, "This bitterness is like a hundred honey for my God, in whose name I endure all this".
And when the martyr heard it, he said to the martyr, If thou wilt have my fleshly eyes, which see the vanity of this world, take them; for I have the eyes of the heart, wherewith I see the light of truth.
And it came to pass at the end of three days, that some came to see the saint, supposing him dead, and found him alive, and glorifying God; and they marveled exceedingly.
When he had brought them, he placed his hands on them and said, "In the name of the Lord Jesus you can see. " Immediately they received their sight, and went back to tell the people what had happened.
When the servants were doing so, the saint reviled the prince and rebuked his abominable gods, causing the prince to become even more angry. Roaring like a lion, he cut off the honest head of the holy martyr with a knife.
They took his body and buried him in a place called Comman in Cappadocia, where many miraculous signs and healings were performed by the faithful martyrs.
When he had fought hard for Christ, and had found courage in the gray hairs of the slain, the martyr Hermeas, who corrected the wicked by the power of Christ, and who was not hurt by the spell, cried out, "God is with me, and no one is against me".