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I read a moving story about a Saint who is not in our Calendar. His name is Telemachus and his story is in The Ecclesiastical History written by Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus, 393-457 AD.

The story of Telemachus the monk tells how a desert hermit who had devoted his life to prayerful companionship with God came to realize that his love for God was a selfish love. He had gone into the desert to get away from people and the sinful world. He realized that in order to truly love God he must love other people also. Leaving his hermitage he made his way to Rome at a time when Christianity had been embraced but the populace still demanded the ancient entertainment of watching gladiators fight to the death in the arena. Hearing the crowd the monk entered the stadium and seeing the violence he stepped into the arena and tried to separate the combatants. The crowd roared its disapproval of the monk who, in the name of Jesus, was seeking to end their bloody entertainment. As the monk continued to interfere the crowd picked up stones and stoned Telemachus to death. On hearing of this, Emperor Honorius decreed an end to the gladiator games on January 1,404 AD

A living faith involves action.

Bible Reading: Mark 8:34-35