Icon of St. Benjamin the Deacon- 00STBD01

Feast Day/Commemorated: October 13

By the divine providence of God, during the reign of the Persian monarch Isdegerdes, son of Sapor III, the fierce persecutions against the faithful, which had been initiated by Sapor II, were brought to an end, and the Holy Church in that kingdom was granted a period of blessed peace for twelve years. However, in the year of our Lord 420, this tranquility was regrettably disturbed by the ill-advised zeal of a Christian bishop, who, in his human fervor, consumed with fire the Pyraeum, the temple dedicated to the great divinity of the Persians. In response, King Isdegerdes, in his wrath, commanded the demolition of all the sacred Christian churches throughout Persia, put the offending bishop to death, and unleashed a grievous persecution against the Holy Church, which raged with great fury for forty years. Though Isdegerdes departed this earthly life the following year, his son and successor continued the persecution with even greater inhumanity, seeking to extinguish the light of Christ.

Indeed, the very recounting of the unspeakable cruelties inflicted upon the devoted Christians by this successor fills our hearts with sorrow and holy dread. Yet, amidst these trials, the Lord raised up glorious champions for His Name, among whom shone forth the blessed Saint Benjamin, a deacon of the Church. The impious tyrant, in his malice, subjected him to grievous beatings and cast him into prison. After enduring a year in the dark dungeon, an ambassador from the emperor, by divine intervention, secured his release, though under the condition that he would never again speak of the Holy Faith to any of the courtiers. The ambassador, in his desire to preserve the saint's life, spoke on Benjamin's behalf, assenting to this condition; but the zealous Benjamin, a true minister of the Gospel of Christ, boldly declared that he could not, in good conscience, forsake any opportunity to proclaim the saving Name of Christ.

When the king was informed that the saint continued to preach the Holy Faith throughout his kingdom, he commanded that Benjamin be apprehended once more and subjected to cruel tortures. With barbaric cruelty, sharp reeds were violently thrust between the nails and flesh of his blessed hands and feet, and into other parts of his body, a torment that was repeatedly inflicted upon him. Finally, a knotty stake was cruelly forced into his bowels, rending and tearing his sacred flesh; and in this most grievous torment, the blessed Saint Benjamin rendered his soul to God, expiring for the profound love of his Creator, in the year of our Lord 424, thus receiving the crown of martyrdom.

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