The Holy Martyr Eustratius of the CavesA very rich man, moved by the love of Christ, gave away all his property for the sake of Christ, entered the Pechersk Monastery and became a monk. When the Polovtsians conquered Kiev in 1097, plundered the monastery, slaughtered many Christians and monks, and Eustratius and some other believers were sold into slavery to a Jew in the city of Korsun. This Jew mocked the faith of Christ and forced the Christians to convert to the Jewish faith. Seeing that they had no other way out, they all decided to starve themselves to death, but not to renounce the true faith. Eustratius encouraged the Christians in this decision. And they all died of hunger, some after three, some after four, and some after seven days. Having learned to fast, Eustratius was the only one left alive, and he endured fourteen days without food. The Jew, enraged that the money with which he had bought slaves had been lost, took revenge on Eustratius by nailing him to a cross. But Eustratius thanked God from the cross and prophesied the Jew's cruel and imminent death. Enraged with anger, the Jew pierced him with a spear. And so the saint of God gave up his soul to his Savior. His body was thrown into the sea, but it floated up, and great miracles happened over that martyr's body. Soon after that, the Byzantine emperor ordered that the Jews in Korsun be punished for their malice towards Christians. And that torturer was hanged on a tree, and he received the wages of Judas.

Venerable Hilarion the Confessor. Venerable Hesychius of Jerusalem. Holy Martyr Boyan. Miraculous event with Taxiot, a soldier from Carthage. Easter Lent.