Month of July

LIFE OF ST. STEPHEN AND HIS COMPANIONS. ON THE HOLY STEPHEN, BISHOP OF RHEGIUM AND HIS COMPANIONS, SUERAS THE BISHOP, AGNES, FELICITAS AND PERPETUA, MARTYRS AT RHEGIUM IN CALABRIA.

1. These saints were once better known among the Greeks than among the Latins. Some of our Menaea mention them, both the Chiffletian and the Sirmondian; the former reads on the 5th of July: "Of Saint Stephen" ^A of Calabria, and those with him. The latter, however, on the same day is slightly more explicit: "Of the holy martyr Stephen, who lies at Rhegium in Calabria, and of the holy martyrs who suffered with him; of the holy Stephen and his company." The Greek Menaea of the Vatican Library contain similar entries, and others may easily be found elsewhere which I have not seen, but which could confirm what has already been said.

2. Yet no mention of Stephen and his fellow martyrs appears in the Latin Martyrologies. The reason for this might be that devotion to them in the Latin Church was not very widespread in the time of those writers. Hence it happened that the Archbishop of Rhegium, Annibal de Afflictis, a man renowned for great holiness, petitioned the Congregation of Sacred Rites at Rome at the beginning of the last century so that the faculty might be granted to him and his people of Rhegium to display publicly an image of their bishop and martyr, St. Stephen, and to erect altars and churches in his honor. He offered as his reason for requesting such things that, for a long time—and even at that time—the Mass and other Offices were being celebrated for this same St. Stephen ^B and his companions on the 5th of July. And the Sacred Congregation, upon the report of the most illustrious and most reverend Lord Francesco Buoncompagno, Cardinal of St. Angelo in Foro Piscium, granted the requested favor in the year 1622. I am certain that this was done, from the testimony of Nicola Maria Modofari, then rector of the church of St. Thomas in Parione at Rome, and the agent for this cause, who was also elected in the same year 1622 as Bishop of Bovum, which is a suffragan see of Rhegium.

3. The archetypes of the aforementioned writings (as he who submitted them to us adds) are preserved in the possession of Joannes Simon de Antonillo, Doctor of Canon and Civil Law, a learned and pious man and sufficiently devoted to St. Stephen himself, through whose devotion and expense a chapel exists (certainly after the response regarding that matter had been received from the Sacred Congregation in Rome), built in the church of the Preachers and dedicated to St. Stephen, in which, each year, with becoming magnificence, the sacrifice of the Mass and Vespers with musical concerts are solemnly celebrated on the feast of the Saint. Around the icon of the prelate Stephen, his acts and martyrdom are described here and there in figures and verses.

4. After the faculty had been granted to build altars, chapels, and temples to St. Stephen, Ferrarius published both of his catalogs—the one of the saints of Italy in 1613, and the other of those not contained in the Roman Martyrology in 1625. In both he commemorates St. Stephen on July 5, but without his companions; in the former, indeed, with this eulogy: "Stephen, a citizen of Rhegium, was converted to Christ ^C and instructed in the faith by the Apostle St. Paul, when, having been led from Syria to Rome, he landed at Rhegium, the metropolis of the Bruttii, and was ordained the first bishop of the Rhegians by the same apostle. After the departure of the Apostle, while he was diligently carrying out his episcopal office by preaching and had already led many to the faith, he was seized in the Neronian persecution; and since he persevered constantly in the confession of the faith and, having been afflicted with many tortures, had overcome all torments, he finally consummated his martyrdom by beheading." In the latter Catalog, however, the same Ferrarius has: "At Rhegium in the Bruttii, of St. Stephen, first bishop of the same and martyr under Nero."

5. This does not strictly harmonize in every part with the...

narrative of the burial of the saints' bodies. I readily forgive Father Cornelius, an excellent Theologian and Commentator on holy Scripture, for having written such things based on the faith and authority of the Rhegians, who are learned and leading men. Meanwhile, he himself does not comment personally on the delay or the lack thereof of the Apostle Paul at Rhegium. He assumed that those things were true which the Rhegians asserted about his one-day delay among them, and about the great conversion of the Gentiles that took place on that day; likewise [he assumed true] the Acts of St. Stephen, which they claimed were written in Greek in the first century of Christ. And if he had commented personally on that matter, he would certainly have observed that if Paul had spent a day at Rhegium, he could not have reached Puteoli on the second day: a fact which Luke says happened. But I shall have more on these things shortly.

The Greek Acts, which were arranged for me twenty years ago—when I was living in Rome—by the Reverend Father Joseph Denti, Prefect of the House of the Professed of our Society at Messina, to be transcribed from manuscript codices of the most famous monastery of the Most Holy Savior of the Order of St. Basil near that city; just as I have said at greater length regarding the Life of St. Sebastiana the Virgin Martyr in volume VI of June, which were submitted to me in Greek from the same source by the same man, just like many others. These Acts of St. Stephen, I say, seem to be the source from which every one of those who have written about him in Latin have drawn their own accounts, with some things added and some things changed, according to each one’s own judgment. Thus, Stephen, who is read in the Greek Acts to have been a native of Nicaea in Bithynia and to have arrived at Rhegium with the Apostle St. Paul, is called a citizen of Rhegium by Ferrarius, and is said to have been found at Rhegium by Paul, who arrived at those ports, and having been converted there to the faith of Christ.

^B 6. Hieronymus Marafioti in his Calabrian Chronicle, printed in Italian in the year 1601, page 47, and Marcus Antonius Politi in his similarly titled Chronicle, printed at Messina in the year 1617, page 80. The same Paul Gualterius in his *Saints of Calabria*, which were published at Naples in the year 1630, page 53, and Ferdinand Ughelli in his *Italia Sacra*, volume IX, published in 1662, have the Life of St. Stephen, which the first translated into Italian from a Greek codex; the second and fourth published a Latin version from one interpretation or another. The third made an Italian version from the Latin text with oratorical interpolation. I have collated their editions among themselves and with our Greek text, and although everything almost comes to the same result, I have nevertheless preferred to make a new translation, similar to our Greek manuscript, and to print it at the same time, so that all things might be more authentic. The edition of Ughelli adheres more closely to our Greek manuscript: the editions of Marafioti and Politi differ somewhat in a few places; and in that one especially, in that they designate the day of the martyrdom as the seventh of July: whereas Ughelli, our Greek text, the Menea, and the Menologia cited, unanimously assert it to be the fifth of July.

7. Cornelius a Lapide, in his commentary on the final chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, regarding those words, "We came to Rhegium," offers various things which were submitted to him, at the time he was living in Rome, by the Rhegians—men learned and leading: and based on their faith, he narrates this: "Luke is silent here on many things, and especially regarding the conversion of the Rhegians by Paul, which happened in the one day he stayed among them; which account, from the monuments of the Church of Rhegium, written in Greek in the same age (namely the first century of Christ) and then translated into the Latin tongue, and preserved in the archiepiscopal archive, was transmitted to me at Rome by learned and leading men of Rhegium, and I shall transcribe it here." He transcribes there the Latin Acts of St. Stephen the bishop, ordained for the Rhegians by the Apostle Paul, as they say, while in transit, which are nothing other than the things which we provide below in Greek and Latin; although they are not complete there; for they finish with his martyrdom with these words: "That they were worthy to die for Christ;" nor do they contain anything regarding the burial of the bodies of the saints.

^C 8. Moreover, I have noticed that certain errors were committed in our Greek text, probably due to a scribe's negligence, in those places where I have attempted to supply words enclosed within brackets [ ]. Among these corrections is the fact that the third name of the women who suffered at the same time, Perpetua, was missing, which is subjoined to Suera the bishop, Agnes, and Felicitas in the Italian and Latin versions. From these very names, however, a doubt might arise as to whether all these people suffered together with Stephen in the first century of Christ. The Acts, to be sure, even the Greek ones, are not so ancient, nor are they such that those things can be safely believed. No testimonies of Martyrologies are found. The cult was neither very ancient among the Latins, nor very famous before the seventeenth century, when its amplification was sought from the Sacred Congregation of Rites at Rome and obtained, through the faculty of publicly displaying the image of the saint and dedicating altars and temples to his name: which beforehand had none. The place where the body was buried, even to this day, as writes the Rhegian historian Politi in the year 1617, could not be found.

9. From these things, I say, it might be doubted whether St. Stephen with his companions suffered martyrdom in the first century; and all the more so because for the entire first three centuries, no bishop of his city, other than him, is known to the Rhegians. If you say that through tradition St. Stephen is known for the first century, I will ask why another bishop, for that same century and the two following, is not similarly known. You will say: because the ancient writings of the city have perished; yet the life of St. Stephen remains, which makes him a disciple of the Apostle St. Paul. I hear you. But that very life does not taste of great antiquity, nor can it have been written before the tenth century, if not much later. For with the space of nine, ten, or more centuries having then elapsed when it was written, the author could have been ignorant of many things about the deeds of his saint, just as nothing is now known about them from antiquity except what is narrated in the life: and he could even more have been ignorant of the certain time when he lived and was crowned by martyrdom. Furthermore, in this ignorance or by the light of a malicious vulgar tradition, it might have seemed to the writer who set out to write that Stephen was brought to Rhegium at a more suitable time, not...

^A that the Apostle Paul was known to have landed there; and one could presume that he himself had left some bishop there in his place.

10. But it may indeed be asked about the fellow-martyrs of St. Stephen, the bishop Suera, and the women Agnes, Felicitas, and Perpetua, from where the writer of the *Life* received these names or perhaps borrowed them. These matters likewise are obscure from other sources: nor can I easily grasp how, in the beginnings of the Christian religion introduced to them, there should have been two bishops for Rhegium, when it is not even certain that there was one. More certain information could also be desired regarding the women, lest anyone be forced to suspect that Perpetua and Felicitas, celebrated in the writings of almost all the ancient Fathers as having suffered in Africa with their other companions as martyrs at the beginning of the third century, had been brought to Rhegium.

11. Truly, by these doubts of mine, I would wish to detract nothing from the truth; rather, I desire that the truth might be rendered more illustrious through solutions to my doubts appropriate for the people of Rhegium. Another doubt also pertains here, where there is talk of the first conversion of the people of Rhegium to the faith in Christ through the Apostle Paul. ^B The voice of the people, and an "Gospel" in its own way—concerning which it is sinful to doubt—rings in the ears, that when Paul had landed at Rhegium from Syria, being about to be led to Rome by a centurion and his guards to the tribunal of Caesar, at the entrance to the city of Rhegium he began to proclaim Christ: but the inhabitants, with stubborn spirit, forbade him such a proclamation; eventually, however, at Paul's entreaty that they should listen to him speaking for a little while, just until the tiny bit of candle he was holding, which was lit, had burnt down, they permitted it. Then, truly, Paul placed the bit of burning candle upon a marble column which happened to be standing nearby; and this column, the brief candle having been consumed, caught the flame and continued to burn. Seeing this prodigy, the inhabitants embraced the faith of Christ.

12. This event is celebrated not only by popular report, but also in writing by Marco Antonio Politi in his *Chronicle of Rhegium* (p. 80), though only in passing. My first doubt in these matters is whether Paul performed miracles at Rhegium or converted any to the faith, or indeed if he even entered that city during that voyage. Luke, the companion of St. Paul on the Syro-Roman voyage, writes what he saw; and he accurately notes the delay that they spent in the cities they encountered. "At Melita," he says, "Paul wintered for three months," and he describes the miracles and conversions of the pagans that he performed there meanwhile. "At Syracuse they stayed for three days; at Puteoli, at the request of the brethren, they remained for seven days." But regarding Rhegium, the text of Luke mentions nothing of the sort. These are the words, in the last chapter of Acts: "And when we had come to Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. Thence, skirting the shore, we came to Rhegium, and after one day, a south wind blowing; on the second day we came to Puteoli, where, finding brethren, we were asked to stay with them for seven days; and so we went to Rome." Therefore, Paul and Luke, sailing from Syracuse, arrived at Rhegium. ^C They are not said to have entered the city, nor to have made any daily delay there; but rather, having continued their voyage, within sight of Rhegium, with the south wind favoring them, after one day of sailing, they arrived at Puteoli on the second day. For if they had stopped at Rhegium for a day, they could not have reached Puteoli on the second day, no matter what winds were blowing, because of the great distance between the places.

13. Thus, once the text of the sacred writer is understood, as it clearly seems it must be, the prodigy of the burning marble column for the conversion of the Rhegians vanishes, and indeed so does their conversion by Paul, and the ordination of Stephen as bishop at that time. But if anyone should wish to maintain that Paul did enter the city, and stayed there for one day, the marble column did not yet burn. For what? If that had happened, Luke, the companion of Paul, would surely have known it. If he had known, he surely would have written it. As one who consigned to writing, for the memory of posterity, even much smaller deeds of Paul on the island of Melita and elsewhere, so diligently. St. Jerome uses a similar line of reasoning in a similar matter. In his own time, a book was still being read concerning the "Acts of Paul and Thecla," in which also the story of a baptized lion was told. Wishing to refute it, he says: "Therefore, we count the *Periods* of Paul and Thecla, and the whole fable of the baptized lion, among the apocryphal scriptures. For what sort of thing is it, that Luke, the inseparable companion of the Apostle, among his other deeds, should have been ignorant of this alone? Similarly, how could he have been ignorant that, while Paul was preaching at Rhegium, a marble column had burned, lit by a small candle?" Jerome adds, from Tertullian: "that a certain priest in Asia, an admirer of the Apostle Paul, was convicted before John of being the author of the book, and confessed that he had done this out of love for Paul; and for that reason he was removed from his office." A punishment worthy of those who invent things in sacred and serious matters, whether they have fabricated them from love of a private person, or from love of country, so that they may exalt the deeds of such a person as highly as possible, or derive his conversion to the faith of Christ from the apostles.

14. Let us proceed further. Not only was the prodigy of the burning column unknown in Paul's time, but even a thousand years later, until the time when the primary *Life of St. Stephen*, which we present in Greek and Latin, was written. Its author, indeed, although he introduces Paul to Rhegium, and states that he preached the faith there, baptized many, and even ordained presbyters and bishops, and thus implies that he spent a longer stay there; yet he did not know in his own time that the inhabitants of Rhegium had initially stubbornly forbidden Paul to preach the faith, and that then, through the prodigy of the burning marble column, they had been converted by him. ^D Nay, rather, the author of the *Life* declares clearly enough that the Rhegians, from the beginning, without any singular miracle, listened readily to Paul preaching, and just as good soil multiplies the seed received a hundredfold, so they received the word of God from the mouth of Paul. Therefore, that fable must have been born among the people, after the age

^A of the said writer and perhaps long afterward, from the mind of some idle person, and shortly thereafter it pleased the common people and was even accepted by the aforementioned chronographer of Reggio, Marco Antonio Politi. Other writers—Marafoti in his *Chronicle of Calabria*, and Ughelli in his *Bishops of Reggio*, as well as Paolo Gualtieri in his *Saints of Calabria*, and the *Life of St. Stephen*, who published their own accounts both before and after Politi—did not dare to mention even a word of the aforementioned miracle and such a conversion of the people of Reggio to the faith of Christ, which I shall do.

That St. Paul, during his Syriac-Roman voyage, did not appoint a bishop at Reggio: this is what the people of Reggio meanwhile claim, and according to their opinion, he was appointed in the year of Christ 56, when Paul passed through there. Concerning the specific year of his martyrdom, I have read nothing among them yet. Ferrarius writes that Stephen suffered under Nero: this conflicts with the *Acts*, in which it is read that he was bishop for seventeen years. From which it follows that he died by martyrdom in the year 73, which cannot be sustained either. For it is known that neither in that year, nor in some preceding, nor in some following, was there any persecution moved against the Christians. Therefore, another time must be sought in which St. Stephen was made bishop and also suffered martyrdom. But it will not be easy to find that; as Ughelli says, “after Stephen, until the time of Constantine the Great, the bishops who flourished in the city of Reggio are missing.” I ask the people of Reggio, therefore, that they themselves investigate this matter more closely with new care, as if it were their own.

^B 16. It is a fact that we know by experience, and it has prevailed and still prevails among many nations, and it is in a way innate to many to affect the antiquity of their own affairs and to exalt it as highly as possible: this also frequently happens in the *Acts of the Saints*, which are collected after a long time from obscure tradition or apocryphal writings. That this happened to the earlier bishops of the saints of France is clearly testified by Philippus Labbe, a man learned in antiquity if anyone ever was, in his *Chronological Breviary of Sacred and Profane History* to the year of Christ 69, writing thus in the year 1665: “For easily eight hundred years, many of our ancestors have believed that the first bishops, the founders of our churches throughout Gaul, were disciples of Christ the Lord, or of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, or Clement, etc., and that they came to preach the Gospel into these vast provinces in the first century of Christianity—St. Ursinus of Bourges, St. Austremonius of Auvergne, St. Martial of Limoges, St. Fronton of Périgueux, St. Eutropius of Saintes,” and many others whom he counts in great number: “whom,” he says, “most learned men—Faber, Bosquet, Launoy, the Fathers Sirmond and Petau, and many others—have judged not to have come until the third or fourth century.” We also have discussed some of these saints in our *Acts*, and we generally agree with the cited authors.

17. In Sicily also, the Syracusans, who name their St. Marcian as the first bishop of their city, and contend that he was sent to them from Antioch by St. Peter the apostle—they are shown, at the date of our June 14th, to have erred, and that the saint himself suffered martyrdom during the reign of Valerian and Gallienus in the third century. The Umbrians likewise, as we said recently in the preliminary treatise to volume I of July, affect the antiquity of some of their first bishops, whom they say were sent to them from Syria by St. Peter the apostle; but they lived and were martyred only in the times of Diocletian and Maximian. It serves no purpose to gather more examples; the matter is most well-known to the learned. Regarding St. Stephen, the first bishop of Reggio, I think I have already shown that he was not ordained a bishop in the first century, nor by St. Paul the apostle when he sailed to Rome; but when he was ordained, I cannot divine, because both the Latin Martyrologies and other ancient writers, at least those who lived before his Life was written, are silent about this Stephen. ^C Perhaps his martyrdom could be referred to the times of Diocletian and Maximian, because no other bishops of Reggio are known before that time. But we will await more certain information about these things from the people of Reggio themselves, as I have just said.

18. We also say from where we received the Greek *Acts*, and because they were collected late, they are found not to be of great authority. Here they are themselves, with our translation. The following title was prefixed:

῎Αθλησις τοῦ ὁσίου Πατρὸς ἡμῶν ἱερομάρτυρος Στεφάνου, μητροπολίτου τῆς Καλαβρίας:

LIFE OF ST. STEPHEN AND COMPANIONS. ACTS BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR

^A I. This holy martyr Stephen was born in the city of Nicaea. When Paul the Apostle was traveling to Rome, he accompanied him as far as the city of Rhegium in Calabria. Finding that city to be entirely given over to idolatry, the Apostle preached the word of God there; and just as the good soil receives seed and increases it an hundredfold, so did the inhabitants of that city receive the word. Meanwhile, Paul, catechizing them, baptized many in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and appointed Stephen there as archbishop. He, governing well the flock entrusted to him, converted many in the western regions to the faith of Christ by his teaching. After he had spent seventeen years there, and had ordained bishops and priests, and the Church had been magnified by the grace of God: a persecution was set in motion against the Christians.

^B II. During this, Stephen was arrested by Hierax the governor as the author of Christianity, and was compelled to deny Christ and to sacrifice to idols. This he would not endure, but rather confessed with boldness that Christ is God and the Creator of all things, and that the idols are but wood and stone, without sense, the works of human hands, and inventions of the devil. Wherefore he was beaten without mercy, together with Bishop Suera, and their faces were crushed with stones, and they were cast into a furnace of fire, from which they emerged unharmed. By this miracle very many believed in Christ, crying out: "Great is the God whom Stephen and Suera the bishops preach." Among these were also certain virtuous women, named Agnes, Felicitas, and Perpetua, disciples of holy Stephen; who, standing with free voice before Hierax the governor, confessed the name of Christ, proclaiming him to be the true God and Maker of all things.

^C III. Then the governor, filled with rage, ordered that their heads be cut off with a sword, as also those of Stephen and Suera the bishops. Upon this being done, they immediately gave up their holy souls to the Lord, giving thanks and exulting that they were deemed worthy to die for Christ. The venerable body of the holy martyr-priest Stephen was carried by pious men in the dead of night to the southern part of the same city and buried in his quiet oratory, which is about one mile distant from the city, where it performs many healings. The bodies of the other saints, Bishop Suera and the venerable Agnes, Felicitas, and Perpetua, were ^D buried by the faithful where they had fallen; and they intercede for the world.

ON THE FORTY-FIVE HOLY MARTYRS IN NICOPOLIS IN ARMENIA: PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY

^A Nicopolis in Armenia, established by Pompey the Great to commemorate his victory over Mithridates, as stated by Dio Cassius in book xxxvi of the *Roman History*, became the arena for forty-five most illustrious martyrs, a witness and spectator of their constancy, and a theater of their glory. The city was, indeed, noble at that time for this distinguished triumph, and it deserved to be praised in a wonderful way because, during the times of the Emperor Valens, it stood unshaken against the storms of the Arians, as St. Basil mentions in his letters, and as Baronius notes here in his annotations, editions 6, 9, 10, 11, and 12. That the memory of these holy martyrs was most celebrated in the sacred records will be sufficiently clear from those things which we subjoin regarding their cult.

^B The Basilian Menologium, at the end of the first volume of this month after the Annunciation (on July 10), proclaims of them: "The forty-five martyrs of Christ lived under the reign of Licinius and the prefecture of Lysias, whose leaders were Leontius, Mauritius, Daniel, and Anthony. Having been arrested, they stood before the commander Lysias in Nicopolis in Armenia, and having confessed Christ and abjured idols—and having been beaten and their mouths and faces crushed with stones—they were shut in prison, remaining there for several days without food. The soldiers, seeing their constancy, believed in Christ. Then, being ejected from prison and having their legs broken with axes, some already dead, others still breathing, they were cast into a furnace of fire, and finished their course, receiving the immortal kingdom which was prepared for them by Christ before the foundation of the world."

The memory of these martyrs recurs often elsewhere in the Greek calendars, and usually with a short eulogy, specifically in the printed Menologies and their index, and in the Horologion of the Greeks; likewise in the Supplement to the Menologies from the Synaxarium of Sirmond and the manuscript of Chifflet, in the Menologies of the Ambrosian Library, the Menology of Chifflet, and the Slav-Russian Menology, which writes "Leonis" instead of Leontius, the bishop of the Cythetans. To these may be added a manuscript from an Arabic book on the life of several saints, the Typikon of St. Sabas, and the printed epitome of the Menology. Finally, the Menologium Sirleti, from which their memory later passed to the Roman Martyrology, refers to them thus: "In Nicopolis in Armenia, of the holy martyrs Leontius, Mauritius, Daniel, and their companions, who, under the Emperor Licinius and the governor Lysias, were variously tortured and at last, cast into the fire, finished their course of martyrdom." Molanus and Galesinius also include them.

^C The same Supplement has this unique detail concerning their cult: "Their assembly is celebrated in the church of St. Aquilina near the Forum." Cangius writes about the church of St. Aquilina in book iv of *Christian Constantinople*, page 144. In the Slav-Russian Menology, they are said to have suffered in the year 307. The Arabic book mentioned above seems to link them to the times of Diocletian, since after the mention of the Annunciation, the beginning of the Acts of their life or eulogy—as I suppose—is added: "In the days of Diocletian." This is ascribed on folio 13. In Volume V of May, page 151, in the annotations to chapter 3 of the Acts of St. Donatus and his fellow martyrs, letter f, it is posited that Licinius began to persecute Christians in the year 316. Pagi thinks otherwise in his *Critica historico-chronologica*, vol. I, page 381, believing that no martyrs suffered in the Licinian persecution before the year 319, nor did Licinius bring persecution upon the Church before that time. Tillemont, in volume V, page 512, while mentioning these holy athletes of Christ in passing from the Greek records, does not specify the year of their martyrdom. And indeed, the calculation of time which Pagi fixes does not seem improbable; for it does not appear which year one should assign to the aforementioned martyrdom other than that in which Licinius devised various things against the Christians, driving them from his palace, hindering them from celebrating councils, and—

^A regarding these things, and establishing and performing many other acts against them out of hatred for Constantine, of which Eusebius tells in Book 1 of *The Life of Constantine*, chapters 51, 52, and following. Petavius assigns these to the year of Christ 319, as can be seen in the second part of *De doctrina temporum*, page 718; he adds that forty martyrs suffered in that persecution in Cappadocia, having been put to death by the cold, as did Basilius, the bishop of Amasia in Pontus, who was subjected to martyrdom, citing the *Chronicon* of Eusebius. The account of him is in Volume III of April, page 416, with the epoch set at about the year 322; but regarding those [others], on the 10th of March. Moreover, the *Chronicon* of Eusebius, translated into Latin by Joseph Scaliger, page 180, under the year 321, states: "Licinius drives the Christians from his palace." Let us say, therefore, that the martyrs died around the year 319.

5. That these acts are not genuine, but adorned with more than one episode and composed dramatically, seems indubitable to me. For the spirit of the Metaphrast truly breathes in them, or at least that of some other person not unlike him, who has earned the name of a writer of sacred tragedy rather than that of a sincere historian. The following observations serve as proof. First, the prayers, too carefully composed with the words of the Psalms, as you may see in numbers 8 and 12. Second, does not the introduction of martyrs of both sexes, and indeed the example of Saint Potamiana—who, in the times of Maximian, was cast by her master into a cauldron prepared with pitch for the sake of defending her chastity—breathe of the theater? Saint Leontius, relating these things in such a way as to rouse spirits to fight bravely for Christ, says that he received them "from his teacher, who was coming from Egypt, and he claimed to have heard them from the ascetic Saint Anthony." I ask, who is this ascetic Anthony? Anthony the Great, I suppose, the most famous abbot of many monks: if it is he whom I suspect, the writer seems to connect things that are quite disparate, since he died such a long time after Saint Leontius, in the year 356. These events are narrated from number 8 at the end. Third, what is the devil, feigning to be Asclepius and inciting the leader Lysias against the martyrs, if not a dramatic scene, as seen in number 12?

6. Fifth, the martyrs are hastened in this manner, which is reported in number 16—I would be mistaken if I found it worthy of full credence. Sixth, a woman enters the scene, secretly bringing water to the saints in prison under her garments, in number 11, and she returns again in number 19. There will be some, I think, to whom the prayers and the water drawn from the rock will not be entirely pleasing, as in number 22. Finally, it acts not insignificantly against the sincerity of the *Acts* that the following clause occurs, which is found in number 23, in which Sisinnius, already on the point of death, prays to God thus: "In need of your help, and calling upon you through our intercession, hear us immediately, O Lord, in every necessity and indigence; even if one is in widowhood and bereavement; even if in pilgrimage; even if in infirmity of body and soul; even if in debt and calumny; even if in bitter servitude; even if in the contagion of men and beasts; even if one is shipwrecked at sea, etc. May you, O King, be a solace to him through us, and hear him immediately, so that the inhabitants of this world may know that we are much loved by you, and [are] heard, and may this water become a medicine for any evil, for at the invocation of you it bubbles up, and the old miracle is renewed to the glory of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, in praise and memory of your forty-five martyrs."

7. Among the thirty-six martyrs who suffered in Alexandria, of whom we treated above, the first two, Leontius and Mauritius, and the fifth, Daniel, are entirely homonymous with our three martyrs of Nicopolis, whose names we have seen expressly stated. This homonymy might perhaps provide some with a suspicion that here, as elsewhere ^B, more than once, some confusion has been introduced, perhaps one troop of martyrs divided into two, or, if one does not wish for this, one derived from the names of another. But since it is not easy for us to grasp what mystery lies hidden here, we have divided them into two classes, following the Hieronymian Martyrology: as we indicated above, where we dealt with the aforementioned thirty-six martyrs, and we did not pass over this difficulty.

8. Tamayus mentions only the name of Saint Leontius and the martyrs his companions confusedly: "In Nicopolis in Armenia, Saint Leontius the martyr, who with other companions finished an admirable struggle." This is correct; but why did he add the following clause, "whose sacred remains are kept in the town of Alcaudete, in the diocese of Jaén, in the monastery of the nuns of Saint Clare, with the due honor of worship"? Since in the notes to this place he candidly professes to "suspect that he had been led astray by a learned friend," namely Father Martín Xemena Jurado, from whose report he had assigned the aforementioned place to the relics of the Saint, "and that these are tokens of another Leontius, a martyr who suffered at Rome; of whom Maurolycus, Galesinius, and Philippus Ferrarius treat in the general catalog of the Saints on the 9th of July, folio 284, and we are persuaded by the fact that Pope Paul V bestowed his remains, extracted from the Roman cemeteries, upon the Count of Benevento; and it is not known up to this time that the Nicopolitan [remains] had been brought to Rome." Tamayus rightly, I think, corrects himself and his other guide here. I wish he had corrected himself with the same happiness and ease in many other instances! Thus his works would be held in higher regard by learned hagiophiles, even the Spanish, who are often more worthy of indignation and laughter than of value.

MARTYRDOM OF THE FORTY-FIVE HOLY MARTYRS

CHAPTER I

The edict against the Christians having been published by Licinius, the holy martyrs are brought before the leader Lysias.

^A Licinius the Emperor sent edicts throughout the entire inhabited world, such that if any Christians were found, they were to be punished in every way. The form of this edict had the following character: "Licinius Augustus, Greatest, Supreme, to the governors throughout the world, greetings. Since our Divinity has been informed that certain of those who are called Christians not only do not sacrifice to the beneficent gods, but even heap insults upon the pious religion of the gods, and have indeed smashed many gods even in the night under the pretext of sacrificing to them, and though often punished have not been swayed, neither yielding to honors nor being dissuaded by fear; for this reason our Authority commands that wherever Christians are found, they are to sacrifice to the gods and enjoy the greatest honors and gifts. But those who are not persuaded, along with their wives and children, are to be delivered to fire and sword, and all their property is to be confiscated for the upkeep of temples—of those destroyed by them through theft—and of walls and public baths. Knowing, therefore, the inviolability of our command, carry out what has been ordered with all strength, lest you yourselves fall into danger along with the most impious ones." When these edicts were posted in the city squares, the holy servants of Christ rejoiced, considering the opportunity for martyrdom that had been offered.

^B And indeed, in the city of the Nicopolitans, when the edict was posted, and the fears were being brandished, and the instruments of torture were prepared—upright timbers for suspension, sharp iron claws for scraping, heated helmets, boiling pots, wheels, nails, hardened ox-sinews, and other more cruel tortures—and the Dux Lysias arrived, to whom the entire Armenian legion had been allotted, certain ones were seized, having made themselves manifest as Christians: Leontius, Mauritius, and Daniel, men famous

^A in the city for lineage, education in rhetoric, and life according to Christ, and with them also forty others, who declared themselves Christians and voluntarily came forward to Lysias. He, having beheld such great zeal in the men, questioned them, saying, "Whence are you? And who is he who has persuaded you neither to practice piety nor to sacrifice to the heavenly gods?" Saint Leontius says, "We are all Christians. Some of us inhabit this city, while others have come from the region that is under the city. And while this earthly land is our fatherland, Christ the heavenly one is our Father; and it is He who has taught us and persuaded us not to worship hollow and blind gods, nor to bow down to the works of men's hands."

III. Lysias said, "And where is Christ? Was He not crucified and did He not die?" Saint Leontius says, "Do not hear only that He died, but reflect that He also rose again and is living in the heavens; for He died willingly for us, and rose again, as being the Son of God." Lysias said, "Does He then live now?" Saint Leontius says, "O Lysias, your gods, since they have died, do not live; but our Master and God, who has fashioned all things by His own right hand—heaven, earth, sea, and all men—died for our sake so that He might draw us away from idol worship. He lives, and He has taught us to die for Him so that we, having died, might live with Him." Lysias said, "Are there not twelve heavenly gods? What other God, then, do you speak of, who made heaven, and earth, and sea?" Saint Leontius says, "Who are your gods?" Lysias says, "Zeus, and Apollo, and Asclepius, and the others whom the whole world worships." Saint Leontius says, "Is Zeus, then, a god?" Lysias said, "Woe, you madman, ^B you who blaspheme! He is the one who holds the heavens, the father of men and of gods." Saint Leontius says, "If, therefore, Zeus is a god, surely he is also powerful, and having you as his defenders, he does not stand in need when he is insulted. But he is surely also just, and a hater of evil, hating adultery, hating fornication, hating unspeakable deeds, hating incest, hating wars, and loving peace. For God ought to be perfect, and lacking nothing, and sinless. For if your god sins, he is a sinner, and he is in need of another god who is sinless for his own correction."

IV. Lysias said, "Are you the one who judges the affairs of the gods, you wicked fellow? By the salvation of the gods, and my own, I will destroy you miserably." Saint Leontius says, "Do not be indignant at hearing ^C the truth. For all men, laws have been laid down, some rational, some natural, such as that it is not right for a man to have another's wife, nor to commit incest, nor to love wars and bring about destruction for men. If you call them saviors, they ought rather to save through peace and to benefit their worshipers. But if your god does such things, let him persuade men to break the laws; ^D or let your god act as a man, and let him imitate humans. For

if those who do what the law does not command are called transgressors and are worthy of the greatest punishment and death itself, of how many deaths are your gods worthy, who transgress the law? We know men who have kept themselves from these uncleannesses and are called just, avoiding lewdness; therefore, self-controlled men are superior to your incontinent gods. But if this is not the case, and I have spoken wrongly, bear witness against me; for I have not spoken wrongly that they are not gods who save, but most evil demons who destroy souls.

V. Saint Daniel says to Saint Leontius: You have spoken well, Father, and have strengthened us all. The Duke said: Wicked head, filled with every madness, was your God not crucified as a malefactor? And which of our gods has been crucified? Saint Leontius says: Our God was crucified, and we glory in his cross, against which your gods have no power at all. For Christ, wishing to save man from this impiety that had prevailed, voluntarily delivered himself to the Jews, having predicted these things through the prophets, so that through the cross he might undo the ancient transgression of the first-created man, and descend into Hades, and open it, and set souls free, and grant us resurrection. But your gods—Jupiter, because of lust, became a swan, a bull, and a serpent. What then is more lovable: for God, who made man, and who had perished through his own evil choice, for that God, I say, to die for him and to rise again, and for him, having obtained mercy, to be raised up with him; or, because of lust, to become a stork and to creep about because of fornication? Similarly, Apollo, your god, was struck by lightning, as is dramatized in your myths. Asclepius and Hercules were also struck by lightning and were consumed by heavenly fire; for they were not gods, but impostors.

Chapter II. The saints, struck with stones and cast into prison, are strengthened by various examples from Saint Leontius.

VI. Then the duke, enraged, ordered their faces to be beaten with stones. ^D And he said: Strike their mouths, from which blasphemy against the gods has poured forth. And the saints, while being struck, say to the tyrant: God is about to strike you, minister of Satan, because, hearing the truth, you are drunk with impiety. Saint Leontius says: Brothers, do not curse those who are self-cursed, but rather bless; since it is so written: "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse." The Duke said: Leontius, I swear by the gods, if you obey me and sacrifice, I will give you whatever you wish; for until now I have endured you, awaiting a change of heart. If, therefore, you go against the emperors, and if you do not come and sacrifice to the gods, your limbs I will provide as food for the crows and dogs, and

^A nothing will your vain resistance avail you." Saint Antonius says, "To which gods do you command us to sacrifice?" Lysias says, "Sacrifice to Zeus and to Apollo." Saint Leontius said, "Your god, who cannot save himself, is called Apollo; this you yourselves bear witness to."

^B VII. Lysias, therefore, becoming indignant, and having made his eyes fiery with rage, and gnashing his teeth, ordered their hands and feet to be bound with iron; and having been tightly constrained with very heavy chains, they were deposited in the prison in the tower of the city that faces the north, where also a spring flows out, running outside the city gate; having given orders to the soldiers who were ^C guarding them, Menas and Belerades, saying to them, "Look, Menas and Belerades, how you guard them; for by Asclepius, if I learn that bread or water has been given to them by anyone, I shall impose their punishment upon you, and I shall consume you with fire along with them." The soldiers, having placed the bonds upon the saints, cast them into the tower. But the saints as from one mouth said, "We bless you, Lord, King of glory, who for our sins stood before Pontius Pilate to be judged; for you are the true life, given as a sacrifice for us sinners, the true Son of the true God, and High Priest of your Father; do not deprive us of your mercy, nor of this fellowship, but having united us all by your confession, and having made us like-minded, unite also our consummation; and do not permit us in any way to be separated ^D from one another, so that seeing our good zeal, the ungodly workers may desire our good conduct. For behold, in darkness we have been cast, hungering and thirsting, and our soul is melting away in bonds; but you, Lord, grant us patience and perfect our course, that Satan may take none of us."

VIII. And having bent their knees, they prayed, and having risen they sat down, because they were not able to stand upright; for they were bent over in their bonds, and they chanted in harmony, saying, "Waiting, I waited for the Lord, and he attended to me, and he heard my prayer, and he brought me up out of a pit of misery and from the mire of clay." And having finished the psalm, they fell upon their faces, and having risen again they chanted, saying, "Hear, O God, my prayer, when I pray to you; from fear of the enemy rescue my soul. You have covered me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from the multitude of those working iniquity." And having finished the psalm, and having made a third prayer, they sat down, kissing one another's bonds, and paying attention to one another, they rejoiced. But Saint Leontius began to encourage them and to say, "Venerable brothers and attendants and servants of Christ, let us endure everything with a generous spirit; for you know from the divine Scriptures how much Job endured (but indeed the end of the Lord is not hidden from you), be mindful,

always that John the Baptist was beheaded, Stephen was stoned, Peter the apostle was crucified in Rome, Paul was beheaded, and Thomas was pierced. And as many saints as suffered martyrdom in the times of the Emperor Maximian, and Decius, and Hadrian, and the other impious emperors, gloriously received their crowns and are blessed by all; and this you know and have heard.

IX. But what need is there to speak of men who have contended as athletes, when women also, excelling in religion and manly courage, having put aside the weakness and frailty of their sex, strengthened their hope in Christ because of the glory laid up in the heavens? For the Lord said in the Gospels: ^B "Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven: but whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before the angels of God." If then women, whose nature is weak, struggled in a manly way, how much more ought we, who are such and so many, to undergo martyrdom for Christ? You have heard of Saint Euphemia, and Capitolina, and Julitta, and the other holy women, whose names are written in the books of the heavens, how bravely they fought and overcame the devil. Among these, I shall relate to your love a story worthy of memory, ^C recalling what I received from a man, our teacher, who came from Egypt, and who said he had heard it from Saint Anthony the ascetic.

X. In the times of the persecutor Maximian, there was a certain maiden in Alexandria, the slave of one of the rich men living there; her name was Potamiena. She was compelled by her own master to lie with him. But she said: "I am a slave of Christ, and I do not commit fornication." The master tempted her for some time, but she did not give in. He, therefore, at once loving and pitying her, did not strike her, ^D but delivered her to the prefect, saying: "If she agrees to my purpose, let me know; but if not, punish her as a Christian." Being delivered to the prefect, and tempted by many flatteries from him to obey the commands of her master, she answered and said: "May there never be such a judge as to command a slave to yield to the lust of a master." And when the prefect sought to strike terror into her, saying: "I will throw you into a cauldron that you may be burned with pitch, since you are a Christian," she said to him: "By the head of the emperor (for you greatly revere him), do not command that I be thrown into the cauldron all at once, but that I be lowered little by little, so that you may know how much patience Christ grants me."

XI. And so, having been cast into the cauldron, as soon as the pitch reached her neck, she gave up her spirit. You see that a woman, who was alone and a slave and

had no power over herself, so confounded the tyrant with such great patience. What, then, shall we say? Or what deferral will there be to not die for our Lord Jesus Christ? For after our consummation, our souls will be escorted by the retinue of holy angels, and in the kingdom of the heavens there will be crowns and honors; and our relics will be sent forth with joy and glory throughout the whole world. Having said these things, he encouraged everyone, so that they too said: "Let the Lord's will be done." ^A Since the heat was unbearable at the time when these things were happening to the saints, and they were being consumed by thirst, and their own people were forbidden from providing them bread or water, a certain pious woman by the name of Basiana, decently dressed in women’s attire, having put on a *maforion* wider than was her custom, and girded with cups full of water, and having approached them without suspicion as if for a visit, secretly gave them to drink.

CAPUT III. The saints are incited in vain to the worship of the gods; Saint Leontius inveighs against the gods and the tyrant; they are secretly given to drink by a woman.

XII. While they were spending the night in the darkness, they were as full of exultation as if in the light, and they all sang together, saying: "Deliver me from my enemies, O God, and redeem me from those rising up against me; deliver me from those who work iniquity, and save me from men of blood," and so forth. For most of them had learned the Psalms from a young age. And having completed their night prayer, they sat waiting for help from God. The duke, concerned with what torture he might inflict upon the saints, passed the night without sleep. ^B But when he had fallen asleep toward dawn, Satan stood by him, saying: "Take heart, Lysias; for I am Asclepius, by whom you swore yesterday. Rise from your bed and punish these men; for since they once used blasphemies and insults, they are unworthy of our divinity. Therefore, kill them; for I know their stubbornness, in that they will neither sacrifice to us nor offer worship, for they said many things against me in prison. ^C Therefore, having broken their bones, burn them with fire, and seek out the Lycus river, and destroy them there; for I fear lest, if the Christians find them—those who have built large and illustrious houses—they might bury them there and, by honoring and venerating them, might bring me to nothing. Therefore, destroy them with speed."

XIII. ^D The duke, therefore, having risen in the morning with great haste and turmoil, and a multitude of soldiers, and having gone out of the city to a distance of about one hundred and fifty paces, and having found a higher piece of ground, having sat upon the judgment seat...

he ordered the saints to be brought. And the soldiers, having quickly brought them out, stood them there in bonds. And the Duke, ^A having gazed steadily at them, said: "You know that yesterday, sparing you from the application of tortures, I held off until today, so that having sacrificed to the gods today, you might become friends of the emperors and of us; and after each of you has sacrificed, he should receive two hundred gold pieces, and garments, and other imperial gifts. For behold, I see most of you willing to sacrifice. If, therefore, you yield to me, I have already ordered bulls to be brought here so that you may sacrifice to the gods, and a feast may be prepared for you, and amid the banquet you shall also receive splendid gifts. But if you refuse to obey, it is necessary to proceed to another kind of torture. Therefore, I advise you not to be deprived of the sweetest light, nor to allow yourselves to be separated from wives and children and friends; but offer sacrifice, and burn incense to whatever god you please." ^B XIV. Then all the saints as if with one mouth said: "Anathema to you, tyrant, matched by the surname of your own madness; for you command us to defect from the living God and to sacrifice to impure and abominable demons. For indeed our clothing, and food, and drink, and treasure, and father, and friend, and brother is our Lord Jesus Christ, who has called us." The Duke says: "I still spare you even when insulted, for it is right also to bear the failings of friends"; and leaving everyone else, he said to Saint Leontius: "I see that you are more well-versed in the ^C mysteries of the Hellenes, certainly because you were instructed in them from childhood. Why then, since Zeus and Apollo and Asclepius do not seem to you to be gods, sacrifice to Poseidon or Artemis." Saint Leontius says: "You err, calling these gods; whereas the souls of men, being immortal, are superior to your mortal gods. For if they say that the generation of your gods is from heaven and earth, and heaven and earth are corruptible elements, certainly their children imitate their progenitors, and they themselves are corrupted, just as their parents. But if they are subject to corruption, how are they called gods? And if the souls of men, being released from bodily bonds, do not cease to exist when the body is not present, but ^D occupy a certain divine place, were those indeed gods who seek what the souls of men loathe, and who delight in fornications and tickling? If therefore anyone dares to say: 'I am God,' apart from our one Lord Jesus Christ, let him also create another world and say that 'I made this world,' and only then let him be called God; for this [world] is the art and handiwork of our Lord and King Jesus Christ." XV. And Saint Leontius, having observed the Duke enraged and troubled, said to him: "O Duke, listen with a calm mind: because you said that I am initiated in the matters of the Hellenes, listen to what I shall say against your gods. For just as you, if you were named Caesar and stirred up the wrath of the emperor, would be worthy of punishment; so too your gods,

the demons, having dared to call themselves gods, are liable to the greatest punishment. But behold also another paradox: why do you, the defenders of your gods, diminish day by day, while we, the servants of Christ, though persecuted and dying, are increasing? May even this persuade you, O tyrant, that we are servants of the beloved God. ^A And the duke, burning with fury, says: "Sacrifice to the gods, for, by Asclepius and the Sun, you shall not live beyond tomorrow." But the saints all with one voice said: "We offer to the Lord Jesus our reasonable service, the fruit of our lips, which shall wholly deliver us from the coming judgment; but as for you, Lysias, together with your gods, you shall be delivered to the unquenchable fires of hell."

XVI. And the duke in anger ordered all to be stripped for the long stakes, and to be scraped with iron claws and sharp potsherds, and ordered the herald to cry out: "Those who do not sacrifice to the gods, but rather offer them insult, suffer these things." While the saints were being flayed, they said: "O tyrant, if you have more terrible tortures, bring them forward, for these we despise." Now the sixth hour had already arrived, and the sun was setting the whole earth ablaze, yet the saints were still being scraped. ^B The duke, feeling hungry, ordered them to be taken down and cast into prison, commanding that no one should visit them, nor any water be given to them.

Now there was a certain magistrate in the city named Herod, a Christian who feigned pagan worship, at whose house the duke was staying. He had a notary named Philinus. This man was beloved by the holy Leontius; and having summoned him, the holy Leontius says: "Brother Philinus, go and tell Herod that if he has any influence with the duke, he should obtain for us that he might inflict death upon us tomorrow"; for he feared that one of the saints, through fear, might apostatize. He went and reported everything to the magistrate. ^C But the duke had invited him to dinner, and was awaiting him. Herod excused himself, saying: "Because, after I saw the sides of those condemned men being scraped yesterday, I returned with a stomach badly affected, and I cannot dine." The duke questioned him, saying: "What then do you wish me to do?" He said: "Are not those who resist the edicts of the emperors worthy of death? Why then do they not die quickly?" He then promised to deliver them to the fire tomorrow according to the mandates of the emperor.

XVII. And Philinus, having heard these things, ran and reported them to the saints; and they, becoming joyful in their souls, awaited the end with great eagerness, and all blessed Philinus for his obedience, and Herod for his speed. ^D Now the woman who usually brought water to them had the water as was her custom beneath her girdle; but being prohibited from entering, she was asked by the saints if she had any water. She denied it because of those standing nearby. The holy Leontius said this to her in the Armenian tongue, Basiane: "If you have not brought water in this necessity (for we are being burned up and our hearts are being extinguished), then the good that you did for us has appeared as nothing, and as if it had not at all

^A been done. This he said, urging her to bring the water. She, having gone out of the gate, and having found a small and narrow window, handed the water to them through it. When they had drunk and been refreshed, they prayed that her sons, and the sons of her sons, might become priests as a recompense for such a service.

CHAPTER IV

XVIII. When evening had come, they sang, saying: ^C «O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto thee,» and the rest. And when they had finished the psalm, they were strengthened in their chains, giving thanks to God, praying and saying: "Lord Jesus, who bore the evils of all creation, nothing is hidden from you, who searches hearts and tests kidneys; you know our zeal for you; you see the tortures, heal our souls; for we have surrendered our bodies for your sake; blot out our iniquities in this our corruptible life; for these things are small to us, and least troublesome, on account of the great love we have for you, O Master; we long for you, we fear you. Look down from heaven, and raise us up; for you are he who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to endure. May Satan have no place. Do not separate us from this fraternal love: for the faith in you is the mother of us all. And you, O Lord, our Father, glorify your name in our members, and may we be accepted as in the burnt offerings of rams and bulls, and as in myriads of fat lambs. Thus let our sacrifice be made in your sight, O Lord, and be perfected before you; because you are blessed and glorified unto all ages." And when all had said, "Amen," they spent the night without sleep. Around midnight, they sang the great psalm as a funeral dirge for themselves.

XIX. When they had finished this and had prayed, behold, an angel of the Lord stood by and filled the dwelling with light, and says to them: "Rejoice; your end is near, and your names have been written in the book of the living. Take courage; the Lord is with you." Having said these things, the angel departed from them. The saints worshiped, and gave thanks to God. But the soldiers who were guarding the doors of the prison, Menaeas and Belerades, ^D indeed saw the light, and heard the voice of the angel, but did not see his face. And Menaeas says to Belerades in the Egyptian tongue (for they were Egyptians by race): "Do you see and hear, brother Belerades, of what kind of King these are the soldiers? For my part, I have been a friend of the Christians from the beginning; for they do not strive to injure anyone, but attend to themselves, keeping fasts, and praying to their God, especially at dawn, and at all times worshiping him. They do nothing unjust, they do nothing wicked; they are hospitable, they love everyone.

And, as you yourself know even before I do, regarding the hermits in Egypt, how many miracles they perform. Why then do we linger or delay? Now is the time for the contest. It seems right to me to enter the prison with them and to beseech them to receive me into their company. What, brother, do you think? And Belerades said: If they do not fear death, but die with joy for the sake of their God, and see such a light, as we too have been deemed worthy to see in what appeared to them, why do we not also become partakers of their joy? I would have wished that someone might compel the Duke to die for his god Asclepius or Apollo, and catch him; but he loves his life, while he has cut off our rations and other benefits and is killing righteous men. Let us approach, then. ^B

XX. And running up, they fell to the saints, saying: Our lords and servants of Christ, receive us also into your number; for we have believed in our Lord Jesus Christ, who loved us. Pray, therefore, for us, so that we may not be cast out as late-comers. And all the saints, having embraced them together, kissed them with joy, saying: You are our brothers; for our Lord Jesus Christ also received the laborers of the eleventh hour into the vineyard; do not, therefore, be afraid; for the Lord in whom you have believed, who appeared to us and spoke with us, he himself has called you as worthy ones. ^C When morning came, it was reported to the Duke that the guards, too, had transgressed and were with the prisoners. The Duke, having blasphemed his own gods, said that they perished one after another, being unable to help themselves, but were waiting for retribution through men. And having gone out of the city, he sat in the usual place, and having given orders against the saints, he commanded them to be brought forward; and seeing Menaeas and Belerades having bound themselves to the saints, he smiled and said to Appianus the prince: Do you perceive, Appianus, that there is pleasure even in men of lower rank in enduring death? For behold, the soldiers have loved death rather than life. Appianus said: Master, punish them with an unusual torment. But the Duke said: No, by the gods, I will not punish them, lest, being tortured and confessing the gods, they should live; but I pronounce a sentence against them that they may be burned with the others, so that they may receive what they desired. ^D

XXI. He therefore pronounced a sentence against them, saying: These forty-five who stand before my tribunal, being followers of the religion of the Christians, and having disobeyed the imperial kings, and not having sacrificed to the gods, let their hands and feet be cut off with axes first, and then let them be surrendered to the fire and to the destruction of the river Lycus. And the attendants, having made the saints sit upon the ground, were cutting off their...

limbs ^A and were making melodies in their haste; and some of the saints, having bled to death in the fire of the scorching heat, gave up their souls; but others were still breathing, among whom also holy Anicetus, seeing that his thigh was broken—not entirely severed, but lying twisted—mocking his own body, said: "Come, brothers, see the fruit-bearing sickle." And they too were rejoicing with him. But holy Sisinnius, his limbs broken and his vitals scorched intensely from thirst, was dragged along, rolling toward the rock lying nearby, not far from the other saints, and having opened his mouth, he prayed to the Lord, saying:

XXII. "Lord, giver of great gifts, who didst give drink to the great multitude of people thirsty from the rugged rock, who didst divide the Red Sea into two parts so that Thy people might be rescued from the hands of the lawless one, who didst open the cataracts of heaven, who didst call forth the water of the sea and pour it out upon the face of all the earth, who didst bless the waters in the Jordan through Thy holy baptism, who didst say, 'I am the living water': open this rock and pour out water, and give me a little to drink, and by this I shall know if Thou lovest us, and if we are worthy of Thy calling, Master. For Thou seest that all the constitution ^B of our body has been consumed, and we have become dry as a potsherd." While he was still praying this, a great rumbling was heard from the rock ^C and a noise of waters; and the rock, having split, gushed out clear and beautiful water, which is seen to this day; and having drunk, the holy Sisinnius blessed God, saying: "I praise Thee, Lord, because Thou hast satisfied an empty soul. I praise Thee, King, and I glorify Thee who, existant before the ages, wast born of the Theotokos Mary, because I was satisfied by Thy creature, just as a child by the milk of its mother."

XXIII. "Grant me and my sanctified brothers to complete our course in Thy grace and hope; and just as we were united in our souls without hesitation, let us be united also in our bones; and those in need of Thy help, and who call upon Thee through us, hear them quickly, Lord, in every necessity and need; even if one be in poverty, or in widowhood and orphanage, or in foreign parts, or in sickness of body and soul, or in debts and slanders, even in bitter slavery, even in the pestilence of men or of cattle, even if one be shipwrecked at sea, or if one be brought into another ^D predicament, do Thou, King, being entreated through us, hear them quickly, so that all the inhabitants of the world may know that Thou hast greatly loved us and that Thou hearest us; and let this water become a healing for every affliction; for it gushed forth at Thy invocation, and an ancient miracle was made manifest to the glory of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, for the praise and mention of Thy forty-five martyrs."

XXIV. And while he was praying this at the rock, the soldiers, who

had ignited a furnace in the field near the city, and having raised the fire high with wood, and having made it similar to the Babylonian one, came to carry them off; and they counted the number, and one was missing. But the holy Sisinnius cried out saying, "I am here, I am here." Coming and taking him also, they led him to the fire. And the saints said unanimously, "Into Thy hands, O Lord, we entrust our souls" (Ps. XXX, 6), and, "Blessed is the Lord, who hath not given us for a prey to their teeth" (Ps. CXXIII, 6), and chanting, they were thrown into the fire. The executioners stoked the furnace, imitating the Chaldeans. And when they had been perfected on this day, which is the tenth of July, ^B the duke ordered their bones to be gathered up and thrown into the river called the Lycus, which is six miles from the city. And having brought them, they sought a suitable place for the destruction of the holy relics. There is a deep whirlpool near the bridge, and into it they emptied the sacks.

XXV. But the river, having received the relics of the saints as if it were a deposit, and as one owing it to return them safe and whole, gathered them together in one place and kept them. ^C When the executioners had departed, God-fearing men, servants of God, and like-minded with the saints, taking some who were skilled and knew how to explore the depths of the river, raised them all up together with the [earth] sanctified with them, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled: "He keepeth all their bones" (Ps. XXXIII, 21). And having brought them into the city, they placed them in the oratories; and there being profound peace, by the kindness of God, and under the reign of the most pious Constantine, they are towers of the faith, unshaken, rational stars shining for Christians, flowers of the churches throughout the world, intercessors for sinners, guardians of the pious, patrons both of their own city and of the world, benefactors of those who possess them in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom glory is due, together with the Father and the all-holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

LIFE OF THE BLESSED EUGENIUS AND HIS DAUGHTER MARY

^AI. At that time there was a man in Bithynia named Eugenius. He had a wife who was very honest and God-fearing, who bore him an only daughter and named her Mary. After the death of her mother, her father raised the child in a well-ordered state of instruction and a virtuous life. When the maiden had grown, her father said to her: "My dearest child, behold, all my possessions I put into your hands; for I am departing to a monastery to save my soul." The maiden, answering, said: "Father, do you wish to save your own soul and destroy mine? Do you not know what the Lord says in the Gospels: 'The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep'? And again He says: 'Whoever saves a soul is as one who creates.'" Hearing this, her father Eugenius said to her (when he saw her lamenting and weeping): "My child, what can I do for you, since I wish to enter a monastery, and how can you be with me? For the devil employs you to harass and unsettle the servants of God." The maiden, answering, said: "No, Father, I shall not enter as you say, but I will shear the hair of my head and, taking on a man's appearance, thus I will go with you."

^BII. The father, having distributed all his possessions to the poor, and having shorn the hair of her head, arrayed her in a man's garb and named her Marinus, giving her these instructions: "Watch, my child, how you keep yourself; for you are about to dwell in the midst of fire. Keep yourself, therefore, blameless for Christ, so that we may fulfill our vow." And taking her, he entered into a coenobium. Day by day, the youth advanced in all virtue and in much ascetic practice. All the brothers, therefore, supposed her to be a eunuch, on account of the lack of a beard and the delicacy of her voice; others, moreover, surmised that it was due to her great temperance that she would eat only every two days. It came to pass, however, that her father

^A died: her exercise, obedience, and humility increased, to such an extent that she even received from God the gift against demons. For she would lay her hands upon any one of those who were suffering and being tormented, and she would heal them forthwith. Now that monastery had forty men, endowed with every virtue and wisdom, along with her. Every month, four of the brethren were sent out for the affairs of the monastery, because they had various possessions in other places as well. There was an inn in the middle of the road, and the brethren who were going and coming would rest there because of the length of the journey; and the innkeeper would provide them much care, receiving them separately. ^B

III.

IV.

^A abbot Marinus arrived with the other three brothers, the superior said to him: "Is this your way of life and discipline, that when you stayed at the inn, you corrupted the daughter of the innkeeper? And he came here and made us a spectacle to the seculars?" Hearing this, Marinus threw himself upon his face and said: "Forgive me, Father, for the Lord's sake, for I have erred as a human being." The superior, becoming angry, cast him out of the monastery in short order.

V. ^B Having gone out, the blessed man sat in the open air, enduring both cold and heat for three years. Those who went in and out of the monastery would ask him, saying: "Why do you sit here, Abba, afflicted in the vestibule?" He would say to them: "Because I have committed fornication, and for that reason I was cast out of the monastery." When the time arrived for the innkeeper's daughter to give birth, she bore a male child, and the innkeeper took it, brought it to the monastery, and, finding Marinus sitting outside the gate, cast the child at him and said: "Behold the child you wickedly begot; take him." And he immediately departed. Marinus, therefore, taking the child, was grieved on its behalf, saying: "Truly I am reaping my sins; but why should this wretched infant die with me?" He then began to go around and obtain milk from shepherds and to rear the child like a father; nor did the distraction he already had suffice him, but the child also, crying and wailing, would foul and soil his garments. ^C After a period of three years, all the brothers raised a commotion, saying to the superior: "Venerable Father, the punishment that brother Marinus has endured is sufficient. Furthermore, we ask you, receive him back into the monastery, especially because he has confessed his lapse before everyone." When the superior contradicted them and could not be persuaded to receive him, the monks began to say to him again: "Unless you receive brother Marinus back into the monastery, O Father, we too depart from the monastery. How can we ask God to forgive us our sins when our brother has sat for three years in the open air in the vestibule?"

VI. ^D When the superior heard this from the monks, he said to them: "In truth, because of the sin he committed, he is not worthy to enter here; yet because of your charity and prayers, I receive him, though he shall be the last of all." He did obeisance and said: "It is a great thing for me, Father, that I should even enter under your roof." The superior then set him to the most menial tasks of the monastery, and he performed them with diligence, spending his time in much labor; he even had the child behind him, crying and seeking food and whatever was necessary for an infant. When the child had grown and been reared in much virtue, he was deemed worthy of the monastic habit.

And thus he progressed in humility and much obedience, so that he was loved by all.

^A VII. After these things, when the Lord had seen that her faith and endurance were perfect, and that she was worthy of the kingdom of heaven, He received her into the eternal tabernacles of paradise, with no one knowing. For when she had passed away, and neither came out to the service of the monastery nor to the psalmody according to the rule, the superior asked the brothers, saying: "Where is Brother Marinus? For I have not seen him for three days now, neither at psalmody nor in his ministry." Yet he was always found before everyone in the rule. "Go therefore into his cell, and see if he has fallen into some illness." When the brothers went into the cell of the blessed one, they entered and found that she had been perfected in the Lord, and the child sitting by her and weeping. The brothers then went out quickly and reported to the superior, saying: "Brother Marinus has fallen asleep." When he heard this, he was amazed and said: "How has his soul departed, and what excuse will he bring to God for those things in which he sinned?" He then ordered that they perform the funeral rites for him. But when they came to wash him, they discovered that she was a woman, and all cried out: "Lord, have mercy." The superior inquired: "What is the matter, what is wrong?" And they told him: "Brother Marinus is a woman." Then, entering, he cast himself upon his face, weeping and saying: "Here I die at her holy feet, until I hear forgiveness." And a voice came to him saying: "If you had done this knowingly, your sin would not have been forgiven; but because you did it in ignorance, it shall be forgiven you."

^B VIII. Then rising, the superior notified the innkeeper; and when he had entered, he said: "Behold, Marinus has fallen asleep." He said: "God forgive him, for he has made my house desolate." The superior said to him: "Repent, brother, for you have sinned before God, and you also deceived me with your words; for Marinus is a woman." And realizing this, the innkeeper was astounded and glorified God. And behold, in a short while his daughter arrives, being convicted and speaking the truth, saying: "Such-and-such a soldier took advantage of me and defiled me," and she was immediately healed. And the brothers took the remains of the holy Maria, and having anointed them, they laid them in a venerable place with every honor, hymning Christ the Savior of all, who always glorifies those who glorify Him. To Him be the glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

deceived, and persuaded me to falsely accuse this blessed one. Then, when she had approached the coffin of the blessed one, as the prefect and the brothers were asking for the holy and venerable relics, in that very hour she was healed and cleansed of the demon. Then, when they had seen the miracle, which was beyond expectation, they all praised the merciful and kind God because of the sign that had been done, and because of the patience and tolerance of the blessed one, who had persisted even unto death, not revealing herself to be a woman, for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. And so, let us also, beloved brothers, emulate her fortitude, constancy, and tolerance, that we may find mercy and grace in the future age from our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

THE CONTEST OF THE HOLY GREAT MARTYR MAURICIUS AND HIS SEVENTY DISCIPLES

MARTYRIUM SANCTI ET MAGNI MARTYRIS MAURICII ET SEPTUAGINTA EJUS DISCIPULORUM

^A I. The memory of the martyrs is a manifestation of piety toward God and a union of the philosophic mind with God: a commingling of matter with things devoid of matter, and a peace of impassibility that bridles the passions of heavenly spirits and earthly bodies offered to one another. For who, beholding their struggle with the eyes of the intellect, will not be detached from the flesh and the world, understanding their flesh to have been trampled down for the sake of their piety toward God? For the flesh did not lust in them, nor did the dust of the earth rebel against the divine image; but that which is inferior was wisely led, governed by that which is superior, and possessing a mind that could not be moved from the heavenly goal. Such a contest is also set forth for the seventy martyrs, whose precious and Christ-loving blood, having been received by the city of the Apameans, was sent up to God as a holy and well-pleasing sacrifice, anointing the whole body of Christ—that is, the holy Church—with their blood in place of precious ointment.

^B II. For Maximian, that most impious and wicked emperor, striving to surpass every excess of cruelty, kept busy trying to offer the entire state under his sway to the unclean demons, so that he might thereby, through the worship and the religion of the falsely-named gods, secure protection and magnificence for his own reign. When, therefore, he had decided to do this, he appointed himself a diligent and industrious minister for the task; for he did not endure to write by command, as the emperors before him, to the governors in every region of idol-

-^Aatry, but instead he himself untiringly journeyed through the world, becoming a swift minister of the altars of the demons, hoping in his misery that through his own arrival he might force those who had fallen away from his superstition—and had approached the knowledge of the truth of Christ—to desert back to the error of his own unclean and abominable gods. With this intention, therefore, the most ungodly tyrant Maximian left Rome and, making his journey through the eastern parts, arrived at Apamea, the metropolis of the second province of Syria. In this place, the priests of the idols approached him and brought accusations against the Christians, saying: “O most divine emperor, since the gods have granted us the liberty of speech before your piety, we submit to your invincible power that each one of us, with fear and deep longing, honors the ancestral gods—especially Zeus, the father of the gods, and the wonderful Apollo, who are superior to the other gods and who greatly preserve and protect the empire of your authority. But Maurice and the seventy ^B soldiers of your power who are with him, though raised high by your gifts and having reaped the rewards of your bounty, hold the gods in contempt and have tyrannized against your invincible empire, led astray by the error of those called Christians.”

III.

^A and sacrifices and libations you have set aside, and have become guides to the abyss of destruction for others; and thus what has reached our ears concerning you is confirmed by the truth.

IV. Saint Maurice said: The tyranny which is being exercised by us against your senseless gods, O Emperor, confers upon us a mighty victory from the true God and a crown of glory; for we do not despise the God who fashioned us, according to your foolish tradition, but we glorify the only true God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. But it is not fitting for you, O Emperor, to call demons, which are destructive to men, gods. Emperor Maximian said: Since, having enjoyed the honor of the gods, you were deemed worthy of the first rank of the military, Maurice, you make a fine return to them. Saint Maurice said: I never received honor from your gods, nor do I wish to honor them. For what man, having the knowledge of God, would ever endure to honor materials ^B devoid of any sense? But those who have no mind, directed by right reason, for the reason that they have been compared to senseless beasts and have become like them, these refer to stones and wood as gods and attribute reason to them and honor them as gods. Emperor Maximian said: The administration of the first rank of your order, Maurice, has provided you with great confidence, and made you bolder in answering our serenity with such brilliance and lack of fear. And he commands that he be separated from them and the rest be questioned, and the Emperor says to them blandly: Who has done you such injustice, brothers, that you have withdrawn from the savior gods, ^C and have been induced to join the error of those who worship a man who was crucified like one of the murderers? For we did not educate you in such a way, nor did we foster you in such doctrines.

V. Then truly blessed Theodore and Philip, as if from the mouth of the holy seventy martyrs, said to the Emperor: We, O tyrant Maximian, are so far from error that we even wish that you might be liberated from the error from which we also have been liberated, worshipping the one and only true God, the Father almighty, and his only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God, and his most holy Spirit, who inspired in us ^D knowledge and understanding, so that we might confess a consubstantial Trinity and loathe your unclean religion, and might cast off this temporal service, to serve instead God who is the King of hosts. Emperor Maximian said: I see, Philip, that you possess a venerable old age, but in understanding you fall far short of the young; take refuge, therefore, with the gods and become a good counselor to your fellow soldiers in the worship of the gods, so that

^A you may be deemed worthy of greater honors from us." But Saint Philip said: "I will not become an evil counselor to those who have of their own accord been led into the fear of the true God, since it is written: 'Woe to him through whom evil comes!'" Maximian said: "The long-suffering of our forbearance has made you more audacious, Philip. Do not, therefore, persist in these things, lest you justly provoke punishment upon yourselves and become an example of our indignation, daring to name as a man him whom you have referred to as a god." But the seventy holy martyrs, answering, said to the tyrant: "Your vain and empty threat, O king, bestows upon us power from on high; for the fear of torments does not enter into or dwell in the mind of those who are steadfast in their love for the Lord."

^B VI. Then Emperor Maximian, being very angry, ordered the garment of military service to be taken away from the seventy holy soldiers and their belts to be cut, and for them to be brought before him with great ignominy. And when the guards had accomplished this with great speed, the tyrant said to them: "See what shame you have come to by reason of your disobedience." But the holy ones said to the tyrant: "Even if you, as you think, have stripped us, yet our God is in the heavens, whom we serve, and he clothes us with the garment of eternal glory, which you yourself are not worthy even to hear about, because of Satan your father, who speaks and works in you." Then the tyrant, enraged, said: "O most abominable ones and unworthy of the goodwill of the gods, you have become the cause of your own shame; for although you were honored by us, you have insulted the gods and treated our friendship with contempt." The holy ones, answering, said to the tyrant: "Your military service, being nothing, passes away, and this present honor is shame to you, since you have forgotten God, who gave you this power; and the lifeless idols, which do not benefit you because they do not know who honors or insults them, you foolishly call gods." The tyrant said: "On account of the philanthropy of our empire, sparing you and wishing to preserve your lives, I still forbear with you." And he ordered them to be kept in prison for three days, that they might take counsel for what is to their advantage.

^D VII. And when the guards had fulfilled the emperor's command and had imprisoned them with iron collars, the holy ones said to one another: "Let us all, brothers, prepare our souls with one accord for prayer, and let us intensely beseech our God to grant us wisdom and understanding through his Holy Spirit, and to put into our mouths what we must answer, so that the tyrant may also marvel at the truth of our faith." And the seventy holy martyrs of Christ, standing for prayer as if from one soul, said: "O God Almighty, whose"

power is eternal and whose kingdom shall not perish, send down to us Thy most holy Spirit, that we may rejoice and be glad in Him, and overcome the wickednesses of error, and be lifted up in Thy true faith through the Holy Spirit who speaks in us, according to Thy true promise. And instead of the worldly dignity taken from us, may we become soldiers in Thy holy city, in which shall gather unto Thee all who are assembled in the faith of Thy Christ, with whom, to Thee, with the Father, glory and power are due, together with the holy and life-giving Spirit, unto the ages. Amen. ^B VIII. Now when the three days were completed, Maximian, presiding again at the same place by the Amazic gate, with the whole city gathered together, summoned the saints. The holy martyrs arrived, dragged by the ministers, and stood before the ungodly one. The iniquitous emperor, tempering his threats with clemency, said to them: "O men, learn at last what is advantageous for you, and approach, sacrifice to the gods, and receive life, and not a bitter death." The holy martyrs said: "We have taken good counsel concerning this, O emperor. Hearken attentively, and do not compel us any further, nor bring any violence upon us: for we have resolved to hate this life, which is for a time, but to love the death set before us for the sake of the desire for Christ. For through Him we hope to gain eternal life. For the rest, therefore, do quickly to us what you will. For we do not deny our God, nor shall we ever worship your demons. For in the condemnation of this death, which is for a time, we are delivered from eternal condemnation." When the holy martyrs had said this, the tyrant, seeing among them a youth, said to him: "Tell me, youth, what is your name, and from what family do you come?" The youth said: "I am called Photinus, having received my name from the true light. Moreover, I am a soldier of Christ, who has put to shame your father, Satan. And I am Roman by birth, the son—both carnal and spiritual—of the most illustrious Maurice. For, born of him and having received from him the knowledge of God, I was raised in the faith of Christ, whom you, O emperor, by denying Him, have been compared to senseless beasts, and have been made like unto them." ^C IX. The tyrant said: "You are foolish, youth, and your words are worthy of your age. But now learn what is profitable for you, and approach and sacrifice to the greatest god, Zeus, and spare your youth." The youth said: "Because I do not do what you wish, nor sacrifice to idols, you say that I am foolish. But as for the faith of my Lord Jesus Christ, I am very wise." Then the tyrant said again to the saints: "How long shall we endure your importunity, O wretches, and defer torments out of incomparable kindness? Sacrifice, therefore, to the gods, lest you arm justice against yourselves." The holy martyrs said to the tyrant: ^D

^A "Know this, O most impious man, and stranger to our true God, that just as you do not perceive the love of Christ and His splendor, because of the darkness covering your mind from the deception of the demons, so neither do we feel your torments, because our mind is illuminated by the faith and love of Christ our God. Devise, therefore, other new-fangled engines of torment against us; for our mind thirsts, and our love which is in Christ desires, through your sentence against us, to behold the living God, and Him who reigns into the ages." Hearing these things, the tyrant, being enraged, orders an enormous pyre to be made and for the holy martyrs to be placed therein. The guards having fulfilled his inhuman command, the saints voluntarily approached the pyre, ^B encouraging one another to approach the fire as if it were water; and paying no heed to the burning by the coals, with greatness of soul they said to the tyrant: "We, Maximian, considering the blindness of your senselessness, pity you for the sake of your stony heart, because you have become a servant of the deception of the unclean demons, unable to sober up or to recognize that such great endurance of patience has surpassed all human courage. For who, without divine refreshment, could contend so much against an all-consuming flame? But those who boil in the Spirit and have put on God, the fire that consumes those who are impious like you shall in no way be able to harm the pious. For ^C fire does not have the nature to be consumed by flame that is temporary and perishable. In vain, therefore, do you labor, O foolish tyrant, contending to consume with fire those of us who are inflamed with the love of Christ; for He has inflamed us as silver is refined."

^D X. When the torturers were weary, the tyrant said to the saints: "You have realized, then, O bold and rash men, how easy it is for me to destroy your lives? Sacrifice, therefore, to the gods, that you may not experience more bitter torments." The saints, answering, said to the tyrant: "Know this, O most impious man, and stranger to our true God, that just as you do not perceive the love of Christ and His splendor, because of the darkness covering your mind from the deception of the demons, so neither do we feel your torments, because our mind is illuminated by the faith and love of Christ our God. Devise, therefore, O tyrant and insane dog, other new machines of torment against us. For our mind thirsts, and our love which is in Christ desires, through your verdict against us, to contemplate the living God, and Him who reigns into the ages." Hearing this, the tyrant, having become very angry, orders a great pyre to be lit and the holy martyrs cast into it. When the satellites had carried out his bitter and inhuman command, the saints of their own accord approached the pyre, encouraging one another to approach the fire as if to water, and taking no account of the burning of the coals, with a great and constant spirit they said to the tyrant: "We, O emperor, considering your blindness and the poverty of the senses of your stony heart, pity you, for you have been a minister of the error of wicked and unclean demons, unable to repent or to know the God of heaven and earth, who has given us such strength and endurance. For who, without divine refreshment, could have contended against the all-consuming flame? But those who are fervent in spirit and have put on God, the fire that consumes those who are impious like you shall in no way be able to harm the pious. For flame is not by nature ungenerated, so as to be consumed by a flame which is for a time, and into which decay falls. Wherefore you labor in vain, O foolish tyrant, you who contend to consume with fire us, who are aflame with the love of Christ. For the fire has refined us, just as silver is refined."

^A XI. When all who heard these words marveled, the tyrant, who from the beginning was a vessel of destruction, persisted in his desire to destroy the saints; he was neither persuaded by the words of the glorious martyrs nor was he astonished by the deeds themselves. Wherefore he ordered them to be affixed to stakes once again, and their sides to be vigorously lacerated with iron claws. When, therefore, the holy and noble martyrs struggled strenuously in this contest also, and all were marveling at the emperor's madness and fury, the illustrious martyr Maurice said to the tyrant: "Do you not perceive your own weakness and wretchedness, O foul and profane tyrant, that Photinus, this small youth, has broken the audacity of your empire? For to have undergone such and so many torments is a shattering of your most cruel rule. How, then, will you be able to break our entire phalanx, you who have been overcome by so tiny an adolescent?" Incensed by these words, the wicked Maximian, looking upon him with burning eyes and gnashing his teeth at him, and wishing to take bitter revenge upon the holy and blessed martyr of Christ, Maurice, ordered an executioner to finish off and kill his son before the father's eyes. Accordingly, with him present and gazing upon his son, the executioner cut off the boy's head.

^B XII. When, therefore, the venerable head of the most blessed Photinus had been amputated in this manner, and he had migrated beautifully and gloriously to the Lord, the illustrious Maurice said: "You have fulfilled our desire, tyrant, and from here on we have obtained a firm and stable heavenly course. For who among our multitude will bear to be outdone by Photinus, the soldier of Christ, who has migrated to heaven and put your father, the devil, to shame? In addition to this, devise with greater zeal and effort torments against us, and let nothing be omitted by you of those things which prove whether we preserve a firm and immovable faith in Christ." ^C When, however, Maximian saw the holy martyrs of Christ enduring with prompt and eager spirits, and not deserting their upright faith, he summoned his bestial and inhumane senate and consulted with them how he might dispatch the holy martyrs with the most bitter death, through which he might bring terror to the Christians who were in the whole world, and cause them to defect from the holy and irreproachable religion of the Christians. When they had consulted much among themselves, and one had said one thing and another another, a certain man from among those who had gathered into the senate—who was a root of bitterness, a fruit of iniquity, and a most fertile tree of every other malice and injustice—advised the tyrant, saying: "Emperor, this month is the time of the greatest heat (for it was then the month of July), and situated outside the city toward the west, between two rivers that are positioned near it and the lake, is a place flat in its terrain, but full of hay and infinite other matter, which those who dwell in that place call 'Roga,' because it is a bitter habitacle of wasps and hornets, through which, at midday, one cannot even easily pass without danger. Order, therefore,"

^A that their bodies be anointed with honey, and in it the insects shall be bound, so that in this torture they may feel a destruction more grievous than all the torments which have preceded, and they shall know not to blaspheme our eternal gods, and what it benefited those who dared to walk the path contrary to the kings."

XIII. ^B When this speech and this counsel had pleased the king and the entire senate, the king ordered them to be handed over to this punishment. The servants of iniquity, having watched for midday and observed a time of calm—in which, lacking the blowing of winds, the swarms of insects happen to inflict deep and painful stinging upon the bodies that fall in their way—bound the holy ones with chains and brought them down to the place. Having chosen a damp site, situated near a perennial spring from which muddy marshes are accustomed to form—where also the aforementioned swarm of insects loves to dwell—they anointed the venerable bodies of the holy ones with honey, bound them violently to pieces of wood in that same place, and even cast the venerable body of Photinus, the glorious martyr, before the face of his own father, the all-renowned Maurice, thinking that by this they would bring a greater torment upon him. Having done this, they departed as quickly as possible, not able to endure the attack of the venomous insects. ^C When the holy ones had endured this bitter and unbearable torment for ten days and nights, they lifted their eyes to God and prayed, saying: "Lord our God, who didst create us in Thine image and likeness, and didst lead us to the knowledge of Thy truth and divinity, and of Thine only-begotten Son, and of the all-holy Spirit, into Thy hands we commend our souls, and we beseech Thee to enroll them with all the saints who have been well-pleasing to Thee from the ages. For we have loved Thee, and have desired Thee with our whole heart, and for Thee we have delivered ourselves to death; for Thou art the only good and merciful God, unto Whom glory is due for ever. Amen." When they had said this, they delivered their blessed and divine souls to God, and thus were deemed worthy of the crowns of the struggle.

XIV. ^D But the all-impious king Maximian, infuriated even after death against the martyrs who live forever (for those who have departed according to God live unto God, even if they have departed from here), upon hearing that they had delivered up their souls, ordered his guards to cut off their venerable heads and throw them into the same place. Then, having taken the glorious remains down from the woods, they did not shrink from cutting off their venerable heads; but having hewn them off, they scattered them everywhere throughout that woodland. Certain faithful brothers, however, coming by night with great fear, gathered their venerable heads and their all-holy bodies, and with honor, much sweetness, divine psalmody, and earnest prayer, digging into the earth, they laid them to rest in that very place where the noble soldiers of Christ had contended, in which they also appear as luminaries in the world. Rejoice, therefore, Apamea, having bound round thy brow a spiritual crown, composed of various precious stones, and producing one harmony of god-befitting brilliance

conventus participes et gratiæ, uno animo et consensu fruentes, quæ ab eis proficiscitur, curatione: in Christo Jesu Domino nostro, cui gloria et potentia, cum Patre et sancto Spiritu nunc et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen. ^A

COMMENTARY ON THE GREAT PROPHET DANIEL AND THE HOLY THREE YOUTHS ANANIAS, AZARIAS, AND MISAEL

(Latin version in Surius for the 21st of July; the Greek text is here published for the first time from Paris manuscript codex 1490, 11th century. Ed. Patr.)

I. When Nabuchodonosor, king of the Assyrians, had taken the city of Jerusalem by war, and had carried off great spoils from thence, and had led away very many captives of war, and had returned splendidly and magnificently to Babylon, the seat of his empire, he chose out the most noble youths of the Jews and assigned them to his own service. ^B Among them were also four of those who traced their origin from King David, fair indeed in bodily appearance, and fair also in the appearance of the soul, displaying beautifully a noble and liberal aspect in both respects, and who related their lineage closely to Hezekiah and Josiah, the most righteous men. When he had picked them out and had provided that they be nourished from the royal table, he delivered them to pedagogues, so that they might be beautifully instructed in external wisdom and in the very doctrine of the Chaldeans. Of these, one was called Daniel; the one following him, Ananias; the third, Azarias; and the fourth, Misael. Having changed their names, he called Daniel Baltassar, Ananias Sidrach, Azarias [he called] Misach, and Misaelem ^C

^A he names Abdenago. The king loved them and looked upon them with great favor, praising their disposition and the fact that they not only excelled in aptitude for their studies, but also brought great credit to themselves through their insight and modesty. Yet such was the king’s affection toward the boys.

II. ^B Now divine Daniel was not only a praiser of virtue, but he practiced it diligently; and for this reason, he subjected his body to hardships. He not only refused to partake of the food from the royal table himself, but he also urged his companions and kinsmen—that is, the three boys—to do likewise. When it seemed good to both parties to abstain entirely from all living things and to eat only seeds and vegetables, they approached Aschanes, the chief eunuch to whom the king had entrusted their care, and requested that he himself take and consume what was brought to them from the king, but provide them instead with legumes and dates for nourishment, along with anything else among inanimate things that they might desire. For they said that they had been raised from the beginning on such a diet and that they despised the other. He replied that he was indeed prepared to serve their will, but he feared lest the king should find out from their bodily thinness and the pallor of their faces, for it was necessary that their bodies and complexions should change along with their diet, and especially that, if the other boys were in good condition, he should become the cause of danger and punishment for himself. ^C Since Aschanes showed such caution regarding this, the noble youths persuaded him to provide this for them for ten days as a trial, and if their bodily condition did not change, he should allow them to continue with it, as they would suffer no harm. But if he saw them diminished and faring worse than the others, he should bring them back to the previous diet and do as he had been commanded. When they were in no way harmed by using that food, but their bodies were in better condition and were more beautiful in appearance than the others—so much so that those who saw them thought that Daniel and the three others were living in all luxury and delicacy, while the other boys were eating more sparingly and did not have the things necessary for their use—

III. ^D From that time forward, Aschanes, with reverence, received whatever the king customarily sent them from his table every day, and provided them with the aforementioned [food]. And as their souls had for this reason become pure and fit to receive instruction, they readily learned all the education that was among both the Hebrews and the Chaldeans; especially Daniel, who, having already become capable in learning, had also devoted himself to the interpretation of dreams. God appeared to him manifestly, and as his mind was molded by Him, he clearly foretold many things regarding the future. The second year since the capture of Jerusalem had passed, and King Nabuchodonosor had a wonderful dream, the outcome of which God Himself made known to him in his sleep,

^A but he suffered a forgetting of the dream and of the interpretation which he had surely received from God. Therefore, summoning the Chaldeans at once, both those who were preeminent among the magi and those who were skilled in divination, he told them that he had seen a dream and what it signified; furthermore, he explained that it had happened that he had forgotten what he had seen, and he commanded them to tell him what the dream was and what its interpretation was. When they said that it was impossible for men to relate the interpretation unless he himself revealed the vision to them, he threatened the wise men in these matters with death, unless they were to bring back to his memory both the vision and the interpretation together, and he immediately ordered them all to be put to death, as they had declared it impossible to do what they had been ordered.

IV. ^B When Daniel learned this—that the king had ordered all the wise men to die, and that he himself along with his kinsmen was in danger among them—he approached Arioch, the king’s bodyguard, and asked him to tell him the cause for which the king had so harshly commanded that all the wise men, Chaldeans, and magi be destroyed. And when he had learned the matters concerning the dream, and that they had said they were unable to declare it to him, having been ordered by the king [to do so] while he had forgotten it, and that for this reason, moved to anger, he had condemned them to death, he requested Arioch to enter [to see] the king and to seek instead one night, and in it to delay this execution. For he said he hoped that if he prayed to God during it, he would know the dream. And he indeed reported these things to the king as quickly as possible. ^C But he, desiring to know what the vision was and what its interpretation was, ordered the execution of the magi to be stayed until he should know what Daniel would say and what his power was. This blessed man, therefore, having withdrawn to himself with his kinsmen, entreated God through the whole night to save both the magi and the Chaldeans, with whom he himself was also about to perish, and to deliver them from the king’s anger by revealing to him the vision which the king had forgotten. God, at once having pity on those who were in danger and wishing to render His prophet glorious, makes the dream known to him and sets forth clearly the matters of the interpretation; and Daniel, having immediately revealed these things to those around Azarias, turns those who had already despaired of living and had fixed their minds on dying to a more cheerful state. ^D

V. Having given thanks with them to God, who had taken pity on their youth, and when it became day, he arrives at Arioch and requested him to lead him to the king; for he said he wished to declare to him the dream that had happened to him to see the past night. Having entered, he first excused himself, not wishing to appear wiser than the other Chaldeans, and because, when none of them had been able to find the dream, he himself was about to tell it. For this does not happen through experience, nor because he is of a more subtle and clever intellect, but, he says, God, having pity on us, who had come into danger of death, for my soul and for those who are of the same

^A nation, opened both the dream and its explanation. For I bore no less care for your glory, O king, than I did for our own grief, since you had unjustly ordered such good and upright men to die, when you had asked for nothing that belonged to human wisdom, but had sought from them what was the work of God alone. Therefore, O king, because you were anxious about who would rule the whole world after you, God, wishing to make this known, showed you such a dream. You seemed to see a great statue standing, whose head happened to be of gold, but its shoulders and arms of silver; and from brass, the belly and thighs; and iron, the shins and feet. Then you saw a stone broken off from a mountain, and it fell upon the statue, and struck it down and shattered it, and left no part of it whole; and the gold, and the silver, and the brass, and the iron became finer than dust, and when the wind blew, they were scattered into the air; but the stone grew so much that it seemed to fill the whole earth. The dream, which you yourself saw, is of this kind; and its interpretation has this manner: The golden head signified you and the kings of the Babylonians who were before you; but the two hands and shoulders signify that your dominion would be destroyed by two kings—I speak of the Persians and the Medes. Another, however, from the west, clothed in brass, will destroy their dominion. This is Alexander the Macedonian, and another will stop him, in strength similar to iron; and it will prevail in all things because of the nature of the iron; for it is stronger than gold, and silver, and brass; this is the mighty kingdom of the Romans. And he also explained to him concerning the stone, saying: "The stone cut without hands is Christ." And that "without hands" predicted that he would be born without sexual intercourse, from a womb free from stain.

VI.

^A plain of Babylon, called Deera. And being about to consecrate it, he summoned the chief satraps from all the land over which he ruled; he had also given them a sign, so that they might not pay him homage so rashly or without some reason, but rather, approaching as if by a signal, they should worship with great fear. And the sign was as follows: When, he says, they hear the sound of the trumpet signifying this with a loud voice, then, he says, they must fall down and worship the statue; and those who do not do this should immediately be thrown into the furnace of burning fire. For in order that the trial on behalf of the statue might be greater and more distinguished for him, he ordered a furnace to be kindled by diameter opposite the image, fueled with pitch, brushwood, and moreover with naphtha and tow, so that whoever was convicted of not assenting to the royal decree would immediately be handed over to the furnace.

VII. When all, therefore, were worshipping the statue as commanded, the trumpet having already sounded, these three alone refused to do this, as the sacred Scriptures teach, since they could not endure to transgress the ancestral laws, and to bring dishonor upon God, and offer worship to an idol. Hence it happened that they were accused before the iniquitous king. Those, therefore, who were accusing them approached and said: O King, those to whom the rule of the region has been given by you, I mean this Sidrach, Misac, and Abednego, do not at all endure to worship the image, nor do they obey your commands. When they had said these things, they were immediately brought before the royal tribunal. What then followed? He asked whether these things were true, and if they were really unwilling to worship the golden statue with the others. For he said he did not believe that these things were true. But they, with a great and noble spirit, said that they had no other, ^B save only God in the heavens: who is able, O king, to deliver us from this burning furnace and from your hands. For you surely must know that we do not worship your gods, and the golden statue which you have set up we will not worship. The tyrant, burning with rage no less than the furnace, in his anger ordered strong men to bind Azarias and the others, with their garments and hose, just as they were, and throw them into the furnace. And they, having been immediately thrown into the fire, were preserved unharmed by divine providence, and miraculously and contrary to expectation escaped the manifest danger. For the fire did not touch them at all, nor did it cause them any distress; but when an Angel had descended with them, they were immediately released from the bonds that bound them; ^C and a breeze moistening them with dew made the fire vanish for them, and standing in the midst of the flame as if in a bridal chamber, they praised the God of the universe: Blessed are you, they said, O Lord, the God of our fathers, and praiseworthy and glorious is your name forever, and what follows thereafter in the canticle. But the fire, rushing out, destroyed and completely consumed those who accused them, the Chaldeans and many others of the Assyrians. Thus does God know how to crown with glory and honor those who truly glorify his name; thus is he faithful who promised, that even if you walk through fire, you shall not be burned.

Such was the state of things; and the three youths remained in the furnace, still praising the God of all. ^A

VIII. The king, however, stunned by the miracle, at once rose from his throne. He was perplexed as to how the three men cast by him into the furnace were now seen as four, having suffered no harm or distress whatsoever. The appearance of the fourth was like the Son of God. And having immediately approached the door of the furnace, "Sedrach,” he said, “and Misac and Abdenago, servants of the most high God, come out and go forth." They came out safe and untouched, with the fire having held sway not even over a single hair of theirs. When the king saw this, he was astonished at the magnitude of the miracle—or rather, the sum of miracles: that they were superior to such fire, and not just superior, but that not even a hair of theirs—a thing that so easily withers and dies—had been singed by such a flame; furthermore, that having been bound, they were immediately loosed; and that while they were still in the furnace, they were heard singing, which to those in a flame would usually bring immediate death the moment the mouth was opened; and that that fire, having forgotten its own nature regarding them, was a true and perfect fire to the Chaldeans who were around the furnace, not even remaining in its place, but issuing forth and leaping, and consuming those who ^B were worthy with great ease. When he saw all these things, he fell immediately to the ground, and cried out with a loud voice, "Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Sedrach, Misac, and Abdenago, who sent your angel and rescued your holy youths from the fire and preserved them unharmed from evils." Then he also issued a decree, saying, "Whoever does not worship the God of Sedrach, Misac, and Abdenago shall be consigned to destruction, and all his goods shall be for plunder." And those blessed youths he honored with greater honors than before, and allowed them to rule over the Jewish captives.

^C IX. Not long after this, another vision appeared to the king in his sleep, and the vision was as follows: he thought he saw a tree, great and wonderful, which had taken root in the earth; it grew and became very mighty, and its height reached to heaven; and it was covered with beautiful leaves and abounded with much fruit, and all the beasts of the field and the birds of the air dwelt in it. Then a voice suddenly came from above, commanding the tree to be cut down, but bidding only the stump of the root to be left. And it was accordingly cut down, and its leaves immediately fell away, and all the animals and ^D birds in it quickly departed. Such was the dream. The king, awakened from his sleep, called the magicians again, related what he had seen, and asked them to tell him what it signified. None of the others was immediately able to discover its meaning or to reveal to the king what was to come to pass, but Daniel alone interpreted it, and as he had foretold, so it came to pass. For he said, "You are the tree which you saw, O king, and not long after you shall fall from your dominion; for the cutting down signified

this. Furthermore, you will dwell with the wild beasts, and you will eat grass like an ox; and having lived thus in the wilderness for seven years, you shall recover your sovereignty. For this is what the voice means: 'Yet leave the sprout of the roots.' Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you, and redeem your iniquities with alms and your sins with mercies to the poor; perhaps leniency and patience will be exercised toward your transgressions."

X. And these things did indeed come to pass afterwards and reached their end, as Daniel had said. For when the king had spent the aforementioned time in the wilderness, ^A for no one had dared to attack the state throughout that time, and having prayed to God to recover his kingdom, he then put on again his noble mind, along with the resumption of his power, and returned to the kingdom. And having reigned for forty-three years, he departed from life, a man keen and energetic in managing affairs, and far the most fortunate of the kings who had preceded him. After the death of Nebuchadnezzar, his son took up the kingdom, who immediately released from his bonds Jeconiah, the king of Jerusalem, whom his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken captive from Jerusalem, ^B and held him among his most intimate friends, giving him many gifts and honoring him among the kings who were in the Babylonian realm. For his father, Nebuchadnezzar, had shown no kindness at all to Jeconiah, but had kept him in bonds and in other forms of affliction; and this though Jeconiah had performed a most humane act, worthy of much praise, in that he had surrendered himself, along with his wives and children and his whole family, into the hands of the Babylonians, so that the city might not be razed and captured by the enemy, as you may read in detail when Josephus recounts these events. After he too had passed from life ^C after having reigned for eighteen years, his son succeeded him in the empire, and having held it for forty years, he departed from life. Then Belshazzar, his grandson, also became the heir to the kingdom. No long time passed, and Cyrus, king of the Persians, and Darius of the Medes launched an expedition against Babylon. But it was after Belshazzar had received the kingdom that something new and prodigious occurred.

XI. He was reclining at dinner in a great house prepared for royal banquets, together with his concubines and friends. ^D And he, as it seemed good to him in his great arrogance, ordered the vessels of God, which Nebuchadnezzar his grandfather had carried off from Jerusalem—though he had not used them, but had piously deposited them in his own temple—to be brought from his temple, and he, led by an unthinking and unreasonable audacity, was using them; and while he was drinking and wagging a blasphemous tongue against the Most High, he saw a hand emerging from the wall and writing certain syllables upon it. Troubled by the vision, he immediately summoned the Magi and the Chaldeans, and that entire class, as many as were in Babylon, who were skilled in interpreting signs and dreams, Evil-merodach by name.

^A wishing to learn from them what had been written. But when the Magi said that they understood nothing of these things, the king, being seized by great anguish and heavy grief at this strange occurrence, issued a proclamation across the entire country with haste, promising that he would give to anyone who would explain these letters and the meaning signified by them, a golden neck chain to wear and a purple robe, just as the kings of the Chaldeans are accustomed to wear, and in addition to this, the third part of his own kingdom. Thus was it announced so clearly; so that while the Magi ran together in greater numbers and were ambitious to find the meaning of the letters, they nonetheless stood there ^B perplexed.

XII. In the meantime, his grandmother, seeing the king filled with despondency, began to speak and to make known to him the things concerning the prophet Daniel, as much as he had explained to his grandfather, I mean Nebuchadnezzar, concerning the secrets which he had seen. ^C There is, she said, a captive from Judea brought to this place (Daniel is his name), a man excellent at finding out secrets and known to God alone, who, when no one else was able to tell King Nebuchadnezzar what he needed to learn, made all things clear and brought the things sought to light. If, therefore, you summon him, you will immediately find what you seek to know. And he most quickly summoned him, and having spoken of all that he had heard about him and his wisdom, and how the divine Spirit was with him and he alone was most capable of finding things that did not come into the minds of others, he asked him to explain the letters and to interpret them, [saying] that if that which is signified by God is unpleasant, [he should still speak]. For to the one who does this I shall give a purple robe to wear and a golden neck chain to place about the neck, and the third part of the kingdom, as a prize and honor for [his] wisdom, so that he might become the most distinguished and admired of all.

XIII. Daniel, however, asked him to keep his gifts, for the wise and godly man should not be captured by gifts; he wishes to help those in need without charge. But he did make known to him what the letters signified concerning the end of his life, [explaining] that not even by the punishments which his ancestor Nebuchadnezzar had suffered due to his insults against God, had he himself learned to be pious and not to think beyond [the limits of] human nature. But that even though Nebuchadnezzar had been transformed into the life of a beast for the impious things he had committed, and after many prayers and supplications had received mercy, so as to return again to human life and the kingdom itself, and for this reason to praise until death God, who has all power and cares for humans, [Belshazzar] himself had forgotten these things and had blasphemed greatly against the Divine, and was using the vessels of His house to be served [at his feast] along with his concubines. Seeing these things, therefore, God was angered at him and through the writing was declaring beforehand to what kind of end he was to be brought. The letters ^D signified the following: Mane, Thecel, Phares; and he said that this meant in the Greek tongue, that God has numbered the time of your life and has weighed it—

and your kingdom will be taken away and distributed to the Medes and Persians. ^A Thus, when Daniel had explained to the king the meaning of the writing on the wall, Belshazzar was indeed seized with sorrow and distress, as was to be expected, on account of such harsh and grievous things as were revealed to him. Nor did he, despite this, fail to give the prophet the gifts he had promised, as if he were a messenger of evil toward him; but he granted them all, considering that the threatened destruction of his kingdom was a matter of determined necessity, but not regarding it as the fault of the one who prophesied. He deemed the fulfillment of what had been promised to be the mark of a good, just, and truthful man.

XIV. ^B A short space of time passed, and both he and the city were taken, just as it had been foretold by Daniel, when the King of the Persians led an army against him; but Belshazzar thus departed from this life. Darius, however—who overthrew the Babylonian dominion and was the son of Astyages—was in the sixty-second year of his reign when he captured Babylon. He, taking this admirable prophet with him as something great and most precious, led him into Media, showing great care and respect for him. Daniel, therefore, being in such honor and high favor with Darius, acted as his sole counselor, and the king received his words as if they contained something divine. ^C Naturally, envy toward him crept in from those who held the highest positions in Media; for the satraps envied him, seeing that he was held in higher esteem, that the king took greater interest in him, and that he was held in greater honor before him. Seeking an occasion for slander and accusation, they could find none; for he provided them with no cause, being above the love of money and despising all gain. Hence, since they could find nothing to report to the king that might strip him of his honor, they sought another way by which they might drive him from the king’s favor. Seeing, therefore, that Daniel prayed to God three times a day, they thought they had found the opportunity through which they could bring about his destruction. ^D Coming to Darius, they reported to him that it had seemed good to all his satraps and princes that for the space of thirty days no one should make any petition at all, neither to God nor to man, except from the king himself, and that whoever transgressed this law should be cast into the lions' den.

XV. The king, not perceiving their malice, and not suspecting that they had contrived these things against Daniel, yielded to their words and set forth a decree declaring to the people what had been decided by the satraps. While all others, fearing to transgress what had been commanded, remained quiet, Daniel gave this no heed, but, as was his custom, stood and prayed. From this, the satraps observed him, and since the opportunity they had been eager to seize upon to use against him had seemingly appeared, they immediately went to the king and accused Daniel as the only one transgressing what had been commanded. For, they said, since no man...

^A dared to pray to the gods, Daniel does not wish to do this; and at the same time, as a transgressor of the law, they demanded that he be cast according to the law into the lions' den. Darius, trusting ^B that the Divine would deliver him and that he would suffer nothing grievous at the hands of the beasts, ordered him to bear what had occurred with a good spirit; and after Daniel had been cast into the den, the king having sealed the stone which lay at the opening in place of a door, he departed, spending the whole night sleepless, as one oppressed by concern for Daniel.

XVI. When day had come, he arose and went to the den; and finding the seal safe in the manner in which he had left the stone marked, he opened it and called Daniel by name and asked whether he were yet ^C alive. When he heard him from below, and he said that he had suffered nothing grievous, he ordered him to be drawn up from the den. But the enemies, seeing that Daniel had suffered no harm, said, "It is not, O king, on account of the Divine and His providence that this man has been saved, but because the lions were satiated with food." Those men said this, still overcome by envy. But the king, hating their wickedness, ordered indeed much meat to be thrown to the lions; and when they were satiated, he ordered those who had conspired against Daniel to be cast into the den, so that he might know if the lions would not touch them due to satiation. But ^D it became clear to Darius that it was a divine hand that had saved Daniel, after the satraps had now been thrown to the beasts; for they spared none of them at all, but immediately tore them all limb from limb with claws and teeth and devoured them, just as if they were suffering from famine and lacking food. When those who had laid snares for Daniel had thus perished, King Darius, showing himself to be a wise man and a lover of truth, and by plain facts against which nothing could be said, sent throughout the whole region, praising the God whom Daniel worships, and saying that He alone is true and has dominion over all. He held Daniel in greater honor than any other, showing him to be the first of his friends. At the same time, his kinsmen were also with him—I speak of Azarias and the others—to whom the king’s favor was equal, and he held them in equal honor.

XVII. Since he was thus distinguished and brilliant, he built in Median Ecbatana a fortress, a most excellent and wonderfully made structure, which remains and is preserved even to this day; and to those who see it, it appears to have been constructed recently and on that very day on which each person beholds it, so fresh is its beauty, and it is seen not to have aged in the least by such a long time. In this fortress are buried the kings of the Medes and Persians, and he to whom it is entrusted is a Jewish priest. These things have been written word for word by Joseph the Jew. But since Daniel was not only admirable in solving the dreams of others, but also far more admirable in those which he himself saw,

^A it is worth our while here to make mention of them and to show the purity and God-worthiness of the man’s mind.

XVIII. ^B It was granted to this great prophet, while Belshazzar was still living in the land of the Chaldeans, to see the four winds of heaven rushing upon the sea, and four great beasts rising from it, which signified four great kingdoms. Of these, one was seen as a lioness, and its wings were like those of an eagle; this one was outlining the kingdom of the Chaldeans. The second was a bear, having three ribs in its mouth, to which a voice was also heard saying, "Arise, eat much flesh"; this signified the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians. And the third was a leopard, which also was shown having four wings of a bird upon it; and four heads of the beasts were observed; by it the kingdom of the Greeks was indicated, whose most powerful kings he saw thereafter in the form of a ram and a goat: Darius, as a ram, pushing in all parts of the earth, and Alexander, as a goat rising up against him, and trampling and casting him down with the force of his might. He saw the fourth beast as terrible and astonishing and exceedingly strong, whose teeth were of iron and its claws of bronze; and it surpassed all that had preceded it in might and audacity, devouring and crushing, and trampling the rest with its feet. By this he instructs us concerning the hand of the Romans, which has held power for so long. Upon whose head, the prophet says, I perceived ten horns, and another little one that was growing up between them and uprooting three of the former. For already at the very end of the Roman empire, which is being cut up into many principalities, he says that it will come to pass that ten kings will rise up together; for this is what the sight of the ten horns indicated. And that three of such kingdoms would be destroyed by that little horn, which he saw also having eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things, and which would surpass all the vices of all the evils that have been from the beginning of the age—these things are clearly significant of the Antichrist.

XIX. ^C When the prophet had thus been entirely in that most supernatural vision, he beheld also certain intelligible and supramundane thrones placed, and the God of glory as the Ancient of Days seated, who, because He is before the ages, willed thus to be seen by the one seeing. His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was seen as pure wool; for there is nothing dark, nothing gloomy, nothing defiling in the true and great and primary Light. Furthermore, he says that His throne also appeared as a flame of fire, and wheels emitting fire, and a river of fire flowing before Him, and all things were fearsome and terrible and all things wonderful and God-befitting. For thousands of thousands, he says, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him, ministering with great reverence. Then, with the clouds, he said he saw the Son of God coming as the Son of Man, and this One going unto the Father, and as the beloved One being honorably seated with Him, and unto Him the whole authority and the kingdom of all things—

^A given, and the honor. Moreover, that books were opened, and hidden things were made manifest, and all things stood naked and uncovered before the Judge; and that the power and dominion of the others were being abolished, but that most wicked beast, incomparable in its malice, which dared to wage war against the saints and had a mouth speaking great and proud things, was destroyed and sent into a conflagration of fire that is never extinguished. ^B And then, the majesty and the kingdom of all things were given to the saints for eternity.

XX. Nor indeed did Daniel see these things alone (O blessed vision!), but praying also afterwards, and with words of confession propitiating Him who is supremely good: "I was," he says, "following this, in Susa, the metropolis of Persia, and when I went out into the field with my companions, behold, a great earthquake occurred, and those who were with me fleeing, I was left alone, having fallen upon my face. And behold, someone standing touched me and made me rise, and mystically recounted what was to happen to the citizens after many generations."

This, then, was that great and foremost of the heavenly powers, Gabriel, who furthermore, when he had risen, signified to him that the great ram which had been shown to him, having many horns grown out, yet possessing one higher than the rest, had been seen. Then, having looked towards the West, he said he saw a goat being carried from thence through the air; and having clashed with the ram and struck it with its horns, it twice cast it to the ground and trampled upon it. Then he saw that a very great horn had sprung up from the forehead of the goat, which being broken, four had sprouted forth, turned toward each of the winds; and from them had emerged yet another, shorter one, which the one showing these things said would grow and would invade his nation with war, and take the city by force, and abolish all things that are of the law; and this for one thousand two hundred and ninety-six days.

These things, then, Daniel wrote that he saw in the field in Susa. But God, He revealed to him the meaning of the things seen in this way: for He said that the ram signified the kingdoms of the Medes and Persians, and the horns those who were to rule. But the last horn itself signifies the last king; for he said that he would surpass the others in wealth and glory and other splendor. But the goat signifies that there would be some king of the Greeks who, engaging the Persian, would twice conquer him in battle and take over the entire hegemony. And it is signified by the great horn which is on the forehead of the goat, the first king. Then also the sproutings of the four kings after that one had fallen; and by their turning toward the four climates of the earth, the successors after the death of the first king are depicted, and the division made by them is signified. And that there would be another king also from them, impudent in his countenance, and skillful in understanding intricate problems, who would destroy many by deceit and would stand for the destruction of many; and he would war against the nation and their laws, strongly

^A abolish; nay, he shall even plunder the temple, and shall destroy the commonwealth, and shall forbid the sacrifices from being offered for three years. These things occurred just so, and came to pass in fact, while Antiochus, specifically the one surnamed Epiphanes, was reigning.

XXI. But Daniel predicted these things many generations before, God having shown them to him and caused him to write them down, so that those who read and observe the things that come to pass might both admire Daniel for the honor of which he was deemed worthy by God, and find the Epicureans in this matter to be utterly led astray, for they banish providence from life and do not consider God worthy to oversee human affairs, nor that all things are governed for the survival of the whole by a blessed and incorruptible essence, but is devoid of a helmsman and a caretaker. They say the whole universe is carried along of its own accord—those who are ^B clearly senseless thus thinking and speaking wrongly, not knowing that not even a ship in harbor could be saved if it were bereft of a helmsman and sailors. But who would be so slothful regarding noble things, or would have condemned the hearers to such great negligence and sleep, as not to remember the other deeds of this admirable prophet, which are capable of moving one to admiration and of imparting great profit to the souls of the hearers?

XXII. For there was at that time among the Babylonians an idol highly honored, whose name was Bel, for which—as if it were a god—a temple had been built, and an altar, and bountiful living expenses had been provided; and a large crowd of priests was around it. The expenses were, in appearance and pretext, provided for the idol, but in truth they were consumed in secret by his priests. This idol even the king himself worshiped. This was Cyrus, who succeeded Darius; ^C he, likewise to Darius, preserving the same honor for Daniel, held him as a table-companion and the most glorious of all his friends. Hence it was that he urged him to pay attention to Bel as a living god. "Do you not see," he says, "how Artabas eats twelve [measures] of fine flour every day, and no fewer than forty sheep, and drinks six whole measures of wine?" "This is a manifest error and an open deception," said the prophet of God; "for that which is clay inside and bronze outside possesses no power to eat or drink." Cyrus, hearing this, becomes angry; he immediately calls the priests and threatens them with death if they do not prove that Bel eats. And they said, "Set before the table the food, O King; we shall go out, and you, having secured the door with keys and seals, return on the following day; and if you do not find all consumed, we are worthy of ^D punishment; but if not, then Daniel, who has lied regarding both us and the god himself." Cyrus, therefore, immediately, according to the suggestion regarding the food, made the presentation. But Daniel, without their knowledge, scatters ash over the entire floor of the temple. And so, having closed and sealed [it], they both departed. But on the following day, coming [back], they see the footprints of women and men and children in the ash; who, having been caught, began to show the secret entrances...

through which they used to enter previously and consume what was set before them. When the king saw these things, he is filled with both anger and shame; and taking vengeance on the priests for the fraud that had remained hidden from him up to that time, he destroys them all, but the temple and Bel he handed over to Daniel to be demolished.

XXIII. Having demonstrated this first remarkable feat to the Babylonians, which is in no way inferior to any of those things considered marvelous for their understanding and sharpness of mind, Daniel then proceeds to a second. For those senseless men not only worshipped the senseless Bel, but they were also honoring a certain great dragon lurking in a certain house, paying attention to it as to a god. This is the work of the intelligible dragon: both to lead away from the God of the universe and to persuade [men] to be attached to a most wicked beast. ^B Therefore, in this also, Cyrus tests Daniel, and was urging him to worship it as a truly eating and drinking and living god. "For you cannot," he said, "say that even this is not a living god." But he replied: "I will worship the Lord my God; for He alone is truly living, through whom we live and move and have our being. But this dragon is a venomous and wicked snake, knowing how to do harm, but capable of benefiting no one. If, however, you wish for me to know that he is also mortal and subject by nature to destruction, rather than being a god in any way, permit me, O king, and I will kill him without sword or staff." The king having consented to this, that admirable man, having boiled pitch together with fat and hair, and then having made cakes, cast them into the mouth of the dragon. The dragon, having eaten, ^C bursts asunder immediately. Upon this, those who were most superstitious among the Babylonians, taking it heavily, came to the king and demanded Daniel; for they were truly instigated by the invisible dragon and were brooding with great fury against the prophet. They approach the king, therefore, saying: "Hand over Daniel to us; if not, we will kill you. For it has become manifest to us from your deeds that you yourself already think the thoughts of the Jews." And indeed, the king hands him over into their hands, not willing or desiring it, yet he hands him over nonetheless. They, having taken him, cast him straightway into the lions' den. These were seven in number, for whom two bodies and two sheep used to be appointed as a daily portion of food; but for six whole days during which the righteous man ^D was shut up with them, they were left entirely fasting and deprived of any food whatsoever, so that, being oppressed by hunger and lacking any other nourishment, even if the prophet had some power restraining their impulse, they would, being driven more violently by hunger, quickly fall upon him with their jaws and tear him to pieces. What, then, does the Lord do? Does He hand over to the beasts the soul that confesses Him? Or does He save it from the mouth of the lions, yet leave it to be oppressed by hunger? Or does He offer food for eating through someone of the Gentiles and the uncircumcised? Far from it; but that through all things

^A His omnipotent power and the ineffable mystery of His mercies might be made manifest, the mouths of the lions are stopped by a divine hand, or rather, they even contract themselves into the corners and withdraw, not daring to touch the holy body at all, but, like certain benevolent and most faithful guards watching over their own king, they are not even allowed to think of the hunger that besets them, because of the fear that surrounds them.

XXIV. Now there was another prophet in Judea, the holy Habakkuk; this man, whom I know to be well known to all. He, then, having broken bread into a dish and added pottage to it, was going away to carry it to the reapers (for it was the time of harvest), when the angel of the Lord appeared and commanded him to carry it to Babylon to Daniel. But when he pleaded his ignorance, and that the distance lying between was vast, and the task commanded was impossible, the angel immediately caught him by the hair of his head, and in a moment of time, carried along by the force of the spirit, he was set down above the den, and called to the prisoner of God there, and said: "Take this dinner which God has sent to you, caring greatly for you." This was the word of Habakkuk. But the great Daniel, in contrition of spirit and humility of soul, replied: ^B "God has remembered me." It is truly the voice of a faithful servant, just as the providence of the good Lord concerning him is also such. Then, having received it, he ate. But Habakkuk himself, having crossed that immense space again by the same power (oh, the speed; oh, the divine quickness!), was restored to his own place in a moment of time, in such a way that the hour of the meal for the reapers had not yet passed. And while this is clearly the work of God alone and of His omnipotent impetus, it holds within itself a miracle greater than what speech or thought could encompass. And six days indeed passed in this manner, keeping Daniel in the den. But on the seventh day, Cyrus went out to mourn for his friend as though he were already dead. ^C And having looked down and seen him sitting in the den unharmed, he praised with a loud voice the God of wonders, and did so even more than Darius had before; and he drew him out from there in haste; but those who had vainly envied him he immediately cast down to be devoured by the lions. Thus, indeed, is the Lord known even among the Gentiles, executing judgments and ineffably providing in the works of their own hands that sinners be caught. Daniel, therefore, was after this a companion of the king, and was deemed worthy of honor and glory with him above all his friends.

XXV. But again, the admirable Daniel, continuing to do the things he was accustomed to and keeping to the abstinence he had begun from the start, was again considered worthy of such visions. "For I was," he says, "fasting for three weeks of days. ^D I did not eat the bread of desire, and flesh and wine did not enter into my mouth, and I did not anoint myself with oil until the completion of three weeks

And on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, I was by the side of the great river Chobar, and I lifted up mine eyes and saw. And behold, a man ^A clothed in fine linen, and his loins were girded with gold of Ophir, and his body was as Tharsis, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his legs were as the appearance of shining brass, and the voice of his words was as the voice of a multitude. I saw these things, and my strength failed from me, and my glory was turned into destruction, and I straightway fall upon the ground. And behold, a hand touching me and raising me upon my knees. And "Attend," he saith to me, "Daniel, man of desires, and stand upon thy station, for now have I been sent to thee; for from the first day that thou didst give thy heart to be humbled before the Lord thy God, thy words were heard, and I came to thee. And the prince of the kingdom of the Persians stood against me for twenty ^B and one days." And now, "Be strong and hold fast, for I am with thee." Here the angel who appeared to the prophet mystically discloses many future things concerning the kingdom of the Persians and its destruction and to whom it was destined to fall; then also concerning the Queen of the South, which also met their end after these things and were written in the books which are called the Maccabees.

XXVI. Not from these things alone, but also from others did Daniel appear great in contemplation and admirable in understanding. And that we may pass over other things, what of the judgment concerning Susanna, which he performed long before, being still young—what other excellence of understanding could it fall short of? For when she had been faithful to her husband, but had been condemned to death through the most unjust calumny of those who had gazed upon her with lascivious eyes, and was about to undergo things similar to those which Joseph suffered—he who delivered him then, he also ^C delivers her now, strangely, through Daniel, who by a wise judgment convicted the malice of the elders and showed them to be even more worthy of death, and caused them to undergo it.

XXVII. Possessing such understanding, he was accounted worthy of such grace and greatness of contemplations, having gazed upon by the Spirit both the very mysteries of God and the mysteries of the twofold coming of the Word; and whatever things amongst others are most worthy to be esteemed, and whatever things are to happen at the close of the age, and the affliction of that time, and the resurrection of men from the earth's soil, and the glory of the saints, and the ignominy of the impious which never ceases, and the depths of God—inasmuch as one clothed in flesh can know them through the Spirit that searches them—he then, freed from the bond and having gladly delivered earth to the earth, departed to the God whom he desired, a man of ^D desires, dwelling forever with those three friends and youths and prophets, and not withdrawing from us either, so far as concerns defending and helping, to the glory of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit of the super-

of the Holy Spirit, of the supernatural and divine Trinity, to whom honor and worship are due unto the ages of ages. Amen.

S. Daniel was buried in a narrow cavern with great honors in Babylon, where Epiphanius, in *De vita prophetarum*, ch. 10, at the end, observes that his monument existed even in his own time. Thence, indeed, his relics and those of the three youths were translated to Alexandria and placed in the church of the SS. John and Cyrus. Baronius, in his notes to the Martyrology for this day, says that the same were translated to Venice, and that the leg of Daniel is at Vercelli, and a large part of the sacred pledges of the three youths is preserved at Rome in the diaconium of S. Adrian.

MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY AND GLORIOUS GREAT MARTYR PLATO

(In Latin in Surius for the 22nd of July; the Greek version now appears for the first time from a Parisian manuscript codex, no. 1539, 12th century edition.)

I. I am not about to speak of things that are new regarding the Galatians, nor of things foreign to those who dwell in Ancyra; nor shall I relate anything unbelievable about the confessor, and him to whom the word of God had been entrusted. For the Galatians acted foolishly, as was their custom; but Plato, who was truly most holy, who possessed and had been entrusted with the wisdom of God, existed, and he suffered what the law of Christ commands a confessor to endure. Having captured him, therefore, they cast him into prison as one who preached the word of God and subverted the laws of the emperor. Thus, therefore, they punished him with tortures that it is not right for human nature to sustain, displaying grave insolence and having turned to a bestial cruelty. But the venerable and most pure soul of Plato endured these things bravely, just as one who had meditated on bearing all afflictions and calamities for the sake of Christ. For he had not exercised the same philosophy as he who bore his same name, nor had he philosophized in that same doctrine; but he was indeed most excellent in all wisdom of the word, and in faith he excelled those who have ever existed.

II. This blessed Plato, therefore, benefited many of those who dwelt in Ancyra; and illuminating many with the word, he caused them to believe; and he freed many of those who were being oppressed by the powerful from their calumnies and injuries. Indeed, for these very benefits he had bestowed upon them, he was required to pay the penalty; or rather, he gave himself up willingly, and with a brave and noble spirit he bore his calamities. For his aim was always toward the Lord, whose imitator he also was. Wherefore, he even went forth with confidence when he was led to punishment. The vicar Agrippinus, having taken his seat in the imperial...

basilica of Jupiter, ordered the martyr to be brought forward. The attendant said, "He stands before your tribunal, my lord." Agrippinus said, "While the whole wide world lives in peace, why have you set yourself in such a great and profound error?" Plato said, "It is you who live in error, for you have abandoned God, who made heaven and earth with all their adornments, and you worship hewn stones and rotten wood, the works of human hands." Agrippinus said, "The freshness of your youth makes you reckless and causes you to offer insults that are not trifling. Tell me then, of what religion are you, what is your status, and what is your name?" Plato said, "Do you wish to learn of what religion I am? I am a Christian." Agrippinus said, "I am telling you the name bestowed upon you by men; for that you are a Christian, I know. But the emperor has ordered that no man be called a Christian." Plato said, "If you wish to learn of what religion I am, I have already said that I am a Christian; if you also wish to learn the name bestowed upon me by my parents, I have been called Plato since childhood. I have been a servant of Christ from my mother's womb, and I am a citizen of this city. And now I have been seized and brought before you as a pious man and a servant of Christ, and death is set before me for Christ's sake, which I must undergo at your hands. Do, therefore, what you wish." ^B III. Agrippinus said, "It is not to your advantage to have the name of Christ in your mind; for the emperor has ordered that those who confess him shall be delivered to death, while those who deny him are to be rewarded with honors and gifts. Therefore, I advise you to obey the law of the emperor, and to gain thereby, avoiding the trial of a bitter death." Plato replied, "I obey my own King, to whom I have been allotted; yet I choose this temporary death, so that I may inherit His eternal kingdom." Agrippinus says, "Go and consider what is to your advantage, lest you die a miserable death." The holy Plato replied, "The Lord will care for what is advantageous for me." Agrippinus says, "You know the commands of the emperor, how his immaculate laws everywhere order all Christians either to sacrifice or to be deprived of life. How then do you dare to overturn the commands of the king through disobedience, and do you also corrupt those who obey?" Plato laughed and said, "I have known the commandment of my God, as His immaculate laws command me to overturn the mysteries of the demons and to serve Him alone; it is neither foreign for you to devise tortures, nor for me to die while being tormented for the sake of piety. For you have already destroyed many for this confession, who, having conquered death, have bound on for themselves the crown of righteousness against the devil." ^{C D} IV. And Agrippinus, having heard these things, and being of a heretical disposition and exceedingly enraged against the athletes of piety, as if he were someone guilty of murder or some other great cri

crime, ^A having learned from the beginning of his virtue and firm, unshakable faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, he ordered him to be stretched out and scourged with raw ox-hides. When this had been done at once, and four soldiers had beaten the saint for many hours and grew weary, and twelve other soldiers were changed for the task, not even a single mark was found upon the body of the holy Plato, so that all were astonished and marveled ^B exceedingly, and departed from him; he, however, persevered more zealously and steadfastly in the confession of Christ, and through many afflictions strove to enter into the incorruptible kingdom of God.

V. Agrippinus said, "I counsel you as a friend to avoid death and draw near to life." Saint Plato said, "You counsel well, Agrippinus; for I flee the eternal death and take refuge in the everlasting life." Agrippinus said, "Tell me, you evil spirit, how many deaths are there?" Saint Plato said, "Two: one temporal, ^C the other eternal. And likewise, there are two lives: one short-lived, the other everlasting." Agrippinus said, "Sacrifice to the gods and avoid these tortures." Saint Plato said, "Do quickly, Agrippinus, that which seems good to you. For I do not sacrifice; neither fire, nor the cross, nor the fury of beasts, nor the removal of limbs will persuade us to forsake the living God. For we do not love this present age, but Him who died and rose again for me, Christ."

VI. Having heard these things, Agrippinus ordered him to be returned to prison. A great crowd of Christians followed him, on account of his holy and glorious confession. ^D Now the brave and magnanimous martyr of Christ, Plato, commanded that silence be made for him. And after they had ceased from the tumult, he lifted up his voice and said to them: "Men who love Christ and are lovers of the truth, it is not for a slight reason that I am present at this struggle, but for the sake of the Creator of heaven and earth and of all things that are in them. Do not, therefore, I beg you, let these things that are happening trouble you. For many are the afflictions of the righteous, and the Lord shall deliver them out of them all. Come, therefore, let us all flee together to the harbor which is stirred by no tempests, which is Christ, and to the rock of which the great Apostle spoke: 'And the rock was Christ.' Let us not, therefore, beloved, yield to the dangers that are endured for the sake of piety, knowing that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." When Christ’s martyr Plato had said these things, and had encouraged the crowds that were present and confirmed their minds, he entered the prison joyful and glorifying God.

Upon entering, having fixed his knees upon the ground, he prayed to the Lord, saying thus: "Lord Jesus Christ, Creator and Fashioner of all, and who in Your providence care for all things, who to all Your servants grant patience, grant also to me, Your servant, patience, and send forth Michael, Your archangel, that"

^A He may deliver me from the crafty and deceitful serpent, Agrippinus, so that all may know that the gods made through the hands of men are nothing, but that You alone are glorified unto ages of ages. Amen.

VII. Seven days later, the vicar Agrippinus, presiding in the basilica opposite Jove, ordered the martyr to be brought forward. The apparitor Vincentius said: "Plato, he who does not obey the laws of the emperors and resists your commands, the defender of the religion of the Christians, stands before your tribunal, master." Then Agrippinus ordered various and sundry kinds of torture to be set before him: a bronze cauldron, iron frying pans, glowing grids, iron hands, catapults, sharp obelisks, hooks, wheels, and many other terrifying things, the unhappy man believing that through these he would terrify the martyr to sacrifice to his gods, especially to Apollo, who drives men to destruction, and he said to him: "I indeed, dearest Plato, observing the youth of your age, and sparing the bloom of your body, and knowing you to be worthy of your parents' nobility, advise you before I begin to torment you again, that having tasted the sacrifices you may be saved and be with us; knowing also this, that no one who has disobeyed me has ever lived, just as no one who has obeyed me has been deprived of the good things promised by me. ^B You, therefore, O excellent Plato, if you wish to hear me as one who gives you good counsel like an own father: I have the only daughter of my brother; I will give her to you in marriage, bestowing upon her a very large dowry, and I will call you my own son."

But the blessed athlete and martyr of Christ, Plato, laughing, said: "O miserable one, and enemy of humanity, son of the devil and minister of Satan, if I cared at all to enter into marriage and take a wife and live in the distraction of this worldly smoke, would I deem it worthy, while being concerned for my own affairs, to take as a wife the daughter of your brother, or to have such maidservants as is the daughter of your brother, or even better ones, that I might take her as a wife?"

Then the scholasticus of Satan and administrator of his father the devil, ^C full of every vice and replete with every kind of wickedness, no differently than some dragon or lion belching slaughter, ordered a bronze bed to be brought and the martyr to be placed upon it, and fire to be ignited underneath, and a great pile of coals to be made, and that it be sprinkled with oil, resin, bitumen, and wax, and that he be struck with very slender rods, so that by the fire and the blows, the structure of his entrails being laid bare, it might provide for him an unbearable torture.

VIII. While the martyr was being beaten for a long time, Sophronius the record-keeper said: "Most miserable one, obey the vicar, and sacrifice to the gods, and gain not dying badly. Why do you contradict? Do you not see the torments prepared for you?" Saint Plato said: "I have surrendered my whole body for Christ. Why, therefore, do you not desist, O clerk of Satan and enemy of the truth? Admonish yourself ^D to desist from error. For I

know what is expedient for me, and I shall never turn away from this confession. Agrippinus said: Who is the Christ of whom you speak? Can he deliver you, who do not sacrifice, from my hands? Now, therefore, you wish to die a miserable death. Know, then, that He who was crucified by the Jews cannot save you, even if you trust greatly in your sorceries. But if you sacrifice to the great god Apollo, and appease him through your sacrifice, he is ^B able to deliver you from the pain and the bed of fire that now holds you." Saint Plato said: "I will not sacrifice, neither to the other gods nor to Apollo; for he who is called Apollo is destruction, and all those who believe in him shall perish in the same destruction. Do you wish to know, O senseless one, of heavy heart, deluded in mind and corrupt, that those things made by the hands of men are not gods, but gold, and silver, and wood, and stones, shaped with various and different colors? They have eyes and do not see; they have hands and do not touch; they have feet and do not walk; they have ears and do not hear; they have nostrils and do not smell; and, to speak once, they are the works of blacksmiths, goldsmiths, turners, and stonemasons. For these, whom you say are gods, just as they cannot do any good, so neither can they harm those who fear the Lord. They are possessed of no sense, like unto you; and they do not perceive, neither when a sacrifice is offered to them, nor a libation, nor is any other cult shown to them. But God, who made all things, and stretched out the heaven like a curtain, and founded ^C the earth upon the waters, who is able to destroy both soul and body in gehenna, He, holding dominion over all, accepts rational and bloodless sacrifices, which are offered to Him from a pure heart. And how is it not absurd that we, having abandoned the Maker of all things, should sacrifice or pour libations to senseless wood and stone, we who were created in the image of God?" [IX] Agrippinus said: "Have pity on yourself from henceforward, wretch; and if you do not wish to sacrifice, say only: 'Great is Apollo,' and I will order you to be taken down from this dreadful torture of fire by which you are vexed, and you shall go away whole and be our friend." Saint Plato said: "Far be it from me to have pity on myself in such a way that, sparing my body and receiving a small respite, as you deem it, I should with my soul fall into the gehenna of fire." Agrippinus said: "Well, most unfortunate one, you bring death upon yourself, wishing to deprive yourself of the sweetest light." Saint Plato said: "To die for Christ procures for me the kingdom of heaven; not to me alone, but also to all those who fear Him. I tell you, however, that those who attempt to wage war against God, and subject the athletes of piety to different torments, cannot prevail; just as again, those who have Christ as their helper cannot be defeated by wicked men who are hateful to God, because of their signal malice. Wherefore I say to you, O tyrant, that neither life, nor death, nor sword, nor

famine, nor peril, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. For this reason you ought to be persuaded by me, who promise you the enjoyment not of some perishable and brittle things, but of the kingdom of heaven, which those who turn to Christ possess, whence pain, grief, and sighing have fled. Make vain, therefore, the hope the devil has in you, and depart from this madness; and having reassumed the dignity of a rational being, know who it is that bestows life upon all flesh. For thus you will be wondrous, having been translated from this wickedness and soul-destroying deception. For the Lord receives those who repent, wishing all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, being One who does not desire the death of the sinner, but that he should turn and live. ^B

X. Agrippinus, however, on hearing these things, said: "O senseless man, alienated from the gods, enemy of the emperors, and subverter of the imperial laws, have you come to such a pitch of madness that you would extend your error even to me, and attempt to turn me away from the benevolence of the gods and lead me to the religion of the Crucified?" Saint Plato said: "I know, O tyrant, that you do not heed my admonitions, but you call me a deceiver and a charlatan, which you yourself are; for I have admonished you and counseled you for what is useful to you. But even so, remember me when the time comes; at that time you shall remember my admonition with tears, and it will profit you nothing, O unhappy man, but having been delivered to the depths of Tartarus, you shall depart to eternal punishment. Do, therefore, what you will; for the devil has so blinded the eyes of your heart that you cannot look toward the light of the knowledge of God, but only toward the darkness, where the eternal fire is prepared for you and for your father, Satan." When three hours had passed, and he had been taken down from the rack, the body of the blessed Plato shone as if he had come out of a bath, and a fragrance of precious ointment went forth from him; for he possessed the true laver of Christ and the true knowledge, by which he filled those standing by with sweetness. And all the crowd that was standing around glorified God for the endurance of the blessed Plato, so that they said, "Truly the God of the Christians is great; for though subjected to such tortures by the merciless judge, he did not deny the holy and terrible name of Christ, but by his noble reasoning he conquered the madness of the governor."

XI. Agrippinus, after having brought upon him such an intolerable torment, said: "Has not the very grievous torment which was brought upon you persuaded you, Plato, to sacrifice to the gods? But if you will not sacrif-

sacrifice, deny the Crucified, and I will release you."

Saint Plato said: "O perverse heart, and mind extinguished, and soul given over to evils, and which imagines nothing that befits God, what is this that you say? Shall I deny the Savior Christ, who provided me with so many benefits, on account of you, O blood-drinker, and defender of idols, and patron of things inanimate and mute, and advocate of error, that I might become miserable, like you, lawless one? And is it not enough for you to be such a one alone, but you also wish those who have already been enrolled in the number of the soldiers of Christ to be partners in your impiety, striving to trip up in the same path of destruction those who are treading the straight path? ^A Depart from me, you who work iniquity. For you have set your mind to drag others into it as well, and I trust in my God that He will not suffer His holy one to see corruption."

Agrippinus said: "Since I had pity on you, you have become insolent and foolish and deranged; but I shall quickly deliver you over to grievous torments, that you may say to me of your own accord: 'Give me leave to offer sacrifice'."

But the noble athlete of Christ, Plato, said: "My God exists, and His holy name shall not be denied; it is not possible for one who has left the fountain of life to attend to demons and pour libations to stones, of which the mother is art. For indeed, if such arts had not been invented by men, you would not be having gods, ^B but would plainly be without gods."

Then Agrippinus, filled with much wrath because of the boldness and freedom of speech of the martyr, arose from his throne, and having unfastened his cloak, he ordered with great haste that iron spheres be heated and placed upon his nipples. The ministers of Satan quickly did what they were commanded. And the fire of the spheres was of such intensity that not only did his sides appear, but the inner structure of his viscera was also corrupted, so that through his nostrils and brain, smoke was emitted from the heat produced by the spheres. ^C

XII. But the blessed Plato, who had already been thought by many to be dead, said to Agrippinus: "Small are your torments, O blood-drinker and beast-like mannered one and savage dog, if one considers your wrath and savageness; but let your wrath be small, and let your torments be great; for through the torments which you inflict upon me, you shall know the power of my helper, Christ."

The apparitor, coming near to the holy Plato, said to him: "Obey, man, the commands of the emperor and sacrifice to the gods, and gain, lest you die wretchedly. For you cannot escape death unless you do the things that have been spoken to you by me." ^D

But he who was truly of great and lofty spirit, and truly Christ’s Plato, attacking the apparitor with no small reproaches, stopped his mouth as a wicked counselor; and with a fearless spirit and immovable mind, and with an undisturbed intellect, lifting his eyes to heaven, he said: "I gave my back to the scourges, and my cheeks to buffeting: and I turned not my face away from the shame of spitting."

^A Turn not away from me, O Lord, for affliction is near, lest the nations say: Where is his God? Do thou, therefore, O Lord Jesus Christ, be well-pleased in me, so that having perfectly escaped the tyranny of the devil, I may stand before thy terrible judgment seat, having fought the good fight. For to thee is due, in the churches and in every place of thy dominion, honor, power, and majesty, now and always, and unto the ages. And when many had finished saying, "Amen," the place of the basilica was shaken, and not even thus did the wretched Agrippinus understand that he was being helped by Christ, but said to him: "O unholy one, why are you so demented, and why do you not spare your own body, seeing it being so variously and bitterly tortured? Obey me, therefore, and sacrifice to the gods, that you may not die miserably." ^B Plato said: "I have told you often, and now I tell you, that I am a worshiper of the living God, and I cannot abandon his decrees, nor can I bring myself to adore those who have the name of gods in vain, being instead counterfeit and detestable idols. But I will not cease from day to day to fall down assiduously before my God and pray to him, that I may obtain true salvation from him. But you, O tyrant Agrippinus, fixed upon vain idols and having your mind robbed of that which would draw you to the knowledge of God by your father, Satan, and having become entirely his, and wishing not to come to the way of life, will be punished forever by the God who brings me aid, whom you treat with contumely, subjecting his servants to various torments, thinking you will change their good purpose for God."

XIII. ^C Agrippinus said: "See, Plato, how much I have allowed you to babble and talk nonsense. Yet even if you are unworthy of our words because of your brazenness and unchanging heart, listen to what I say to you. I have often heard many such things from those who confess the Galilean, and no one has departed from my hands alive unless they were persuaded and offered sacrifice. If, therefore, you do not wish to yield to me and sacrifice to the gods, see what you are about to suffer; for many torments await you." The holy martyr of God, Plato, smiling, said: "O miserable, wretched, misanthropic, and beastly man, ^D author of all lawlessness, estranged from God, minister of Satan, heir of the fire of Gehenna, and worthy of every terrible punishment, your words do not persuade me. For if my Master Christ poured out his own blood for me, that he might redeem his world from all lawlessness, how much more ought we sinners to die for him, that we may be seen, even by this, as grateful to our Master?"

XIV. Agrippinus then ordered him to be beaten with thongs, saying: "Let us see if the God in whom he trusts will help him, since he scorns imperial decrees and our commands." And the holy Plato, having heard these things, said:

^A "Most impudent and most wicked dog, ^B deviser and inventor of new torments, Agrippinus! For your name was imposed upon you from the very beginning in accordance with the disposition of your soul; for you are a wild sort of beast, like an untamed horse, casting headlong those who follow your murderous inclination. So great is your folly, and so blinded are you by your father, Satan, that you do not see how Christ stood by me in my previous trials; and in these second trials also, Christ has stood by me, lightening my pains, healing the places of the wounds that have been made upon me by you, and, in a word, never leaves His servants. Do, therefore, what is in your mind in these matters, so that even through the torments and tortures brought upon me, you may know Christ who helps me, who is now insulted by your God-opposing tongue. For I have His help working with me, and I shall not fear your threats and your punishments."

XV. The ministers of Satan quickly performed what was commanded them, ^C and with great speed, as if touching an inanimate statue, they mercilessly cut the holy man's limbs, beginning from his shoulders. But the holy Plato said: "I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me and heard my cry." And all who observed him were distressed because of the torture brought upon him; for Agrippinus was excessively inhuman and plainly savage. But this noble athlete of Christ, like a tower that is struck, yet remaining unshaken and unmoved, seemed, as it were, to be tormented in a dream; for, not fearing this torture nor being dismayed by it, he not only did not yield with a faint and abject heart, but, showing himself magnanimous, he tore a strip of flesh from his own side—which the executioners were cutting from his body—and cast it before the judge's tribunal, saying: "Most unsympathetic and, of all wild beasts, the most savage, your heart is so hardened, and you do not acknowledge God, who created us in His own image. How is it that you do not take pity on a body susceptible to the same sufferings as your own, which is being cut limb by limb? Or does the dissection of my members bring you pleasure? ^D I say this, not as one who flees from dying for piety, but to make your cruelty and inhumanity manifest to all. For I willingly suffer all the evils that are brought upon me by you for the sake of my Christ, and I willingly endure the bitterness of pain, so that I may find eternal rest in the age to come. But you, O most cruel and most monstrous of men, since you have taken the skin of my body, have it as a witness of your impiety, which shall send you to the eternal and never-ending punishment with your idols and demons." Agrippinus said: "Why are you senseless, and why do you hate your own body, Plato, and do not care that your entrails...

^A are being churned with filth? Yet even now you are devoid of all sense; and besides these things, not content with what has been said, you do not cease to insult the gods and irritate my judgment." The holy Plato said, smiling: "If I, who have suffered so many torments and punishments at your hands, am called insolent and a blasphemer, you who inflict them upon me must truly be shown to be a murderer in deeds and a blasphemer in words." Agrippinus said: "You have already often insulted the gods and the emperors, and you provoke me not a little to anger; I know that you do this so that I may kill you quickly; but I shall bring upon you worse torments and consume you piece by piece, unless you are persuaded and sacrifice to the immaculate gods." The holy martyr of God said: "I have told you many times, and now I will not cease to say it: do not threaten me with words, but show me your torments in deed, that you may be known as one doing the will of your father Satan and of your emperor; for you have power over my body, but God has power over my soul." ^B

XVI. When Agrippinus had heard these things, he said: "You have now learned by experience through the torments brought upon you by me, that I would not have spared even the philosopher Plato, on account of the benevolence of the gods, fearing the command of the emperor." The holy martyr of God, Plato, says: "You have now learned, you too, O tyrant, by experience through the torments which have been inflicted upon me by you, that I do not spare my body on account of my piety toward my God, fearing the command of the heavenly King." Agrippinus, when he heard this and had been incited to great fury, ordered that he be hung upon the rack and beaten for so long that all his flesh, together with his blood, should be poured out upon the ground. And the herald cried out with a loud voice: "Sacrifice, Plato, and you shall be released from your bonds." But as the holy Plato refused and would not sacrifice, he ordered his cheeks to be torn and mangled with iron hooks, so that a human face could no longer be seen, because his bones were laid completely bare. ^C

XVII. After Agrippinus had ordered him to be taken down from the wood, he said to him: "Most wretched one, what else do you expect, since all your flesh is flayed and your bones are bare? Obey me, and cease from this vain philosophy, and sacrifice to the gods, and do not persist in this contention of words, lest you, being wicked, perish wickedly." The martyr said: "What else do you expect to hear from me, tyrant, than the faith of my Lord Jesus Christ? For with my flesh flayed and my bones made bare, I stand before you, as you see, with greater boldness. If, therefore, there remains something else that you are owed to inflict upon me, do quickly what you wish." Then the impious Agrippinus, wondering at the fortitude of the martyr, ordered him to be hung again and to be beaten upon his arms and his thighs. The executioners did so, beating him for the space of three hours. But the holy martyr of Christ said: "I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence my help shall come. My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth (Ps. CXX, 1, 2)." Agrippinus said: "Impious one, and alien to the benevolence of the gods, since I gave you freedom of speech, not punishing you according to your words, you dare to speak ^D denying...

^A the commands of the emperors? Sacrifice to the gods, and I will release you." Saint Plato said: "If we, who piously worship God, are punished as being thought impious, how do you expect to avoid condemnation in the righteous judgment of God, on the day when God will judge the secret things of men?" Agrippinus said: "I endure your speaking boldly and confidently. Have pity, O dearest Plato, on your blooming age; for this fortune has granted you in that you bear the same name; for I expect that you will be like that most wise Plato. For since he was a prince of philosophy, he established the dogmas of the gods. Wherefore I speak to you kindly, and counsel you to be kind toward the gods, and to accept the laws which the emperors themselves have brought forth, and to obey my admonitions. But if you will not obey me, know that I must compel you to do this with diverse and harsher tortures, as one seen to be falsely named after Plato, who acquired the greatest philosophy among men, while you have proven yourself ungrateful toward the gods."

^B XVIII. But Christ’s true and genuine soldier, Plato, said: "You commit a very great solecism, Agrippinus, wandering far from the truth. For since your father, Satan, has been a destroyer from the beginning, you, too, being his minister, deservedly do likewise to him, and exercise yourself in his actions. For you bring upon Christian men the fortune of demons, who cannot even endure to hear anything of the sort. Therefore, I am indeed of the same name as Plato, but I am not endowed with the same morals. For those whom morals do not join, not even a name brings them together, nor does place couple them, unless it be piety alone. Wherefore I am in no way like that Plato, except in name alone; but this shall never be able to harm my pious mind. And I indeed practice that philosophy which is in Christ; but his philosophy is foolishness before my God. For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will ^C cast away the prudence of the prudent.' For the dogmas of the gods which you say he established, are false and fictitious fables, which are shadowed by the deception of demons, who bring destruction to souls, and by the craftiness of words blinding your minds, they lead you away from the simplicity of the faith which is in Christ."

XIX. After the martyr had ceased speaking, Agrippinus, struck dumb by his answer, remained silent, not being able to respond to him. But having ordered him to be taken down from the wooden stake ^D a short while later, he undertook again to persuade him with flattering words, saying: "As for me henceforth, Plato, as far as you are concerned, I am clearly in doubt and do not know what I ought to do. And so, since I have afflicted you with many tortures and accomplished nothing, and have applied flatteries, and this has profited nothing, I have now decided to grant you a few days; perhaps when you have thus recognized that which is useful for you, you will leave behind this perversity of yours, and come to those who

^A minister to the gods, and you shall be delivered from the grievous torments which beset you." Having said this, he ordered him to be taken back to prison, instructing the jailer to give him an ounce of bread and water to drink every day, and forbidding anyone to see him; for the fool feared that some of those who were attached to him might give him food that could sustain him, ignorant that "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

The holy Plato passed eighteen days in prison; and in order that what is written might be fulfilled, that "the just shall live by faith," he would not take bread or water from the jailer. For he knew that He who had sent food to Daniel in the midst of the lions would also sustain him in the prison. ^B And when the guards saw that he took nothing, fearing lest he perish from hunger, they exhorted him, saying, "Eat, O man, lest we fall into danger if you are unwilling to taste any of the things offered to you by us." But the blessed Plato said, "Do not think, O men, that I shall die because I am unwilling to eat; for bread sustains you, but I am sustained by the true Word that abideth forever; and while meat fills you, prayer feeds me. Wine gladdens you, but Christ, the true Vine of the invisible Father, gladdens me. You expect to hear praise from men, but I wait for the Lord's voice on the day of judgment, when Christ, the Redeemer of the world, shall say: 'Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'"

XX. ^C After some days, the president Agrippinus sitting in the basilica, ordered the holy Plato to be brought to him. When he had been brought, he said to him, "Obey me now, and sacrifice to the gods, and gain that which will prevent you from dying a miserable death." The holy Plato said, "To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain and glory. Do therefore quickly what you will, for I shall never sacrifice to inanimate idols." Then, seeing his immutable faith, Agrippinus gave sentence against him, that his head should be cut off.

And the executioners, having taken him, led him outside the city to the place called the Campus. ^D And the holy martyr, standing there, begged the executioner that he might be allowed a little time to pray. And having lifted his eyes to heaven, he prayed to the Lord, saying, "I give You thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, that by Your holy name You have protected me, Your servant, and have given me the grace to finish perfectly the course of the contest undertaken for You. And now I entreat You, receive my soul in peace; for You are blessed unto the ages. Amen." Then, having extended his neck, he said to the executioner, "Do, friend, that which you were commanded." The executioner, striking him with the sword, severed his holy head, and he immediately delivered his spirit to the Lord. The precious and holy body of the holy and blessed Plato was taken by the Christians and buried in that same place. The holy Plato was perfected on the eighteenth day of November, under the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power now and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

COMMENTARIES OF THE SEVEN SLEEPERS OF EPHESUS AND OF THEIR RESURRECTION

^A I. When Decius held the principate of the Roman empire, it came to pass that he descended from the city of Carthage into Ephesus in great rage. All the region surrounding that place gathered together for the sacrifices of vain gods. The churches of the faithful were scattered, and the priests, the Christians, and all the Christ-loving people were exceedingly afraid of the tyrant’s face. When Decius the king entered Ephesus, his heart was lifted up, and he began to build temples to idols in the midst of the city. And when he was steeped in paganism, he ordered the chief men of the city to sacrifice with him to the vain gods; and thus he defiled their bodies with the blood of the sacrifices, and the entire multitude gathered from every place to the temples of the idols that were then in Ephesus. The smoke of these evils gripped the many, and the darkness and the stench of the sacrifices that they offered to the vain idols ascended from the midst of the city.

II. So when Decius was celebrating a festival for his gods, he ordered the whole multitude to be gathered to the festival of the gods. Then many crowds from every place gathered at the temples of the idols that were in the midst of the city, and he hastened to the gods. The whole city reeked of the sacrifices, and great grief gripped the faithful, and they were humbled by the idolaters. They fled and covered their faces, and great wailing and lamentation possessed them on account of the face of the pursuer. ^B On the third day, the king ordered that the Christians be seized unexpectedly. The Greeks and the Jews clung to the soldiers, and from the houses and the cities they dragged and cast out the Christians; and they shoved them with threats and presented them to the crowds who were gathered and sacrificing to the idols together with the king. Those who were terrified of the tortures slipped and fell from the state of being sons of the faith into the sacrifices of the idols before the eyes of the crowd. The Christians, hearing these things, were distressed and mourned over the souls of the

those who were being ^A terrified into prostrating themselves before the sacrifices of the idols. But those who were found steadfast in the faith at that time stood upon the rock of the faith, having an unwavering mind, and not fearing the threats of the tyrants, but receiving in their bodies the arrows of the wicked one, and they bore the rest of the torments bravely.

III. And the flesh of the holy martyrs was lacerated by many and various torments, in such a way that much blood flowed from their wounds upon the ground; and their bodies hung upon the towers and walls of the city. Their heads were fixed upon stakes before the gates of the city, and the ravens and vultures and the multitudes of birds circled above the walls and ate the bodies of the holy martyrs, and great mourning possessed the believers because of this audacity. Such was the contest, full of fear for those who looked upon it. This was the threat, filled with death, which those in heaven and on earth wondered at; the stones mourned the affliction that had occurred. And the marketplaces of the city were defiled by the drag-marks of the members of the saints as they were dragged across them. Tears were shed from the eyes of the believers because they saw the bodies of the saints cast out, and the flocks of birds consuming them. ^B What mourning could be greater than this? Or what manner could be harsher than this? When the believers were fleeing and lifting up their hands to God, praying that they might be rescued from the hands of the tyrant, fathers renounced their own children; likewise also children renounced their own fathers, and friends were torn from friends by the affliction that had come to pass. But Maximilian, and Iamblichus, and Martin, and John, and Dionysius, and Exacustadianus, and Antoninus, who were also steadfast in the faith of Christ, bearing the passions of Christ in their bodies—seeing the things that were being done every day, they wept and groaned, and the appearance of their faces was altered, and they were persevering in fasts and in prayers at all times, because they were the children of the ^C prominent men of the palace and the first men of the city.

IV. Now at the time when the emperor was gathering the multitudes for the sacrifice of the vain idols, these saints withdrew themselves and entered into the church, and they fell upon the ground. And they cast dust upon their heads, and wept and groaned before God. But their colleagues observed them, that at the time of the sacrifice of the gods they were retiring to the church of the believers, and as each one was being sought to sacrifice before the gods. The observers came to them and said: "Emperor, live for ever! You are compelling those who are far away to be present at the sacrifice of the gods, and behold, those who are close to you despise your empire; and they annul your commands, and they consider them to be of no account, and they worship according to the religion of the Christians." ^D Now Maximilian was the son of the prefect, and he was the leader of them, and his companions were the foremost in the ranks of those who were accusing them.

^A Then Decius the emperor, being enraged, ordered them to be brought; and when they were led before him, while there were still tears in their eyes, Decius the emperor said to them: "Why have you not remained with us for the sacrifice to the gods, who summon the whole world to themselves? And now, approach and offer to the gods the sacrifice owed to us, just as all men have done." Then Maximilian, answering, said to the emperor: "We have a God in heaven, and the heaven and the earth are filled with His glory, and to Him we offer the hidden sacrifice of our confession, and in the zeal of our prayer we appear before Him continually. For we do not offer to those idols of yours the stench of polluted smoke, nor do we pollute the purity of our souls and our bodies." ^B V. Then Decius did not speak to them both at once, but he ordered their belts to be cut off. And he said to them: "Since I have found you to be adversaries against the power of the gods, for this reason you shall be alienated from their majesty and from the service of our empire, until I find an opportunity and you shall be questioned, after a trial, concerning the religion that is in you; for it is not just to destroy your youth immediately and wither your ages in various tortures. For I, feeling sympathy, grant you time, so that in it you may become wise and return and live." Then emperor Decius ordered, and they took the iron collars from their necks, and they cast them out from the presence of the emperor. Then Decius departed to other cities to fulfill his will, and thus to return to Ephesus with that same wrath of his insolence; then, therefore, a respite of days was granted to the saints by the emperor. ^C VI. The saints, having therefore found an opportunity, fulfilled the works of righteousness in their faith, and having taken gold and silver from their paternal estates, they distributed much money to the poor; then they took counsel among themselves and said: "Let us withdraw ourselves for a little and depart from this city, and let us go into the great cave that is to the east of the city. And let us pray there to our God with tranquility and fervently, and let us prepare ourselves to stand before the tyrant, so that we do not refrain from the glorification of God. And [may] the Lord [do] His will with us, and may we fulfill our good confession before the tyrant, and receive the unfading crown which is prepared for those who are faithful and who have known [Him]." And having taken in their hands silver for their expenses, they ascended into the cave that is on the mountain called Ochlon, and they spent many days there praying and beseeching God continually for their salvation. ^D And Jamblichus, being younger and more capable and prudent, he appointed to serve them; and when he descended into the city, he would change his garments as a poor man, and he would take with him silver and give it to the

^A poor from his own means, and he would listen to what was said in the palace of the emperor. And thus he would purchase their necessities and go back up, reporting to them the things said and done against them in the palace of the emperor.

VII. And after some days, the emperor Decius returned to Ephesus, and he immediately commanded the chief men of the city so that they, with Achillides and his companions, should perform sacrifices to the vain idols, for he had them in mind. For he truly recognized them. And thus the faithful were seized with great fear; and Diomedes himself, who was also Jamblichus, having heard these things, went out of the city ^B carrying with him a few loaves, and he went up to the mountain to the cave where his companions were. And he recounted to them the matters regarding the entrance of the tyrant into the palace, and that they had been sought out alongside the citizens to enter and sacrifice before him. And having heard these things, they were exceedingly afraid, and they entreated God with weeping and great sighing. Then Diomedes arose and set a table before them, and the loaves which he had bought, in order that they might partake and be strengthened for the struggle against the tyrant; and having sat down together in the middle of the cave, they partook of food ^C at sunset. When, therefore, they were sitting sorrowful and conversing with one another, they grew drowsy and fell asleep; for their eyes were weighed down by the grief which was in their hearts.

VIII. But the merciful and philanthropic God, who always provides for His servants, ordained for them to undergo that praiseworthy and good death, for the sake of the miracles destined to be revealed. And they were not aware of the arrangement of their sleep. And thus they fell asleep upon the earth, as it were a daily sleep, and gave up their souls. ^D As for the doxology which was on their lips, and the silver which was in their purses, it remained with them where they were lying on the ground. On the next day at dawn, the emperor sought them out among the chief men and those of the city in every place, and they were not found. And the emperor said to his magnates: I have felt great grief because of the tribulation of those young men, for they were the children of bright and great men, and I supposed that our majesty had been angered against them because of the impiety of their transgression before me; and the philanthropy of our power does not begrudge those who transgress and turn back toward the propitious gods. But the chief men of the city answered and said to the emperor: Regarding those younger apostates, let not your majesty be in grief, since they still remain in their former ignorance. And as we heard during that time which was granted to them to repent, they sat rather, fulfilling their own evil will. And they took the gold and the silver

and distributed it to the poor in the marketplace of the city, and from that time they have not been seen. If therefore it pleases your Majesty, let their parents be seized and tortured, and they themselves will show us where they have hidden.'' ^A When the emperor heard these things, he was enraged and sent for their parents, and upon their arrival, they stood before the emperor, and the emperor asked them, saying: ''Where are those runaways who have deserted from my empire, and who have set at naught our command? For this reason I order you to be put to death in place of their defiance.''

IX. Then they answered before the emperor and said: ''We implore you, O King; we have not violated the command of your authority, nor have we abandoned the favorable gods. Why then are we to die for the sake of those runaways, who seized our silver and gold and distributed it to the poor, and behold, they are hidden in the cave? And they are living in great grief and distress; whether therefore they are alive or have died, we do not know.'' ^B When the emperor heard this, he released them. The emperor was then in great deliberation as to what he should do with those youths. But the compassionate God put it into his heart to block the opening of that cave with stones, and this was not of the will of God himself, so that the bodies of the holy martyrs might be buried there, and that their remains might not be moved, since they were set apart for the appearance of the resurrection of the Lord.

X. Then Decius the emperor pronounced sentence against them and said: ''Since those runaways have been disobedient to our commands and have shown contempt for the favorable gods, they themselves shall be deprived of the honor of the empire and shall no longer appear before men; for this reason let the opening of the cave be sealed with large stones so that they may be interred and their life may cease, and they may die in that prison.'' ^C For the emperor and the whole city thought that the holy ones were still living. But Theodore and Barbus, who were imperial chamberlains and very faithful ministers, were Christians, and they had hidden themselves out of fear of the persecution. And thus they reasoned among themselves and said: ''Let us write in lead tablets the martyrdom of these holy ones, that it was for Christ's sake that they died, and that they are martyrs, and let us place these in a copper box and seal them with a seal and hide them between the stones that are there. ^D Perhaps indeed the Lord will visit them before his coming, if at some time the cave should be opened, and the bodies of the holy ones enclosed in it should be revealed, and they should be recognized by these writings.'' And as those faithful men had imagined, so also they did.

XI. After an interval of time, the emperor Decius died, and that whole generation perished, and other emperors reigned after him in the power of their kingdom, until the faithful emperor Theodosius arose. And in the

^A twenty-eighth year of his reign, certain heretics appeared, desiring to scatter the resurrection of the dead, which Christ bestowed upon His holy Church. Now the idolaters who were serving in the palace made a public persecution before the emperor, and the so-called bishops, loving to pervert the straight paths of the Lord, showed many transgressions in the churches of God. And there was the ringleader of them, and the cause of all evils, Theodore, the bishop of Aigai, together with those who were with him—who do not deserve to be named in this book, since they persecuted the Church of God. But emperor Theodosius was distressed in his mind every day, and prayed with tears, beseeching God, seeing the faith of the holy ^B Churches wavering. For some said that there is no consolation for the dead; others said that the body, having grown old and vanished and been scattered, shall not be taken up, but that the soul alone receives the mystery of incorruption and life. And they were led astray in their vain words, and did not consider within themselves that an infant is never conceived in its mother’s womb without flesh, nor does flesh emerge from the womb without a vital soul. And they closed the ears of their minds, so as not to hear the word of the Lord saying, "They that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of man," and again He says, "Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake," and again it is written, "Behold, I will open your graves, and bring you out of your ^C sepulchres, O my people." But the heretics wandered from the path of life, and turned the sweetness of the faith into the bitterness of their own souls.

XII. But emperor Theodosius was grieved, and sat in sackcloth and ashes in the treasury of his bedchamber. And the merciful God, who does not desire anyone to be lost from the path of the faith, and who wishes to manifest the mystery of His own resurrection, put it into the heart of Adolius, the owner of that mountain where the cave was in which the holy martyrs were sleeping, to build a sheepfold for his flocks; and his servants, together with the workmen, were rolling ^D stones for the building from the entrance of the cave. Then, by the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, life was given to those holy ones who were in the cave, and the voice that called Lazarus from the tomb and granted him life is the same that provided these holy ones also with the spirit of life. And they arose and sat in rejoicing, and as they thought it was every other day, they greeted one another, because no sign of death appeared in them; for

their garments were as they had been clothed before they fell asleep and arose, and so they remained upon them. And their bodies were blooming and radiant; and they were as if they had fallen asleep in the evening and awakened in the morning, having the anxiety and grief of idolatry, and thinking that Decius the king was seeking them. And they were in great fear and distress, and they looked toward Iamblichus, their steward, and asked him about what had been said the previous evening in the city. And Iamblichus said to them, "Just as I told you before, we were sought out yesterday evening along with the other citizens to sacrifice to the idols before the king; and look, he has meditated evil against us: but what he will do, I know not."

^B XIII. Then Maximilianos answered and said to them, "Brothers, we are ready to stand before that terrible and fearful King, Christ, the true God of ours, and let us not tremble before this mortal king." And he also said to Iamblichus that he should prepare their food for them at the appointed hour, and said, "Take silver in your hands and enter into the city and buy many loaves, for few were those which you brought yesterday evening, and look, we are hungry; and learn what Decius the king is ordaining concerning us." For they supposed that they had slept only during that night and awakened.

And in the early morning Iamblichus arose and took the silver from their purses, as was his custom, from the coinage of forty nummia as it had been struck, and the other coinage of sixty nummia which existed in the days of the ancient emperors who were in the times of these holy men—for in that very season it had appeared—and three hundred and seventy-two years had passed until the holy youths were awakened and arose.

^C XIV. And when day broke, Iamblichus went out from the cave and saw the stones laid before the cave and was astonished, for he knew nothing about them. But he descended from the mountain and was afraid to walk along the road to enter into the city, for he was afraid that perhaps he might be recognized by someone and informed upon, and that they might seize him and hand him over to the king; and he knew not that the bones of the tyrant were rotting in the grave. And when Iamblichus arrived at the city, having gazed intently, he saw the sign of the precious cross set up against the gates of the city, and he was beside himself in his mind. And he considered this way and that and was struck with amazement, and likewise having gone also to the other gate of the city, he saw there also a cross set up above it, and he marveled; and having gone around all the gates, he found this sign of the precious cross, and he stood speechless, being struck with amazement at these things. ^D When, therefore, he came to the first [gate], he reasoned within himself, and said, "What then is this sign of the cross, that in the evening it was in hiding, and now it has been made manifest, with par

^Aresy upon the gates of the city?" And he said in his mind, "Is this not a vision?" After this, taking courage, he covered his head and entered into the city. And he heard many speaking and swearing in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and now every tongue is made clear in Him. And again he said within himself, "Perhaps this city is not Ephesus, for its buildings are changed, and its dialect is instructed in Christ, and I know no other city but this one alone." And walking around, he asked one of the citizens, "What is this city called?" And he said, "This is Ephesus." And Iamblichus said within himself, "I have forgotten and erred in my mind; let me depart from this city lest I be led into error."

XV. Being therefore in much fear and anxiety, wishing to depart from the city, he approached those who were selling bread in order to make a purchase, and drawing out silver, he gave it to them. But they, taking it and seeing the coin, that it was large and varied, wondered and showed it to one another; and it passed through the hands of all those who were selling bread, and they whispered to one another and looked at Iamblichus and said, "This man has found a treasure, and it is many years old." But Iamblichus, seeing those who were watching him and whispering, became afraid; for he thought that they recognized him and wanted to hand him over to Decius the king. And many approached, looking at his face, and as they stood, holding him in the middle of the marketplace, a great crowd came running together, and this story went out through the whole city, saying that a young man had been caught having found a treasure. And a great crowd gathered over him, saying, "This man is a stranger, and we have never seen him." And they gazed at his face. And Iamblichus wanted to plead with them that he had not found a treasure, but, being overcome by astonishment, he could not. And as he looked around at the crowd, he did not recognize a single one, for he had a bright and famous family in the palace of Ephesus, and as he thought that in the evening he was known to all, and in the morning, recognizing not even one, he was amazed; and as if beside himself, he paid attention to the crowd to see his father or one of his brothers, and not one of them was present. ^{C D}

XVI. Then the matter was known in the whole city and even to the bishop's residence. And it happened by the providence of God that the proconsul of the city at that very hour was coming to the bishop. And as they were discussing the treasure, the resurrection of the dead was made known to all the people, and they ordered the young man to be guarded with all kindness and to be brought to them, having the silver which he carried with him. And as they were dragging Iamblichus

^A to the church, he thought that they were dragging him to the Emperor Decius. He kept looking hither and thither to see some one of his own kin or acquaintances, but the crowd mocked him and treated him as a madman, and thus with violence they pushed him into the church. The proconsul and Stephanus the bishop, having taken the silver from his hand, looked at it and were amazed. Then the proconsul, answering, said to Iamblichus, "Where is the treasure which you found, since the silver which you are carrying comes from it?" Iamblichus said, "I have never found a treasure, as you accuse me, but I know that this silver is from my patrimony, and it is the currency of the city; but who this trial is that has now befallen me, I do not know." The proconsul said, "Whence are you?" And Iamblichus answered, "As I suppose, from this city." The proconsul said, "Son of whom are you, or is there anyone who knows you here who will come and bear witness for you, and we will believe you?" Then Iamblichus mentioned the names of his father and his brothers, and no one recognized them. ^B And the proconsul, answering, said, "You are not speaking the truth." And Iamblichus stood in perplexity, keeping silent. And some who saw him in such dejection said, "Perhaps he is a madman"; others said, "Not so, but he is pretending, that he may be released from this necessity." And the proconsul, having threatened him severely, said, "How can we bear with you and believe you that this silver is from your patrimony, since this coin shows, by the inscription and seal lying upon it, that it is from three hundred and seventy years ago, and that it is from before Decius the emperor; and it has not been changed, and this coin is not the same as that which is current now, in which is the giving and the naming of this time. Do your parents belong to the past and to so many years ago, that you, being a young man, wish to deceive the elders and the wise men of Ephesus? Therefore, I command you now to be delivered over to chains and scourges and torments, until you confess where this treasure is." ^C XVII. Hearing these things, Iamblichus was very frightened, and he fell upon his face before him and said, "I beseech you, my lords, I will confess to you. Does Decius the emperor, who was in this city, remain until now, or not?" Hearing these things, Stephanus the most holy bishop said to him, "Child, there is no one on earth today called the Emperor Decius." Then, answering, Iamblichus said, "For this reason, I beseech you, come with me, and I will show you my companions in the cave which is in the mountain of Ochlon, and learn from them, as I also know, that we fled there from the presence of Decius the emperor, and I saw Decius entering the city of Ephesus last evening. If, therefore, this is the city of Ephesus, I do not know." ^D Then the most holy bishop Stephanus thought within his mind and said, "God wishes to reveal some revelation to us today through this young man"; and indeed

let us go and see. ^A And immediately the most holy bishop and the proconsul, together with the chief men of the city and many multitudes, went up to the mountain in which the cave was. Jamblichus went in before them and made known all that had happened to the saints, and they also entered behind him with all the people. And as they were entering, the bishop found a small bronze chest at the entrance of the cave, hidden between the stones, having two silver seals. Taking it, he stood outside the entrance, and having summoned the proconsul and the chief men of the city, he opened it before them and found two leaden tablets. Having read the writing, they found it written thus: that these saints, Maximilianus the son of the Eparch, Jamblichus, and the remaining seven youths, had fled from the presence of Decius the tyrant, and that by the command of the tyrant the mouth of the cave had been blocked, and their martyrdom was inscribed on the breadth of the tablets. And when they read it, they marveled and glorified God for the great things which He had bestowed upon the sons of men, and all who were there cried out and blessed God.

^B

XVIII

^D

XIX

^A raised over their burial place, and on that very night they appeared in a dream to the emperor, saying: "In the place where we are, in the cave above the earth, leave us." And the emperor left them there until this present day. And a great gathering of bishops occurred, and they celebrated a most solemn festival, and they honored the saints worthily in their resting place. And the emperor gave generous alms to the poor of that place, and he set free those who were in chains. Then the emperor departed from the city of Ephesus, and with him were many multitudes, escorting him to Constantinople with exultation and joy, glorifying Christ our God, who glorifies his saints; to whom belongs glory, honor, and adoration now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

THE MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY AND GLORIOUS MARTYR PANTELEEMON

I. ^B When the darkness of idolatry had been dispersed throughout the whole world, at the time when Maximian held the scepters of the Roman Empire, then the admirable and great martyr Panteleemon became known in Nicomedia; for from there he derived the sources of his lineage. He was called Pantoleon, and he was the son of Eustorgius, who was illustrious in wealth but much more illustrious in impiety; for he was devoted to the superstition of the Gentiles ^C and was kindled with a fervent zeal for it. But he had a faithful mother, Eubula (for that was her name), who in regard to religion was arrayed in diametric opposition to her husband, and she was well-disposed toward the affairs of the Christians. When the boy was being reared by such a mother and teacher, he was deprived of her bodily and spiritual nourishment, by the law of death and of common nature, while he was still of an imperfect and immature age, having had, alas, little use ^D of that maternal care.

II. But after his father saw that he was of an age fit for studies, he handed him over to a grammarian, and then to instructors and tutors. And when he had become sufficiently learned in Greek disciplines, he was handed over for training in medicine to Euphrosynus, the man most excellent in that art at that time. He, by the swiftness of his intellect, like some bird cutting through the air, traversed all things with great ease, needing little from those who would help him, thanks to the strength of his intellect. And so, in a short time, he left all his age-mates behind, driving toward learning like that Lydian chariot. He was also modest in his manners, charming in his speech, and striking in his beauty, which indeed made him the work and delight of every tongue, and he was held in admiration by all, so that even Maximian himself, when he had once seen him (for he used to visit the palace,

following his master), did not let him pass by in silence; but, having summoned him, he inquired about him—whose son he was, and whence he came—and asked other things. Nay, furthermore, he even commanded the master that he should have him practice all medicine as quickly as possible; for he delighted in his character and the flower of his virtue, and resolved to have him in the palace.

^B III. At that time, a certain old man, a Christian by religion, named Hermolaus, was hidden in a small house with other Christians (for the fear of the emperor caused this to be done). He, seeing Pantoleon going to his master, and observing in the outer shell the pearl that was hidden within—noting what his gait was, what his movement, what his appearance, and how great was the serenity and tranquility of his eyes—seeing these things, I say, and as those skilled in such matters judge a noble horse, even though it is still a colt, to be the best, or foresee from a tender plant a tree fit for fruit; he knew by the Holy Spirit that he would be seen, according to Paul, as a vessel of election; and he deemed it a great thing, and counted it of high value, if he could hunt such a soul.

When, therefore, he had once summoned him as he was passing by, he asked him to enter the little house in which he was hiding. He entered; and when he had made him sit near him, he asked about his race and parents, and what worship he observed, and each thing in turn. And Pantoleon immediately related everything according to the truth: how his mother had already died, while observing the Christian religion, and how his father, though living, was dead, following the superstition of the Greeks. Then the old man added: "But you, good son," he said, "of what party and of which religion do you wish to be?" And Pantoleon said: "My mother, when she was still surviving, advised me to assent to her religion, which indeed was also pleasing to me; but my father, as one who has greater power, compels me to apply myself to his religion, since he also wishes to enroll us among those of the palace." "And what discipline is it that you are pursuing?" the old man asked. "The art of Aesculapius," he said, "and of Hippocrates and Galen. This is also what seems best to my father. Nay, even the master himself affirms to us that if I learn this accurately, I shall be able to cure every human disease and to set this forth as more powerful than any affliction."

^C And Hermolaus, having now taken the opportunities and seeds from his words, as if having found a beautiful vessel, thought it right to pour in the divine ointment of the faith. "Believe me," he said, "O best of youths, and know that these things of Aesculapius and Hippocrates and Galen are small, and can help those who use them only a little. But even the gods themselves whom Maximian worships are empty fables and a deception of lighter minds, and are able to help nothing at all. But the only true God is Christ, in whom if you have believed, by the sole invocation of Him you shall be a dispeller of every disease; He who bestowed light upon the blind, and resurrection to the dead, and purification to lepers; and He who drove out from men, by word alone and command, those demons whom Maximian worships, from whose garment even a woman, when she touched the fringe, immediately stopped the rivers of blood which had been flowing for twelve whole years. And what is the need to recount... ^D

His ^A works? For it is the same as measuring the sand, or the drops of the sea, to recount His miracles and greatness; He who is even now present to His servants, an invincible ally and helper, comforting them in sorrows, enlarging them in affliction, in misfortune, and the withdrawal of unwanted things; not waiting for the prayer, but anticipating the very preparation of the heart. More than that, He even grants those who fear Him the power to perform greater miracles than He Himself did, and then bestows upon them life which has no end.

IV. Pantoleon, having received these words into his heart like good soil ^B and hidden them there, believed them, judged them to be true, and depended entirely upon them, finding their meditation sweet. He told Hermolaus that he had often heard these things from his mother, and had seen her praying and calling upon the God whom the elder preached. He wanted also to make these things known to his teacher. Every day, therefore, Pantoleon went to the old man, and was delighted by these beautiful streams, being gradually confirmed in the true faith. He would go to his teacher every day, and would not return home until he had delighted his ears with the words ^C of the old man. Once, while returning from the teacher Euphrosynos and straying slightly from the road to attend to some necessity, he saw an infant dead, having been bitten by a viper, and the beast itself near him, as if demonstrating who had committed the slaying. Fear seized him when he saw it, and he withdrew a little. Then, having collected himself again, he returned and stood by the child; for he judged this to be a sufficient sign to see if the old man’s words were true. "For it shall rise," he said, "at His word, and the beast that has done this shall suffer [the same]." This came into his mind and he asked it through prayer, and at once the child was seen alive, the beast dead, and the intelligible beast—the father of impiety—was even more ^D ruined and destroyed.

V. Pantoleon, having thus attained to the perfection of faith in Christ, immediately looked up to heaven with both his outer and inner eyes, and blessed the God who had called him from the darkness of destruction to the light of truth, with great tranquility of soul. Then, unable to bear the joy, he went to the elder Hermolaus, explained what had happened, and asked him for the divine baptism. The elder—for he knew what he was bestowing and upon whom—gladly and with joy served him, and perfected him with the divine baptism, as one worthy of the light. Having remained with the old man for seven days, his heart was irrigated by his potable words, his soul was fattened, and his inner being was filled with divine rivers. Thus he lived under the good spirit, preserved for the benefit and illumination of many. When the eighth day arrived, he came to his father. And he said, "Where were you, my child, these past days, and cast me into great distress of soul? Has something happened to you beyond expectation?" He replied, "I was with a certain man of those who dwell in the royal court,

^A suffering from an acute illness, and the master and I were traveling about; and since he was grateful to the Emperor and worthy of being the subject of great care, it was not at all easy for us to depart from there, but we continued to be present there for those seven days, until he attained pure health." He said these things, not telling a lie, but mystically dispensing his words in the judgment of *economia*, and not by reason of any evil intent.

^B VI. Likewise, when on the following day he had come to the master Euphrosynus (since he too asked the same things), he used a similar excuse with him: "My father," he said, "has bought a field and urged me to take it; and I had no leisure to leave it until I could carefully inspect everything of his, and deliver the care of it to those to whom it behooves me." He said this while tacitly alluding to the grace of divine baptism. Moreover, he applied great zeal and diligence to turn his father away from error and to make him assent to piety, being eager to repay in a high-minded way the debt that is most difficult for a son to repay to a father—namely, that of his begetting—and desiring to regenerate through the Spirit him who had begotten him according to the flesh. Whence he did not cease ^C wisely to approach him, proposing questions that were not easily solved, and thus trying to shake his religion. "For what reason, father," he would say, "do the gods who have stood from the beginning still stand even now, never mindful of sitting? But those who, on the other hand, sit, remain so forever, and have never been seen to rise?" Upon hearing these and other such things, the father was at a loss for a solution, and was already wavering regarding his own opinion about the gods and was of a divided mind. Seeing which, Pantoleon magnified the name of Christ and gave Him thanks that He had at least brought his own father to doubt, and (as the divine Hosea says*) to a "divided heart," wherefore he did not even see him as he was wont, offering sacrifices frequently and in great abundance.

VII. ^D Since, therefore, he wished at first to crush and destroy his father's idols, which were many by his bedside, he restrained himself, not wishing to provoke him; for he put great value on honoring his father. He would say that, "I will rather lead him by persuasion, and by gentleness and meekness I will effect that he believe in Christ, and thus it will be permitted to cast them down for both of us." For this reason, He who gave the commandment to honor one's father, embracing that great piety of his, provided a suitable opportunity, which caused his father to believe plainly and placidly, and He ensured that he should prepare for himself a great reward. While Pantoleon was thinking these things, certain men approach, leading a blind man who is guided by the hand. Having knocked at the door, they asked whether Pantoleon the physician was present. But when they learned that he was, they waited. And he, having heard, went out with great

^A eagerness, taking his father along with him. Seeing the blind man, he asked what he needed. The man said, "That light of which I have been deprived, and than which there is nothing more pleasant to men. Therefore, taking pity on my misfortune, grant that I might not live so imperfectly and, as it were, by halves, but that I may see the sun, that I may see heaven. For we, living in this way, differ in no respect from those who are in Hades. And although we have offered all our means to physicians, we have lost even the little light that remained to us; from those illustrious physicians we achieved only this, that along with our means we have been deprived also of light." Pantoleon said, "Seeing that you have given your means to other physicians and received no benefit, if you receive your sight again, what will you give me?" He replied, "Whatever remains of my means, I will pay over with a ready and eager mind." Then Pantoleon said, "The gift of light will be granted to you by God, the Father of lights, through us; but you, as for what you have promised to me, go and give it to the poor." ^B VIII. When his father heard these things, he began to dissuade him from his undertaking, saying, "Do not, my dearest son, lest you also be made a laughing-stock. For what more will you be able to do than the previous physicians?" Pantoleon answered, "No one among the other physicians knows how to treat this man as I am going to treat him. For there is a great difference between them and the one who taught us." But his father, supposing he had said these things concerning Euphrosynus, said, "I have heard, my son, that he also applied his diligence in treating this man, and accomplished nothing." Pantoleon replied, "Wait, father, and the matter itself will demonstrate it." Having said this, and having touched the eyes of the blind man, and having invoked the great name of Christ, and having petitioned Him for the man's healing, immediately he loosed the darkness of the eyes for the man, and for his father he loosed the darkness of impiety, and caused him to openly acknowledge true religion. Or rather, he provided a double healing to the blind man; for he was blind in the eyes of the flesh and of the soul, inasmuch as he was a worshiper of idols. And through the physical ^C light, he opened also the eyes of his heart; and having caused both of them to believe, he deemed them worthy of divine baptism and enrolled them in the number of the faithful. And the piety of Eustorgius—for such was the name of the great Pantoleon’s father—could not be confined to this; but, showing most openly that he hated his error, having smashed the idols that were in his bedroom, he cast them into a pit, as things truly worthy of oblivion and the deep. IX. Not much time passed, and the father of Pantoleon died. He died, however, the death of the body, for he had already been entirely liberated from the death of the soul through faith and divine baptism. Therefore, Pantoleon, having found a time to bring aid to his desire, freed his servants from servitude, giving them sufficient money, while the hands of the poor received the rest. Then, going around to those who were in prisons and those who were tormented by tortures and ^D diseases, he treated them, providing the things that were necessary, so that he seemed to be a physician not only of disease, but also of poverty. As a result of this, what happened? The entire

^A city, when it had ordered others to be well, went to Pantoleon, and were delivered by him from the diseases that each one had, for he also possessed the grace of the good Spirit bringing aid to him. This stirred up great envy among the physicians; and when the man who had previously been blind, whose recovery of sight was the work of Pantoleon’s piety, passed by, they were deeply resentful and said among themselves: "Is this not the blind man who brought our art into disrepute, since it profited him nothing? Who then is the one who gave the healing and is able to cure such things?" And having called him to them, they inquired, and he did not conceal his healer.

^B X. When they learned that this man was a disciple of Euphrosynus, "Great indeed," they said, "is the disciple of a great master." Thus, unknowingly, they prophesied concerning Christ. A pretext was therefore sought by the physicians due to their envy, so that they might slander him to the emperor. When they found that one of the confessors was being treated by him, they approached Maximian and said: "O Emperor, he whom you ordered to study medicine with all diligence, so that he might be useful to your empire, this man, as it seems, caring little for your fear or your favor, goes about treating those who are disdainful of the gods, and not only holding the same opinions as they, but also enticing others to worship in the same manner. If you do not quickly take his life from him, you will be the cause of no small grief to yourself, seeing as you do many being led away by him from the sacrifice to the gods, and the healings of Asclepius being attributed to Christ." Having said this, to confirm their statements, they asked that the man who had formerly been blind and who had been healed by Pantoleon be brought forward. Consequently, when they were heard and he appeared, they said: "How did Pantoleon heal your eyes?" He replied, ^C saying, "By calling upon Christ, and that, too, without even a short time spent with me, so that any notion of skill might enter my mind; but the vision of light almost preceded the invocation. What appears to you to be the case, Emperor?" the king asked; "do you say it was Christ who healed you, or the gods?" The man who had been healed replied: "Emperor, the judgment in this matter must be entrusted to the facts themselves. For these men whom you see, the physicians, though they labored much over me, profited themselves by wasting my substance for the sake of the vain—alas!—hopes of light, but me they profited nothing, except that they even harmed me by destroying the modest glimmer I possessed. Whom then should one consider the helper: Asclepius, who was invoked by many and profited nothing, or Christ, who was invoked by Pantoleon alone and immediately gifted to me the light that is dear to all? This, Emperor, is evident even to a blind man."

^D XI. To this, Maximian, having no reply and acting as if he could be convinced by mere order alone, said: "Do not act foolishly, and do not even name Christ; for it was clearly the gods who gave you the light." But he, looking entirely toward the truth and not toward the power, and speaking more freely than the of Evag—

as a blind man of the Gospel: "You act foolishly," he said, "calling those who are blind givers of light, even though you remain blind like them, believing such things and unable to gaze upon the light of truth." On account of these words, the tyrant was incited to anger. For how could a soul entirely rotten with flatteries and corrupted ever endure language that is sharper because of the truth? ^B And immediately judging to be true the things that had been spoken to him before by those physicians, he orders the head of the friend of Christ to be cut off, bringing upon him death as the penalty for the truth, and unwillingly preparing for him an occasion to render beautiful thanks to the Christ who had healed him, namely, his confession. Pantoleon, however, did not even then neglect to do what was appropriate for the time and circumstances; but having bought the body of the martyr from those who had attended the execution, he buried it with his own father, as one who, through his own confession in Christ, had accounted him a kinsman, and by the kinship of the Spirit had reckoned him far more joined to himself than [he was] by the kinship of blood.

XII. Then the emperor summoned Pantoleon to him. And as he was being led away, he sang with his lips a psalm appropriate to the time, saying: "O God, do not keep silence from my praise, because the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful one has been opened against me. They have spoken against me with a deceitful tongue, and they surrounded me with words of hatred, and fought against me without cause. Instead of loving me, they were slandering me; but I was praying. And they requited me evil for good, and hatred for my love. But help me, O Lord my God, and save me according to your mercy; let those who slander me be clothed with confusion, and let them be covered with their own shame as with a mantle; but your servant shall rejoice in you." ^C When his prayer was finished, he stood before the king, or rather, to speak more correctly, not before him, but before the Immortal and Eternal One. For he was standing truly in his mind before Him, and holding converse with Him. To him [the king] first spoke calmly and kindly: "The things we have heard about you, Pantoleon, are not good: that you have held the great Asclepius and the other gods who are with you in great contempt, and that you have placed your hopes in that Christ who perished miserably, and name Him alone as God. And yet, you are not at all ignorant of how I have looked upon you with kindly eyes, and how, when I had taken you into my own family, I diligently commanded your tutor Euphrosynus to make you as quickly as possible the most outstanding in medicine, so that you might be of use to me in that matter. But you... ^D But certainly men might say many things that are false and empty. And for this reason I have summoned you, so that those things which have been heard by me may be proven to be vain and the slander of envious men, and so that you may offer sacrifice to the greatest gods, as is fitting."

XIII. To this Pantoleon replied: "Deeds, O emperor, are more credible and stronger than words, and before all other things, indeed, it is right to place...

^A truth. And piety toward the Divine, the higher it is, the more it stands in need of greater precision. Now, the one whom I worship created the heaven, established the earth, and granted resurrection to the dead, sight to the blind, cleansing to the lepers, and the raising up of the paralytics, by his will and word alone. But the gods who are spoken of and worshipped by you, I do not know if they have ever done any such thing, or if they are at all capable of doing so. But if you wish, let us now put this to the test with actual facts, O emperor, and let someone be brought here who suffers from an incurable malady, for whom human skill and hands despair of a cure. Let there also come forward those who are priests among you. Then let their own gods first be invoked by them, and by me the one whom I worship. And whoever, by being named, shall put the sickness to flight, he alone shall be reckoned and worshipped as God; let us leave the others to bewail their fate, casting them into deep oblivion." ^B These things pleased the emperor. For it was the counsel of God and of His divine providence that, in this way, the right faith might be beyond controversy even among the enemies themselves, and that the truth might thus conquer more in the open.

XIV. A man afflicted with paralysis is therefore brought into the middle, who had been lying in bed for a long time and was so constrained by his paralysis that he could barely move more than the bed that held him. Thereupon, the priests of the vain gods and the physicians—most vain themselves—who were present, some invoking Asclepius, others Zeus, others Artemis, and others others, appeared as senseless suppliants of the senseless, and especially so in a matter so strange and extraordinary; for it was equally difficult for him to be healed, and for their gods ^C to be seen as possessing sense and reason. For what could such mute and deaf things provide as a cure for others? Therefore, they provided nothing; but although those who have been mentioned begged for much, they appeared to the petitioners as the very things they were—namely, stones. Seeing their vain labor, Pantoleon derided them with a decorous smile. But when he himself was bidden to perform the invocation, he lifts his eyes to heaven, and with them he lifts his mind also, and said: "O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto Thee. Turn not Thy face away from me; in whatever day I am afflicted, incline Thy ear to me. In whatever day I shall call upon Thee, ^D quickly hear me; and show to those who know Thee not, and to those who worship gods that are not, that Thou canst do all things, O King, and that nothing is impossible with Thee." Having spoken thus, and grasping the hand of the man who was lying there, he says: "In the name of Christ, who raises up those who are broken, be whole and exercise your limbs in health." He spoke, and the word was followed by the deed; and the bed no longer supported the paralyzed man, but his own feet, as he walked confidently, and almost bounded, and went straight home with as much fervent joy as could be.

XV. The healing did not stop there, but

many others, paralyzed both in soul and enervated by the malady of impiety, having seen what had come to pass, rose up and were set straight. Having condemned their former error, they worshiped the true God. But the light of piety could not enter into the defiled priests and the incurably wicked physicians; they were difficult to detach from their corrupt ways, as if long accustomed to them. Whence, approaching Maximian, they provoked his anger against the saint, saying, "If you allow him to live, your gods and their sacrifices will perish with you, and our religion and sacred rites will openly appear to be a fable. The Christians will laugh at us broadly, and will grow strong, and their affairs will flourish even more, and will be much more powerful than ours." ^B Having said these things, they found him hearing and persuaded by what was said.

The emperor then summoned Pantoleon and, as if proffering an enticement of kindness, presented his admonition: "Believe me," he said, "Pantoleon, and offer sacrifice to the gods. Or do you not see that whoever was not persuaded to do what was commanded, they have had most grievous punishments and death as the return for their disobedience? Witness to this is the old man Anthimus, who was recently miserably bereft of life. But I care for your youth and do not wish you to perish so wretchedly. Know, indeed, that many and harsh tortures will await you if you persist in the same disobedience."

XVI. But Pantoleon, avoiding his admonitions as manifest fraud, and despising his threats as weaker than dreams, said, "Do not think, O emperor, either that you will persuade me with admonitions or frighten me with threats. For what of the world’s goods will captivate me, or what frightening things will terrify one who not only despises death, but even judges it desirable for Christ’s sake? ^C So far am I from fearing torments for Him, that I even consider it a great loss if they are not more numerous and most grievous; and I consider leniency in these matters to be more burdensome than any cruelty. Certainly, I judge the excellent Anthimus, not as you do, a miserable man, but as one truly blessed; and I prefer his death to any life, because with such an end he adorned such an old age and stained the whiteness of his gray hair with the blood of martyrdom. If he, who was of such advanced age, proved himself so strong and constant, ought I, who am at this youthful age, not to endure harsh things, so that I might be deemed worthy of the same crowns as the elder? Therefore, you will not persuade, you will not overcome, you will not lead us away from this confession, emperor—no, by the holy and divine testimonies given to me, by which I have been rendered certain of the truth. For I would put to shame my country, and the piety of the mother who bore me, by whom the things pertaining to piety were finely taught to me at the start, and with whom I hasten to rest in the eternal tabernacles." ^D Pantoleon said these things, and in few words showed what kind of a man he had offended, who was boasting of his scepters and throne, and that he

^D doubted; for when he knew not by what reasoning he might persuade him, he made trial of torments: which was a matter of power, not of wisdom and prudence.

^A XVII. And first of all, the martyr was hung upon a wooden frame and lacerated with iron claws. Moreover, fire and lamps were applied to his sides. But he paid no heed to the stripes and burnings, but to Him who is able to bring aid, and lifting his eyes to heaven, he prayed. And therefore the Liberator was immediately present, and Christ, appearing in the habit of the elder Hermolaus, truly and genuinely comforted and refreshed him, saying: "For I am with thee in all things in which, suffering for my sake, thou bearest thyself bravely." And that He was present, the proof was not far off. For at the same time the hands of the torturers were slackened, the lamps were extinguished, and the emperor refrained from punishing, and was plainly at a loss what to do. He therefore orders him to be taken down from the wood, not that he felt pity, but rather because he simply did not know what to do. Then, approaching nearer, he said: "What is this art of sorcery, O Pantoleon, by which thou hast extinguished the lamps for thy own sake, and robbed the guards of their strength and vigor?" But he said: "My sorcery is Christ, who is even now present with me, bringing these things to pass." "If, therefore," said the emperor, "I inflict greater torments upon thee, what wilt thou do?" "What else," said the martyr, "than that I should also obtain greater rewards?" Wickedness heard this and wished to make trial of it. For it neither knew how to believe in good things, nor did it refrain from evil. He ordered, therefore, that an iron cauldron be brought, in which there was lead, and that it be kindled with fire from beneath, and that the athlete be cast into it. ^B When, however, that which had been commanded was diligently done, as the martyr was being led to the punishment, he again takes into his mouth a prayer, as though prepared for extinguishing [the fire] and for consolation, being able to sufficiently refresh him, and he chanted it in that terrible cauldron: "Hear, O God, my voice, when I pray to thee; deliver my soul from fear of the enemy. Protect me from the conventicle of them that work iniquity" (Ps. LXIII, 2, 3). So he prayed, and again Christ, in the form of the holy elder Hermolaus, was seen by him, and entered into the cauldron together with him, and the fire was immediately extinguished, and the lead was turned into its natural coldness. And again a prayer and a psalm were opportunely chanted by him: "I have cried to God, and the Lord hath heard me. Evening and morning and at noon I will narrate and announce: and he shall hear my voice" (Ps. LIV, 17, 18).

^C XVIII. And of those who were present, amazement seized them all; the emperor alone remained firmly held by the same delusion, and this he revolved in his thoughts: by what punishment he might punish the martyr of Christ, and either lead him away from piety or bring him to an evil ^D end.

^A Since those who were present advised that the saint be delivered into the depths of the sea (for they felt envy toward the Christians even after the end of his remains), the emperor, hearing this, was persuaded; and he ordered that a stone of the greatest weight be tied to his neck, and thus he be cast into the sea. It was the concern of the ministers to fulfill what was commanded with speed, but the concern of God to provide a helping hand to him who was suffering for His sake—a thing which indeed it was possible to see happening. For they, having gone further out into the sea, released him, having bound the stone to his neck. But Christ, having appeared again in the previous form of Hermolaus, caused the stone to float upon the sea just like a leaf from a tree, while guiding him by the hand, just as He did previously for the great Peter, He caused him to walk upon the waves on foot; for He who was redeeming and saving was the very same, He whose ways are in the sea, and whose paths and footprints are, according to the divine David 7, not known. Pantoleon the admirable therefore walked, and was already arriving at the shore, weaving praise for Him who had saved him, worthy of his pious soul and of His wonderful works. When the emperor saw him thus saved beyond all expectation: "What is this," he said, "Pantoleon? Have you overcome the sea also with your sorceries?" But he: "The sea also," he said, "did what it was commanded by its Master. For the sea and the earth and all things that exist yield to Him, and they yield more than they do to you, O Emperor, who are served now only for a time."

^B XIX. To these things the tyrant, wishing to persuade [him] to evil rather than be persuaded to what is good and salutary, commands that all kinds of wild beasts be brought against the excellent man. When they had been brought, and he had placed him nearby, partly striking fear into him, and partly pretending to be moved by pity, and turning himself in every direction so that he might persuade him: "These," he said, showing him the wild beasts, "have been brought because of you and your destruction, Pantoleon; if therefore you have any pity for yourself (for I have a care for your form and your age), be willing to be persuaded and shown to have a mind and understanding, as one who is able to prefer life to death, happiness to pains, and glory and delights to every ignominy." To whom the saint: "If, before I had experienced the defense of God which He undertakes for me, I could not be persuaded by your words, shall I be persuaded now that I have obtained so great assistance? And why, O Emperor, do you frighten me with the cruelty of wild beasts? For He who made the hands of your henchmen, prepared for tormenting, useless and feeble, and rendered fire cold, and transformed lead into water, and bound the sea itself with fetters, is entirely able also to tame these wild beasts and to make them more gentle for us than sheep."

^C XX. Since, therefore, the martyr of Christ remained disobedient, he was about to fight with the beasts, as one who considered it lighter.

^A The whole city flocked together to see what was happening: a young man so handsome, noble in body and noble in soul, who had done no evil, was about to suffer so grievously and to be surrendered to the beasts. The righteous man was led away, confident as a lion, as the saying goes, and looking neither soft nor weak, nor anything that would invite pity. And how could he, when the familiar helper, Hermolaus, again came into his sight and encouraged him to be of good courage? Then, when the beasts were set upon the athlete, as the tyrant—far wilder than they—had commanded, those who were present immediately thought that the saint would be torn to pieces, as if there were no one to save and deliver him. But not so did He who said, "Thou hast made the Most High thy refuge; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling," ^B and, "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under foot" (Ps. xc, 10–13), arrange it for the pious man; nor did He deceive the hope of him who believed. For the beasts were so far from harming the saint that they hardly seemed to be beasts at all—beasts, I say, or even simply irrational creatures deprived of understanding—but rather like sensible beings and of the rank of rational creatures. With great reverence they approached the martyr, fawning upon him affectionately and touching his feet with a kindly, healing tongue; and they vied with one another as to which of them should approach him first, nor would they depart before the martyr had laid his hand upon them and blessed them.

XXI. It was, therefore, possible to see a most strange event, ^C for since such wickedness had taken hold of men that they surpassed even the irrational animals in senselessness and cruelty—the one in not worshiping Him who made them, the other in punishing those who did worship Him—God, who transforms all things, ordained in turn that the beasts should appear as if rational and mimicking the gentleness of men, being truthful heralds of their wickedness and of His own ineffable blessedness. Whence also those present at what occurred shouted, "Great is the God of the Christians, the only one and true!" and, "Let the righteous man be released!" What then of the truly bestial and most cruel emperor? He vents his anger upon the beasts and immediately slays them all, as if begrudging them their intelligence and unable to bear the reproof they offered him. But even those thus slain remained for many days, ^D not being eaten by any of the flesh-eating animals, God in this also honoring His athlete and exhorting others to piety; so that when the senseless emperor learned of this, he ordered the beasts to be buried in the earth, thus confirming the faith for many. Maximian, therefore, being at a loss, said, "What am I to do with Panteleemon? For already, as you see, he has turned the majority away from the gods." And they said, "Let a wheel be made, and let this be carried to a high place.

^A Let Panteleemon then be tied to it and let it be sent down the slope; for it will surely happen that as the wheel is carried down, he will be ground to pieces bit by bit and his evil limb will be destroyed in such a wretched way." And these things were devised by men most resourceful in wickedness and inventors of harm. But God, who always defends those who love Him, did not abandon Panteleemon even now, but stood by him once more as by a beloved child.

XXII. The prison then held him for the present until the wheel should be built. But when it was already constructed, and a great multitude had run together again—inasmuch as the emperor himself was present as a spectator—the martyr was bound to the wheel and it was cast down the slope. His lips were moved by a psalm ^B and a prayer calling upon the Powerful One for help. He was immediately present, strengthening him; and as a proof of His presence, the bonds were broken, the martyr was set free, and he was completely unharmed by any evil. The wheel, moving not so much against him as on his behalf, killed many of the unbelievers; and in this way the punishment became, in an unspeakable manner, a means of retribution, and it was known that it is the Lord who executes judgment, and the God of vengeance speaks openly. Fear on account of these things seized the city, and wonder the emperor. Still thick with vice and unable to receive the light of piety, he inquired of the saint: "Whence these things? And how long," said he, "will you turn some of our people away from the gods and send others to death, so that we suffer the loss of the former and have the latter as our adversaries?" Then he also asked who had been his tutor, and from whom he had learned Christianity.

XXIII. But the martyr of Christ confidently confesses and reveals Hermolaus, as one who did not know how to hide him who was not worthy of a corner and oblivion, but of light. ^C When he [the emperor] commanded that he be brought into his sight, the martyr did not hesitate, having learned by experience what kind of tongue and mind he possessed, which could more easily capture others than be captured. The just man therefore went away with the three soldiers to whom his custody had been entrusted and approached the room where the divine Hermolaus was hiding. When he saw him, he asked, "Why have you come here, child, and for what reason?" And he replied, "The emperor, my lord elder, is calling for you." But he said he already knew this, for the time had arrived for him too to suffer and die for Christ, just as He had Himself signified to him that night. When therefore they went away and stood before the emperor, he looked at the elder and asked who he was and what his name was. He both told his name and did not hide the fact that he was a Christian. Then, when the emperor asked if he had any other Christians with him, he, being truthful, mentioned Hermippus and Hermocrates, whom he had with him. ^D When he had then commanded that these also be brought and stand with Hermolaus, and when they stood there, he said, "Are you the ones who turned Panteleemon away from the worship of the gods?" They replied, "Christ knows how to call those who are worthy toward the light." And the emperor said, "Dismissing this idle talk, if you wish to be absolved from this former offense, and [to live like] those who are beloved by us and obtain the highest honors from us,"

procure that he be persuaded to sacrifice to the gods. But they replied, "How could those who have first persuaded themselves not to abandon Christ, nor to offer sacrifice to dumb idols, do this?" Having said these things, they lifted their eyes, both sensible and intellectual, to the heavens. As they prayed thus, the Savior appeared, and the whole place was immediately shaken by a tremor and earthquake.

^{D A} XXIV. But the emperor, whose mind was truly shaken, said that the gods were indignant and had moved the earth. To whom the martyr replied very prudently and bravely: "But what if it happens that your gods themselves fall?" The speech had not yet ended when one of the emperor’s ministers approached him, a messenger of disaster, saying, "O emperor, the gods have fallen and have been shattered." Thus those terrible ones who shook the earth lay on the ground, having fallen in a wretched manner, appearing ridiculous to those who were not equally blind and clearly [only] stones. And indeed, any other person who possessed even a little prudence, and whose appearance alone did not prevent him from clearly being mistaken for a beast, would have recognized the true God who is able to do these things; but not he. Yet how much better he might have turned out, and how much benefit he might have received from piety, is immediately evident from the events themselves. For at once, after having afflicted those three holy men with many tortures, he condemned them to death. In the meantime, he sent the great Pantoleon to prison. And it was the concern of the Christians to take up the bodies of the martyrs thus killed and, as was proper, to bury them.

^{B C} XXV. When the emperor had summoned Pantoleon from prison, he said, "Do you think you can escape my hands alive, if you do not first approach and sacrifice to the gods? And that, furthermore, when your teacher Hermolaus, and Hermippus and Hermocrates have already learned what is good, have changed, and have offered sacrifice to the gods, and have even received from us a reward for their obedience, so that they are now the first in the palace? If, therefore, you also, emulating their beautiful conversion, will sacrifice, then you will see, Pantoleon, how I, who am severe in punishing those who do not obey, am liberal and munificent in benefiting those who do." He said this, however, maliciously and deceitfully (in regards to the holy ones, I mean) to persuade him. For how could he [do this to those] whom he had already killed? But he did it to ensnare him who was illuminated by God. Wherefore, he could not hide [the lie]; but [Pantoleon] said, "O emperor, let me also see them standing before your face." But Maximian, not yet ceasing to act with fraud (for he himself also had placed his hope in a lie, as I may say with the great Isaiah, and had set out to cover himself with a lie), said, "They are not here, for they have been sent by us to another city for some necessary cause." But the martyr said, "Even unwillingly, you have spoken the truth, you who love a lie; for they are now in heaven, dwelling in the city of God."

^A XXVI. When the worshipper of stones had moved "every stone," so to speak, and saw that he was immovable and harder than any rock, and that he was turned aside from piety neither by flatteries, nor by the persuasion of words, nor by the promise of gifts, nor by the threats of punishments, nor by any other of the things capable of alluring or terrifying, having lashed him still more severely with scourges, and hoping to achieve nothing more but to satisfy the rage of his own spirit, he condemned him to death by the sword, and furthermore, that after his death his fair body should be committed to the fire; he, I say, condemns him who was truly worthy of eternal fire. The athlete of Christ was therefore led to the place of consummation, entrusted to the hands of the executioners. When he had come there, and his soul was full of joy (for he knew from what afflictions what kind of delights would succeed him), he sang this Davidic psalm, saying: "Often have they fought against me from my youth; but they could not prevail against me. The sinners have wrought upon my back; they have lengthened their iniquity. The Lord is just; He will cut the necks of sinners" (Ps. cxxviii, 1-4). Then God works a miracle here too, no less than the preceding miracles. For they bind him to an olive tree, and someone strikes his neck with a sword. At once, the edge of the iron became like wax and was turned back, while the neck remained as it was from the beginning, having no mark of the cut at all.

^B XXVII. For this reason, terror seized the executioners, and they drew near and became suppliants of him whom they had previously thought not even worthy to live among them; and grasping his beautiful feet, what did they not say, what did they not do, asking pardon for their audacity and openly confessing their faith in Christ? He, however, not only forgives them, as far as it depended on him, but even asks for them perfect remission from Christ. On this account he also heard a voice from heaven confirming that the things he had asked for would be accomplished, and that he should no longer be called Pantoleon but Panteleemon, and that the reality would correspond to the name; for "through you very many will attain mercy." Having heard this voice, and being confirmed in the things of which he was deemed worthy, he turned and instructed the lictors to perform what had been commanded them by the tyrant; but they refused and judged this to be entirely intolerable. ^C When the martyr insisted that they do what had been commanded them by the tyrant, they were openly in doubt, and knowing not what to do, they divided themselves between two loyalties, namely, to piety and to the command of the holy man. And when they had first kissed every one of his limbs, and had sufficiently testified to the reverence and awe in which they held him, they then cut off his blessed head with a sword on the twenty-seventh day of the month of July—which, I suppose, they would not have been able to do, had he not given his assent, as he did not wish to fall short of the great dignity of martyrdom.

XXVIII. And again, miracles follow upon miracles, as He who was glorified gave glory to him who chose to suffer these things for His sake. For instead of blood, immediately milk

flowed, and the olive tree to which he had been bound appeared wholly laden with fruit. ^A When this came to the knowledge of the tyrant, he ordered the tree to be cut down and the body of the martyr to be delivered to the fire, just as he had ordered before. The soldiers who had believed did not return to the emperor, condemning his great cruelty and imitating what the Magi did toward Herod, but they continued to glorify God and His martyr. Indeed, when certain of the faithful had gathered in that very place outside the city where the martyr underwent his consummation, they reverently and holily laid that sacred body in the suburb of a certain scholasticus (Adamantius was his name), to the glory of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, of whom there is one divinity and kingdom, to whom honor and worship are due unto the ages of ages. Amen. ^B

THE CONTEST OF THE HOLY MARTYR CALLINICUS

^C 1. When the madness of idolatry was prevailing and consuming and corrupting all things, divine honor was attributed to evil demons, but those who were addicted to impiety were unwilling to pay attention to God, the Creator and Maker of all, or to accord Him the honor that is proper. For those who had been granted the image of God by Him, having blinded their souls, turned away from the light of truth, closing their eyes to the recognition of Him who had made them; but they ran to the darkness of error, neither willing to be illumined by the radiance of His grace, nor, in general, to look up and behold the ray of knowledge spread everywhere. For when the wicked one had poured out a great and dark ignorance upon men and had brought them completely under his own power, he severed and led them away from the true and only God; ^D and he persuaded them to worship and honor deaf and dumb idols and other shameful likenesses, so that he might thereby completely capture and master them. But the Lord, who guards and keeps us, did not grant him to fill his entire enmity against us, nor to show such shamelessness as to make all men a footstool

having destroyed all his power. For those whose souls were inflamed by the love of the Master, and whom divine love had visited, strengthening them wholly with the love of the Almighty, moved forward courageously and bravely into the war against the enemy—though their limbs were severed and the frame of their flesh was dissolved, regarding their intensely painful tortures as recreation and delight—those whom Christ, the dispenser of the games, has received, still dripping with the blood of their contests, having been offered to Him as unblemished sacrifices and voluntary victims, over whom the common enemy, being defeated, fell in a marvelous way before the eyes of those watching. ^B Into contention with him also came the great athlete and garlanded victor, Callinicus, whose contests and struggles this present account shall relate; he mocked the enemy’s terrors to such a degree that, like a young child, he cast him down at the very first bout and dashed him to the ground. But for any account to relate and recount individually all the things of this noble man is not possible, nor have all the things he did been heard by everyone, so that they could all be reported by everyone. A few things, however, and such as have not escaped the memory of those who heard (for some were present while the martyr was contending and saw some of the things that were taking place), shall be set down in the memorial of this present account. For thus we shall both satisfy our own desire and offer to the athlete a brief praise of his martyrdom.

II

III

^A of anger and cruelty. His name was Sacerdos.

When the athlete was brought to him and stood in his presence, the bold and arrogant governor said to the saint, "Why, among all the others, do you alone dare to behave insolently against such great power, even though you are a stranger and not one of our own people, while everyone else bows down, offers sacrifices to the gods, and strives to keep them benevolent and propitious, through whom all the finest things are granted to us? Yet you not only do not approach them to sacrifice and appease them, but you even turn away those who desire to approach, deceiving them with enticing words, relying neither on the size of your body nor on any standing of rank."

To him, the martyr of Christ replied thus, mildly and gently:

IV. "I admit that I am a man apparently humble and small; but I carry in this earthenware vessel of mine my precious treasure and pearl, Christ, my Lord and Savior Jesus, whose slave I am, to whom I have been cast from the womb, who is my wealth, my boast, and my strength, through whom all the painful things of life are pleasant and delightful to me. It is no wonder, then, O governor, if, being of such a Master, I strive and struggle, so that I may scrape myself clean from the rust of vice, preserving it as intact as possible, and so that I may pluck those who are deceived by the error of idols and lead them to the truth. For he who brings a sinner back from the error of his way (as the divinely inspired Scriptures say) shall save a soul ^B from death and will cover a multitude of sins. I wish, therefore, that you also would be persuaded by me both to leave the present deception and to hasten to the light of truth. For then you would truly have known what is the God and Lord of all, and what are the idols among you, which are deaf and truly the destruction and ruin of the soul."

V. When the evil and malice-loving soul heard these words ^C, it was filled with excessive and unrestrained anger, and looking sternly and fiercely upon the saint, it said: "It seems to me that you prefer death to a most pleasant life, and for this reason you have used insolent words against the gods and, signifying your own insanity, have woven together these childish and vain things. But know that nothing of these will profit you, nor will anyone rescue you from my hands, not even he whom you profess to be God and Savior. For I will examine all your limbs, and I will inflict every bitter torture upon you, so that you may know by your own experience how great an evil it is not to obey those who hold authority, and to how many punishments are liable those who mock the gods and refuse their worship."

To him, the martyr looked more boldly ^D and said: "Do not delay nor hold back, but quickly prepare all your instruments of torture. Let the scourges come, the sword, the fire, the wheel, and whatever else has been devised by you for punishment; for to me there is only one thing fearful and worthy of shuddering, the fearing

^A of anything more than God, and to be separated from the blessedness which is there. All other things, whatever you may inflict upon my body, I shall deem a pleasure rather than a punishment, for the sake of the love I bear toward God.

VI. Then the governor, having despaired that he might be changed, ^B orders his whole body to be beaten with the cruelest thongs. And as he was being beaten, the herald cried out: “Recognize the gods, Callinicus, and call upon them, that they may deliver you from this torture.” But he received the blows so calmly that he did not seem to be suffering at all; far from collapsing or weakening, he directed his whole mind toward God alone, constantly giving thanks to Him for whose sake he had chosen to suffer these things. And the more he saw his body flowing with blood, the more he mocked those who were beating him, because they did not inflict upon him more and more severe blows. “For these,” he said, “are far smaller and weaker than I expected and for which I prepared myself.” ^C Whereupon Sacerdos, incensed with greater fury, orders him to be suspended from a wooden post and torn with iron claws. When cruel and savage executioners stood around him, they searched the whole frame of his body, sparing no part of his flesh. You would have said that he possessed the nature of a stone or some other hard and resistant thing, having seen his impassivity and inflexibility; so much did his love for Christ transform him that he forgot the very nature he had obtained. For he was so far from succumbing to this extreme torture that he even mocked and jeered at the tyrant with a free voice; for which reason he appeared unconquerable, while the other was affected with shame, boasting only with a certain empty vanity. ^D

VII. But when the foolish man had despaired of everything, he turned to this final punishment, which he alone, or with very few, devised and invented—a sign of his furious and demented soul. For having driven sharp nails through sandals, he orders them to be bound to the feet of the martyr, and commands the lictors who were leading him away to make him walk the road as far as Gangra. And so that greater and sharper pains might be brought upon him from the perforation of the nails, he had placed other lictors upon the swiftest and fastest horses, and was compelling the athlete, pierced with nails, to run before them. Any soul at all would have been broken by the mere sight, unable to bear to behold such things even with open eyes. But not so that inhuman man, with his heart clearly of stone; he was neither moved in any way by his nature, nor did he reckon the pain as unbearable, but, as if exulting in what was being done, he presided proudly, filling his impious soul with such spectacles. He even ordered the lictors that as soon as they reached the aforementioned city, they should light a most fierce furnace and throw the saint into it, so that, he said, those who are there might also see his disobedience.

And he turned many, as we have read, away from the worship of the gods. ^A

VIII. The great athlete of Christ, therefore, as he was led along this arduous road, had grace from above strengthening and supporting him, by which his journey was completed more quickly than even those swiftest horses could have finished it. For he ran with such lightness and speed, despite those iron-bound sandals, that he kept chanting those words of David: "With expectation I have waited for the Lord, and he was attentive to me. And he brought me out of the pit of misery and the mire of dregs, and set my feet upon a rock, and directed my steps" (Ps. XXXIX, 2, 3), and that other text: "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?" (Ps. XXVI, 1). After running for sixty stadia, he reached a place called Matrica, where he performed a singular and extraordinary miracle. For the executioners who were leading him, their tongues scorched by thirst and the excessive heat (for it was the month of July) and exhausted by the weariness of the journey—and with no water appearing anywhere to quench their thirst or revive their fainting spirits, and having found no other way to remedy their affliction—lost all hope and turned only to the ^B saint. Prostrating themselves at his feet, they said to him with tears: "Do not remember our evils, O saint, nor let our insults against you come to mind. But, forgetting all these things, bring aid to us in our peril, and give water to our thirsty souls, which are melted away by the force of the heat; for our natural moisture is consumed. Our strength, as you see, has failed, and the heat hangs over our heads. All evils press upon us at once, which it is in your power alone to change and heal."

IX. As the executioners spoke these words with faint and feeble voices, that most compassionate man was moved to pity. Turning to prayer, he called upon the God who forgets injuries and wrongs, and besought Him not to overlook those oppressed by such great necessity, but to have mercy and provide them with water to drink, as He did long ago for the people in the desert, and to comfort those burned by thirst. ^C And, O the wonder! At the invocation and prayer of the saint, water flowed from a certain rock, gushing forth abundantly as if from a spring. This cooled the scorched mouths of the executioners, who were filled with that new and drinkable stream; and for all who followed, the drink remained full and perennial. For it did not cease to flow from that time, nor was it ever exhausted. Such was the martyr’s confidence and power before God; for thus does the Lord glorify those who glorify Him. For He who makes His sun to rise upon the just and the unjust, and feeds all, as well the wicked as the good, what wonder is it if, even to these men, though they were savage in their ways and breathing ^D slaughter, He abundantly

bestowed His mercy? Those men also, having drunk abundantly of that water which had flowed forth, as we have said, and having refreshed and revived their own souls, continued their journey, with the martyr also following them; and having completed seventy whole stadia in this way, they arrived at Gangra, as had been enjoined upon them. ^B X. But the lictors, though not willingly (for they already had the martyr's kindness before their eyes), yet overcome by the fear of those who held power (for they had souls soft and flexible, gaping only at what was visible), hastened to do what they had been ordered, especially since the martyr himself encouraged them to depart more quickly to Him whom he desired. Wherefore, when they had kindled a furnace and placed the saint nearby, already rejoicing and exulting, they cast him into it; and having with his final words praised God, and having given thanks at the completion of his struggle, he delivered his spirit into the hands of the Lord and departed to the blessedness which is there, on the twenty-ninth day of July. But you, O blessed one, glory and ornament of martyrs, having thus departed from life and been decorated with the marks of the rewards, now sit pure with thy most pure Spouse Christ, delighting and exulting in Him, and crowned by Him with the crown of glory: remember also us ^C henceforth, who honor thee and celebrate this thy holy festival, and grant us to pass through the roughness of life evenly and without stumbling: that when we have emerged from this sea of temptations without being overwhelmed, we may arrive at the harbor of rest, having as our helmsman, through thy intercessions, our Lord and Savior Christ: to whom is due all honor and adoration unto the ages of ages. Amen.

LIFE OF THE HOLY AND RIGHTEOUS EUDOCIMUS

Eudocimus, who appropriately attained the praise of God from his name, it is good to set forth his life here. For from this, delight and usefulness return not only to the narrators, but much more so to the hearers; not only because he showed himself a vehement lover of virtue and that which is honorable, choosing it immediately from his earliest age—for with many others this zeal for the life was common to him—but because in him, as a chief and almost singular thing, he excelled in every or a great part, namely, that his life in the world was above the world: and ^D that, living in the midst of tumults and of these unstable things which are all full of storms and filth, he preserved his soul tranquil and entirely undefiled: and [he] showed it to be a matter of a timid and weak mind to pursue flight from the world and use solitude as a helper, just as if someone, navigating in the tranquility of the sea and free from any waves or vehement winds, wished to be called skilled in navigation and knowledgeable of those things which pertain to the sea. Since, therefore, his life is a sufficient example for all, to speak once, who claim for themselves the study of virtue, both for those who live in the world, and those who use the world (as I may say with the divine Paul) only

as not abusing it, let his affairs be told, and let the divine table and feasts, which are never consumed, be set before the souls of the good.

II. The Life of Saint Eudocimus

II. Saint Eudocimus, therefore, traced his lineage from the Cappadocians, a pious scion of pious parents. His father was Basil, and his mother bore the name Eudocia; both were distinguished in their lineage, abundant in wealth, and illustrious in authority. Indeed, Basil was renowned for the dignity of the patriciate. Yet while the son had such illustrious fountains of pedigree, he did not appear noble so much from his parents, nor did he receive from them as much glory as he himself brought to his parents, ennobled by his own illustrious deeds. For while one may find many sons born of illustrious parents, one finds very few parents of such sons, who have passed their lives in the midst of the world without being subject to any reproach. Being instructed to attend to doctrines and disciplines, he applied great zeal to these—not needing scourges, nor threats, nor anything else that might stir the childish soul to virtuous things—but he was himself a stimulus to himself, through inclination and the eagerness of his mind toward those things which are good. He was even more vigilant in the reading of divine utterances, and dwelt in them assiduously, so that he himself also sang with the divine David: *I will exult over thy sayings, as one who finds much spoil.* [Ps. CXVIII, 162] And: *How I have loved thy law, O Lord: it is my meditation all the day.* [Ps. CXVIII, 97] Therefore it was reckoned to him as being *above thousands of gold and silver* [Ps. CXVIII, 72], according to the divine Prophet, I mean David. And the oracles of God were sweet to his throat, and *above honey to his mouth.* [Ps. CXVIII, 103]

III. He frequented the divine temples and came to them assiduously. And when his peers and associates were devoted to hunting, and horse-racing, and other pursuits of young men, he bore these things with difficulty, and was not in the least moved by them, yielding to none of those things that tempt youthful desires. Eudocimus, however, spent his time pleasantly and gladly either in the house of prayer or in the reading of the divine Oracles, through which he strove to render himself a temple worthy of God, as one who displayed nothing unpleasant, nor anything base arising from the deformity of the passions of the soul, and dedicating his study to these. Neither adverse circumstances, nor favorable ones, nor anything of those things which can either elate or depress the mind, was strong enough to divert him from his purpose; but he used the armor of both the right hand and the left (as Paul says [II Cor. VI, 7]) for the sake of philosophy. Indeed, even when he often walked along the road—whether it that which led to the royal city or one leading to any other place—he had his mind and tongue alike intent upon the task; the latter singing the Psalms of David, the former attentive, understanding what was being said, and obeying David himself as he commanded. For that did not happen to him which happens to many, who chant indeed, but do not understand, and who contradict their own words by having their minds wandering far from the things being spoken. Furthermore, he so loved temperance, which is truly common property and excels other virtues in beauty, and was so clearly overcome by it, that he chose it as a companion in life and one who would dwell with him, and could boldly say with Job, not only: *My eye has not followed my heart* [Job XXXI, 7], but also, which is greater than that, that he had *made a covenant with his eyes* not by any means to look upon a virgin [Job XXXI, 1]; and he so avoided speaking with a woman, that only to his mother was it not forbidden to approach him—whom he held in great reverence—as one who yielded not only to the laws of nature, but also to the laws of virtue. Moreover, it was permitted to no woman at all to speak with him or to approach him.

IV. With temperance, he also joined almsgiving, together with that which belongs to the most cheerful of things, so that his face was illuminated by the light of the former, while by the oil of the latter his heart was made fat; and he was both clean and merciful, so that the loftiness which proceeds from purity, inclining toward one's neighbor (as is right) by common consent, was in safety. With such splendor did he attend to almsgiving, and he embraced it in such a way, that he acted piously not only with superfluities, but even with necessities, and did not sow sparingly, but in blessings; and he would not spare not only money, but even his own flesh, if from it aid could be given to the poor, and this with an exceedingly cheerful, ready, and eager mind, moved by love for God and his neighbor. For the fruit of charity is mercy toward one's brother, so much so that he was more ready to give than the one who had need of mercy was to receive; and when he had given, he rejoiced more himself, and believed himself to be more helped than the one who had received, which was indeed how the matter truly stood. For divine graces are greater than human ones, which he bought with a generous hand, flowing more bountifully from that source. And, to say it once, Eudocimus was a father to orphans, a guardian to widows, clothing for the naked, bread for the hungry, and comfort for souls burdened by sickness.

V. When he attained honors from the emperor, and the glory which is for a time, on account of his virtue, he was not harmed by it—as one whose warmth of soul neither grew cold, nor did his impetus toward the spiritual course become duller; but rather, ascribing that grace also to God, from this he took occasion for greater desire toward Him, and for serving Him more readily and eagerly. Certainly, when he was chosen to preside over a portion of the army of the Cappadocians, and was stationed near that which is called Charsianum, he exercised great care for the people, as one who was not only paternally solicitous for them, but also settled the controversies which happened, as is their habit, to arise between them, the scales of justice inclining to no side, and judging the cause of the orphan (as I may say with Isaiah [Isa. I, 17]), and vi

^Andicating the widow; ^Bhe appeared the same to all, just and manifesting the same benevolence toward all. But what need is there for me to recount individual instances? Eudocimus was perfected in virtue; he was remarkable for his charity toward God, and remarkable for his charity toward his neighbor. Wherefore, he so hated to speak ill of his neighbor in secret, as to desire his ruin and destruction, that not only did he not do any such thing himself, but even if another wished to do so, he would by no means endure to lend his ears to unseemly words; and as far as it concerned him, he kept them also above such sins.

VI. While he was thus living, practicing a pious way of life, and conducting himself uprightly, the common end of man overtook him in a foreign region, when he was thirty-three years old; and although he had not yet had his hair whitened by age, he surpassed many men of white hair in prudence. Eudocimus was not troubled, however, because he was dying absolutely—as one who throughout his whole life had meditated on this, and knew what sort of life he had led, and what lot had followed him—and besides, being wise, he was not at all ignorant of the law that exists among composite things: namely, that since they had received a beginning, it was necessary for the end to follow as well. Therefore, it was not the separation of his body that troubled him, but that, not having seen his dearest mother, he had wandered so far away. But how did he die? For this is a matter of both philosophy and utility. The man was indeed ill, and the sickness had already brought him to the point of yielding up his last breath. But when he had summoned his own household, he first gave diligent instructions, and bound them by oath, that they should commit him to the grave just as he was dressed, and by no means observe the customs usually performed for the dead. Then, when he had bidden everyone to go outside, he remained alone and gave himself to prayer. The prayer was—for it was heard by someone who was listening near the doors—that his departure to God might be obscure and known to no one, just as almost his whole life had escaped notice. When he had added other things to his prayer, and had given thanks, and finally said: "Into thy hands I commend my spirit" [Ps. XXX, 6], he truly gave up his holy soul. But some of those who were attending to his burial, acting5 more rustically than piously in fulfilling this request, not only with the garments and shoes in which he was clothed, but even with the bedclothes in which he lay, placed him thus in a wooden chest and buried him in the ground—he who had nothing worthy of darkness, or of hiding a sun under a bushel, or of a light under a measuring cup, or rather, if you prefer, of hiding in a storeroom such a most precious treasure, which cannot be consumed. But he was indeed buried in this way; yet God did not allow him to remain hidden, but rendered him manifest for the utility of many. And this is how he did it.

VII. A certain man was vexed by a demonic spirit, Elias by name, when not many days had passed after the death of the saint. Suddenly he approached the tomb, ^Csaying much but doing much, just as the wickedness of demons is wont to do for the harm of human nature, which is assailed by it from above in warfare. For when the demon was moved by the saint, or rather by the power of Christ, in order to make him manifest and to honor him, and when he moved and tormented him and disturbed the man with a great tempest, as having cast Elias to the ground as if dead, that wicked demon departed immediately, so that what had happened to the man was as a certain discipline and medicine for expiating sins, by those judgments which God knows. And Elias was thus freed from the demon; but God did not allow the glory of his servant to consist only in this: nay, rather, as if shouting loudly with a trumpet, the miracle being dispersed among many ^Dothers, He called them to the sepulcher—the sepulcher, I say, from which life and healing bubbled forth miraculously for many.

VIII. From these, one woman who had a son, whose hands were loose and who carried them no otherwise than as a stone or a statue, came eagerly to the sepulcher; she had no need of a long delay, nor of businesses, nor of days, but as soon as she came, she brought him aid to be freed from the disease by oil taken from the lamp of the blessed sepulcher. When she had anointed the son's hand with this, she saw him immediately whole, and using his hands as free and performing their own function. Another boy, moved in the same way, but differing only in this point—that while the former had hands, this one had limbs that were immobile—was offered with similar faith, and attained a similar cure. For when he too was anointed on his feet with the oil of the lamp, he immediately leapt up, and was the cause of great thanksgiving, which was offered to the saint himself, who had cured him, and to God, who had provided the grace of healings.

IX. Again a woman, vexed by a demon, was freed from the evil spirit tormenting her when she simply approached the tomb, and had learned well how light pursues darkness, and how terrible, good, and grateful the servant is to the evil and fugitive servant, on account of that conjunction and familiarity which he has with the Lord. Moreover, to another woman who was suffering from a grave disease, there was a wonderful cure when the dust of the sepulcher was taken with faith, then sprinkled with water, or, to speak better, with his tears, and placed upon the part of the body which was suffering. And therefore, having sown in tears of fervent faith toward God, he reaped the exultation of a cure [Ps. CXXV, 5]. Not to a few others also who were ill, who were far away, but not far in faith, this dust was brought, and it was seen to be an apt medicine for every disease; and in what was most delightful for many other modes, for along with that which it cured most certainly, it also had speed, and with

^A a freedom from trouble, and with the freedom from trouble, the reason for the spirits being, I say, wicked and those of diseases and affections, since it would inflict upon them a tomb, as if it were a horrible terror, not allowing them to approach, and they could not remain; or rather, as certain foes and enemies who cannot even endure the sight of a strong emperor, but those whom they have seized, they immediately release and take to flight. Having seen this, and having been surrounded by the tomb, she wept sweetly and melodiously, mourning her son in part as one dead, but in part as one living from God, and admiring the fact that he was deemed worthy of such miracles, and that she herself also enjoyed this grace and glory, and gloried in that name.

X. ^B Since the account has made mention of his translation, we must also discuss it: how it came to pass and what the cause was that his body, having been buried in the regions of Charsianum, was translated to this royal city. The great and swift fame of his miracles was spreading into all parts and filling the ears of all; and while this was the case by nature, it now became even swifter because of the novelty of the matter. For when would anyone have expected that a man living in the world, one who had accepted the administration of the people and was buffeted by such great surges hour by hour, could by himself have peace, and keep his inner man vexed by no trouble, and preserve within himself the types of the memory of God, unharmed and manifest, and keep his heart chaste from all defilements by the fear of Him? For to practice piety, and to embrace honesty, and to remember the commandments of God for a little while, you will perhaps find even among many of those who live in the world. For we shall not strip them entirely of virtue, nor shall we attribute it as a private possession to those alone who are separated from the world. But to have been raised to such a height of impassibility and virtue, that one attains the grace and splendor of miracles—that you would say belongs only to those who have said a long farewell to the world and all worldly things, and who have embraced solitudes more than cities, and deserts, and being far removed from friends for the sake of Christ, and for those few—if indeed we know of that perfection which is according to one's strength.

XI. Since therefore the fame of his death and his miracles had been dispersed, his parents (for he was dead to them while they were still living), and especially his mother, who followed him with the greatest and most genuine love, as mothers are wont to do for their children, had a great fire in their inward parts—at once desiring him as a son, and, as his parents, desiring to behold him who was so renowned for miracles. His mother, therefore, not bearing the impulse of her heart, having judged that the length of the road and the weakness of old age were a small and trivial thing to be weighed, and not a sufficiently firm excuse for a pious mother, taking no count of any of these things, having set out from Byzantium, arrived at Charsianum, as we have already said above, with incredible speed. Then, when she had looked upon their multitude—those who were constantly approaching the tomb, and the gift which they were obtaining, who were laboring under many and various diseases ^C and affections, and the swift manner in which they obtained a cure—

XII. "My son," she said with a higher voice, "my son, the eternal light of my eyes, my son, a certain mystery and ineffable good to your parents: whence for you this clear and great light of healings? Whence has the abundant grace of the Spirit flowed? Are these entirely a remuneration for a pious life and for hidden labors? Or rather, not only a remuneration, but a pledge and a foretaste of the good things which await you after these? I am truly blessed among mothers, for I have been deemed worthy to be and to be called the mother of such a son. I no longer weave for you maternal lamentations as for a son, but I sing spiritual hymns as to a friend of God. I no longer call you a son and the fruit of my womb, but a son of God by grace, not from bloods, nor from the will of the flesh, but truly born of God (John i, 13). Him whom I once bore carnally, I am in turn born again by him spiritually. Nor do I blush to call him father, whose true father is the One in heaven: our kinsmen, moreover, are the angels and the choirs of all the saints, through the communion of good works and the equality of the reward. Take care of your parents, for whom the longing for you is more heavy than old age! But, O dearest one, you will beautifully render grace to your carnal mother for the food given, if you render her familiar to your spiritual Father by your intercessions. You will also beautifully render grace to your father, because he brought you forth to this, that you should exist, if you seek the bosom of Abraham for his rest in his old age and infirmity. These are now what contend with you: the white hair of your father, and the pains of my labor, and the breasts which you, who are in all respects perfect, sucked when you were still an infant. Take care of your parents, take care of your kinsmen. God will rejoice, I well know, whom you deem worthy of honor in your parents, whom His commandment bids us honor, inasmuch as the honor is brought to Him through them. For He is the first of all, both father and artisan and cause, that they may be produced to this, that they might exist."

XIII. ^D She said these things, and orders the stone to be removed and the chest to be drawn outside the monument. Which when it had been done, where at her command the coffin was opened, a miracle is beheld, and one most divine to see, and most pleasant to speak of, and for those things which had preceded,

^A a most powerful confirmation. Eighteen months had passed since his death, and he who had been dead so many days before had no sign, neither corruption of the body, nor loosening of the joints, nor consumption of the flesh, nor blackness, nor anything that would be faded, or that would have withered and become liquefied: but he appeared entirely fresh, just as if his soul had but recently left him. His members almost seemed to possess motion, his cheeks a bloom, his lips a freshness, and his mouth the breath of life. You would have thought that you were not seeing a dead man at all, but rather someone sleeping, or one recollecting himself and meditating on something diligently. Furthermore, the tunics themselves, the very shroud, were so intact and undamaged, and affected by no detriment (insofar as burial is concerned), just as if they had been placed in a casket and diligently guarded. Dead bodies ^B of themselves have something unpleasant and foul. Clothing, too, that has lain for a long time, and other things of that nature, have a certain bad odor that offends the sense of smell. But there, nothing of the sort; rather, a good odor, and grace, and delight, as if it were not a tomb and a coffin, but an open garden. The things that have been said—and that the body was still intact and fresh—are proven by that which follows.

XIV. A certain monk, Joseph by name, a priest, who was given to piety, being present at the time, with his hands placed underneath and embracing the dead man, began to raise him up. But he yielded, and seemed to obey, and to commit himself. Thus that admirable man was raised, with his joints and limbs properly arranged with one another. When the priest saw this, and was filled with fear, he asked that he might be permitted to remove those things in which he was clothed. He ^C himself again complied, and relaxed his hands and feet for the priest, so that he might use them as he wished. Therefore the priest stripped him of his tunic and clothed him in another. He removed from his feet not only his shoes, but also the silk wrappings that were inside, placed against his feet. He did all these things so easily and without any labor, just as if he were lending aid to the priest and offered himself so that he could use him conveniently. Then he reclined him again in the form in which he had been before: so much so that it was entirely done by divine counsel that he was buried just as he was before—that even from this it might be manifest to all that after burial his body remained stronger than decay and dissolution. This sight was the cause for many demons and diseases to flee; and rightly so. For if, even when he was hidden, he was terrifying to them, once he appeared, how should he not be of such a kind that he could not be withstood ^D at all?

XV. What followed after these things? The mother contended that, once the sacred body was taken up, she should at last return. For this star, she said, arose from my womb. But those who dwelt in that region contended that they would not concede that she should carry him off. For, they said, even if that star did proceed from you, it is nevertheless seen to have set among us. How, therefore, will you take him from us, who indeed sprouted as a branch, but among us produced clusters of miracles; and it pleased him that we should enjoy the must of graces and cures? It was not difficult for God, if He had willed that he should return again to the place from whence he came. Do not, therefore, seem to contradict the judgment and will of God, nor begrudge us divine graces. Do not deprive us of a fountain which is proposed not for us alone, but publicly for all to enjoy. It suffices for your glory that you have appeared as the mother of him, of whose dead body there is such contention. You will expel us from our fatherland before you deprive our country of this good given to us by God. When she heard these things, knowing that some wiser counsel must be taken by her, she kept quiet. Afterward, however, when she had bid them all farewell, she returned home. But that pious man, first among the monks and priests of whom we spoke before, when he had remained, and by the passage of many days had dispelled all suspicion, and had made the guards less careful in watching over him, entered at night, stole the divine treasure, and fled with the stolen goods. But the scent of miracles revealed the ointment which was being concealed, and the cure of diseases was the accuser of the theft.

XVI. For a certain woman, while he was being carried on the road, and those who were carrying him in a certain place, as is natural, wished to rest—she, I say, while being vexed by an evil spirit, rushed upon the coffin and leaped upon it violently, and was shaken as if by a great wave. Then, when she had assailed the saint with the filthiest insults—not her at all, but the one who inhabited her, whom you might call the adversary, that strong one was struck by him and retreated, departing to the places to which he had been condemned by God. But she returned home healed. Not a long time had passed, and a certain virgin, prefect of a monastery which was called Mantineum, while laboring under a certain secret and grave disease, and unable to bear the heavy pains which she felt from it, when she learned that that life-bringing dead body was being brought, with great faith and ardor of soul she went to meet him; and just as if to a living and hearing saint, she spoke her disease to the coffin, and obtained a rapid cure, the reward of ardent faith. Performing miracles of this kind, and obtaining this glory from God, the body—most pleasant to his parents, most useful to mortals, more powerful than evil spirits, stronger than ailments and diseases, a remedy truly unconquerable, and not only able to resist one disease, but, to speak once, resisting all—is at length brought into Byzantium. His mother, therefore, joyful at such a return of her son, and at once lifting up her head in Christ, and showing splendor and magnificence, at great expense, she covered the casket with silver: not only doing this as if for the favor of her son, but striving to honor him as a friend of God: so that the one might be a matter of nature, but the other of a pious soul and a mind loving God. When the best of parents had thus surrounded the casket with silver

and gold, and had adorned it with precious stones, they deposit this truly holy temple in the holy temple which they themselves had built for the Mother of God, having become common benefactors to mankind, by a gift which extends into eternity: through whom, demons are put to flight, diseases are dissolved, and God is glorified in all things and through all things. For to Him is due all glory, honor, and adoration, now and always, and for ages of ages. Amen.

MONTH OF AUGUST

MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY WOMEN SOPHIA AND HER DAUGHTERS, FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE

^A I. After the saving preaching had been announced everywhere, and all things had been filled with the knowledge of the Lord, Hadrian, administering the empire of the Romans, like some remnant of wickedness, showed the greatest superstition toward those who are called false gods, if ever any other did, wheedling some with flatteries, and frightening others with threats. At that time, therefore, a certain pious and God-loving woman, Sophia by name, of illustrious lineage and from the land of the Italians, having undergone the widowhood of her husband, was passing her life with three daughters alone. Having come to the renowned city of Rome, and being with these maidens—who were quite honorable and elegant in soul and body—she was not seduced by error, nor did she incline toward the religion of the impious emperor, showing her name to be true by her very deeds; for she had truly taken this name from the wisdom from above, and was called Sophia. For the wisdom that is from above, says the divine James, is first chaste, then peaceable, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits. Since the fruit of virtue was recognized in her, she adapted their names to her daughters; and they, in turn, showed them to be true in themselves, nor did the branches have anything that was discordant or alien from the root.

^B II. But when the prudence and virtue of these, and their devotion to Christ, had become noised abroad among all, the father of envy, not bearing it, through the envious eyes of a certain man, Antiochus, to whom the prefecture of the city had been entrusted, signifies their piety to the emperor, and reports them