Saint Martin in Orthodoxy. Passion in the Saints of Our Father Martin the Confessor, Pope of Rome

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Saint Martin Is-po-ved-nik, Pope of Rome, was a native of the Tuscan region in Italy. He received a good education and entered the clergy of the Roman Church. After the death of Pope Fe-o-do-ra I (642-649), Presbyter Martin was elected to the throne.

At that time, the world of the Church was in disarray with the heresy of mo-no-fe-li-tov, which received a wide-spread of space.

Endless disputes between the mo-no-fe-li-tov and the right-to-glory pro-is-ho-di-li in all layers of the village . Emperor Konstans (641-668) and Kon-stan-ti-no-Polish Pat-ri-arch Pa-vel II (641-654) were also pri-ver -zhen-tsa-mi here-si mo-no-fe-li-tov. Im-per-ra-tor Konstans gave the here-ti-che-sky “Ob-ra-zets of faith” (Ti-pos), obligatory for everything -le-nia. It prohibited all further disputes.

This heretical "Observation of faith" was received in Rome in 649. Holy Father Martin, a firm champion of the right-of-glory, convened a Local Council in Rome, which condemned mo-no-fe-lit-skuyu heresy. Saint Martin once sent Kon-stan-ti-no-pol-skomu pat-ri-ar-hu Pavel with an admonition -I will not return to the Right-glory of the world. Once-wrathful im-pe-ra-tor at the-e-chal-ni-ku Olympia to-sta-vit the saint Mar-ti-na to court. But Olympius, having arrived in Rome, went to the Council of the Cathedral, and -sent vo-i-na to secretly kill the holy pa-pu. When the killer approached Saint Marti, he suddenly became blind. The famous Olympius hurriedly left for Sicily and was soon killed in battle.

In 654, im-pe-ra-tor sent to Rome with the same goal another vo-e-na-chal-ni-ka, Fe-o-do-ra, who -the one presented to Saint Mar-ti-nu serious accusations in secret communication with the enemies of the empire - sa-ra-tsi-na-mi, hu-le-nii of the Most Holy Bo-go-ro-di-tsy and a certain-but-not-any entry into the papal pres- table. Despite the pre-revealing of complete innocence of holiness presented by the Roman spirit and the world. go-pa-py, vo-e-chal-nick Fe-o-dor but-whose with a number of vo-and-new seized Saint Mar-ti-na and from - took him to one of the Cyclades islands (Nak-sos) in the Aegean Sea. For a whole year, Saint Martin was dear on this almost deserted island, enduring hardships and insults from the country. live Therefore, because of-mu-chen-no-go is-by-led-n-to-right-vi-li to the court in Kon-stan-ti-no-pol.

The painful old man was carried on his legs, but the judges rudely ordered him to get up and stand up. While the question was going on, you were holding the donkey under the saint's pain. At the trial, you-stu-pi-false-swi-de-te-li, okle-ve-tav-shie-go-go in-me-not connections with sa-ra -tsi-na-mi. The passionate judges didn’t even listen to the saint’s justifications. In deep sorrow, he said: “Gossip, what a great benefit you have shown me.” , if you are about to die soon."

After the trial, the saint in torn clothes, you stood in front of the crowd, who then I start shouting: “Ana-fe-ma pa-pe Mar-ti-nu!” But those who knew that the holy father was suffering innocently, with tears in his ears. Finally, sa-kel-la-riy, sent by him-per-ra-to-rum, went to the vo-e-na-chal-ni-ku and ogla-sil pri-go-thief - li-shit pa-pu sa-na and give the death penalty. On-lu-on-go-go-ti-te-la for-to-va-li in the chain and in-in-lo-k-li-tsu, where-for-the-key with a bang. They would be more kind-hearted towards the saint than heretics.

Meanwhile, the im-per-ra-tor came to the deceased Kon-stan-ti-no-pol-pat-ri-ar-kh Pav-lu and said told him about the trial of Saint Martin. He turned away from him and said: “Woe to me! Another new deed to my condemnation.” , - and asked to stop the torment of Saint Mar-ti-na. Im-pe-ra-tor again sent to the saint in the dark no-t-riya and other persons for additional information -sa. The saint answered them: “If they beat me, I won’t be in communication with Kon-stan-ti-no-pol- Church-view, while she remains in evil-belief.” How-would-you-be-have-been-the-same-is-the-same-for-the-w-and-for-the-death-penalty of exile-to-da -len-ny Her-so-carrying Ta-vri-che-sky.

There the saint died, due to pain, need, hunger and li-she-ni-i-mi († 16 Sep- Tyab-rya 655). He was buried outside the city in the Blachernae Church in the name of the Most Holy God.

The heresy of mo-no-fe-li-tov was condemned at the VI All-Len So-bo-re in 680. The relics of the holy is-by-ve-no pa-py Mar-ti-na were transferred to Kon-stan-ti-no-pol, and -that in

See also: "" in the text of St. Di-mit-ria of Ro-stov.

Saint Martin the Confessor, Pope of Rome, was a native of the Tuscan region in Italy. He received a good education and entered the clergy of the Roman Church. After the death of Pope Theodore I (642 - 649), Prester Martin was elected to the throne.

At that time, the peace of the Church was disturbed by the Monothelite heresy, which became widespread.

Endless disputes between Monothelites and Orthodox Christians occurred in all segments of the population.

Emperor Constance (641 - 668) and Patriarch Paul II of Constantinople (641 - 654) were also adherents of the Monothelite heresy. Emperor Constance issued a heretical "Model of Faith" (Typos), binding on the entire population. It prohibited any further disputes. This heretical "Model of Faith" was received in Rome in 649. Saint Pope Martin, a strong champion of Orthodoxy, convened a Local Council in Rome, which condemned the Monothelite heresy.

Saint Martin at the same time sent a message to Patriarch Paul of Constantinople exhorting him to return to the Orthodox confession. The angry emperor ordered the military commander Olympius to bring Saint Martin to trial. But Olympius, having arrived in Rome, was afraid of the clergy and people who had gathered at the Council, and sent a warrior to secretly kill the holy Pope. When the killer approached Saint Martin, he suddenly became blind. Frightened, Olympius hastily left for Sicily and was soon killed in battle.

In 654, the emperor sent another military leader, Theodore, to Rome for the same purpose, who brought grave charges against Saint Martin for secret communication with the enemies of the empire - the Saracens, blasphemy of the Most Holy Theotokos, and uncanonical accession to the papal throne.

Despite the evidence presented by the Roman clergy and laity of the complete innocence of the holy Pope, the military commander Theodore and a detachment of soldiers captured Saint Martin at night and sent him to one of the Cyclades islands (Naxos) in the Aegean Sea. For a whole year Saint Martin languished on this almost deserted island, suffering hardships and insults from the guards. Then the exhausted confessor was sent to Constantinople for trial.

The sick old man was brought in on a stretcher, but the judges rudely ordered him to rise and answer while standing.

While the interrogation was going on, the soldiers supported the saint, who was weakened by illness. False witnesses spoke at the trial, slandering the saint for his treasonous connections with the Saracens. The biased judges did not even listen to the saint’s excuses. In deep sorrow, he said: “The Lord knows what a great benefit you will show me if you put me to death soon.”

After such a trial, the saint, in torn clothes, was exposed to the mockery of the crowd, who were forced to shout: “Anathema to Pope Martin!” But those who knew that the holy Pope was suffering innocently left in tears. Finally, the sacellar sent by the emperor approached the military leader and announced the verdict - to deprive the Pope and put him to death. The half-naked saint was chained and dragged into prison, where he was locked up with robbers. They were more merciful to the saint than the heretics.

Meanwhile, the emperor came to the dying Patriarch of Constantinople Paul and told him about the trial of Saint Martin. He turned away from the emperor and said: “Woe is me! Another new act to my condemnation,” and asked to stop the torment of Saint Martin. The emperor again sent a notary and other persons to the saint in prison for additional interrogation. The saint answered them: “Even if they crush me, I will not be in communion with the Church of Constantinople while it remains in evil faith.” The torturers were amazed by the courage of the confessor and replaced the death penalty with exile to the remote Tauride Chersonese.

There the saint died, exhausted by illness, poverty, hunger and deprivation (+ September 16, 655). He was buried outside the city in the Blachernae Church in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos. The heresy of the Monothelites was condemned at the VI Ecumenical Council in 680. The relics of the holy confessor Pope Martin were transferred to Constantinople, and then to Rome.

Memorial Day: April 14

Biography of St. Martin, Bishop of Rome

(excerpts from the book “The Lives of the Holy Tauride (Crimean) Wonderworkers” by D. M. Strukov.)

After the death of Theodosius, Bishop of Rome, St. was elevated to the see of the Roman Church. Martin in 649, at that time the emperor was Constas, the son of Constantine, the grandson of Heraclius, a follower of the Monothelite heresy: he wrote a statement of faith “tupos”, which contained the Monothelite teaching.

When Martin was elevated to the Roman throne, Emperor Consta sent him his book with the command to renounce Orthodoxy and accept Monothelitism: Blessed Martin answered the emperor: “if the whole world wanted to accept this new teaching, contrary to Orthodoxy, I would not accept it.” and I will not deviate from the gospel and apostolic teaching and from the tradition of the Holy Father, even if I had to suffer to death.”

Then Martin sent envoys to Patriarch Paul, who professed the Monothelite heresy, instructing them to ask the patriarch to be of the same mind with him, not to create church discord, not to sow heretical tares among the wheat of the faith of piety, and to admonish the king to abandon philosophizing, so contrary to the Church; Patriarch Paul not only did not heed the advice of St. Martin, but he even beat his ambassadors and imprisoned him in distant countries.

Then St. Martin, on the advice of St. Maximus Bishop of Chrysopolitan, who was at that time in Rome, assembled a local council of Western bishops, of whom 150 gathered in 653; at this council the Monothelite heresy was anathematized and a letter was written to the faithful, explaining the harm of the Monophysite heresy; King Constas, hearing about this, was very angry and sent the governor Olympius to Rome to take Bishop Martin. Olympius, having arrived in Rome, found the local council and did not dare to do any violence to the bishop, but ordered one of the soldiers to kill him in the church; when a warrior came to the church with a sword hidden under his clothes and approached the saint, he suddenly became blind: Olympius, seeing that the Lord himself was protecting his servant, left Saint Martin alone and went to Sicily to fight the Saracens and was killed there.

Then Constas, at the instigation of Patriarch Paul, sent the governor Theodore Calliope to Rome to imprison St. Martin to prison, falsely accusing him of being a heretic and not having due respect for the Most Holy Theotokos. When the messenger from the king arrived in Rome, he publicly began to accuse St. Martin, Blessed Martin justified himself from the slander brought against him, saying: “I have no relations with the Saracens, except that I send alms to the Orthodox who live in poverty among the Saracens; and whoever does not honor the Most Pure Mother, and does not confess and worship her, may he be cursed in the present age and in the future; the faithful father, neither I, nor the Tsar and the Patriarch confess the faith of the holy Apostles and God-bearers heretical.”

The one sent from the king, not listening to the bishop's justification, accused him of everything, and finally said that he had ascended the throne incorrectly; then he ordered the soldiers to take Martin at night, bring him to the harbor, put him on a ship and send him to the Cycladic Islands; on one of these islands, Nakasiya, St. spent a whole year starving to death. If the lovers of God brought him anything, showing mercy for the exiled bishop, then the guards stole it all, taking it by force from those who brought it, and told them that if any of you loves him and shows mercy for him, he is an enemy of the fatherland; since Martin is an exiled heretic and an opponent of God. Finally, the saint became physically exhausted and was taken to Byzantium in 654.

In Byzantium, the ship arrived in the fall in the harbor of Evfimiev, near Arkhandiya, early in the morning, and immediately some people came to the saint, who was very sick, deliberately from the king and from the patriarch, sent to slander and defame such a righteous bishop of God, and he had to endure it is from morning to evening; in the evening, a notary named Sagoliwa came with many soldiers and took the saint from the ship on a stretcher (since he could not walk due to illness), brought him to the house of Irandia, laid him in a dark and cramped room, and assigned a strong guard; The saint stayed in prison for twenty-three days, unable to talk to anyone. Then he was brought to the house of the sakkelarium to the assembled senators, and when he was brought into their meeting on a stretcher, the senior senator shouted at the saint, ordering him to stand up; the servants who brought him said that he could not stand, as he was very ill; then the senator angrily ordered Martin to stand before them, although sick, and if he could not stand, that he should be supported; the saint stood in the middle of the room, supported by soldiers; At the meeting there were also many false witnesses who brought false guilt against the saint, the justice of which they swore by the Holy Gospel.

When Blessed Martin, unable to speak Greek, wanted to justify himself through an interpreter, they did not allow him to speak, and the interpreter was humiliated with dishonest words. The most holy bishop told them: “The Lord sees that you will do me a great good deed if you kill me in some way soon.” Then the saint was brought to the pillory, where he could not stand and was imprisoned; the king looked at him secretly from a high tower.

Then the sacellarius came from the king and menacingly said to the saint, “Look, you have abandoned God and God has abandoned you”; Having said this, he commanded the people to curse Blessed Martin; and the people’s mob shouted: “Anathema to Bishop Martin”; those who knew about his innocence left the disgrace with sad faces and tears; then the sacellarius ordered the praetor-chief to take the saint and tear him into pieces, the speculators took off his outer clothes, tore the saint’s lower clothes from top to bottom, put heavy chains around his neck and whole body, dragged him from the shameful place to the praetorium, in front they carried a naked sword, with which it should have been truncated. Some of the people cursed, reviled the saint and nodded their heads, saying: “Where is his God, where is the teaching of his faith?”, while some cried and sobbed, seeing such dishonor and torment inflicted on such a great saint of God.

Having drawn the blessed one to the praetorium, they threw him into prison among villains and robbers: then, bound, they dragged him up the stairs, on which the saint hit the step and received bruises even to the point of shedding blood. After some time they brought him to another prison, called Diomidovo, in which the saint almost died from illness and cold.

The prison guard's wife took pity on the saint, came secretly to the prisoner in prison, took him from there, bandaged his wounds, laid him on her bed and dressed him in a warm blanket, where the saint lay until the evening, silent, as if dead; late in the evening, Gregory, the elder of the royal eunuchs, sent his butler with food to the saint, ordering him to tell him not to faint in grief, to trust in God, for he would not die; Having heard his words, the Monk Martin was saddened; it was unpleasant for him to hear this, wishing it would be better to die in suffering for orthodoxy; In the morning, the king visited the sick Patriarch Paul the heretic, who was near death, and told him everything about Martin. Paul groaned heavily and, turning to the wall, said: “Woe is me, and this will be added to my condemnation.” The king then asked what these words meant, to which the patriarch answered: “The bishop is suffering very severely,” and he admonished the king with an oath. so that he would stop tormenting Martin.

Eight days later, Patriarch Paul died, and the king sent the notary Demosthenes with noble men to the Diomede prison to Saint Martin, who came and said: “Vladyka, our king says to you: in what glory you were, and in what dishonor you fell: in this dishonor You yourself are to blame.”

The holy bishop, raising his eyes to God, answered: “Glory and thanksgiving in all things to the One Immortal King.”

After eighty-five days of the saint’s stay in prison, the notation Sagoliwa came to him saying: “I was ordered to take you to my house, and then you will be sent somewhere”; the saint asked: “Where will I be sent and to what place?”, but the natary did not want to answer; after which the monk said: “Leave me here in prison even until the hour when there is nowhere else to send me.” When the notary left, St. Martin said to his fellow prisoners: “Come on, brothers, and let’s give each other our last kiss, because they want to take me away from here,” everyone said goodbye to him with tears, and the saint with a cheerful face told them: “Don’t cry, but be even more happy for me, since I am going into prison for the sake of orthodoxy,” then the aforementioned notary came again, took the saint and put him in a ship, with the inconsolable crying of all those in prison. The saint was sent on a ship to Chersonesos, on the Tauride Peninsula, to the Inkerman quarries, where he was tortured by hunger for two years.

Two years later, the saint died in the Lord in the year 655 on September 16 and his holy body was buried outside the city of Chersonesus, in the Church of the Most Holy. Mother of God of Blachernae, his tomb became famous for its many healings. His memory is celebrated on April 14th. According to the legend of Suriya, the relics of St. Martin from Chersonese were transferred to Constantinople, and then to Rome, where they are in the church of St. Martin of Tours.

Martin the Confessor was a native of Tudera (now Todi, Umbria, Italy). He received a good education and entered the clergy of the Roman Church. After the death of Pope Theodore I (642-649), Prester Martin was elected to the Roman Pontifical See.

At that time, the peace of the Church was disturbed by the Monothelite heresy, which became widespread.

Endless disputes between Monothelites and Orthodox Christians occurred in all segments of the population. Emperor Constans (641-668) and Patriarch Paul II of Constantinople (641-654) were also adherents of the Monothelite heresy. Emperor Constance issued a heretical "Model of Faith" (Typos), binding on the entire population. It prohibited any further disputes.

This heretical "Model of Faith" was received in Rome in the year. Saint Pope Martin, a strong champion of Orthodoxy, convened a Local Council in Rome, which condemned the Monothelite heresy.

The angry emperor, trying to prevent the Council, ordered the military commander Olympius to bring Saint Martin to trial. But Olympius, having arrived in Rome, was afraid of the clergy and people who had gathered at the Council, and sent a warrior to secretly kill the pope. When the killer approached Saint Martin, he suddenly became blind. “And so, convinced that the hand of God was protecting Martin, the most holy pope, Exarch Olympius considered it necessary to come into agreement with the pontiff and tell the most holy man everything that he was ordered.” Olympius refused to fulfill the mission entrusted to him and rebelled against the emperor, taking control of the emperor for several years (649-652). Italy. The military expansion of the Arabs and the direct threat to Constantinople for some time did not allow them to suppress this rebellion, as well as take decisive action against the pope, who, from the point of view of the imperial administration, remained only a “former apocrisiary.”

The sick old man was brought in on a stretcher, but the judges rudely ordered him to rise and answer while standing. While the interrogation was going on, the soldiers supported the saint, who was weakened by illness.

“Tell me, unfortunate one, what evil have you intended against the emperor?” - the chairman began the interrogation. Dad was silent. A line of witnesses was put forward. These were Olympius's subordinates and his soldiers. Saving their bellies, they had to earn forgiveness for their participation in the Olympius case by bearing false witness against the pope. And they lied when prompted. The pope, hearing all these abominations, asked the judges not to swear in these witnesses, so as not to aggravate their crimes with perjury.

When they asked Pope Martin what he would say to this, he began his speech: “When the Typos was published and sent to Rome...” At this, Prefect Troilus interrupted him: “You should not talk about faith, but only about rebellion and your participation in it. You knew that Olympius was forging chains on the emperor, and you did not stop him. On the contrary, you were in cahoots with him.”

The Pope was carried out on his stretcher into the atrium, i.e. into the courtyard of the court chamber, where an incited crowd had already gathered; from here he was put on a special platform, specially designed for showing criminals to the crowd. On the contrary, from the balcony of his palace the emperor could see this picture. From him, Prosecutor General Vukoleon returned with a death sentence. Members of the synclite - judges - gathered around the condemned martyr. The official addressed the pope: “You fought with the emperor, what do you hope for now? You have retreated from God, and God has retreated from you.” And he ordered that his patriarchal omophorion (ψαχνιον) and his black and white boots, the signs of his rank, be torn off from the pope. Handing them over to the mayor (prefect), he said: “Take them and cut them into pieces.” Then they tore off the pope’s outer priestly robe, and tore his lower tunic in many places, thus half-exposing the pope’s body. The official invited the crowd to anathematize the criminal. Only a few responded. The people were dejected and sighed with sympathy for the sufferer. Only the rabble reviled the “criminal.” With a chain around his neck and the presentation of a sword, the pope was taken through the city to the guardhouse (praetorium) and thrown into a cell with criminals. An hour later, they took him to cold solitary confinement on death row (the Diomede prison) with such cruelty that they wounded his legs and covered the prison stairs with blood. Martin was half dead. One of the pope's clerics, however, was allowed to remain with him for services, but under the supervision of a special guard appointed to guard those on death row. The prison guards, mother and daughter, when the authorities left, were able to slip a blanket through the sufferer so that he would not freeze. Late in the evening, a messenger from the mayor Gregory appeared with food - to express the hope that “God willing, dad will not die like this,” and ordered the shackles to be removed from his neck. Dad didn't say anything, just took a deep breath. He sincerely wanted nothing more than the martyrdom of his ordeal.

Meanwhile, the emperor came to the dying Patriarch Paul of Constantinople and told him about the trial of Saint Martin. He turned away from the emperor and said: “Woe is me! Another new act to my condemnation,” and asked to stop the torment of Saint Martin. The emperor again sent a notary and other persons to the saint in prison for additional interrogation. The saint answered them: “Even if they crush me, I will not be in communion with the Church of Constantinople while it remains in evil faith.” The torturers were amazed by the courage of the confessor and replaced the death penalty with exile to the remote Tauride Chersonese.

After three months in prison, in March of the year, the saint was secretly loaded onto a ship and taken into exile in the Crimean Chersonesus. From here he wrote several letters reflecting his suffering in this “bearish” corner of the Byzantine state, among the barbarian population and in deprivation, without the necessary food. Here, at the crossroads of the grain road from Scythia to Greece, the pope was not given bread. He complained in a letter:

“Bread is known here only by name... I was and am surprised at the indifference of my friends and relatives. They forgot about my misfortune. It seems they don’t even want to know whether I still exist in the world or not. Although the Roman Church has no money, but by the grace of God it is rich in bread, wine and everything necessary for life. Obviously, fear has fallen on people, so that they are shunned even from fulfilling the commandments of God, fear where there should be no fear.”

Dad was really sad that the outburst of love for him, which he witnessed during his first arrest, completely disappeared. St. Martin was also upset that the Roman clergy betrayed him in principle and canonically. When he was still on the island of Naxos, they had already appointed a new pope, Eugenius, on August 10, 654, and elected him even earlier, taking into account that this date was already the date of imperial approval. At the time of Eugene's election, Pope Martin had not yet been formally tried and convicted. The clergy fainted in the face of police pressure.

Prayers

Troparion, tone 4

You spread the true commandments by mouth, / you enlightened everyone with the Divine teachings, / you cast down evil faith, O God-Wise Martin, / most honorably saint, / remember us, saint of Christ v,/ make your intercessions to Him,// may you establish our life in peace.

Literature

Grizar H., Una vittima del despotismo bizantino. Papa S. Martino (649-654/655) // Civilta cattolica. Roma, 1970. T. LVIII. P. 272-275, 656-666;
Brandes W., "Juristische" Krisenbewältung im 7. Jahrhundert? Die Prozesse gegen Papst Martin I. und Maximos Homologetes // Forschungen zur Byzantinischen Rechtschichte. Fontes Minores. 1998. Bd. 10. S. 141-212;
Borodin O.R. Pope Martin I and his letters from Crimea // Black Sea region in the Middle Ages. M., 1991. S. 173-190:

http://www.st-martin.ru/about/holy/zhitiya-svyatyh/rimskij-p...ma/ (electronic version on the website of the parish of the Church of St. Martin the Confessor in Alekseevskaya Novaya Sloboda)

Borodin O.R. The church-political struggle in Byzantium and the “case” of Pope Martin // Byzantine Vremennik, [Part 1]: 1991, T. 52 (77), pp. 47-56, [Part 2]: 1992, Vol. 53 (78), pp. 80-88:

Materials used

Kartashev A.V., "Pope Martin I and the Lateran Council of 649." // Ecumenical Councils / Emperor Justinian I the Great (527-565) and the V Ecumenical Council:
"Saint Martin the Confessor, Pope of Rome", calendar page on the portal Pravoslavie.Ru:
Borodin O.R. Church-political struggle in Byzantium and the “case” of Pope Martin // Byzantine Temporary, [Part 1]: 1991, vol. 52 (77), p. 47-56

We bring to the attention of the readers of the site a chapter dedicated to the saint from the book by A. Trofimov “The Icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria of Korsun (Ephesus) in the Destinies of Russia.”

“Having decorated Peter’s divine throne
and on that stone the Church will remain unshakable,
Martinet, with him you became famous"
Song 7 of the canon of the hymnist Joseph († 883)

St. Martin was born in the city of Tudertuma in the Umbrian region of Italy at the beginning of the 7th century. Having received a good education, he became a clergyman of the Roman Church. After the death of Pope Theodore I (642–649), the priest Martin was elected to the Roman see. At this time, the Monothelite heresy* was spreading more and more in the East, and St. Martin, together with other Orthodox hierarchs, had to fight against it.

* This heresy was, as it were, a continuation of the former and more extreme heresy of the Monophysites, which asserted that in Christ human nature was completely absorbed by the Divine. When the empire was already waging difficult defensive wars against the Muslims, Emperor Heraclius I (575–641) decided to unite all Christians by coming up with a compromise formula regarding the nature of Christ. In 638, he issued a special decree on this matter, entitled “Ekphesis” (Exposition), in which he declared that Jesus Christ has one, Divine will, but he has two natures - Divine and human. This doctrine was called “monothelitism” (one-will).

The disputes between the Orthodox and the Monothelites worried many people, and the peace in the empire was disturbed. To stop further controversy, Emperor Constance (641–668) wrote the heretical Pattern of Faith (Typos). This was done on the advice of the heretic Patriarch of Constantinople Paul II (641–654). The Orthodox decided to resist the wicked command of the emperor, even to the point of death. Among the confessors was St. Martin.

Having received the Tipos and familiarized himself with its contents, St. Martin, Pope of Rome said: “If the whole world accepted this disagreement with Orthodox teaching, I would still reject it: I am ready to suffer even to death for the Gospel and Apostolic teaching, for the tradition of the Holy Fathers.”

St. Martin addressed a letter to Patriarch Paul, lovingly exhorting the erring hierarch to repent and abandon heretical errors: the saint also asked the patriarch to influence the emperor and convince him of the harmfulness of the false teachings of the Monothelites. However, the patriarch not only did not listen to the admonitions of Saint Martin, but dishonored and beat his ambassadors, and then sent them into exile.

St. Martin, on the advice of the Chrysaiolitan Abba, Ven. Maximus the Confessor, convened the Local Council of the Roman Church in 649. This Council, consisting of 105 bishops, anathematized the heresy of the Monothelites and condemned the imperial Typos. The Council also sent out a message to all Orthodox Christians, in which it confirmed them in the right faith.

The news about the actions of St. Martina reached the emperor. The angry Constance ordered the military leader Olympius to bring St. Martin for trial in Constantinople. But Olympius was unable to fulfill the mission entrusted to him. In Rome, he was afraid to openly seize the saint, revered by the people and the clergy, so he decided to send an assassin to Pope Martin. But as soon as the murderer approached the saint, he immediately became blind. Olympius left Rome in horror and went to Sicily, where he soon died in battle.

Another military leader, Theodore, sent by the wicked emperor, captured Saint Martin at night with a detachment of soldiers and sent him to one of the Cyclades islands (Naxos) in the Aegean Sea. For a whole year Saint Martin languished on this almost deserted island, suffering hardships and insults from the guards. Then the exhausted confessor was sent to Constantinople for trial.

On September 17, 654, he was transported to Constantinople, where the crowd greeted him with ridicule and abuse. He was in prison for 93 days, sick and starving, before appearing before the judges. The sick old man was brought in on a stretcher, but the judges rudely ordered him to rise and answer while standing. While the interrogation was going on, the soldiers supported the saint, who was weakened by illness. False witnesses spoke at the trial, slandering the saint for his treasonous connections with the Saracens. The innocent Saint Martin began to justify himself from the slander leveled at him: “I never,” he said, “had any relations with the Saracens except in those cases when I sent alms to the poor and wretched brothers in faith who lived among them; whoever does not honor the Most Pure Mother of God, does not recognize Her as the Mother of God and does not worship her, let him be cursed in this age and the next; “But the holy faith,” he concluded his justification, “is not us, but those who unjustly differ from us in wrongly preserving it.” But the biased judges did not even listen to the saint’s excuses. In deep sorrow, he said: “The Lord knows what a great benefit you will show me if you put me to death soon.”

After such a trial, the saint, in torn clothes, was exposed to the mockery of the crowd, who were forced to shout: “Anathema to Pope Martin!” But those who knew that the holy Pope was suffering innocently left in tears. Finally, the emperor's envoy approached the military leader and announced the verdict: to deprive the Pope of his dignity and put him to death.

The speculators (executioners) put the half-naked saint in chains and dragged him into prison through the entire city to the praetorium, carrying in front a naked sword with which they intended to kill him. Some of the people reviled the saint and, mocking him, shouted, shaking their heads: “Where is his God? Where is the content of their creed? Others could not restrain themselves from crying and sobbing at the sight of such dishonor and torment inflicted on the saint of God.

Arriving at the praetorium, the speculators dragged the bound saint up the stairs into prison: stumbling on the steps, Saint Martin fell and hurt himself, so that his body was covered with bruises and abrasions; Here they threw him along with the villains and robbers. All these mockeries had the sole purpose of forcing the pope to enter into communion with the Church of Constantinople.

After some time, he was transferred from here to another dungeon - Diomidov, where he almost died from illness and severe cold (it was January). The wife of one of the prison guards took pity on Saint Martin: having come secretly to the holy prisoner, she took him to her house and tied his wounds and laid him on her bed, dressing him with a warm blanket; Saint Martin lay there until the evening, not making a single sound, like a dead man. Late in the evening, the chief of the royal eunuchs, Gregory, sent the steward of his house with a small amount of food, and ordered him to give it to Saint Martin with the words: “Do not faint in sorrow; We hope that God will not let you die.”

Meanwhile, the emperor came to the dying Patriarch of Constantinople Paul and told him about the trial of Saint Martin. He turned away from the emperor and said: “Woe is me! Another new act to my condemnation,” and asked to stop the torment of Saint Martin. The emperor again sent a notary and other persons to the saint in prison for additional interrogation. The saint answered them: “Do with me what you want, cut me into pieces, as you ordered, but I will never be in communion with the Church of Constantinople while it remains in evil faith.”

The torturers were amazed by the courage of the confessor and replaced the death penalty with exile to the remote Tauride Chersonese. Here the saint had to endure hunger, poverty and illness until his death. Martin arrived in Taurica on May 15, 655, and here he lived for 124 days.

In the last months of his life, while in Crimea, Martin was constantly ill (he was tormented by gout, and possibly dysentery, which he contracted on the ship on the way from Italy to Greece). He was exhausted and exhausted by a year and a half of imprisonment. However, until his death he remained an enemy of Monothelitism and remained completely convinced of the truth of his faith. Shortly before his death, Martin sent his last letter from exile, which he ended with the following words: “The Lord himself will take care of my mortal body, as he pleases, both in constant torment and in insignificant consolation. For the Lord is near, and why am I worried? Of course, I trust in His mercy that he will not hesitate to complete my path, which he has outlined... May the Almighty God protect you with a powerful hand from all punishment and save you in His Kingdom!”

Saint Martin died on September 16, 655. From the text “On the sufferings of our holy father Martin the Confessor, Pope of Rome” we learn that “Saint Martin was put on a ship and in captivity, sent to Kherson, where he was starved of hunger, cramped conditions and lack of all kinds of needs, and after two years he went to the Lord . His holy body was buried outside the city of Kherson, in the Church of the Most Pure Mother of God, called Blachernae. And his tomb is glorious.”

Author of "The Life of St. Eligia” Abden wrote in the 7th century that the saint he described saw Martin’s tomb in 659. Even then, 4 years after the death of the pope, mass pilgrimages were made to his resting place, not only from the nearby eastern provinces of the empire, but also from the western ones. Pope Gregory II (669–731) reported in a letter to Emperor Leo III the Isaurian (717–741) about the enormous popularity of the Martin Mausoleum among Christians of Taurica and the surrounding areas at the beginning of the 8th century, noting that the Bosporus and the whole North flock to the Mausoleum of Blessed Martin and the inhabitants of the North in order to be healed of diseases."

The struggle between Orthodoxy and heresy ended in 680, when monothelitism was condemned at the Sixth Ecumenical Church Council, which met in the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Then it was proclaimed that Christ is the God-man and has two wills, and His human will is subordinate to the Divine. But another quarter of a century had to pass before the victory of Orthodox dogmas...

After the heresy of the Monothelites was condemned by the VI Ecumenical Council, the relics of St. Martin the Confessor* were solemnly transferred first to Constantinople, to the Blachernae Temple? and then to Rome, where they remain to this day in the Church of St. Martin on the Seven Hills. The feast day of Saint Martin the Confessor is celebrated on April 14/27.
* His venerable relics were raised by St. Cyril and Methodius, Slavic teachers, at the same time with the relics of St. Clement, Pope of Rome. The holy bodies of Saints Martin and Clement were sent to Rome, but the head of each and the right hand remained in Chersonesos.

Even in 1598, when Chersonesos had not existed as a city for more than a century, the famous church writer, Cardinal Baronius wrote that “... and to this day the memory of St. Pope Martin by the Greeks, and large crowds of people gather at his tomb to receive the grace of healing.”

Popularity of St. Martina is huge among adherents of the Orthodox and Catholic faith. Hundreds of churches throughout the Christian world were consecrated in his honor, and his Life (“Martyrius”) - an unprecedented case - was written during the saint’s lifetime! In Sevastopol, a cave temple in the name of St. Martin was consecrated in the Inkerman Orthodox monastery.

ST. MARTIN THE CONFESSOR, POPE OF ROMAN

Troparion, tone 4:

You have spread the true commands orally, you have enlightened everything with the Divine teachings, you have cast down evil faith, God-wise Martina, most honorable saint, remember us, servant of Christ, through your intercessions to Him, so that you may establish our life in peace.

Kontakion, voice 2:

Divine thunder, spiritual trumpet, faith planter and cutter of heresies, saint of the Trinity, great Saint Martin, with the angels standing ever, pray unceasingly for all of us.

Greatness

We magnify you, Father Martin, and honor your holy memory, for you pray for us to Christ our God.

Saint Martin the Confessor, Pope of Rome, was a native of the Tuscan region in Italy. After the death of Pope Theodore I (642 - 649), Saint Martin was elected to the throne.

At that time, the Monothelite heresy became very widespread in the Church. The Monothelites recognized in our Lord Jesus Christ one will and one desire. This heresy grew out of the previously existing heresy of Eutyches, who affirmed the existence in Christ Jesus of only one nature, contrary to Orthodox teaching, which confesses in the incarnate Our Lord Jesus Christ two natures and two wills, two desires and actions; each nature has its own will, its own desire and its own action in the one Person of Christ: the Lord Jesus Christ cannot be divided into two persons, but is recognized in two persons without their confusion.

Countless disputes between Monothelites and Orthodox continued. Both Emperor Constance and Patriarch Paul II of Constantinople were adherents of the Monothelite heresy. Emperor Constance issued a heretical "Model of Faith" (Typos), binding on the entire population. It prohibited any further disputes.

This heretical "Model of Faith" was received in Rome in 649.

But Blessed Martin rejected it, saying: “Even if the whole world accepted this teaching that is contrary to Orthodoxy, then even in that case I would not accept it, and even if I had to suffer death, I would not deviate from the Gospel and Apostolic teaching and patristic tradition.”

To debunk the heresy, Saint Pope Martin convened a Local Council of 150 local bishops in Rome, which condemned the Monothelite heresy. Saint Martin at the same time sent a message to Patriarch Paul of Constantinople exhorting him to return to the Orthodox confession. This was not successful. Patriarch Paul did not listen to Blessed Martin. The angry emperor ordered the military commander Olympius to bring Saint Martin to trial. But Olympius, having arrived in Rome, was afraid of the clergy and people who had gathered at the Council, and sent a warrior to secretly kill the holy Pope. When the killer approached Saint Martin, he suddenly became blind. Frightened, Olympius hastily left for Sicily and was soon killed in battle.

Justifications were presented by Saint Martin. The military commander Theodore did not listen to him, and at night, with a detachment of soldiers, he captured Saint Martin and sent him to one of the Cyclades islands (Naxos) in the Aegean Sea, where Saint Martin, enduring hardships, spent almost a whole year. Then the weakened Saint was taken to Constantinople for trial.

The sick old man was brought on a stretcher, but the judges ordered him to rise and answer while standing. While the interrogation was going on, the soldiers supported the saint, who was weakened by illness. False witnesses spoke at the trial, slandering the saint for his treasonous connections with the Saracens. The biased judges did not even listen to the saint’s excuses. In deep sorrow, he said: “The Lord knows what a great benefit you will show me if you put me to death soon.”

The monk experienced double suffering: he suffered in body from illness, heavy bonds and blows from his tormentors, and at the same time he suffered in soul, enduring shame and heartache from exposure and dishonest ridicule.

Meanwhile, the emperor came to the dying Patriarch of Constantinople Paul and told him about the trial of Saint Martin. He turned away from the emperor and said: “Woe is me! Another new act to my condemnation,” and asked to stop the torment of the saint. Martina. The emperor again sent people to the saint in prison for additional interrogation. The saint answered them: “Even if they crush me, I will not be in communion with the Church of Constantinople while it remains in evil faith.” The torturers were amazed by the strength of the saint’s spirit and replaced the death penalty with exile to the remote Tauride Chersonese.