embraces, or, to speak better, venerates as the very mouth of Christ, and considers that he hears the divine words from him.
14. O initiate and evangelist, do not weary of rendering him propitious toward us; take away the sorrows that disturb us; smooth out the difficulties that occur in life; tear up that handwriting of our offenses; grant release to those bound; for you have received such authority from the tongue of the Lord Himself: If you bind, that which is bound shall be indissoluble; if you incline toward pity and forgiveness, the bond shall be easily dissolved. Do not, therefore, despise us constricted by the chains of sins, but command the chains themselves, and they shall be broken; show the Churches to be at peace, which you have established on the foundation of your teachings, for the sake of which the blood of the Lord was shed; and make us participants in the goods from thence, by the grace and kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power, now and for the ages of ages. Amen. B
ANNO DOMINI DCCCXVII.
S. GREGORIUS DECAPOLITA
.NOTITIA.
(GALLAND. Vet. Patrum. Biblioth. t. XIII, p. xiii.)
Saint Gregory was born in the city of Irenopolis in the Decapolis of Isauria, and he lived under Leo the Armenian, not indeed under the Isaurian, as Baronius writes under the year 731. We are abundantly informed of this by John, the Deacon of Constantinople, writer of the Life of Saint Joseph the Hymnographer, as found in the same Papebroch. He had as disciples the illustrious Joseph and a certain John; of whom he sent the former to Rome, that he might inform the pontiff of the unhappy state of certain Churches under the Iconoclasts. He performed many miracles in various places, having traveled through various cities and regions, Syracuse, Thessalonica, Byzantium, Rome, etc. When he had visited almost the entire Western region, he returned to Constantinople. Meanwhile, Joseph, whom he had sent to Rome, was led captive into Crete, where he remained until the death of Leo, who was killed on the very night of the Nativity of Christ in the year 820. Joseph soon returning to Constantinople, found Saint Gregory already dead. Indeed, when our Decapolita had returned to Byzantium, in order to visit Simeon who was imprisoned for the sake of the icons, having seen him, after a few days he commended his spirit to the Lord. He is honored by the Greeks on the 20th of November, although some Menea place it on the 18th of April, according to the Bollandists. His relics and those of his disciple John were placed in a certain monastery in a desert place, built by Joseph the Hymnographer.
There survives from his writings a certain historical sermon, the frequent use of which seems to have existed in monasteries. Isidore of Saint Joseph published this in Greek and Latin with his own notes at Rome, at the Grignani Press, in the year 1642. He says that it was taken from a manuscript codex of Cardinal Bessarion which exists in our Library of Saint Mark. But since neither does he number the codex, nor is such a mediocre little work found in the index of codices, we were unable to locate it. Such things as seemed worthy of note in the annotations, we have summarized and placed in their proper locations at the foot of the pages.
HISTORICAL SERMON, ETC.
SERMON OF SAINT GREGORY DECAPOLITES.
The very useful and most pleasant historical sermon of Saint Gregory the Decapolite, concerning a vision which a certain Saracen beheld, and through which he believed and suffered martyrdom for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Translated by Isidore a S. Joseph.
Bless, Father.
A I. The army commander Nicholas, called Julas, related to me that, in his own city which the Saracens call in their own language Ampelon, the Amerumnes of Syria sent his own nephew to manage and arrange certain affairs in the aforementioned castle.
II. There is a great, ancient, and wondrous temple there of the holy and most glorious martyr George; and when the Saracen saw the temple from afar, he ordered his servants to bring his effects into the temple, and then also twelve camels, so that he might look down upon them from above while they were feeding.
III. But the priests of that venerable temple, imploring him, said: "Sir, do not do such things, because it is the temple of God; and do not despise it, nor permit the camels to be brought to the holy altar of God." But the Saracen, being reckless and cruel, refused to offer his ears to the entreaties of the presbyters; but he said in the Arabic tongue to his servants: "Are you not fulfilling what was enjoined upon you?" And immediately his servants did as their master had ordered. And behold, suddenly, by the command of God, the camels having entered into the temple, falling down, were all immediately killed. And when the Saracen saw the wondrous miracle, he was stunned, and he ordered his servants to cast out and throw the slain camels far from the temple: and they did so.
IV. And since that day was a feast day, and the hour of the divine ministry was drawing near, the priest who was about to begin the divine oblation was greatly afraid of the Saracen, how he might perform the unbloody sacrifice in his presence; but another priest, his colleague, said to him who was about to celebrate: "Do not fear. Do you not know the wondrous miracle? Why do you tremble?" The aforementioned priest, therefore, having shaken off his fear, began the holy oblation.
V. Meanwhile the Saracen was waiting to see what the priest was about to do next. When, therefore, the priest had begun the divine oblation, and had taken the bread to perform the unbloody sacrifice, the Saracen
A saw the priest take a child into his hands and slaughter it, pouring its blood into the chalice and breaking its body, placing it upon the paten.
VI. When the Saracen saw all these things, he was beside himself, filled with great fury and anger against the priest, desiring to kill him. And as the hour of the holy Entrance approached, the Saracen saw again, more clearly, the child upon the paten, cut into four parts, and his blood in the chalice, and again he was beside himself with anger. B And when the end of the divine Liturgy drew near, and some of the Christians wished to partake of the divine mysteries, and the priest said: "With the fear of God and with faith draw near," all the Christians bowed their heads with great reverence, and some of them approached to partake of the divine mysteries. And again the Saracen saw for a third time the priest distributing from the body and blood of the child with the liturgical spoon to those partaking. But when the repentant Christians had partaken of the divine mysteries, and the Saracen saw that they had partaken of the body and blood of the child, he was filled with fury and anger against them all.
VII. When at length the sacrifice of the divine Mass was completed, the priest distributed the antidoron to all the Christians, and he was divested of his priestly vestments, and he also granted to the Saracen himself a piece of bread of most beautiful form. But he, crying out in the Arabic tongue, said: "What is this?" C To whom the priest replied: "Sir, [it is] from the bread which we have been celebrating." Then the Saracen, becoming vehemently enraged, said: "From these things you have been celebrating, you dog, you wretched, polluted murderer? Did I not see how you took a child and slaughtered it, and poured his blood into the cup, and having cut his body limb by limb, you placed it on the paten? Did I not behold all these things, you wretch and murderer? Did I not see you eating and drinking from the body and blood of the child? And furthermore, you distributed [it] to those present, and they still have bloody flesh turning in their mouths."
VIII. Having heard these things, the priest was amazed, saying: "Lord, I am a sinner, and I am not worthy to see such a mystery. But since your lordship has beheld such a mystery, I believe in my God that you are a great man."
IX. The Saracen said: "Is this not such as my eyes have beheld?" D And the priest [said]: "Certainly, it is so, my lord, but I, because I am a sinner, am unable to see such a mystery, but only bread and wine; and this bread and wine we believe, and we keep, and we sacrifice as a type of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the great and admirable Fathers, the luminaries and teachers of the Church, such as were the inspired great Basil, and the renowned Chrysostom, and Gregory the Theologian, [have taught that] this fearful and trembling my-
mystery they did not see. And how am I able to see it? A The Sarracen, having heard this, was astonished, and he ordered his servants, and all who were present in the temple, to flee outside the temple. And he took the priest by the hand, and said: "As I perceive and am fully persuaded, great is the faith of the Christians; but if it is your will, baptize me, Father." The priest says to the Sarracen: B XI. "Lord, we believe and confess our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came into the world for our salvation. XII. We believe in the holy, consubstantial, and undivided Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one deity. XIII. We believe also in Mary, the ever-virgin, the Mother of the Light, who brought forth for us the fruit of life, the aforementioned Lord Jesus Christ—virgin before birth, virgin in birth, and after birth, virgin. XIV. We believe also in all the holy apostles, prophets, martyrs, ascetics, and righteous ones as ministers of God. Finally, my lord, do you not acknowledge that the faith of the orthodox Christians surpasses all others?" C XV. The Sarracen again insisted: "I beseech you, Father, baptize me." But the priest resisted, saying: "By no means let this happen. For I cannot perform such a deed, and if I were to do this, and your cousin the Amerumnes should learn of this deed, he will kill me and destroy this temple. But if it is your desire to be baptized, go to that place on Mount Sinai, and there is the hierarch; he will baptize you." XVI. Having then made an obeisance to the priest, the Sarracen went outside the temple. But after one hour of the night, he came again to the priest, and having taken off his golden royal garments, he put on a poor, hair-cloth sack, and fleeing by night, he became hidden. And traveling to Mount Sinai, D there he received the holy baptism from the hierarch. XVII. He also learned the Psalter, and recited it daily, verse by verse. XVIII. After three years had passed, on one of the days he said to the hierarch: "Permit me, master, how shall I be deemed worthy to see Christ?" The hierarch said: "Pray with right faith, and on one of the days you shall see Christ as you desire." And again, he who had been a Sarracen said: "Master, permit me, so that I may go to the priest who taught me the faith, when I saw the fearful vision in the temple of the most glorious martyr George." The hierarch said: "Depart in peace." XIX. And thus he went to the priest, and he made an obeisance to him, and worshipped him, and he said to the priest: "Do you know, Father, who I am?" But the priest said: "A man, whom I have never known..."
how should I recognize him?" But the one who had once been a Saracen said: "Am A I not the cousin of the Amerumnes, whose camels, when they had been driven into the temple, were all killed, while I looked upon that fearful vision during the divine liturgy?" Having heard these things, the priest was astonished and glorified God, seeing him who had once been an Arabian wolf become the most gentle sheep of Christ, and he embraced him affectionately and invited him into his cell to eat bread.
XX. Then he who had once been a Saracen said: "Permit me, Lord Father, for a desire has come upon me, and I desire exceedingly to see Christ; what shall I do?" The priest said: "If indeed you desire to see Christ the Lord, go to your cousin and preach Christ to him, and curse and anathematize the superstition of the Saracens and Mahomet their false prophet, and constantly announce the right and true faith of the Christians, and there you shall see Christ."
XXI. He who had once been a Saracen departed eagerly, and at the night hour he struck the doors of the Saracen vehemently.
XXII. The guards of the gates and of the house of the Amerumnes said: "Who is this that clamors and beats the doors?" B He replied: "I am the cousin of the Amerumnes, who once fled and remained hidden; now I wish to see my cousin and to tell him something."
XXIII. Shortly, the palace watchmen reported to the Saracen, saying: "Lord, your cousin who fled of old and remained hidden [is here]." The Amerumnes, sighing, said: "Where is he?" They said: "At the gate of the palace." And immediately he ordered his servants with torches and lamps to go meet him, and they all did according to the command of King Amerumnes, and they took by the hand the monk, who had once been a Saracen, and brought him to Amerumnes, his cousin.
XXIV. When Amerumnes saw him, he rejoiced exceedingly and embraced him with tears and said: "What is this matter? Where have you been dwelling until now? Are you not my cousin?" The monk said: C "Do you not recognize me, your cousin? For now I have become a Christian and a monk, as you see, by the grace of the most high God, and I have dwelt in desert places, that I might inherit the kingdom of heaven, just as I hope through the ineffable mercy of the almighty God to inherit His kingdom."
XXV. "What sign of your mind do you give? And you, Amerumnes, receive the holy baptism of the orthodox Christians, that you may attain eternal life, as I also hope."
XXVI. To this, Amerumnes turned to laughter and, shaking his head, said: "Why do you babble, O wretch, what do you babble? And what evil has happened to you? Woe to you, miserable one, woe to you! How have you abandoned your former D manner of life, and the scepter of the kingdom,
A and travel about like one of the beggars, clothed in a foul hair-shirt?”
The monk responded B saying: “By the grace of God. Whatever I possessed while I was a Saracen was law and heritage of the devil; but that which you see me clothed in is honor and glory, and a pledge of the life to come and of eternal life. As for me, I anathematize the religion of the Saracens and their false prophet.”
The Amerumnes said: “Cast him out, for he does not know what he is raving about.” And having cast him out, they placed him in a certain part of the palace and gave him food and drink. He spent three days there, but he did not eat nor drink, but prayed to God rightly and faithfully, and bending his knee, he said: “In thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me not be confounded forever, neither let my enemies laugh at me.” And again he says: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy, and according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my iniquity.” And again: “Lighten my eyes, O Lord my God, lest I sleep in death, lest at any time my enemy say: I have prevailed against him.” Strengthen my heart, O Lord, that I may fight C against this sensible deceiver, the Sarracen, so that the wicked devil may not trample me, and that I may not fear death because of thy holy name.”
And having made the sign of the cross, he said: “The Lord is my light and my savior, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defender of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” And again, crying out against the Amerumnes: “Receive the holy baptism, that you may gain the measureless kingdom of God.”
And again the Amerumnes commanded him to be brought before him once more, and he had prepared very beautiful garments for him. And the Amerumnes said: “Rejoice, D miserable one, rejoice and exult in your kingdom, and do not despise your life and your very beautiful youth, and act not as a beggarly, poor, foolish man. Woe to you, unhappy one! What are you revolving in your mind?”
The monk, laughing, said to the Amerumnes: “Do not lament my intent; for I revolve in my mind how I may fulfill the work of my Christ, and of the Father—that priest who sent me and also taught me. But sell the garments which you have prepared for me and give them to the poor; and do you also abandon the temporal scepters of the kingdom, that you may obtain the scepters of eternal life. And do not place your hope in present things, but in those that are to come, and do not believe in the false prophet Mahomet, that foul, abominable one, the son of perdition; but believe in Jesus Christ the Nazarene, who was crucified. Believe in the consubstantial Trinity, the one divinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a Trinity consubstantial and inseparable.”
The Amerumnes, laughing again, said to the magnates who were gathered in the palace: “This man is out of his mind; what shall we do with him? Cast him out, and drive him away.”
A XXXIV. But those who sat with the king said: “This man has desired to defile and destroy the religion of the Saracens. Do you not hear how he blasphemes and anathematizes our great prophet?”
XXXV. The monk, who had once been a Saracen, cried out with a loud voice: “I grieve for you greatly, Amerumnes, because you do not wish to be saved, unhappy one. Believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, the crucified one, and anathematize the superstition of the Saracens and their false prophet Mahomet, just as I do.”
XXXVI. The Saracen Amerumnes said: “Cast him out, as I command, because he is out of his mind and does not understand what he is saying.”
XXXVII. But those who sat with him said: “Therefore, you hear one who curses the religion of the Saracens and utters blasphemies against our prophet, and you say he does not know what he is babbling? If you do not deliver him to death, we too shall depart and become Christians.”
XXXVIII. To them the Amerumnes said: “I cannot kill him, because he is my cousin, and I feel for him; but take him yourselves, and do whatever you wish.”
XXXIX. Therefore, having seized the monk with great fury, B they dragged him outside the palace and subjected him to many torments, that he might return to the previous faith of the Saracens. But he, not consenting, instructed all in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, that they might believe and be saved.
XL. Then the Saracens dragged him outside the city, and there they stoned this most holy monk, whose name was Pachomius.
XLI. And on that same night, a star descending from heaven rested above the most holy martyr, and all beheld it for forty days, from which many believed, by the intercessions C of the most blessed martyr, and of the most pure Mother of God Mary ever-Virgin, and of all the saints, for the remission of our sins. Amen. D
ANNO DOMINI DCCCXXXVI. CHRISTOPHER, PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA. NOTICE.
(Mich. Lequien, Oriens Christ. t. II, p. 463.)
Eutychius, having narrated the death of Eustathius on page 411, adds: That Christopher succeeded him in the same patriarchate in the twentieth year of the caliphate of Rashid, and thus in the year of Christ 805. He adds that he was soon thereafter seized by paralysis, such that he had to be carried by the hands of men; for which reason he appointed a certain Peter as bishop, who, sitting upon the patriarchal chair, consecrated bishops in his stead: and that Christopher presided for thirty-two years, and finally passed away. Yet the year of Christ 805 was the fourth of the Emperor Nicephorus, and the year of Christ 836, in which Christopher met his end, was the eighth of the Emperor Theophilus; in whose year, around 830, the epistle of which mention has just been made is gathered, from the oration of the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus "De imagine Edessena," in Combefis’ *Manipulus rerum Constantinopolitanarum*, to have been written to the same prince by three patriarchs: Christopher of Alexandria, Job of Antioch, and Basil of Jerusalem. A Leo Allatius, in his notes to Eustathius’ *Hexaemeron* page 234, reported a fragment of that oration whose title is "To what is the life of man similar," which Federicus Morellius had once published as the work of Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, as being instead a work of Christopher, patriarch of Alexandria. So too the most learned man Joannes Albertus Fabricius published the same hortatory oration in Greek and Latin from an Imperial codex, inscribed thus: *The exhortation of our Father among the saints, Christopher, patriarch of Alexandria, useful for the soul, revealing to what this life is similar, and to what end it leads.* The exhortation of the Reverend Father Christopher, patriarch of Alexandria, useful for the soul, demonstrating to what this life is similar, and what is its end. It is held also in the Colbert codex 6749 under the name of Christopher of Alexandria, and is said to be for the bishops and pastors of the Church. Furthermore, in the codex of the Maronite Abraham Massad, number 7, which was transferred to the Vatican library, there is held a "Sermon on the parable of the serpent and the miser" by Christopher, archbishop of Alexandria (sic).
SECOND NOTICE.
I. (Ex Fabric. Biblioth. Græc. ed. Harles, t. XI, p. 594.)
Christopher, patriarch of Alexandria, c. year of Christ 836, author of the ascetic *Parænēsis*, "To what is this life similar, and to what end does it lead?"; it begins: "All of you, beloved." It is cited by Allatius p. 254, against Eustathius of Antioch, and by Cotelier in *Monumenta* vol. II, p. 669 ms. in the Imperial library; see Nessel, vol. V, page 129. [See Lambecius, vol. VIII, p. 771 seq. n. 18, cod. 34, where Kollar added a learned annotation. See also Lambecius, ibid. p. 697 and 703; also Paris in the public library, codices 395, n. 14, and 1035, n. 6; Rome in the codex of the Ottobonian library, and Milan in the Ambrosian library. See Montfaucon, *Bibliotheca bibliothecarum mss.* p. 188, seq. E, and p. 495, C. Oxford, in the Bodleian library, codex Barocc. 148, containing the Epistles, and there also in codex Th. Roe 28, or n. 274, catalog of English manuscripts, vol. I. Christopher of Alexandria, Job of Antioch, and Basil of Jerusalem on the holy images to the Emperor Theophilus: begins "That which is divine from above." In the Moscow codex, an Oration by Christopher, archbishop of Alexandria: begins "All of you, beloved, the high priests in their respective times." See Matthaei, *Notitia codicum Græcorum Mosquensium* p. 50. Munich, in the Bavarian codex 219. See the famous Hardt in *Aretini Beyträgen*, etc. 1805, part 4, p. 569. HARL.] Under the name of Theophilus of Alexandria this dissertation "On Man" was published in Greek and Latin by Fed. Morellius, Paris, 1608, 8vo. FABR. Comp. above, vol. VII, p. 108 seq. regarding Theophilus of Alexandria and what I have ascribed, vol. VIII, p. 84, n. 3, and vol. IX, p. 717, n. 24. Cave, *Historia literaria SS. Ecclesiæ* vol. II, p. 25, ad a. 856. Oudin, *Commentarius de SS. Eccl.* vol. II, p. 67 seq. ad a. 850. Saxius, in *Onomasticon literarium*, part II, p. 108 ad a. 834, who also cites Pagi’s *Critica in Baronius* a. 833, II, p. 180; but notes that he, having followed Constantine Porphyrogenitus, published Christopher of Antioch instead of the Alexandrian. HARL.