No Fast
26Jer pogledajte znanje svoje, braæo, da nema ni mnogo premudrijeh po tijelu, ni mnogo silnijeh ni mnogo plemenitijeh; 27Nego što je ludo pred svijetom ono izabra Bog da posrami premudre; i što je slabo pred svijetom ono izabra Bog da posrami jako; 28I što je neplemenito pred svijetom i uništeno izabra Bog, i što nije, da uništi ono što jest, 29Da se ne pohvali nijedno tijelo pred Bogom.
29I kad je izlazio iz Jerihona za njim ide narod mnogi. 30I gle, dva slijepca sjeðahu kraj puta, i èuvši da Isus prolazi povikaše govoreæi: pomiluj nas Gospode, sine Davidov! 31A narod prijeæaše im da uæute; a oni još veæma povikaše govoreæi: pomiluj nas Gospode, sine Davidov! 32I ustavivši se Isus dozva ih, i reèe: šta hoæete da vam uèinim? 33Rekoše mu: Gospode, da se otvore oèi naše. 34I smilova se Isus, i dohvati se oèiju njihovijeh, i odmah progledaše oèi njihove, i otidoše za njim.
“Husband and wife, they were both of noble and wealthy families in Nicomedia. Adrian was the governor of the Praetorium and a pagan, and Natalia was a secret Christian. They were both young, and had lived in wedlock for thirteen months in all before their martyrdom. When the wicked Emperor Maximian visited Nicomedia, he ordered that the Christians be seized and put to torture. There were twenty-three Christians hidden in a cave near the city. Someone handed them over to the authorities and they were cruelly flogged with leather whips and staves, and thrown into prison. They were then taken from prison and brought before the Praetor for their names to be noted. Adrian looked a these people, tortured but unbowed, peaceful and meek, and he put them under oath to say what they hoped for from their God, that they should undergo such tortures. They spoke to him of the blessedness of the righteous in the Kingdom of God. Hearing this, and again looking at these people, Adrian suddenly turned to the scribe and said: ‘Write my name along with those of these saints; I also am a Christian.’ When the Emperor heard of this, he asked him: ‘Have you lost your mind?’ Adrian replied: ‘I haven’t lost it, but found it!’ Hearing this, Natalia rejoiced greatly, and, when Adrian sat chained with the others in prison, came and ministered to them all. When they flogged her husband and put him to various tortures, she encouraged him to endure to the end. After long torture and imprisonment, the Emperor ordered that they be taken to the prison anvil, for their arms and legs to be broken with hammers. This was done and Adrian, along with the twenty-three others, breathed his last under the vicious tortures. Natalia took their relics to Constantinople and there buried them. After several days, Adrian appeared to her, bathed in light and beauty and calling her to come to God, and she peacefully gave her soul into her Lord’s hands.” (Prologue)
One of the great Egyptian Desert Fathers, he was a disciple of St Pachomius the Great and served as abbot of Tabennisi. Through his years of struggle in prayer, he attained to such purity of heart that whenever he raised his hands in prayer, his spirit was instantly caught up in pure contemplation of God. When one of the brethren asked him what path leads to humility, he answered ‘The path of humility is abstinence, prayer and considering oneself as the least of all creatures.’ He reposed in peace.