Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles, Abcrcius

Saint Abercius, Bishop and Wonderworker of Hieropolis lived in the second century in Phrygia which today is part of Turkey. The city of Hieropolis was inhabited by many pagans and very few Christians. Its name means “Holy City”. The inhabitants of Phrygia worshiped Cybele, whom they called “the Great Mother”. The chief deity of Hieropolis was Apollo.

Abercius went one night to the temple and overturned the statues of Apollo and the other gods. When the pagans discovered it they were very angry. Abercius went to confront them and boldly said that the “gods” were drunk because of the libations of wine offered them and had stumbled over each other. As the crowd surged forward to seize him, they were stunned by his deliverance of three demon-possessed youths who had been crying out and, after his prayer, became completely normal. Abercius then had willing listeners and proceeded to proclaim the Gospel to them.

The Holy Bishop then travelled to surrounding cities and villages, healing the sick and preaching the Kingdom of God. He travelled throughout Syria, Cilicia and Mesopotamia and even visited Rome. Everywhere multitudes of people accepted Christ as a result of his ministry. Because of his immensely successful ministry the Church has given St. Abercius the title "Equal-to-the-Apostles.

Abercius wrote an Epistle to the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, under whose reign he was imprisoned, as well as a Book of Discipline to his clergy. These are lost. What remains is an inscription he wrote for his tombstone which is preserved in a museum at the Vatican.

The inscription has been the subject of controversy by archaeologists who endeavoured to identify its author with a pagan priest of a number of different deities. In fact it has been shown to be the cryptic testimony of a Christian Bishop whose references would be understood by fellow Christians of his day. The inscription reads (in part):

The citizen of a chosen city, this [monument] I made [while] living, that there I might have in time a resting-place of my body, [I] being by name Abercius, the disciple of a holy shepherd who feeds flocks of sheep [both] on mountains and on plains, who has great eyes that see everywhere. For this [shepherd] taught me [that the] book [of life] is worthy of belief. And to Rome he sent me to contemplate majesty, and to see a queen golden-robed and golden-sandaled; there also I saw a people bearing a shining mark. And I saw the land of Syria and all [its] cities.. But everywhere I had brethren. I had Paul ... Faith everywhere led me forward, and everywhere provided as my food a fish of exceeding great size, and perfect, which a holy virgin drew with her hands from a fountain and this it [faith] ever gives to its friends to eat, it having wine of great virtue, and giving it mingled with bread.

The Christian would understand that the “chosen city” is the Heavenly Jerusalem, the Kingdom. The “Holy Shepherd” is Our Lord Himself. The “Book of Life” is the Holy Scriptures. The “queen” in Rome is the Church, whose people bear the “shining mark” of Baptism. As Abercius traveled with the Gospel he found brothers and sisters in Christ everywhere and followed in the footsteps of Paul. The “fish of exceeding great size, and perfect, which a holy virgin drew with her hands from a fountain” is again Our Lord, and the virgin is His Mother. Christians “feed” on this Fish through the Holy Eucharist in the form of bread and wine.

November, according to the Gregorian Calendar, reminds Ukrainians of the November Uprising of November 1, 1918, which confirmed the Western Ukrainian National Republic. On January 22, 1919, its union with the Ukrainian National Republic was proclaimed. It became necessary to defend this expression of the will of the people of Ukraine to live in freedom and sovereignty in a heroic battle against enormous odds. This was done by 300 participants of the First Hetman Bohdan Khmelnyts’kyy Youth Military School of Kyiv, in a battle on January 29, 1918, at the Kruty train station near the city of Nizhyn in the Chernihiv oblast’. Their Commander was Averkiy Honcharenko who was born in the region of Poltava on the Day of the Equal-to-the-Apostles St. Abercius, October 22 on the Julian Calendar. He was given the Saint’s name. During the later struggle for a sovereign Ukraine he also served as an officer in the First Division of the Ukrainian National Army in 1943-45, manifesting the courageous spirit of his Heavenly Benefactor.

The testimony of St. Abercius, preserved on his tombstone is one of courage inspired by faith, hope and joy. It speaks to us today encouraging us to persevere in the work of the Good News in a darkened world which is being enlightened by the love and mercy of the Holy Shepherd. His work shall prevail. Amen.-