The Holy Seven Maccabee Martyrs, Their Mother Solomonia, and Their Teacher Eleazar — August 1 / August 14 (Julian Calendar)

On this day, August 1 according to the Julian Calendar (August 14 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates the Holy Seven Maccabee Martyrs — Abim, Antoninus, Gurias, Eleazar, Eusebonus, Alimus, and Marcellus — together with their mother Solomonia and their teacher Eleazar.

The seven Maccabee martyrs, their mother Solomonia, and their teacher Eleazar suffered in the year 166 before the birth of Christ, when Judea was under the dominion of the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes. The impious ruler resolved to implant paganism among the Jews: he forbade them the worship of God and burned the sacred books; he plundered the Temple of Jerusalem and had an idol of Jupiter set up within it, compelling the chosen people of the Lord to offer sacrifice to the Hellenic deities and to eat food offered to idols. In that calamitous time many denied the true God, but there were also those who grieved over the fall and degeneration of their countrymen and lived in hope of the coming incarnation of the Savior.

The whole household of the Maccabees remained steadfastly faithful to the Law of Moses — they refused the food offered to idols, and for this, before the eyes of holy Solomonia, her seven sons were put to death by torture, one after another. The brothers met death with joy; their only fear was that the torturers might cease the torments and one of them be left without the crown of martyrdom. The brave, valiant, and God-loving Solomonia endured unbearable pain as well: more than her sons’ sufferings she was troubled by the thought that they might not withstand the torture; she grieved not so much for those who had departed this world as she longed for those remaining to be united with them; she encouraged her sons and called them to steadfastness. While holy Solomonia was gathering up the hewn body of one son, she was handing another over to the executioner and preparing a third for torture. When only the last and youngest son remained alive, Antiochus proposed to holy Solomonia that she persuade the youth to deny God, that he at least might be spared; but the handmaid of the Lord strengthened the boy and entreated him: do not fear the executioner — be made worthy of your brothers. After the death of her seventh son, Solomonia herself, in fervent prayer, committed her soul to the Lord.

The teacher of the Maccabees, Eleazar, a ninety-year-old scholar of the Law, had reposed before them in Jerusalem. The impious tried to force the blessed one to eat meat offered to idols, but he spat out the forbidden food. His kinsmen and friends suggested that he eat meat prepared with his own hands and merely appear to be accepting the idol-offering; but Eleazar refused, saying he would not belie his old age nor lead the young astray.

The struggle of the Maccabee brothers inspired the valiant warrior Judas Maccabeus to heroic deeds. He placed himself at the head of a popular uprising against Antiochus Epiphanes; with the help of God he gained the victory, cleansed Jerusalem of idols, and put an end to the dominion of the pagans. A terrible punishment befell the impious Antiochus: as he was preparing to take vengeance upon the Jews, his whole body became covered with festering wounds; tormented by unbearable pain and a foul stench, he came to know the almighty power of the true God and fervently begged His help, promising to adorn the Temple of Jerusalem, to accept the Jewish Law, and to spread it throughout his dominion. But the King of Heaven did not accept a plea made without repentance and founded upon superstition, and the fierce ruler of Syria gave up his soul in a foreign land, in terrible torment.

The Second Book of Maccabees gives an account of the martyric struggle of the Maccabee brothers, their mother, and their teacher. Great fathers of the Church — Cyprian of Carthage, Ambrose of Milan, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom — dedicated words of praise to the blessed martyrs.