On the 9th
March / 22nd March, the Church commemorates the memory of the 40
soldiers who suffered a martyr's death for Christ at Lake Sebastia (now Sivas in
central-eastern Turkey) in 313 AD.
The 40 Martyrs were
exceptional soldiers and faithful followers of Christ. Upon learning of this, the
pagan governor Agricolas (under Roman Emperor Licinius (c. 263 – 325) who gave
strict instructions on the persecution of Christians) ordered the soldiers to
be summoned. Agricolas forced them to worship idols, but refused. They were jailed
for eight days, beaten with stones and enticed with gifts. After this failed,
they were sentenced to death for disobeying the emperor and for witchcraft.
In the heart of
winter, they were taken at dusk to Lake Sebastia. The martyrs were ordered to
enter the lake, naked. A bathhouse had been set up nearby to tempt them but
they then had to sacrifice to the Roman gods. Soldiers surrounded the lake’s perimeter
to ensure none escaped. After a while, one of the forty gave up and left the
lake, but died on the spot.
As night came, God
produced a miracle. So as to comfort and give strength to the martyrs, the lake’s
water warmed, melting the ice and thirty-nine crowns came down from Heaven upon
the martyrs. This miracle was seen by the only one unsleeping guard, Aglaius.
Upon counting only 39 crowns he realised the solider that abandoned this
contest lost his crown. Then, the guard woke the others, stripped his clothes
and jumped into the lake, shouting, “I am a Christian, too”. At dawn,
the Saints were removed alive from the lake. Their legs were broken, thrown
into a cart and left to slowly die as they were taken to the last stage of
their martyrdom.
Throughout this
long execution, the mother of the youngest soldier, Meliton, pleaded with her
son to persevere with his martyrdom. His mother then picked him up and carried Meliton
on her shoulders walking behind the cart. When Meliton drew his last breath,
his mother put him on the cart with the rest of the martyrs.
The bodies of the 40
martyrs were burnt, dead or alive, then thrown into a river so other Christians
could not recover their relics. However, their remains were partially recovered
and keep in various churches throughout the area.
The names of the
martyrs include: Acacius, Aetius,
Aglaius, Alexander, Angus, Athanasius,
Candidus, Chudion,
Claudius, Cyril, Cyrion, Dometian, Domnus,
Ecdicius, Elias, Eunoicus, Eutyches,
Eutychius, Flavius, Gaius, Gorgonius, Helianus, Heraclius, Hesychius, John,
Lysimachus, Meliton, Nicholas, Philoctemon, Priscus, Sacerdon, Severian, Sisinius, Smaragdus, Theodulus,
Theophilus, Valens, Valerius, Vivianus, and Xanthias.
Celebrated during Lent
The date of this
feast may have been intentionally chosen
so as to fall during Great Lent. The reasons:
·
the
number forty being both the number of martyrs and the number of days in the Fast;
·
the
martyrs’ endurance serves as an example to the faithful to persevere to the end
(whether that be during Great Lent or life in general) in order to attain their
heavenly reward (participation in Pascha and the Resurrection).
The traditions
A Russian
custom is to make forty Zhavoronki, little
breads shaped in the form of ‘skylarks’. Skylarks are regarded as the first
birds to arrive in Russia, heralding the beginning of spring. As spring occurs
around the same time this tradition was adopted to commemorate the 40 martyrs.
Zhavoronki
6 cups flour (half whole
wheat and half unbleached white)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups warm water
2 ¼ tsp. yeast
orange zest (optional)
cloves, raisins, or
cranberries for eyes
sunflower seeds or whole
almonds for beak
1. Mix the warm water, yeast, sugar, oil, flour
(a cup at a time, stirring well before adding the next), salt and the vanilla
or orange zest (if using) together well. Knead about ten minutes. Place in a
bowl and let rise until doubled in size.
2. Divide the dough into 40 pieces. Roll each
piece into a long round shape. Tie each piece into a knot. Make one end into
the shape of a head for the bird. The other end will be the tail feathers with
a knife cut little lines. Put two cloves, raisins or cranberries on each bird
for the eye and a whole almond for the beak.
3. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 3250F or
1700C.
In Romania and throughout the Balkan Peninsula, the martyrs are
remembered through eating Mucenici
(‘martyr’ in Romanian), a traditional sweet in the form of a figure-8. Its
shape suggests the crowns given to the martyrs or to symbolise infinity (∞)
making reference to God’s love and His gift of eternal life.
In the north, Moldova,
they bake it as a bread, covered in honey and walnuts.
In the south, they
make smaller mucenici in a syrup with
sugar, cinnamon and crushed nuts symbolizing the lake where the Martyrs were
cast.
The mucenici are consumed by the family and given
to neighbours or at church after Divine Liturgy.
Symbolism of the
ingredients:
·
flour
(death)
·
honey
(joy of victory)
·
spices,
especially cinnamon (suffering).
Mucenici (bread)
1 kg plain flour
100 gr sugar
30 gr yeast
1 sachet vanilla sugar
2 tablespoons of oil
400 ml of water
For the syrup
100 gr honey
400 gr ground nuts
1. Mix all the ingredients for the dough, add warm water and knead. Let the
dough rise in a warm place for about an hour and a half, until it becomes
fluffy.
2. When dough has risen, take it in pieces, roll and
form rods of 1 cm and a half, and make in shape of figure-8, the “martyr”.
3. Grease the pan with a little oil and place the
martyrs, put the pan in the oven and leave until they are browned.
4. Meanwhile, finely chop the nuts.
5. When martyrs are ready, remove from oven, brush
with honey and sprinkle with chopped nuts.
Mucenici (sweet-soup)
Dough
Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup water
1 pinch of salt
Syrup
ingredients:
150 g sugar
lemon zest
rum extract
vanilla extract
8 cups water
For
Serving:
250g chopped walnuts
grounded cinnamon
Preparation:
1. Mix
the flour with water and salt. The dough must be a good consistency (enough to
be able to shape it). If necessary add more flour.
2. Lightly
flour a working sheet. Make small balls of dough and roll them into strings
about 0.2 inch width. Make little circles. Braid them in pairs to make number-8
figures.
3. Let
the shapes dry for 24 hours. If they are not dry enough the following day, you can
speed up the process by putting them in a warm oven that has been turned off.
4. Boil
the water with sugar, vanilla and rum extract.
5. Put
the shaped pasta in the syrup and simmer for about 1 hour (until the pasta is
cooked), stirring slowly. Some water may be added in the cooking process.
6. Let
it cool and add the grated lemon zest.
7. Serve
cold with cinnamon and chopped walnuts.
In Greece,
the 40 martyrs are honoured by the eating of dishes that stress the number 40. These
foods can include:
·
baklava
with 40 layers of phyllo pastry
·
diary-free
pancakes
One
‘new’ idea, borrowed from Greek cuisine, is to make 40 crowns using the
Melomakarona recipe.
Instead of the
traditional diamond/sausage shape, this biscuit recipe is malleable enough to be
made into small crowns. These biscuits are soaked in a honey-based syrup then
sprinkled with walnuts and cinnamon to symbolise the sweetness of the martyrs’
victory and reward into Heaven.
Melomakarona
* make 1 day beforehand
1 cup squeezed
orange
2 cups oil
1 cup sugar
Self-raising flour
(amount dependant on dough) + 1 cup plain
Cinnamon (to
taste)
1 cup crushed
walnuts
Syrup
2 cups water
2 Tbsp sugar
1 cup honey
1.
Beat sugar
and oil, then orange with electric mixer until creamy. Add cinnamon and
walnuts.
2.
Mix in
plain flour then self-raising flour until dough is not too sticky.
3.
Using
a tablespoon, scoop out dough and make into shape of crowns. Place on tray
lined with grease-proof paper.
4.
Bake
in a moderate oven at 1800C til golden-brown. Leave them cool on
wire rack.
5.
After
cooled, make syrup by combing all ingredients. Bring to boil then simmer til
thickened.
6.
Drop
each biscuit in for a few seconds or else it will break apart. Sprinkle with
extra crushed walnuts and cinnamon.
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