St. Zoticus and the Sick

St. Zoticus's feast day was actually the 31st but as I was reading from The Prologue of Ohrid, it struck me as to how the saint treated the contagious compared to the way the Emperor treated the contagious. And with our own pandemic going on, how we've actually been far astray from the holy response given by the saint of God. There was an infectious and contagious disease that broke out during the time of St. Zoticus. How did the Emperor deal with the pandemic in his time? He demanded that the sick people be drowned in the river. Not just simply quarantined but drowned and put to death. For being sick. It is the utmost example of throwaway culture. Our government hasn't gone down that extreme but it shackles us up like animals and treats us as inhuman subjects due to the contagious disease going around in today's world. St. Zoticus took these sick people into his home and ministered to their ailments. When he needed more money for his work, he offered the Emperor pearls and asked for the money in return. Later, the Emperor asked St. Zoticus for the promised pearls. That is when he presented the Emperor with the sick people he had ministered to as the promised pearls. The Emperor became furious that he had deceived himself into thinking the precious pearls were of a mere material nature and killed the holy man. We have been viewing people lately not as precious pearls to be treasured but as carriers of a contagious illness to be avoided. Let us remember the example of St. Zoticus who saw Christ in them and treated the sick as precious pearls to be treasured, tended to, taken care of, and adored. Let us not fear contagious diseases this year!