My Beloved the Benevolent                        October 2025

Grace and peace, wishing you every goodness and blessings

On Sunday, October, 25^th of Tout, we celebrate the Feast of the Martyrdom of Saint Maurice, the commander of the Theban Legion, and on October 13^th, the 3^rd of Babah, we also celebrate the Feast of the Martyrdom of Saints Ursus and some of the martyrs of the Theban Legion.

The story of the martyrdom of the Theban Legion offers us several spiritual lessons from which we can learn many virtues, and I would like to reflect with you on one of these virtues, which is:

The virtue of faithfulness.

+Saint Maurice – the commander of the Theban Legion – was faithful in his work as the leader of a legion of more than six thousand soldiers in the Roman army. The Roman Empire, during the reign of Diocletian and Maximian, was a pagan empire that persecuted Christians. Despite this, Saint Maurice and the members of the Theban Legion were faithful in their duties as soldiers serving the empire and fought to defend it. Because of the legion’s renowned bravery in battles, when Emperor Maximian needed help suppressing tribal attacks on the western borders of the empire, he sought assistance from Emperor Diocletian, who sent to him the Theban Legion because of their courage and skill in combat.

+The Theban Legion moved to the western border of the Roman Empire, along the line stretching from northern Italy in the south to southern Germany in the north, passing through Switzerland, where the legion’s headquarters were near the current city of Lausanne. The legion prepared to carry out the required mission, but Emperor Maximian first demanded that Commander Maurice and his soldiers offer incense to the idols as a sign of loyalty to the emperor. Saint Maurice refused because this conflicted with their Christian faith. Saint Maurice and the members of the legion remained faithful in preserving their Christian faith, refusing to deny Christ or to perform any act that contradicted their faith, such as offering incense to idols. The emperor insisted that Commander Maurice and his soldiers offer incense to the idols, but Commander Maurice firmly refused. Believing that Commander Maurice was leading a rebellion against him, the emperor received a letter from Commander Maurice assuring him of their loyalty to the emperor, who had authority over their bodies, while affirming their loyalty to Christ, who has authority over both their bodies and souls. To prove that he was not rebelling, Saint Maurice surrendered his weapons along with his soldiers and refused to use the empire’s arms to defend his Christian faith.

The emperor tortured Saint Maurice and his soldiers, and eventually all the members of the legion were martyred, foremost among them Saint Maurice, Saint Victor, and Saint Ursus.

+From Saint Maurice and the martyrs of the Theban Legion, we learn the importance of a Christian being faithful in his work and in the responsibilities entrusted to him, while at the same time being faithful to his Christian faith and principles. When faithfulness to work conflicts with faithfulness to faith, the choice must be clear, firm, and without hesitation: “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

+Let us remember the example of Joseph the Righteous while he was in Potiphar’s house. He was faithful in everything entrusted to him in Potiphar’s service, even though he was a slave and did not share his master’s faith or nationality, for he was a Hebrew who believed in God, while Potiphar was an Egyptian pagan official. When Potiphar’s wife tried to lead him into sin, he refused and said to her: “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:8–9).

May God grant us to live a life of faithfulness as the Lord commanded: “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10).

We pray that God may grant us to be faithful in serving our needy brethren, and may the Lord bless your offering to support Santa Verena’s Charitable programs.

Metropolitan Serapion