The holy and righteous Eudokim

Saint Eudoki was a native of Cappadocia [Capadocia <unk> province of Asia Minor], the son of pious parents Vasily and Eudokias. During the reign of Theophilus [Theophilus <unk> Byzantine emperor 829-842 AD] he served in the army and distinguished himself by a virtuous life, diligently observing all the commandments of God and being in fasting and abstinence, as well as in prayer and contrition about sins.

He was so chaste that he never allowed himself to talk to or look at women; he did not even allow women to come to him, except his mother, whom he revered and with whom he talked.

And that he keep himself from idle talk, and unprofitable talk, and from those that love empty and foolish talk, and from lying, and from slander, and from all abomination; and that he speak not of them, but that he be a deaf hearer, and that he beautify his soul in all goodness.

Among the tumult, confusion, and commotion of the world, he was seen as a lily among thorns, or gold in the fire, undamaged by worldly temptations and passionate desires. For his virtues, he was loved and respected by all, known to the king, who appointed him chief of the Cappadocian regiment and sent him into the land of Harsiana [Harsia province in Asia Minor in the western part of Cappadocia] to govern the people.

He was a righteous man before God and man, and he exercised his power with kindness and justice; and he was a young man, and he died in peace, for God knew all things, and he searched the hearts.

(Proverbs 4:13-14) The Bible says: "He came to be in the fullness of days, and the years were long, for his soul was pleasing in the eyes of Jehovah".

Although he did not reach the gray hairs of old age, he surpassed many older men in the perfection of his virtuous life, for God-pleasing old age is not measured by the number of years: God-pleasing gray hairs are wisdom and old age <unk> the pure life of a virtuous husband; if one reaches such an age, he does not need to spend long summers in the vain and insignificant world, and he wants to "resolve and be with Christ". - Philippians 1:23.

He was pleasing to God, and God loved him, and therefore he was taken from among sinners and adored, so that malice would not pervert his mind and slander would not tempt his soul.

And when he was in his sickbed, and the time of his death drew nigh, he called his household, and made them swear an oath, saying, Behold, I will wash my body, and lay it in the clothes and shoes that were upon it, and put it in the sepulchre; and he sent forth all the people, and shut the doors; and he prayed, and they heard him.

And when he had given thanks to God, he said, Lord, into thy hands I commit my spirit. And he departed, and went to the Lord. And they buried him as he had commanded them.

And the Lord, that he might glorify him, and shew by his death what manner of godliness he was, gave him miracles, and healed all manner of diseases.

As soon as the spirit touched the tomb, it shook the man violently and came out in a loud voice.

Word about his miracles spread, and many people came to see him, anointing those who were ill with various diseases, and healing them.

A woman brought her child, whose hands were loose, motionless as if dead; as soon as she anointed her child's hand with oil from the holy lamp, it was immediately healed and began to function properly on its own.

Then they brought in another young man who was lame, so that he could neither walk nor stand; and when they anointed his feet with the oil from the lamps, the dead man was instantly healed and began to walk and leap and praise God.

And a woman came, and took the earth of the holy sepulchre, and mixed it with water, or rather with tears, and put it on her flesh, and she was healed in that day.

His mother came from Byzantium to the country of Harsia and, seeing the coffin of her son and a large crowd of people flocking to him to be healed, she fell to the coffin and, embracing him, said with tears:

O my beloved child, light of my eyes, whence is this great miraculous power in thee? whence is this healing grace? it is from God, for thy secret good works, whereby thou hast pleased thy Lord. Blessed am I among mothers, to have borne such a son, and I mourn for thee no more as for a dead son, but I sing spiritual songs as a friend of God, living with God.

And when she had said these other words with tears of joy, the mother commanded the stone to be taken down, and the earth to be dug up, and the crab to be opened; and when it was done, they saw the body of the saint, not at all decayed, his face bright as alive, and his mouth in its natural beauty; and though the saint had been in the earth for eighteen months, yet he had not changed at all, but was as alive, only asleep; a great fragrance came out of him, and they carried the crab with the relics from the earth above.

When the mother desired to clothe her son with new clothes, there happened to be a monk named Joseph, a virtuous man, in the presbyter's chair; he lifted the body of the saint from the river as if it were alive, his hands and feet freely bent; the eunuch took off the old clothes from the body of the saint, and the shoes from his feet without any difficulty, for the hands and feet themselves were subject to undressing; clothing the body in new clothes, they again put him in the river.

The mother desired to take the miraculous body of her beloved son to Byzantium: "This star", she said, "came out of my womb, let it return to me, to my house". But the people of that country gathered and did not give her body, saying, "Although this star rose out of your womb, but its setting has been accomplished for us, and again it cried out miracles.

If God had willed to be in another place with the miraculous power of pleasure, could he not have returned alive to the place from which he came to us? O good mother, do not oppose the destiny of God, and do not envy us our gift; glory suffices you that you have borne such a saint.

And Joseph, the hieromonk, became the keeper of the relics of the holy man, and stayed with him for a time, but when he found a convenient time, he took the relics of the righteous man secretly by night, and went with him into the palace.

And miracles were wrought in the way: as the stolen myrrh, though hidden, could not be hidden because of the strong odor, so the powers of St. Eudokimus, secretly taken, could not be hidden because of the grace of healing that proceeded from them: if in the way he met the sick, he was healed.

A woman who was insane approached the famous cancer, and a demon cried out in her, denouncing the wicked righteous man and speaking abusive words to him, but immediately struck by an invisible force, he abandoned the woman and ran away from her.

Joseph brought the relics of St. Eudokhimus to Byzantium, and gave them to his parents; they rejoiced exceedingly, and not they only, but the whole city rejoiced greatly at the bringing of the miraculous relics to them.

Our Russian pilgrim Antony, who was in 1200 in Tsaregrad, says: "At the pillar on the side of the Monastery of the Goddess lies the new Eudokim in a silver coffin, as if he were alive".

The parents of their holy son soon bound the innocent cancer with silver and laid it in the church of the Most Holy Mother of God they had built, in praise and thanks to God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, who is glorified in the Trinity, to whom be glory now and from us and for ever and ever.

From the earth, called to the heavenly abode, keep your body intact even in death, holy Eudokime, because you lived in purity and purity in bliss, without defilement of the flesh.

Desiring the high, having intercourse with the high, and the chariot of fire, the divine ascents of virtue, you have accomplished your soul, the delight of Eudokime: living on earth as if without flesh, you have pleased the Creator of all.