Hieromartyr Erasmus of Ohrid

Life

This saint was from Antioch by birth and lived in the time of Emperors Diocletian and Maximian. He struggled mightily on Mount Lebanon and was endowed by God with a great gift of wonderworking. As a hierarch he set out to preach the Gospel. Arriving in the city of Ohrid, Erasmus by his prayer raised from the dead the son of a man named Anastas, and baptized him. On that occasion Erasmus also baptized many other pagans and destroyed the idol altars in Ohrid. For this he was accused before Emperor Maximian, who at that time was in Illyricum. The emperor brought him before a bronze statue of Zeus and ordered him to offer sacrifice and bow before the idol. Saint Erasmus exerted power, and from the idol there came forth a terrible serpent, which frightened the people. Again the saint exerted power, and the serpent perished. Then the saint preached Christ and baptized twenty thousand souls. The embittered emperor ordered all these twenty thousand to be slain, and subjected Erasmus to grievous tortures and then cast him into prison. But an angel of God appeared, as once to the Apostle Peter, and led Erasmus out of prison. Then this servant of God went to Campania, where he preached the Gospel to the people, and then returned again to the city of Hermelia and withdrew into a cave, to struggle there until death. Before his death he bowed three times toward the east and with raised hands prayed to God, that God would forgive the sins and grant eternal life to all those who with faith would invoke his name. At the end of his prayer a voice was heard from heaven: "So let it be as thou hast prayed, My healer Erasmus!" All joyful, the saint looked once more toward heaven and saw the crown of glory descending upon him, and he saw the choirs of angels, prophets, apostles, and martyrs approaching to receive his holy soul. At last he cried out: "Lord, receive my spirit!" and breathed his last around the year 303. The cave with the small church of Saint Erasmus stands to this day not far from Ohrid, and from it to this day the great power of the pleaser of God, the Hieromartyr Erasmus, is manifested.