Oriental Orthodoxy – Faith Unto Ages

‘I am a Christian!’ — St. Euplius the Deacon, Preacher, and Martyr: A Witness of Steadfastness Against Idolatry and Heresy.

Some may be unaware of the vitalizing story of the early Christian martyr St. Euplius (304 A.D.). Tradition is silent about his early life, age, and background. Yet, we know that he was of a mature age since the Acts of Euplius testify to him as being both a ‘man’ and a Deacon (1) within Catalina, Sicily during the time of Diocletian. He was a bold preacher, evangelist, and firm defender of truth against false religion and idolatry; always keeping the four gospels on his person. This is what cost him his earthly life; but attainment of eternal glory.

The Oxford Classic ‘The Acts of the Christian Martyrs’ explains that there are two recensions to his story: one Greek (GR) and the other Latin (LR). Both editions complement one another; as they provide details and clues which lack in the other. The examples are many; which will not be covered in its entirety in this article.

Both versions are silent in respect to his life prior to his martyrdom; but instead immediately describe the epoch in which he openly detested Diocletian’s regime and abominable edict – that by the threat of death all should worship the idols of the state. Historical complications arise given that both versions disagree in respect to when he began challenging the governor Calvisianus outside of his council – chamber (2). Nevertheless, both agree that he willed to suffer and die for Christ.

The Indefectibility of the One Church: A Response to Schismatic Rhetoric

The Church’s Indefectibility

If we regard the account of Apostolic and Patristic witness to be credible, and therefore true; then we shall acknowledge that both regarded the Church as Christ’s Mystical Body. St. Paul: “… Him is who is the head – Christ – from Whom the whole Body, joined and knit together…” (Ephesians 4:15-16, OSB); “And He is the head of the Body, the Church…” (Colossians 1:18).

The Church is also the spouse of Christ, and as His spouse, She is one flesh with Him (cf. Genesis 2:24). So, just as Christ is pure, spotless, and without blemish (Heb 4:15; 9:14) His Church, being His Body, is likewise thus since He is her head.

Describing her chastity, St. Augustine likened her to the Theotokos and Ever- Virgin Mary with the following words:

“Surpassing all the sons of men in beauty, He (Jesus), the Son of Holy Mary and Spouse of Holy Church, has made it a mother for us and kept it a virgin for Himself.” 1

In sequence, he continues:

The church is like Mary; her perfection was never defiled, and her fertility was never corrupted. What Mary was made worthy of in the flesh, the church received it spiritually. The only exception to that is that Mary gave birth to one son (Jesus Christ) but the church gave birth to many children for them to be gathered together in the one body in the one (Christ). 2

Preview: The Office of the Deaconate: Apostolic Order, Spiritual Maturity, and the Misuse of a Holy Office.

Our brother Deacon Nathaniel has written a well articulate and detailed analysis on the history of the Diaconate and its current place, misuse, and even misunderstanding within the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Churches respectively. This can be seen on our sister channel ‘Good & Faithful’.

Preview:

“This discussion matters because the Sacrament of Holy Orders is one of the most important and vital parts of the life of the Church, which is one with the Body of Christ, lives eternally with Christ, and was established by Christ. The Church was made one with Him through His sacrifice, His teachings, and the authority given to the apostles, who carried on the mission of the Church throughout history. For 2,000 years, the offices of priesthood, deaconhood, bishop, and patriarch in the Oriental Orthodox Church have seen “changes” depending on geographical and historical reasons, these are not major changes that affect communion with other changes or shake any core belief it’s still one church but culturally separate.

I intend to do is study, pick apart, and make sense of without diving too deep where this authority comes from and why it is so important in the Church, in hopes of correcting some misunderstandings and issues found in the Church. The intention is not to gossip, judge, or make an example of anyone. Rather, what this is meant to do is, by God’s grace, bring some correction and, hopefully, some solution to a few issues that seem to have gotten worse over time. A lot of people would agree that the office of the deaconhood has, in many ways, changed in the last ten years.

What I mean is that in some ways the changes are good, but in many ways they are not. We are seeing a significant increase in the number of people being ordained into the office at a very young age, and that can eventually lead to a very dangerous path. We are seeing a rise in deacons not understanding their role, the reverence their position holds, and how that then begins to affect things like how they speak both in and out of church. It has reached a point where people no longer respect the office.

It seems, as absurd as it may sound, oversaturated at times. There is also something that I think people often overlook, and those are what I would call the enablers, and this goes as far as the office of the bishop in that general area or archdiocese. We are seeing laymen command younger deacons with authority that they do not possess, which is unfortunate. It is not fully their own fault, because these deacons are ordained so young that those who are much older, in many cases, command and scold them while forgetting what authority these deacons have…”

For the full article, please see here.

God bless.