Gurias the Maccabee

Holy Martyr Gurias the Maccabee is one of the seven Maccabee brothers, martyrs of the Old Testament, together with their mother, Holy Martyr Solomonia (Salome), and their teacher, Holy Martyr Eleazar. The brothers are Abim, Antoninus, Gurias, Eleazar, Eusebonas, Alimus and Marcellus.

In the year 166 before Christ there lived in Judea Eleazar, a priest and teacher of the Law, already old but very comely in appearance and renowned for wisdom and piety. They brought him before the tormentor and tried to force him to eat pork, which God had strictly forbidden in the Old Law. Eleazar chose rather to die a glorious martyr's death for the Law of God than to keep, by breaking it, a life without honour and displeasing to God. During the torments, when the priest was nearing death from his wounds, he said with a groan that the Lord, who has perfect knowledge, knows that he, though he could have escaped death, accepts the terrible sufferings willingly out of fear of God.

The seven disciples of Eleazar, the Maccabee brothers, were also seized, and with them their mother, Solomonia. They were brought before the lawless king and he began to force them to eat the forbidden food. One, speaking for all, said: We are ready to die rather than transgress the laws. The king ordered his tongue cut out, his skin stripped and his hands and feet cut off in the sight of the other brothers and the mother. The young man, deprived of all his limbs but still breathing, was thrown onto a huge red-⁠hot pan. When the first had died, they brought out the second to be mocked, and he suffered the same torment. Near his last breath he said: You, tormentor, take from us the present life, but the King of the world will raise us, who die for His laws, to eternal life. When they tormented the third and wished to cut out his tongue, he at once put it out, boldly stretching out his hands too, and said bravely: From God I received them, for His laws I do not spare them, and from Him I hope to receive them again. Even the tormentors were amazed at the young man's courage. Then three more of the brothers received a glorious martyr's end. To the seventh, the youngest, their mother, Holy Solomonia, said: I beg you, my child, look at heaven and earth and know that God made all things from nothing and that so the human race came to be. Do not fear this murderer, but be worthy of your brothers and accept death, that I may by God's mercy receive you again together with your brothers. After her sons the mother also died, joyfully thanking God that she and her children had laid down their souls for the Law of the Lord Almighty.

The holy Maccabees are commemorated on 14 August (new style, 1 August on the old style).