Commemorated on February
6th
In the days when the Apostles were roaming the earth in
missionary labor for Jesus Christ, there were those who were enlisted in
creative action for the New Faith but one of many who came forward of his own
accord to offer his services, to the extent that he became a saint, has been
overshadowed by the Apostles, with the result that his name is little known and
little mentioned. Such a saint was Bukolas of Smyrna, whose origins are unknown
but whose deeds were well known to the apostles and who has come down to us as
one of the most tireless workers for Jesus Christ that ever stopped forward in
his name.
Bukolas came to the attention of St. John who saw in the
newcomer an apostolic neophyte with great promise in a cause which sorely needed
men who could not be swayed or deterred from their holy mission. Christianity
was just taking hold, tenuous at best, and it involved a good deal more than
bringing the light to people. It meant keeping that light by organization and
development of a cohesive society which would not disperse with the first
adversity. St. John, the Apostle, ordained him bishop of Smyrna in Asia Minor
in what is now known as Izmir, Turkey. Under his leadership, converts were
added by the score everyday until Smyrna very soon became a citadel of
Christianity, a thriving spiritual community whose influence spread to the
nomadic herdsmen and landowners who otherwise might have not known the inside of
a church.
Bukolas was unrelenting in his work for the church, but when the
infirmities of his advanced years began to restrict his actions, he did not
hesitate to appoint a successor, who happened to be the great Hieromartyr
Polycarp. Bukolas remained for a period of transition, and at long last,
wearied from years of ceaseless effort, he took refuge in simple lodgings next
to the church where he spent his declining years in prayer and meditation. He
died of old age on February 6th, and was buried close to the Cathedral of
Smyrna.
Shortly after he was buried, a tree started growing from the
earth under which he lay, and when investigation showed there had been no seed
planted there, it was considered a manifestation meant to mark the spot where
the holy man lay. As the tree grew, it became obvious that it was no ordinary
tree, and its branches seemed to have a quality quite unlike that of any other
tree that dotted the landscape. An afflicted pilgrim visiting what had turned
out to be as much a shrine as it was a tree, placed his hand on the tree as he
prayed and was cured. Thereafter, swarms of believing pilgrims came to place
their hands on this tree and pray for divine help. The tree is still standing
in Izmir, unmolested by the Muslims who respect the right of tourists to touch
the holy tree of Saint Bukolas.
Source: Orthodox Saints, Spiritual Profiles for Modern
Man January 1 to March 31, by George Poulos.
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