When people were at the highest degree of evil, each in his ignorance erecting and proclaiming the statue of his passion as a god, then they were pitiful in the mud of their error, not noticing all the absurdity of such adoration, until the Lord, who came to earth in the riches of His mercy, freed us, who believe in Him, from this abominable deception and fatal ignorance and taught us the true knowledge of God. For outside of Him there is no salvation, and there is no other God, either in heaven or on earth, except the One God, the Creator of all things and of all, Who creates all things by the power of His almighty Word: "By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the spirit of His mouth all their host" (Psalm 32:6). All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made (John 1:3).

Having listened to the teaching of the prince, Theudas stood as if struck by thunder, not being able to utter a single word, because what he heard was filled with Divine wisdom. At last, after a long time, having recovered himself and stood before the king in the midst of the assembly, he cried out with a loud voice: "Verily, O king, the Spirit of God dwells in your son. We are completely defeated and not only cannot say anything in defense of our faith, but even with a movement of our eyes we can object to the words we have heard. Truly, great is the Christian God; great is their faith, and great are their mysteries."

The word of salvation touched the darkened heart of Theudas, and repentance for her previous actions took possession of it. Recognizing all the error guiding the idolaters, he was enlightened by the light of true piety. Turning then to Joasaph, he asked: "Tell me, enlightened youth, will Christ accept me, if I, abandoning my former deeds, turn to Him?"

"Certainly," replies the preacher of truth. "He will receive you as He accepts all who turn to Him: the Lord does not simply receive a converted sinner; but as a Father who receives a son who has returned after a long lawless absence, kissing and embracing him. Having removed from him the shame of sins, He immediately cloths him in the garment of salvation and brilliant glory, celebrating the return of the lost sheep. The Lord Himself said: "I say unto you, that thus in heaven there shall be more joy over one sinner who repenteth, than over ninety-nine righteous men, who have no need of repentance" (Luke 15:7). And again he says: "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Matt. 9:13). Then through the Prophet he declares: Say to them, I live, I do not want the death of the sinner, but that the sinner should turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways; Why should you die, O house of Israel? If this wicked man returns the pledge, pays for what he has stolen, walks according to the laws of life, doing nothing evil, then he will live, he will not die. Not one of his sins that he has committed will be remembered to him; he began to do justice and righteousness, he will live (Ezekiel 33:11, 15, 16).

Another prophet exclaims: Wash yourselves, be cleansed; remove your evil deeds from my eyes; stop doing evil; learn to do good; Seek the truth. Then come and let us reason, says the Lord. If your sins be as scarlet, as white as snow; though they be red as crimson, as white as wool. If you will and obey, you will eat the good things of your land. But if you deny and persist, the sword will devour you: for the mouth of the Lord speaketh (Isaiah 1:16-20).

With such promises on the part of God, you, O man, without hesitation and without delay, turn to Christ, our loving God, and you will be enlightened in spirit, and your face will not be darkened, together with immersion in the water of the font at Holy Baptism, all your shame of your former man and all the weight of the sins that weighed upon you will be buried forever. Then you will begin a new life free from every stain and dirt of sins, and it will depend on you to keep unblemished that purity granted to you by the mercy of our God."

Thus instructed by Bl. Joasaph Theudas immediately went to his cave and, taking his demonic books, gave them over to the fire, as the beginning of all evil and the source of all kinds of impiety. Then he finds the sacred man to whom Nahor came. Having sprinkled ashes on his head, weeping loudly and bursting into tears, he tells him about the state of his soul, at the same time telling him about his former unclean deeds. This priest, knowing how to perfectly direct souls to the path of salvation and tear them out of the power of the evil one, promises him the forgiveness of former sins and a merciful Judge. Then, having taught it and prepared it by fasting for many days, he cleanses it by Divine Baptism. From that time he abandoned his former impious way of life, and hated impure passions and sorcery as much as he had been inclined to them. Throughout the rest of his life, he propitiated God with tears and contrition.

Meanwhile, after such an outcome of affairs, Abner was in a completely helpless state, and his soul was apparently immersed in deep care and anxiety. Summoning again his most important advisers, he asked them what he should do with his son. When some advised him one thing, and others another, the aforesaid Arachiah, the noblest and strongest of them, said to him: "As we ought to do to your son, O king, so we did, but we could not persuade him to follow the teachings of our faith and serve our gods. And, as I can see, all our attempts here will be useless. Nature and fate must have made him so implacable, unshakable and undaunted. If you want to torture or execute him, then you will be an enemy to yourself, to your nature, and then you will no longer have the right to call yourself his father, and he will readily go to execution for the name of Christ. There is only one means left, and that is to give him a part of your state, and the government of which to entrust to him. If then the cares, worldly needs and needs carry him away, and he again enters the circle of our life, then our goal is achieved. For the strengthened qualities of our soul can be removed much more quickly by persuasion or even concession than by force. If, in spite of all this, he still does not abandon the Christian faith, then the very fact that your son has not been punished will be a kind of consolation to you."

Thus spoke Arachia, and all present agreed with his opinion. The Tsar was not averse to doing so. Therefore, calling his son, he said to him: "This is my last word to you, my son! If you do not listen to me in this case, and although you do not please me now, then I will no longer spare you."

When the prince asked what exactly he wanted to say to him, the king answered him: "Having worked on you for so long, I see that you can neither be forced nor persuaded to obey my words. Now I have decided to separate for you a part of the state that you will rule, and henceforth you can choose whatever path you like with impunity."

The holy soul of the youth immediately understood the real purpose of this proposal. But, nevertheless, he decided to accept it in order to enter the desired path with a free hand. In view of this, he objected to his father: "I would like to find that divine man who showed me the way of salvation and, having said goodbye to everything here, spend the rest of my life with him. But since you, father, do not allow me to do as I please in this case, I obey you. For it is beautiful to obey one's parents in those cases when this obedience does not entail death and alienation from the true God."

Hearing this, the king is filled with great joy. He divides his entire state into two parts; solemnly appoints the son king of the second of them; he puts on him a crown and all the other royal ornaments, and with a brilliant retinue and bodyguards sends him to the half appointed for him. He allows various satraps, military commanders, nobles, rulers, and all who wish to go with his son; He appoints a large, populous city as the main abode of his son and king, surrounding it with befitting grandeur.

Blessed Joasaph, having accepted the royal power and arriving in the main city, erected a cross on each city tower, a sign of Divine suffering. As for the idolatrous temples and altars, he destroys to the ground, not wishing to leave anything reminiscent of impiety. In the middle of the city he erected a large and beautiful church to the Lord Jesus Christ, to which he commanded the people to come in large crowds and pay homage to God, through veneration before the Holy Cross. He himself, standing in the middle of the church, prayed fervently. He tried in every way to distract all those under his authority from the superstitious worship of idols and to convert them to Christ, denouncing the deception of idolatry and proclaiming the teaching of the Gospel. He spoke about the descent of the Word of God, about the miracles He performed, about His suffering on the Cross, His resurrection and ascension to heaven that saved us; He also spoke of the dreadful day of His future Second Coming, of the blessings prepared for the righteous and the punishments for sinners. All this he preached sensibly and meekly, wishing to achieve his desire not so much by the power of the royal power granted to him, as by his humility and meekness. It was this humility and amazing deeds that attracted the hearts of all to him and became a powerful helper of the authorities. Thus, after a short time, all the urban and rural population subject to it was enlightened by the light of divine words and renounced pagan impiety, polytheism, forsaken sacrifices and libations to idols, accepted the true, immutable faith, converted to Christ and was vouchsafed the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven.

Then all the clergy, monastics and some bishops, who were hiding in caves and mountains, out of fear of his father, came out of their hiding places and joyfully hastened to him. Joasaph, going out to meet them, received them, who had endured so many hardships for Christ, joyfully and honorably; After this, he organized a Church in his own house and appointed one Bishop, a holy man, who had suffered much for the faith in Christ and had been deprived of his diocese, versed in church affairs and a zealous Christian, as bishop of his state. This bishop orders to immediately prepare fonts and baptize all those who have converted to Christ. And first the nobles and rulers are baptized, then the army, and then the rest of the people. The baptized received not only spiritual healing, but also the abandonment of all bodily illnesses and injuries, and when leaving the holy font they enjoyed health, both spiritual and physical.