Immortality is the state that every person dreams of, and it really exists. The source of immortality is the Resurrection of Christ. At the end of life, after Christ's Resurrection, death no longer rules over a person who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christians are Christ-bearers, that is, carriers and holders of eternal life, which is given as faith and as holiness. Saints are ordinary people in flesh and blood, but the most perfect Christians, since they consecrated themselves with exploits in the name of the risen and eternal Christ the Savior.
Life of the saints
Since ancient times, the exploits of the saints, martyrs, saints were recorded and sacredly kept by ascetics of piety. Gradually, many legends were gathered, which are usually called the “Lives of the Saints”. In the article, we consider the life of one amazing saint named Vitaly.
This Rev. Vitaly (saint) lived in the second half of the sixth century. His feat was one of a kind, as far as is known, no one dared to repeat such actions either before or after him, before they were unusual. But his example of spiritual holiness can teach a lot to any person, especially the monks.
The life of St. Vitaly
The future Rev. Vitaly from youthful years worked in the monastery of Rev. Serid near the city of Gaza, near the Holy Land. Until the age of sixty, Vitaly (saint) did not leave the walls of the monastery, but then abruptly changed his life.
At an advanced age, the reverend decides to leave the walls of the monastery and settles in the city of Alexandria. At that time, Alexandria was a huge city, as they say now, a metropolis, and the morals of its inhabitants were not distinguished by meekness and humility. The rectors of the nearby monasteries in very extreme cases blessed the monks to enter the city, and then this spirit was equipped with the most spiritually strong monks who would not succumb to temptation and would not fall into temptation.
And Saint Vitaliy writes to himself in his commemoration all the harlots of this city, and he settles in a private apartment. Since the morning this saint has been working on day jobs, in the evening he buys himself some food (in the life it says "beans"), and he gives the rest of the money to one of the many harlot of Alexandria. That is, he buys a night with this woman. The residents of the city, learning about this, became so indignant that day and night they vilified the holy man, as soon as he called him.
Feat of the reverend
Usually people in others see those sins that they commit themselves, and they are pleased that not only they are so sinful. The inhabitants of Alexandria themselves were far from holiness, and for sure many of them used the services of priestesses of love, but they could not forgive this vice to a monk who had rebuked their conscience with his pure life. This case is very revealing for modern people who are happy to blame the church and its ministers if they notice imperfection or vice in something.
As the residents of the city later learned, the monk Vitaliy, a man of holy life, locked himself with harlots, allowed these unfortunate women to forget about their dirty work for at least one night, get enough sleep, or pray to the Lord with him. He did not condemn any of those with whom he spent time, did not convict, but only felt sorry. And many prostitutes have taken the righteous road. Some of them repented, got married, gave birth to children and became faithful wives, others went to the monastery and kept clean until death.
Condemnation is a sin
Rev. Vitaly prayed all night for these women, but strictly forbade them to talk about himself. He took an oath with each of them that she would not tell the truth about him. The reverend simply followed the Savior's words so that the left hand would not know what the right hand was doing. The Lord bequeathed to do good deeds in secret, so that through them not to be conceited. St. Vitaly fulfilled this commandment to the end, he not only remained secret, but also endured unrighteous reproaches from sinful people. Saint Vitaly (whose icon is in any Orthodox church) helps everyone who addresses him with a request to protect a loved one from vice or prays for himself a sinner.
His example suggests that no one should be judged. Only God sees the human heart, and He is his judge, and the rest of the people reason in their own measure of sinfulness. The sin of one person before another is nothing compared to the sin that a person commits before the Lord.
Act of John the Merciful
And although the reverend hid his feat, this does not justify those who condemned him or openly blasphemed. But in the city there was still a man who did not condemn the saint. It was the Alexandrian Patriarch John the Merciful. When he heard rumors about the behavior of St. Vitaly, John the Merciful refused to believe them and cited the example of Emperor Constantine the Great, who at the First Ecumenical Council, without reading, burned written denunciations to some bishops and priests, saying that it was not his business to judge the clergy. The emperor also added that if he had seen with his own eyes a priest or a monk with a harlot, he would have covered him with his own cloak so that no one would look.
Frenzied young man and Vitaly (saint)
The Monk Vitaly met a young man the day before his death, heading to the house of debauchery. This self-confident young man approached St. Vitaly and hit him on the cheek because the monk, in his opinion, dishonored the name of Christ. The saint calmly took this, but said that even the young man would receive such a slap in the face that all the townspeople would gather for his cry.
And so it happened: when the monk went into his cell and began to pray, he died after a while, and the demon appeared to the young man and, hitting him on the cheek, declared that it was a slap in the face to him from the monk Vitaly. From this the young man fell into such a rage that he rolled on the ground and screamed frantically. People ran to his cry, and, having regained consciousness a little, he, together with all, ran to the saint's house. There they saw a saint kneeling, and in his hands was a scroll with an inscription that said that the Alexandrians would not condemn anyone before time, until the Lord, the righteous judge, came.
The unfortunate young man was healed only after touching the saint, along with him one of the harlots, who had violated the oath of non-disclosure of the secret of the Monk Vitaly, was healed of demon. Other women who knew the secret of the saint and were no longer connected with it, spoke about the saint and restored his honor.
John the Merciful with great honor through the whole city carried the remains of the saint. He buried the whole city. St. Vitaly’s Day (Memorial Day) is celebrated according to the Orthodox calendar on May 5.
Patrons of Vitali
The name Vitaly, translated from Latin, means "vital." In addition to the holy Rev. Vitaly, the martyr Vitaly the Roman is also known, who suffered a painful death for Christ with his brothers and mother, the holy martyr Felicata, who lived in Rome around 164.
Both Vitaly Roman and Saint Vitaly of Alexandria, as the patron saints of Vitaly (any person baptized with this name), stand guard and come in difficult times, you only need to turn to them.
Musician Vitaliy Efremochkin
In the musical circle, the story of one musician who turned to God and began to write music and songs dedicated to Him became known. This happened with Vitaliy Efremochkin - Ukrainian musician and composer, vocalist, author of improvisations and arranger. He believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and dedicated his work to him, Vitaly Efremochkin. “The Holy King” is a composition that he wrote not so long ago, but it has become popular among believers.