Augustin Sokolovski
On August 8, the Church honors the memory of the Holy Martyrs Hermolaos, Hermippus and Hermocrates. The saints suffered for Christ during the reign of the Roman emperor Maximian (285-305). According to the place of their suffering, they are called the martyrs of Nicomedia. Saint Hermolaos is called by the Church during the prayer for the healing of the sick and in the sacrament of unction.
St. Hermolaos is known thanks to the Martyr Panteleimon. It was thanks to him that Panteleimon turned to Christ. He baptized him and commanded him in the treatment of the sick - Panteleimon was a doctor - to call on the name of Christ.
Very little information has been preserved about the life of the saints. It is known that Hermolaos was a presbyter, and Hermippus and Hermocrates were his assistants in the ministry. Subsequent tradition also refers to them as priests. Apparently, the life of Hermolaos is an extrapolation of the suffering of Panteleimon.
It is in the life of Panteleimon, like a small inconspicuous nesting doll in a beautiful large one, that the life of three presbyters has been preserved.
The names of St. Hermolaos and his companions speak of their pagan origin. All of them are derived from the Greek deity Hermes. Translated into Russian, they mean "people" or "army", "cavalry" and "power of Hermes", respectively. “An idol is nothing in the world,” Paul wrote to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 8:4). In the surviving names of the three saints, there is evidence of how literally the ancient Christians understood the words of the Apostle of the Gentiles. They were not at all afraid of contemporary cultural phenomena and symbols, moreover, as far as possible, they sought to Christianize them.
In ancient times, Christians, unless there was a special indication from above, did not change their names in baptism. Thus, it was emphasized that Christianity is not the assumption of a new additional identity, but death to sin and life in anticipation of the Coming of the Lord to testify of Him here and now. Such was the call to holiness in those days, that method of grace to give biblical gravity to human biography.
“Israel's chariot and his cavalry,” Elisha exclaimed, seeing the teacher ascend in a fiery chariot (cf. 2 Kings 2:12). So, in the Bible, thunder, and lightning, which used to frighten the pagans, became a ladder to heaven for the Prophet Elijah. "Army, cavalry, and strength of Hermes" - in the hearts of the three servants of the Son of God became the "Kingdom, Strength and Glory of the Father."
“Israel's chariot and his cavalry,” Elisha exclaimed, seeing the teacher ascend in a fiery chariot (cf. 2 Kings 2:12). So, in the Bible, thunder, and lightning, which used to frighten the pagans, became a ladder to heaven for the Prophet Elijah. In a similar biblical parallel, "army, cavalry, and strength of Hermes" in the hearts of the three servants of the Son of God became the "Kingdom, Power and Glory of the Father."
The retention of the former obviously pagan name was a missionary testimony of extraordinary power. After all, if the name of a person was biblical, then the pagans around simply believed that in front of them was one of the Jews. The Jewish religion, according to Roman laws, was considered ancient, and therefore was not persecuted. The presence of Christians with pagan names meant for the Roman environment that the death of the gods was near!
In December 303, by order of Emperor Maximian in Nicomedia, a great number of Christians were locked in the basilica and burned alive. The tradition of the Church has preserved a special memory of them under the name of 20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia. According to the life, Hermolaos, Hermippus and Hermocrates were among the few Christians who managed to save their lives then. Probably, the Christian community, realizing that it was threatened with complete destruction, helped the three priests to hide in order to continue to participate in the Eucharist in this way.
However, this situation weighed heavily on Hermolaos and his companions. According to his life, he was forced to hide. He celebrated the Eucharist in private, lived in solitude, and looked at the passers-by through a small window. That is how he saw Panteleimon passing by and spoke to him. The very fact that he survived such a persecution of Christians could cause mistrust in the community.
Of course, the ancient canons forbade Christians to seek martyrdom themselves. At the same time, the Scripture, following the pattern of the last days of the Holy Week of the Passion of the Lord, called to courageously go towards Christ when it was predestined.
Such grace-filled inevitability was revealed to Hermolaos in the calling of Panteleimon. The fame of his medical skill and the grace of bold healings in the name of the Lord spread in the capital Nicomedia. The city's pagan doctors wrote a denunciation against him. After the saint was arrested, his teacher Hermolaos was discovered and brought to trial, and then Hermocrates and Hermippus. When Panteleimon still had to endure a lot of suffering, Hermolaos and his companions were beheaded with a sword.
According to life, when Panteleimon was tormented for his faith, Christ Himself appeared to him more than once in the form of Hermolaos. In this semantic detail - the key importance that Hermolaos had in the formation of Panteleimon. For the Christian community, this meant that the presbyter, who had previously “sheltered” from persecution, was great before God to such an extent that Christ Himself assumed his face.
Just as grace is communication, so there is a mutual saving interdependence in the lives of the people of God and the saints. “God does not save us without us”, said the axiom of the ancient Christian apologists. Obviously, God does not save us without other people. He saves from eternal oblivion; He preserves the memory and our good name here on earth. Information about Hermolaos and his companions was preserved in the life of Panteleimon. But we also know about Panteleimon only because the Word of God through Hermolaos led him to Christ.
“A good name is better than precious oil, and the day of death is a birthday,” says Ecclesiastes (Eccl. 7:1). In a paradoxical biblical pun, the early Christians called the days of the death of the martyrs “birthdays”.
There is one surprising detail in the description of Panteleimon's suffering. According to his life, when the saint was tormented for his faith, Christ Himself more than once appeared to him in the form of Hermolaos. In this semantic detail, not only the key importance that he had in the formation of Panteleimon. For the Christian community, this meant that the presbyter, who had previously “sheltered” from persecution, was great before God to such an extent that Christ Himself assumed his face. This was the apotheosis of the Kingdom, anticipating the Second Coming of Christ - the epiphany, when God, in Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit will be revealed in the saints.