The Holy Fathers have appointed the commemoration of Adam's exile from the Paradise of delight here, on the eve of the holy Forty-day Fast, demonstrating to us not by simple words, but by actual deeds, how beneficial fasting is for man, and how harmful and destructive are insatiety and the transgressing of the divine commandments. For the first commandment that God gave to man was that of fasting, which the first-fashioned received but did not keep; and not only did they not become gods, as they had imagined, but they lost even that blessed life which they had, and they fell into corruption and death, and transmitted these and innumerable other evils to all of mankind. The God-bearing Fathers set these things before us today, that by bringing to mind what we have fallen from, and what we have suffered because of the insatiety and disobedience of the first-fashioned, we might be diligent to return again to that ancient bliss and glory by means of fasting and obedience to all the divine commands. Taking occasion from today's Gospel (Matt. 6:14-21) to begin the Fast unencumbered by enmity, we also ask forgiveness this day, first from God, then from one another and all creation.

These Martyrs, men of high rank in the Roman (Byzantine) army, were taken captive when the city of Amorion in Phrygia fell to the Moslem Arabs in 838, during the reign of Theophilus the Iconoclast. Among them were Aetius and Melissenus, the generals; Theodore, the chief of the imperial ceremonial bodyguard; Craterus, the eunuch; Callistus, Constantine, Bassoes, and Theophilius, who were military officials; and certain others who held important positions. Because of their experience in war and their virtue, the Moslems did not slay them, but tried by all means to convert them to Islam and have them to fight in their own campaigns. They kept the holy Martyrs shut up in a dark dungeon in the city of Samarra in Syria, threatening and abusing them, making promises of glorious rank and magnificent riches, keeping them in hunger, oppression, and darkness, not for a few weeks, or a few months, but for seven full years. Finally, unable to break the courage and faith of their captives, they beheaded them in the year 845.

Hesychios the wonder-worker was brought up in piety since his infancy. He hated material-oriented actions and became a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, because he desired the pleasure of heavenly Zion. This is why he departed from his hometown, which is called Andrapa and lies at Galatia (which was formerly called Claudioupolis and some thought that that is the city which is commonly called Kastampolis), he went to the deserts near the sea of Ardania as God had ordered his spirit. He specifically went to the mountain of Maeon.

When the demons who dwelled there saw the saint, they employed every way and trick to force him away from that place. They used a certain John and Hilarion as their pawns. Through them they asked the saint where he intended to live. When the saint said that he wanted to live on that mountain, those villains answered thus: "Man, you don't know how rough this place is, this is why you ask to dwell in death. This place is the dwelling place of wild beasts and thieves and whoever stays there even for a day does not live." When the divine father heard this, he stood pensive and thought about the faces of those who said these things. Knowing with the perceptive power of the Holy Spirit that those men were talking and acting on behalf of the demons, he drove the disembodied demons out of their bodies with the sign of the cross and then went to one of the slopes of that mountain and dwelled there following God who guided him.

While the saint dwelled there, he cultivated the earth as much as he could and with this he used to satisfy his natural needs. Then birds came and ate his crops. Again some other birds came and harmed the fruits. So, the saint raised his eyes to heaven and reproved the birds saying: "Go away from the monks and do not harm their labour." So, the birds heard the saint's voice, as if they had reason, left and did not appear any more at that place.

Then the saint descended to the lower part of the mountain where he found water. He built a church there in the name of holy apostle Andrew and he lived in peace in it, praying to the Lord.

Once some Christians brought their daughter to the saint because she was disturbed by a demon. They asked him to cure her. The saint, without losing any time, cured her with the help of the first-called apostle and gave the maid back to her parents healthy. When he gave her to them, he said these prophetic words to her parents: "The Holy Spirit foretold me this, that, after I die, this place will become the hermitage of humble virgins and with their ceaseless prayers the whole company of demons will be driven away from here." These words of the saint were soon fulfilled.

Some other time, as the saint was coming out of his cell, he saw by divine grace a farmer, who had some oxen in front of him, which drew a loaded cart. One of the oxen happened to stumble and fall on the ground. The carter ran to help it rise but he laboured in vain. The ox became like a senseless rock and could not move from its place. So, the man was baffled and, not knowing what to do, he sat down and weeped drenching himself with tears. When sympathetic Hesychios saw him, he felt pity for his misfortune. So, he went to the fallen ox and, after he petted the animal on his neck, he said: "Get up, you lazybones, and finish the rest of the way, lest the enemy butchers you with a knife." When the saint had said this and had made the sign of the Holy Cross on the ox, he made the animal rise and draw the cart freely. When the carter saw this miracle, he was astonished. He fell on the ground and thanked the saint because he both raised his animal and blessed his way.

Because blessed Hesychios grew in virtue and tried to subdue the worst to the best, i.e. the body to the soul, he was made worthy to talk with the holy angels. An angel of the Lord came and told him that he was going to depart to the Lord thirty days later. The joyous message made the saint happy. He invited the brothers who were with him and he uttered his final and last words bringing in the middle the fear of hell, with which he terrified everybody. Around midnight, while the saint was still giving advice to the brothers, a heavenly light shone. So, he said: "Lord, in Thy hands I commend my spirit" and the blessed man departed to heaven. Then the brothers who were there piously buried his body, which was even venerated by angels, placing it in a stone casket near the royal gate of the church.

When Constantine and his mother Irene were reigning in 781, bishop Theophylactos of Amasia removed the saint's holy relics and took them to Amasia, placing them on the right side of the Holy Altar, where they still lie being honoured by everybody even today.

The Holy Empress Helen uncovered the Precious Cross and Nails of the Lord at Jerusalem in 326.

At the beginning of the reign of Saint Constantine the Great (306-337), the first Roman emperor to recognize Christianity, he and his pious mother Saint Helen decided to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. They also planned to build a church on the site of the Lord’s suffering and Resurrection, in order to reconsecrate and purify the places connected with the Savior’s death and Resurrection from the foul taint of paganism.

The empress Helen journeyed to Jerusalem with a large quantity of gold. Saint Constantine wrote a letter to Patriarch Macarius I (313-323), requesting him to assist her in every possible way with her task of the restoring the Christian holy places.

After her arrival in Jerusalem, the holy empress Helen began to destroy all the pagan temples and reconsecrate the places which had been defiled by the pagans.

In her quest for the Life-Creating Cross, she questioned several Christians and Jews, but for a long time her search remained unsuccessful. Finally, an elderly Hebrew named Jude told her that the Cross was buried beneath the temple of Venus. Saint Helen ordered that the pagan temple be demolished, and for the site to be excavated. Soon they found Golgotha and the Lord’s Sepulchre. Not far from the spot were three crosses, a board with the inscription written by Pilate (John 19:19), and four nails which had pierced the Lord’s Body.

Now the task was to determine on which of the three crosses the Savior had been crucified. Patriarch Macarius saw a dead person being carried to his grave, then he ordered that the dead man be placed upon each cross in turn. When the corpse was placed on the Cross of Christ, he was immediately restored to life. After seeing the raising of the dead man, everyone was convinced that the Life-Creating Cross had been found. With great joy the empress Helen and Patriarch Macarius lifted the Life-Creating Cross and displayed it to all the people standing about.