Synaxarium
Daily Stories of the Saints
for the Blessed Month of Baramoudah
The Fifth Day of the Blessed Month of Baramoudah
Baramouda 5
Commemoration of the Great Prophet Ezekiel,
the son of Buzi
On this day the great prophet
Ezekiel the son of Buzi departed. This righteous man was a priest, and
Nebuchadnezzar exiled him with king Jehoiachin to Babylon. There in the
land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar, the spirit of the Lord was upon
him, and he prophesied about wondrous things for twenty two years. He spoke
concerning the birth of the Lord Christ by the Lady the Virgin St. Mary
and how after she had borne Him, she would remain a virgin: "Then He brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces toward
the east, but it was shut. And the LORD said to me, "This gate shall be
shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it, because the
LORD God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut" (Ezekiel
44:1-2). He prophesied concerning the baptism that sanctify the soul of
the man and his body, soften his stony heart, and make him a son of God
by the descent of the Holy Spirit upon him. He admonished the priests for
their forsaken the teaching of the people, warning them that God will ask
for their souls from them if they neglect teaching them. He prophesied
concerning the common resurrection and the rising of the bodies with their
souls, and about their rewards for whatever they deserve. He said many
useful sayings which are of benefit to those who read them, and God manifested
through him many signs and great wonders. When the children of Israel worshipped
idols in Babylon, he rebuked them and their leaders rose up and killed
him. They buried him in the tomb of Shem and Arphaxad.
May His prayers be with us. Amen.
Martyrdom of St.Hepatius, Bishop of Gangra
On this day also St. Hepatius,
Bishop of Gangra, in the province of Paphlognia (Pavlagonia), was martyred.
He was in the early part of the fourth century, and he attended the first
Universal Council at Nicea, year 325 A.D. He was one of the great fathers
that defended the Divinity of the Word of God and His equality with His
Father in essence, and refuted the error of the heresies of Arius, Appolonius,
Novatius and others. God had honored him with the gift of performing wonders,
and was called the wonder worker. One of his wonders, during the days of
Emperor Constans the son of Constantine the great: A beast entered the
royal barns. The Emperor sent to the Saint asking him to go to the barns
and kill that beast. The holy shepherd went there and after he prayed,
he asked the servants to collect firewood in the yard of the city and put it on fire and they did. The
Saint took his staff and put it in the beast's mouth and led it to the
fire and it was burnt. As a commemoration of this miracle the Emperor ordered
to hang the saint's picture over the doors of the barns. On his way back,
from Nicea after attending the first Universal Council, to Gangra, a group
of heretics were waiting for him by the road, attacked him, stoned him
and he was martyred (On the 31st. day of March) then threw his body in
a hay barn. When the people of the city of Gangra knew of the departure
of their good shepherd, they went in hast to the place where he was martyred
and took the holy remains with great honor and buried him in the city.
May his blessings be with us and glory be to God forever. Amen.