السيرة
On the fifth day of the blessed month of Bashans, the Holy Church commemorates the martyrdom of the great prophet Saint Jeremiah (Eremia), son of Hilkiah the priest. He was sanctified for the prophetic office while yet unborn, for the Lord said to him, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations" (Jeremiah 1:5).
Saint Jeremiah prophesied in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, and in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah. He rebuked the children of Israel because they had forsaken the worship of God and rejected His commandments, and he warned them of the wrath of God that would come upon them if they did not turn from their transgressions. He likewise foretold the coming of the Lord and Savior and His sufferings, together with many other things.
Because the people did not repent, God moved Nebuchadnezzar to besiege Jerusalem. The city fell, the temple was destroyed, and the people were carried away captive to Babylon for seventy years. The prophet himself was bound among the exiles, but when Nebuzaradan, the captain, saw him in chains he set him free. Then Jeremiah wrote his Lamentations, weeping over the destruction of the city, the burning of the temple, and the captivity of his people.
A remnant of the people fled down into the land of Egypt, taking the prophet with them. There he continued to call them to repentance and to reprove their idolatry. His holy life was crowned with martyrdom, for the Jews themselves rose up against him and stoned him in Egypt, and he died a martyr in prison.
For this reason the Coptic Orthodox Church honors him on this day not only as a prophet but as a martyr, who endured suffering and death at the hands of his own people for the word of the Lord. May his prayers and blessing be with us. Amen.