St
Eleutherios
Commemorated December 15
Eleutherios
was born in Rome in the second century AD. He was among the
first and youngest to carve a niche for himself in
Christianity in the eternal city of Rome, where he astounded
his elders with his prodigious intellect and early
development. Had his father, a high public official of pagan
Rome, lived to guide his immensely talented son, things
might have taken a different turn for the boy and for
Christianity, but his widowed mother, the beautiful Anthia,
had accepted Christianity with all her heart. It followed,
therefore, that the boy's talents would be applied to
Christian endeavour, and he was as quick to embrace the
Messiah as he was quick to acquire knowledge. His enormous
capacity for learning so accelerated his intellectual pace
that he outdistanced his teachers, one of whom suggested to
Anthia that she take this marvelous boy to the bishop of
Rome, Aniketos, who after witnessing the boy's intellectual
display took him under his personal supervision. With a
desire to serve the Saviour that was as profound as his
learning, Eleutherios embarked on a meteoric career as a man
of the cloth, acquiring before he was twelve the equivalent
of a college education and with such impressive credentials
was tonsured a reader at the age of thirteen. When he was
fifteen years old he was ordained a deacon and at the age of
seventeen was ordained a priest of the Christian Church.
With such early momentum propelling him and with an
ever-increasing hope to serve Christ in the highest
tradition of the apostles, he was elevated to the episcopacy
at the age of twenty, the youngest bishop ever to reach that
pinnacle through his own efforts. As bishop in Illyricum,
Eleutherios promoted the cause of Christianity with the
adroitness of a seasoned campaigner, giving added impetus to
the Christian movement at a time when the merciless
persecutions not only made it difficult to win and hold
converts, but also at a time when the gravest danger was in
being a high-ranking prelate of the Church. Oblivious to
this threat, he was acclaimed in the inner circle of
Christianity as the brightest luminary of Christian Rome
since the apostles.
Even those whom he failed to convert held him in the
highest esteem, and with this immense popularity he grew
bolder and thereby more offensive to the state. This
outstanding theologian, orator and benefactor of Christian
and pagan alike was finally mentioned to Emperor Hadrian,
who ordered his arrest. Ordinarily the emperor would have
questioned him personally because of his high station, but
fearing a reprisal because of the prelate's popularity,
Hadrian dispatched his most trusted centurion, a man named
Felix, to bring the bishop before the prefect of Rome for
trial and punishment. The centurion decided that rather than
run the risk of seizing Eleutherios publicly he would seek
out his place of worship and arrest him there. After some
time Felix found the well-hidden church and crept in just as
the bishop was commencing a sermon. The oratory of the
brilliant Eleutherios was spellbinding, and when the sermon
was over Felix came forth and asked to be converted to
Christianity. This done, Felix exposed his purpose and
apologised for having come to the house of God with
treachery in his heart. He was easily forgiven by
Eleutherios, who thereafter instructed the centurion to
return him to the prefect lest judgment be passed on both of
them. With a great deal of reluctance Felix took the bishop
to what appeared to be a sealed fate, offering along the way
to help Eleutherios escape. But the proud prelate would not
hear of it.
With the emperor conspicuous by his absence, St
Eleutherios went on trial before the prefect, but not even
his oratorical power could save him. The bishop was cast
into prison, tortured, and put to death. He died for Christ
on December 15.
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