Memorial Day of the Martyr Procopius the Reader

On the day of remembrance of the martyr Procopius the reader, celebrated in the Orthodox Church on December 5, his services in the spread of the Christian religion are honored Prayerful commemoration of the saint, who suffered for Christ and accepted martyrdom in 303, has been accepted Procopius was born in Jerusalem Few facts are known about his life before he received the position of reader His special gift was the ability to clearly and clearly explain the meaning of the Holy Scriptures, sometimes not entirely clear to believers Therefore, he soon gained the opportunity to read and interpret the Word of God in one of the main temples of Palestine - Caesarea In his life, his merits are glorified in translating the sacred texts of Scripture into the Syriac language and in the fight against demons, which he cast out from the possessed Procopius traveled widely to churches so that as many Christians as possible could better understand and learn about God and his deeds The ruler of Caesarea, an ardent pagan, categorically did not like this activity He gave the order to seize the ascetic At that time, all emperors were equated in status to gods, requiring their subjects to make pagan blood sacrifices So the reign of Emperor Diocletian, which occurred at that period in the history of the Roman Empire, was not without persecutions and executions Procopius resolutely refused to participate in the sacrifice And he answered honestly and directly that for him there is only one Lord For such disobedience, his head was cut off This historical stage, which lasted until 313, is considered the most severe and merciless in relation to believers in Christ Researchers estimate that tens of thousands of people were executed and tortured for their faith before religious tolerance was restored The body of the great martyr was taken away for burial in his historical homeland Later, at the end of the 6th century, a church was built at the burial site, which today is in a dilapidated state But the stone crypt (a small vaulted room) where his remains are buried has been preserved and is a place of pilgrimage In Russian Orthodoxy, the name of the saint has been known since early times and has firmly entered into folk rituals According to peasant beliefs, a sleigh route is established on this day Only the road had to be laid “to Prokop” so that it would last until spring From this period, the male part of the population added work - making or repairing sleds The position of reader exists in a slightly modified form today: as a rule, graduates of theological seminaries choose this field On the day of remembrance, Saint Procopius opens the thoughts of people who come to the temple and ask to pray to God for the salvation of their souls