Almoutran

 Apostles Carpus and Alphaeus of the Seventy

 May 26^th  

When the hilltop suddenly split open, creating a yawning and dangerous cliff, the Holy Apostle feared for his life!

Would St. Carpus – one of The Seventy disciples chosen to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ – be flung screaming into the abyss that had just been created by the earthquake?

The life-and-death struggle of this close companion and follower of the Great Apostle, St. Paul, took place around 70 A.D.  For St. Carpus, the sudden earthquake would trigger a desperate struggle to keep from being swallowed up by the ground at his feet.  Yet it would also provide him with the greatest spiritual lesson of his entire life!

The dramatic incident occurred during a period in which the saint and future martyr had been praying angrily to God to destroy two vile sinners.  These two shameless miscreants were seducing and perverting many of the young people who lived on the island of Crete, where St. Carpus had been dispatched to preach the Holy Gospel by St. Paul.

For the deeply pious and God-fearing St. Carpus, who had been appointed by St. Paul as Bishop of Borea in the region of Thrace (today part of both Turkey and Greece), sinful behavior of the kind he was witnessing daily on Crete was utterly unacceptable.  A deeply spiritual man, St. Carpus frequently experienced visions from on high – a fact that deeply impressed his best friend on Crete, St. Dionysios the Areopagite, who often visited the envoy of St. Paul at his island home there.  TAKEN FROM

 

Each time St. Dionysios called on the enraged bishop, St. Carpus would tell him again about the despicable deeds of the two sinners who were seducing the innocent and leading them down the path toward perdition.

A passionate and devoted member of The Seventy who was affectionately remembered by the great teacher Paul in II Timothy 4:13, St. Carpus was said to experience visions of the Son of God and his Holy Angels whenever he led the Divine Liturgy.  Because of his intense spirituality, St. Carpus was especially offended by the licentious behavior and wished to see the two malefactors “destroyed by fire.”  One day when he was praying hard for this result, however, he suddenly heard a kind Voice speaking in his ear, according to historians of the period:

“Go ahead and torment me further for I am ready to suffer yet again and to be crucified for the sake of the salvation of these people.”

There was no mistaking the Voice: St. Carpus was listening to the Holy Redeemer – Who seemed to be telling him that sinners should be forgiven for their misdeeds, not burned up in fire!  The saint wrestled with this admonition deep in his soul, but he could not let go of his anger at such sinfulness in the face of God.  One day, intent on spending the afternoon in prayer against the sinners, he journeyed to the top of a huge, windy hill, and there began once again to importune Christ God to send a devouring fire to consume the evildoers.

But instead of fulfilling his dubious request, the Almighty sent a massive earthquake that split the hill in two and left the saint standing at the edge of a terrifying abyss.  Gazing in rapt horror at the void that now loomed beneath his feet, the bishop suddenly caught sight of the two wrongdoers he hated.  Both were clinging to the side of the cliff – and both were about to fall into the fanged maw of a gigantic serpent!

While the amazed St. Carpus watched in growing anguish, the horrible serpent drooled and laughed in anticipation of his ghastly meal.  But just before the two sinners were swallowed up forever in the grip of this hellish apparition, St. Karpos felt a wave of compassion go through his soul, and he began to pray for their rescue.

According to St. Dionysios, who recorded the entire incident for posterity, Jesus responded instantly to the saint’s desperate prayer.  Hurtling forward at great speed, the Savior could be seen with his hands extended toward the sinners, as he prepared to lift them from the abyss . . . and send them toward the blessed peace of repentance and a new life as spotless believers in the Holy Gospel.

For St. Carpus, this visionary moment would provide the lesson of a lifetime.  Instead of destroying the sinners – and in spite of the holy bishop’s prayer – the Lord God had shown them mercy and allowed them a chance to repent and rebuild their twisted lives.  With tears in his eyes, the saint realized that he had just witnessed the True Spirit of the Holy Gospel – the compassion and the forgiveness that always “hates the sin, but loves the sinner.” 

After this life-changing event, St. Carpus would go on to become a much more loving and compassionate bishop.  But his struggles and sufferings had not ended yet.  Within a few years, while preaching the Holy Gospel to pagans and Jews across the vast region of Thrace, he would run afoul of idol-worshippers and their priests – who deeply resented the challenge St. Carpus was bringing to their authority. 

He died in blood – but with a prayer of forgiveness on his lips – around the Year of Our Lord 95, according to most historians of the period.  His relics were buried beneath the church he had helped to build at Borea.  After more than nineteen centuries, the Blessed Martyr St. Carpus continues to inspire Christians who struggle with forgiveness.  His life reminds us that Christ’s purpose on earth was not to “destroy sinners in fire” out of anger, but to forgive them out of love!

The Holy Disciple Alphaeus, whose wonderful life as a servant of Jesus Christ is also commemorated on this day, was the father of two of the Apostles among the Original Twelve: James and Matthew, the Evangelist.

A native of the Galilean city of Capernaum in Palestine, Venerable Alphaeus was a pious, God-fearing man who taught his sons to love their neighbors as themselves.  In spite of his instruction, however, his son Levi had chosen in youth to become a despised Tax Collector – a powerful official under the Roman occupiers of Palestine, who had the authority to collect a tax on any product sold in the Province.  Like the other tax collectors of the region, Levi was merciless in extracting as much money as he could from each of his victims.

But then a wonderful thing happened. After listening to the words of Jesus during one of His preaching visits to the region, both James and Matthew would be converted to the Holy Gospel and would go on to become two of the Original Twelve Apostles.  In the end, the kindly and reverent teaching of his humble father from Capernaum would help prepare the tax collector (his Christian name became “Matthew”) for service to the Gospel of the Son of Man. 

St. Alphaeus was also believed to be the father of the Holy martyrs St. Abercios (stung to death by bees, while being tied to a tree) and St. Helen (stoned to death).  A kind and loving parent, according to numerous historical accounts, he spared no effort in raising his children to become loving and virtuous Christians.  So effective was his teaching, that both his son and his daughters eventually became beloved saints of the Holy Church.

This blessed father died around 100 A.D., in his native Capernaum, while praising God for allowing him to have raised such wonderful children!  His life teaches us about the importance of parenting our children with compassion, wisdom and reverence for the Holy Word of God.

Apolytikion in the Third Tone

O Holy Apostles Carpus and Alphaeus, intercede with the merciful God that He grant unto our souls forgiveness of offences.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone

Having you, O venerable Apostles Carpus and Alphaeus, as bright and shining stars, the Church is ever made to shine with your innumerable miracles. Save them that faithfully honour your memory.