CONCERNING SAINT ZACHARIAS THE RECLUSE AMONG THE GREEKS.
CommentaryZacharias the Recluse among the Greeks (S.)
The Greeks in the great Menaea and in Maximus Cytheraeus celebrate this Saint in a few words, with no place or time indicated in which he lived. On the same day, they say, Saint Zacharias ended his life in peace. More fully the Turin manuscript of the Duke of Savoy: Memory of our holy Father Zacharias, a monk, who became a recluse and served God immovably. In the Menaea this distich is added:
Made like unto God in strength, O Father, Departing earth, you become co-heir of the life of God.
Many most holy men bore the name Zacharias, and, to omit Martyrs, there is Zacharias the Prophet, and another, the father of S. John the Baptist: the Greeks venerate the latter on September 5, the former on February 8, and his discovery on May 16. There is also Zacharias, Patriarch of Jerusalem, whose sacred day is February 21, and Zacharias the tanner, who preserved virginity in matrimony, and is commemorated by the same Greeks on November 17: from all of whom this one is evidently different. In the Lives of the Fathers there are various Zachariases, to whom the surname of Abbot, monk, disciple of Moses, or of Silvanus, or of Serapion is given. But which of these might be venerated on this day, who could divine?
CONCERNING S. MARTIN THE THEBAN AMONG THE GREEKS.
CommentaryMartin the Theban among the Greeks (S.)
Among other cities, two celebrated ones called Thebes, adorned with episcopal dignity, exist in Greece itself: of these, one is in Achaia under the metropolis of Corinth, another in Thessaly under Larissa: from one of these we believe this Saint was born, of whom the Greeks in the Menaea and in Maximus Cytheraeus have only this: On the same day, Saint Martin the Theban or Thebanus ended his life in peace. This distich is added in the Menaea:
Nourished most beautifully in beautiful old age, O Martin, Dying, you are joined to the departed Fathers.