Saint Eusebius
Date of celebration: 22/06/2020
Saint Eusebius lived in the turbulent times when the Church suffered from Arius’ malpractices. The emperor at the time was the son of Constantine the Great, Constantius, who supported this ungodly heresy and cruelly persecuted those who objected and resisted his intentions. The Saint, who was the bishop of Samosata, was persecuted, but he endured all the hardships and sufferings with admirable fortitude in the hope that Orthodoxy will emerge victorious in the end.
When the heretic and populist Constantius died, he was succeeded on the imperial throne by Julian the Transgressor, who wanted to restore the worship of idols. Julian unleashed more terrible persecutions against the Christians. Then new persecutions began for Eusebius, much worse than the previous ones. but the Saint remained just as steadfast. The same happened with the emperor Walis, who was also a warm supporter of the Arians.
The Saint, once again, was called to defend the purity of the Orthodox faith. For his struggles Wales removed him from his Episcopal throne and banished him to some desert place near the river Istro. After the death of Walis, the Saint returned from exile to his Bishopric and immediately began the cleansing of his province from the malicious heretics.
One day, in the year 380 AD, as he was passing outside the house of a heretic woman, she hit him in hatred on the head with a large stone and as a result the instant death of the Saint and his transition “from the saddest to the more memorable and the terpnas”.
