By Bishop Grigorios of Mesaoria
Our Church today honours the memory of the Prophets Daniel and Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, known as the Three Holy Children in the Furnace.
Prophet Daniel and the Three Holy Children, though young and living under particularly difficult conditions during the period of the Babylonian Captivity, displayed steadfast faith in God, devotion to his commandments, and heroic attitude toward various dilemmas. With their courage, they were endowed by God with excellent spiritual benefits and the gift of healing.
Daniel came out unscathed from the lions’ pit, where he had been thrown by the idolatrous king, and the three Children were left untouched in the fiery furnace, for refusing to worship the golden cult image of the king.
Both Daniel and the Three Holy Children have a prominent place in the hymnology of our Church and are portrayed as types of the Resurrection of Christ in terms of their miraculous rescue from certain death.
But they are also examples of morality and virtue, and examples of people who had the will and ability to choose the true and the eternal, despising threats, persecution and martyrdom.
Source: Church of Cyprus
