Inspired by the holy reputation of Saint Athanius Bishop of Tarsus, Saint Anthusa desired to learn the Christian Faith from him. Saint Basil having appeared to her in a dream while still living, the girl recognized him while on a journey to Cilicia. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, she immediately requested baptism at which point a miraculous spring burst forth from dry land, and it was in these waters that the Holy Bishop baptized Saint Anthusa. Upon coming out of the font-not-made-with-hands, two angels appeared and clothed her with the white robe of the neophyte. After explaining to her mother that she had become a Christian, she was confirmed in her virginity by Saint Athanasius, and blessed to flee to the desert where she spent twenty years in extreme asceticism amongst the wild beasts who gamboled at her pure feet. While Saint Athansisus was put to death during Valerian’s persecution, Saint Anthusa put to death her passions in constant striving against the flesh and the Devil. The Evil One often appeared to her in the guise of a hermit monk asking her to come and pray with Him. But the purity of her nous was such that she could see through his schemes, and she routinely put him to flight with the Name above all Names. As a reward for her contest and her voluntary martyrdom in the desert, an angel appeared to her one day at prayer explaining that she was to receive the martyr’s crown. With that assurance, the athlete of Christ laid down in peace and gave her soul into God’s hands. Her incorrupt body was found in her cave four years later by Christians who were astonished to see that her flesh was still warm as if she were just asleep.
Category: Miracles
Indicates saints whose defeat of the demons was particularly accompanied by miracles.
Abraham of Smolensk
After giving away all of the possessions he inherited from his wealthy parents, Saint Abraham became a monk and gave himself over the strictest of ascesis. Along with his body, his passions also withered as a result of night-long vigils and constant pleas for the Lord to have mercy on the world. His disciple, Saint Ephrem, described his appearance as that of a living relic. After being made a priest, his knowledge of the Holy Scriptures and His insightful sermons brought him fame and renown with the faithful. Stoking the jealousy of his enemies, the demons inspired them to accuse him of heresy to the Bishop. The Bishop was deceived for a time, but the inherent disorder of the sinful decision infected the land and resulted in a drought and an epidemic. Made aware of his error, the Bishop repented and restored Saint Abraham. As a result, God delivered them via a miraculous heavy rain. Thus, the machinations of the Evil One came to nothing.
Martyr Bassa
Caught up in the fervor of persecution associated with Emperor Maximian’s birthday, Saint Bassa and her three sons were ordered to offer sacrifice and pour out libations to the Greek gods. Her husband, a pagan priest and thrall of the idols, turned them in when they refused to do so. Like the mother of the Maccabean martyrs, Saint Bassa encouraged her children to defeat the demons that had overtaken their father by patient endurance and by offering themselves completely to Christ who was waiting to receive them. By obeying their Mother they conquered the foe and received the martyr’s crown. Their mother joining them not too long after, first having dashed the idol of Zeus into a thousand pieces by her prayer.
Hymnography
Possessing an unhesitating mind, thou didst set out to wrestle with the wily adversary, and thou didst destroy him in the deep of thy blood.
(Ode Four, First Troparion of the Martyr; Orthros Canon)
With longing we call Bassa blessed, that dove that was guileless indeed, that turtle-dove that loved God, that swallow which escaped the winter and nets of demons, soared up with her godly younglings, and nested in the Heavens, in the spiritual dominion of God.
(Ode Nine, Fourth Troparion of the Martyr; Orthros Canon)
Elias the New of Sicily
A new Joseph the All-comely, Saint Elias was initiated into the Divine Council through dreams and visions. As such, he was able to accurately foretell future events, including his being taken as a slave to North Africa. There he was bought by a wealthy Christian merchant whose household was blessed due to the presence of the Saint. The Devil attempted to bring about his downfall by stoking lustful thoughts in his Master’s wife who continually tried to seduce him by her charms. When he firmly resisted all her advances, she was enraged and, like Potiphar’s wife, accused him of defiling her to her husband. Subjected to ill treatment, he endured patiently until the day the woman was caught in adultery. The truth of her character having been revealed, he was set free from slavery as a recompense. In another vision he was granted the grace of healing, and he traveled throughout Africa, Palestine, and the Mediterranean revealing the judgment of God and delivering people from illness. The Lord also granted him the grace to cast out demons, and he freed four men under torment by our invisible foes when he was forced to take refuge in Patras while on a journey to Rome. When asked how best to conquer our enemy, his advice was the same whether he was speaking to the lowest peasant or an Imperial General – sanctify the soul and deliverance will follow. By his answer he reinforced the reality that, except for a particular purpose of God, our physical condition often reflects our spiritual condition.
Nilus of Erikoussa
A member of the royal family of Emperor Theodore I Lascaris, Saint Theodore rejected the political and religious pressure of the Latin interlopers ushered into power by the Crusaders by becoming a monk and retreating into the wilderness. After being formed in the monastic life at the Monastery of the Sleepless Ones (Akoimetoi), he took on the extreme ascesis of the wandering pilgrim, traveling most especially to the Holy Places in Palestine, Mt. Sinai, and throughout Greece. When, along the way, he settled for a time in a particular location, it was always in an inhospitable place infested with demons. There he would wage unceasing battle against the natural conditions, his flesh, and the demons which he drove away by his prayer and patient endurance. He was especially known for restoring the 7th Century Monastery of the Giromerion where he found a miraculous icon of the Theotokos Hodigitria (She who shows the way – pointing to the Christ Child) which had been preserved from the time of the Iconoclast Heresy. As the keeper of this icon of the Champion Leader and her Son, Saint Nilus was all the more terrible to the enemies of mankind who could not bear to remain in his presence.
Radegunda, Queen of the Franks
A Thuringian princess, Saint Radegunda was given in marriage to the Frankish King, Clotharius, the son of Clovis. The King was a man of loose living, but, nevertheless, The Saint was devoted to him as if to Christ Himself, and thereby she was never parted from the true King of Heaven. Her way of life as Queen was so pious that her husband was chided by his nobles who said that he was married to a nun and not a queen. While initially offended, he eventually came to admire her holy bearing and realized that she was a source of blessings for him and his kingdom. After Clotharius had her brother executed for allegedly seditious behavior, Saint Radegunda was allowed to retire to a monastery where she was tonsured a nun and lived out the rest of her days devoted to asceticism. Because of her voluntary martyrdom she was granted the grace to heal the sick and cast out demons which she frequently did through small gifts such as candles or leaves that she had blessed by her prayers and offered as alms.
Dorotheus of Gaza
A disciple of the great monastic elders of Gaza, Saints Barsanuphius and John, Saint Dorotheus longed for a life of strict ascesis, but his weak bodily constitution wouldn’t allow it. Lest he fall into despair and thereby make himself a target of the Devil, the Great Old Man (Barsanuphius) consoled him and instructed him to make every effort to deny the will of the flesh through an inner ascesis of the heart. So, beginning at cutting of his will in small things, he was able to progressively cut off his will in larger things. Eventually this led him to a heavenly detachment and impassibility through which God was able to act to crush the invisible enemy. This also cultivated within him other virtues, chief among them that of humility, compassion, and resilience which he used to guide his own disciples, especially Saint Dositheus. On one occasion, the noonday demon ferociously assailed him with an overwhelming sadness and acedia. The Saint cried out to the Lord for help, and he was granted a vision of an angel in the form of a Bishop who struck Dorotheus on the breast three times repeating the Psalm verse, “With patience I waited patiently for the Lord, and He was attentive unto me, and he hearkened unto my supplication” (Psalm 39 LXX). As soon as this had happened, the angel disappeared, the demon fled, and the Saint’s heart was flooded with the Uncreated Light, joy, and peace. From that time forward he was never subjected again to sadness, acedia, or fear. The Saint’s most famous teaching on unity with both God and neighbor is known today as the Circle of Saint Dorotheos of Gaza wherein he describes a person as a point on the circumference of a circle. The person moves inward towards God represented as the point at the center of the circle. As the person draws nearer to God, they also draw near to others making the same journey as their paths converge. Thus he taught that, while our salvation is a gift from God, it also lies in our neighbor. Such a blessed unity cannot be overcome by the Enemy of Mankind.
Martyr Laurence the Archdeacon of Rome
When Pope Saint Sixtus was denounced and arrested under the policies of the Emperor Valerian, Saint Laurence, his deacon, wanted to join him immediately in his sufferings. But the holy Bishop put him off to administer the affairs of the Church, foretelling that he would face even greater challenges. Longing to suffer, with His Father and Christ, Laurence set about his work with haste, faithfully distributing the Church’s goods to the poor and ensuring the election of the next Pope despite the persecution the Church faced. Having completed his task, he returned to the cortege before Pope Sixtus’ martyrdom had been accomplished and took his place at his side as as the Holy Table. Having heard him speak of the treasures of the Church, the Saint was made to appear before the Emperor and ordered to reveal the location of the riches. The Holy Deacon asked for three carts, took them into the city, loaded them with the poor and the sick and the lame, and brought them back to Valerian, presenting them as the true riches of the Church. Infuriated by this display of heavenly virtue, the tyrant demanded that Laurence sacrifice to idols or suffer torture and death. The Martyr replied by saying he would never worship the impotent demons that inhabited the idols in lieu of the Creator of all. As a result, he was cast into prison and tortured until he could be interrogated twice more. Each time he returned to the prison, God granted him the grace to work countless miracles for the imprisoned faithful, encouraging them to hold fast to the Faith. Finally, being placed on a grid iron, after some time he quipped that he was done on one side and needed to be turned over, so that he could properly offer himself as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Though the flames were to him as moist as dew, he gave up his soul to the Lord as a victorious athlete and soldier of Christ.
Hymnography
Having with thee the trophy of the Cross, O wondrous Laurence, thou didst advance mightily against thine adversaries; and when thou overcamest, thou wast shown to be a crown-bearer.
(Ode Three, First Troparion; Orthros Canon)
Walled about with the law of the life that is in Christ, O Martyr Laurence, thou didst not incline thy mind unto the legislators of death and corruption, as thou didst sing: O God of our Fathers, blessed art Thou.
(Ode Seven, Second Troparion; Orthros Canon)
Theodora of Sihla
Married but unable to bear children, Saint Theodora and her husband entered a monastery in Moldavia. Not long after, however, the Turks invaded and she fled into the mountains with her Spiritual Mother. Dwelling in the wilderness, they showed manly courage battling both the conditions and the demons which never ceased to assault them. Emerging victorious over the passions and the adversary, she lived life as a new Mary of Egypt, dedicated to the Jesus Prayer. She spent her nights in prayer and her days in fasting, drinking only rainwater that gathered in the cleft of a rock that miraculously flowed like a spring. The Turkish scourge continued to ravage the region, and she gave up her cell to other nuns that had been driven from their monastery as well. Seeing this as a chance to regain some ground, the demons renewed their attacks, but they proved as powerless as before, unable to even get the attention of the athlete of Christ who treated them with utter disdain. Similar to her Egyptian predecessor, she was discovered by two monks that had been guided to her retreat by a pillar of light. Asking for a cloak to cover her nakedness, she greeted the men and begged for them to send a priest to her with the Holy Gifts. After receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, she departed this life in peace, her body giving off the fragrance of paradise.
Theodosius the New, the Wonderworker
Born in Athens, Saint Theodosius chose to pursue the Philosophy of the Kingdom rather than that of the world, and, as soon as he was able, received the Angelic Habit and departed for the wilderness in search of silence. There he was vouchsafed a vision of another desert-dweller, St. John the Forerunner, who encouraged him in the ascetic life and tasked him with building a Church. Overcoming the flesh and advancing in the direct experience of God, Saint Theodosius was granted the grace to work miracles and cast out demons. Motivated by fear, the Devil incited some unscrupulous men to accuse the Man of God of performing magic through the aid of demons. Banished by the Bishop of the Diocese, the Saint endured his exile with patience until the truth of the situation was revealed by a vision from the Lord. Thus, he vanquished the enemy through humility and obedience.