(St. Dimitri of Rostov)
Saint Sophronios, which bears the name of chastity, was born in Damascus of pious parents, chaste, and good name, and Myra Plinthos. From childhood, he led a life consistent with his name, cherishing the spiritual wisdom and keeping his unblemished virginal purity. These two virtues, wisdom and spiritual purity virgin bear the name of chastity, or rather, as says St. John Climacus, chastity is the name of all virtues. And the chaste Sophronios was its zealous buyer.
He buckled to start with the philosophy of this world, and did so well that he received the title of sophist, that is to say, wise. In that time, this title was very honorable. Only the most eminent philosophers, as formerly Libanius the time of Saint Basil, were entitled to wear it.
It would then acquire spiritual wisdom. For this, he undertook a lengthy tour of monasteries and hermitages of the desert to forage that is useful to the soul among fathers pleasing to God.
Thus it came a day in the holy city of Jerusalem, then, not far from her, the monastery of St. Theodosius the Great. There, he met the monk John Moschos known, a good man and poured into the two philosophies, outdoor and spiritual. Sophronios clung to him as a son to his father, or rather as a disciple to his master, and served until his death. The two men frequented together monasteries and deserts. On the occasion of each visit, the Blessed John wrote in his book, the spiritual pre the exploits of the holy fathers. This magnificent work was cited by the following the Seventh Ecumenical Council. John often gives them the title of sophist Sophronios, and considers him her equal. Sometimes, he calls master or father, as he was for him a disciple, but a friend, companion and working, a man he considered superior to himself, and he predicted he would become a great pastor and a column unwavering Church of Christ.
Before being tonsured, Sophronios lived long enough in Palestine alongside Jean, both in the monastery of St. Theodosius the Great, in a monastery the Jordan Valley, founded by former St. Sabba, called the new monastery. Subsequently, under the threat of Persian invasion, the two friends went to Antioch the Great.
At that time indeed, the Persian king Chosroes the Younger went to war against the Greek territories. We must remember here that the Executioner Phocas had killed the Emperor Maurice and steal his throne. Now Maurice showed himself the benefactor of Chosroes, by collecting when he was expelled from his country, then using financial and imperial armies to restore his throne. It and a strong and lasting peace was established between Persia and the Greek Empire. Learning the death of his benefactor, Chosroes was so bitter that it broke the peace agreement, and undertook to avenge the Emperor Maurice. The Persian armies invaded soon many territories such as Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine, and took it. Thus the holy fathers who led the ascetic life in these parts had to leave their monasteries and escape.
In these painful circumstances that John Sophronios and left the holy city, just before it was taken by the Persians. The latter took him for fourteen years in captivity Patriarch Zacharias and the precious Cross of the Lord, all Christians causing great sorrow and inconsolable regret.
In the region of Antioch, our holy fathers butinèrent from flower to flower, as diligent bees, honey and virtuous fathers, gathering for pre spiritual own stories to the building of the soul, sweeter even than honey. But since there also the Persian armies were approaching, they had to embark for Egypt. Once in Alexandria, they acted as usual, continuing to reap for future generations of Christian spiritual new crops, collected from the fathers that they saw with their eyes and heard with their ears.
At the time of his entry into Alexandria, Saint Sophronios was not tonsured, as evidenced by the sixty-ninth chapter of pre spiritual, in which John says: "We arrived, me and my brother Sophronios the Lord, who was not yet tonsured. We went to Abba Palladios, virtuous and Servant of God. " Further, the one hundred tenth chapter, he said: "I and my Lord Sophronios we went to Laura, who is eighty stadia from Alexandria, in a virtuous old, and we told him:
- Abba Lord, tell us a word! How should we live with each other, because the Lord wants Sophist renounce the world and become a monk?
- My children, for the salvation of your souls, ye do well to abandon what is in the world! Stay in your cell, keep in mind hesychia, pray without ceasing, and keep hope in God. It will give you intelligence, and enlighten your mind! "
But what an astonishing virtue in our Father Sophronios that still a layman, had taken upon himself the labor of traveling extensively in the desert monastery to seek what is good for the soul, and learn about the way of salvation! Even before being tonsured monk, he was already an accomplished all the virtues!
Sophronios was tonsured by his master after a deadly disease he thought, during which he had a vision that tells John in chapter one hundred and two: "My brother, the wise Sophronios, died. As I stood beside him with Abba John the Scholastic, it said
- I saw before me blank form a choir and rejoice, saying: Sophronios is welcome! Sophronios is crowned!
virgins rejoiced about it, seeing that he bore the name of chastity "
Once cured and tonsured, Sophronios redoubled ardor for his salvation and that of others. As the heresy of Severus woke in Egypt, he opposed strongly to the false doctrine with his master, using his deep knowledge of Holy Scripture to the controversy and the victory over the heretics. For this reason, the two saints were very dear to the hearts of His Holiness John the Merciful, Patriarch of Alexandria, who honored them as true friends and consoled them in their difficulties.
St. John the Merciful was the devout used to sit every Wednesday and Friday at the doors of a church to listen to everyone's needs, allay disputes and disagreements, and restore peace between men . If by chance nobody came to find these days, the patriarch came home in tears and said: "Today, the humble John has gained nothing, he did not bring anything to God for his sins! Then the Blessed Sophronios his friend consoled him: "In truth, today you should rejoice, Father, for thy sheep live in peace, without arguing or disagreement, as the angels of God! We see how much love existed between Sophronios, his master, and the patriarch ...
The two monks were every day in search of a new teaching that could make their profit. St. John quotes this anecdote: "I and my Lord, the Wise Sophronios, we went to the philosopher Stephen, who lives near the road leading to the church of the Most Holy Mother of God, built long ago by the blessed Patriarch Euloge to the east of the great Tétraphyle. It was noon when we arrived at the house of the philosopher. We knocked on the door and the doorman says:
- My master sits still, wait a minute!
So I say to my master Sophronios:
- Come to the Tétraphyle and stay there!
This place was very honored residents of Alexandria. They said that the great Alexander of Macedonia had brought the relics of the Prophet Jeremiah and was filed in this place when he founded the city. When we arrived, we found one but three blind. We sat silently beside them with our books. These blind talked a lot:
- Friend, how did you become blind?
- I was captain of my ship youth. By dint watch the sea while returning from Africa, a cataract was formed and I lost sight ...
- I was glass. One day I worked without protection and get burned because of the violence of fire, and I lost sight.
- And me, when I was young, I hated the job, and I loved living in idleness. I like voluptuous and I had nothing to feed myself, I started to fly and do much harm. One day I saw a dead man who wore fine clothes: he was taken to the grave. I followed the porters to see where we were going to bury him. The dead man was buried near the church of St. John. At night, I opened the tomb, I entered and I undressed the corpse, leaving him only his tunic. Leaving the tomb, my bad thoughts take me back as the tunic, which was very beautiful. Wretch that I am, I let the dead completely naked! But now that the dead rose, sat down in front of me, held out his arms, and tore his eyes with his fingers ... You can imagine how much difficulty I got out of the grave!
Having heard this, my Lord Sophronios beckoned me and we left. Then he said:
- In truth, Abba John, there is no other thing to learn today, except that he who does evil can hide from God ! "
Thus the two great saints had worries of their daily profit ...
In Alexandria, Sophronios wrote the story of the miracles of the holy martyrs Cyrus and John. It must be said that his eyes fell ill, he went to the relics of saints to pray with faith Anargyri, and obtained healing in their church. Subsequently, he thanked greatly and always had great zeal for them.
After some time, the Persians also threatened Egypt. John and Sophronios again forced to flee, undertook to do in the company of Patriarch John. So they embarked on a ship. The patriarch, who was ill and died during the journey in his hometown of Amathus in Cyprus. Sophronios the Wise wrote his eulogy, praising his high living and his charities.
After the funeral of the patriarch, John and Sophronios left for ancient Rome, with twelve brothers who had joined them. There they lived for many years, and John, who was already advanced in years, went to the Lord. Before dying, he recommended to his beloved disciple and spiritual son not to bury him in Rome, but to drive to Mount Sinai in a wooden coffin. If the barbarians were making the trip impossible, Saint Sophronios mission was to lead the body of his father in Palestine for burial in the monastery of St. Theodosius, where he became a monk. So it was: Saint Sophronios imitated the chaste Joseph of the Old Testament, who had driven home his father Jacob's body. He took the body John and went to the Greek lands with the brothers. Reached Ashkelon, he heard that it was impossible to travel to Sinai because of the barbarians, as he took the road to Jerusalem, then the power of the Persians. He buried the body of his father in the monastery of St. Theodosius the Great, and settled in the holy city with its community.
the patriarchal throne was occupied by the Patriarch Modeste, who replaced the Patriarch Zacharias, a prisoner of the Persians, with Holy Cross. Shortly after the arrival of Sophronios in Jerusalem, God was willing to return the Patriarch Zacharias and the Holy Cross in Jerusalem.
General Phocas Heraclius had killed the Torturer. Having seized the empire, he had gone to war against the Persians. Having defeated many armies of Chosroes, he occupied the Persian cities for seven years. It happened then that Siro, son of Chosroes, murdered his father and took power in Persia. Siro immediately sought reconciliation with the Emperor Heraclius. In the peace agreements that followed, the Emperor Heraclius asked in the first place we should render Jerusalem to the Greeks, and with it the Holy Cross and the Patriarch Zacharias. And so was done.
After an exile of fourteen years, Holy Cross came to Jerusalem, carried in triumph on the shoulders of the emperor himself. His Holiness the Patriarch Zacharias regained his throne. A few years later, Holy Cross was taken to Constantinople, so that as precious treasure was not stolen again Christians. As discussed below, the holy city soon to fall into the hands of barbarians.
After some time, the Patriarch Zacharias emigrated to the Lord. St. Modeste was once his successor, but for two years only. After the death of St. Modeste, Saint Sophronios was elected patriarch.
At this time there appeared Monothelite heresy. The Monothelites, confessed that though the two natures, divine and human in the person of Christ, saw in him only a single will and power, thereby denying that the Lord was perfect in His two natures. This heresy is described fully in the life of St. Maximus the Confessor. It began with the Patriarch Cyrus of Alexandria, who called a local council and ordered everyone to believe so. Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople did the same, and after him the patriarch Pyrrhus, and others, who persecuted anyone who did not adhere to this lie.
Sophronios His Holiness, Patriarch of Jerusalem, many resisted this false doctrine. He summoned a council at his local, who cursed heresy Monothelite. Then he sent all the acts of the council, which were then read to the Sixth Ecumenical Council, approved by the Holy Fathers, and accepted as dogma of the Holy Orthodox Faith.
Saint Sophronios still composed many homilies, hymns, lessons useful to the Church, and also the lives of saints, like St. Mary of Egypt, who had led a life in the desert surpassing nature, similar to that of angels. He led the way that the Church of God, shut the mouths of heretics, and drove away from his flock.
But now, with God's permission, a new barbarian invasion fell on Syria and Palestine. It was more this time of the Persians, but the Mohammedans. The latter took possession of Damascus, and then they laid siege to Jerusalem, the city of God (This happened after that, Syria, the Greek army had been defeated and killed his general Serge). Faced with the threat, His Holiness Patriarch Sophronios locked himself in the holy city with Christians.
were kept the homily he delivered on the day of the Nativity of Christ for the besieged, in which, as a new Jeremiah, he mourns the destruction of holy sites allowed by God for men's sins and regrets not being able to celebrate the feast of the Nativity in Bethlehem as usual. The places were indeed in the hands of Agarénéens.
At the end of the second year of siege, besieged Christians were forced to surrender and to open the gates of the city. The Holy Patriarch Sophronios sent a peace proposal to Prince agarénéen Omar, who acted as first point that no violence was used against the Christian faith and the Holy Church of God. Prince Omar totally committing to this agreement, it did open the gates of the city.
But Omar was hypocritical and evil. He pretended gentleness and humility of the lamb, he who, in Inside, was a ravenous wolf. Dressed in ragged camel's hair, he entered the city and immediately asked where was the temple of Solomon, where he intended to do his prayers sacrilegious. Sophronios His Holiness, who had come to meet him, saw his outfit hypocrite and said: "This is the abomination of desolation in the holy place, as announced by the prophet Samuel! He wept with all Christians, then he urged the prince to leave his rags for clothes worthy of his rank. Thus, Jerusalem, the city of God, was taken by the Agarénéens.
But Christians were not slow to support heavy loads, because the wicked prince did not honor the peace agreements concluded with His Holiness Patriarch Sophronios, and began to mistreat them. Saint Sophronios wept much and prayed to God to rescue his soul to the land of the living, so you do not see the evils of Christians, and the abomination of desolation that defiled the holy places. Soon, of course, he ended his life with sadness and passed from this earthly Jerusalem full of joyful tears to the heavenly Jerusalem, where lie was glad all those with Christ Jesus our Lord, who gets the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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