SAINT NESTOR OF MAGYDOS, BISHOP AND MARTYR - 26 FEBRUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN FEBRUARY

 All Saints celebrated on the 26th of February

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

SAINT NESTOR OF MAGYDOS, BISHOP AND MARTYR 

Saint Nestor, a holy bishop of Magydis (Magydos, Maiylus) died a martyr at Perge on Kestros in Pamphylia. (That he was bishop of Sida, as some contend, is not evident from the records.) 

DAY AND NIGHT HE PRAYED FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHRIST'S FLOCK

Day and night he prayed for the protection of Christ's flock. With admirable frankness and boldness he confessed him as Lord and God before the judge. He was held in such high esteem by the pagans for his gentleness and his faultless and just behaviour that both the prefect Irenarchus and the governor Pollio initially treated him with all honour and tried in every way to persuade him to obey the emperor Decius and sacrifice to the gods, because they knew that the shepherd would soon be followed by the flock. 

HE DEMONSTRATED WHAT IS EXPECTED OF A PIOUS BISHOP

Even when he was captured, he demonstrated what is expected of a pious bishop. He was just in the middle of his prayers when they told him they were going to fetch him. Immediately he said his "Amen" and went to the door with the words: "Children, what brings you to me?" They said: "The chief judge summons you." Then he signed himself with the cross and followed them. 

"HIS PRAISE SHALL ALWAYS BE ON MY LIPS"

Neither persuasion nor threats and cruel torture could bend him. "The Lord," he said, as David once did, "I will praise at all times; His praise shall always be on my lips." 

"WITH CHRIST I WAS, I AM, I WILL BE"

When asked whether he would rather be tormented with Christ than honoured by the gods, he replied to the answer: "With Christ I was, I am, I will be." He advised those who could flee to flee. 

When the governor repeatedly urged him to obey the emperor, the saint scolded him and openly called their idolatry devil worship. 

THE DEATH SENTENCE FOR BEING A CHRISTIAN

Now his condemnation followed: since he confessed Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he should be brought from life to death by the cross, as it were as a sacrifice for this his God. 

THE HOLY MARTYR THANKED GOD 

The holy martyr thanked God for this judgment. While he was hanging on the cross he still taught his own, exhorted them to persevere in the love of Christ and, while all prayed on their knees at his request, gave up his spirit so that he actually died "in glory". 

HIS FEAST DAY

This happened in the year 251 or 253 on a Thursday afternoon at three o'clock. February 25 is mentioned in some martyrologies; the Greeks venerate him on February 28, the Roman Martyrology mentions him on February 26. In some martyrologies Casta and Crescentius are added to him as companions. Others call an Ingenua next to Casta. Illustrations give scenes of his martyrdom. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints)