Hidar 1 — November 10

Maximus and His Brave Brothers

Today is the very first day of the month of Hidar, a month God has blessed. When the month begins, the daytime is ten hours long. Then, day by day, it grows just a little shorter.

On this day we remember four friends named Maximus, Manfius, Victorius, and Philip. They came from a faraway land called Phrygia (say it: FRIH-jee-uh). They did not share the same mother and father, but they loved each other so much that they called one another brothers. Their love for Jesus had joined them together, like brothers in the Holy Spirit.

In those days, the king did not believe in Jesus, and he was unkind to people who did. Maximus and his three friends were not afraid. The four of them agreed together: they would tell everyone how much they loved God. So they walked right up to the king and spoke out their faith for all to hear. To have faith means trusting God with your whole heart.

The king was angry. He tried hard to make the four friends stop loving Jesus, but they would not stop, and they were not afraid, because they knew God was right there with them. Other people watched how brave and patient the friends were, and many of them began to love Jesus too. In the end, the four gave their very lives for God. We call them martyrs, because they stayed faithful to Jesus all the way, even when it cost them everything. Still they were not afraid. They knew they were going home to heaven, where God gave them shining crowns. What a happy day that was for them!

We are Christians, and we believe in Christ, the Son of the Living God, and we bow down before Him and serve Him.— the four friends, speaking to the king

They were brothers in the Holy Spirit, joined together for the love of Christ.