Saint Ananias the Apostle
Date of celebration: 01/10
Obey “from the heart to whom you were taught” (Romans 6:17). Obey with all your heart the exact rule of Christian teaching. Such a man of obedience to God was also the apostle Ananias. Because, when God told him in a vision to meet Saul, who was the fear and terror of the Christians, he obeyed the words of the Lord. He immediately went to the Straight Way and looked for the house of Judas, where Saul was. He healed him, baptized him a Christian, and then he, under the name of Paul, became the great Apostle of the Gentiles (see June 29). Then Ananias went to Eleftheroupoli, where with his teaching he attracted numerous souls to Christ.
However, the noise created by his apostolic activity caused the ruler Luciano to arrest him. He used many and varied ways to convert Ananias. But Ananias remained steadfast in his Christian beliefs. Then Lucian scourged him with the sinews of oxen. Then with iron claws she tore open his ribs and cauterized his wounds with lighted torches. Finally, after taking him out of the city, he stoned him. Thus, Ananias took the amaranth crown of obedience to God’s will.
